[I’ve not been posting on the blog recently. That’s partly because I have been writing stories rather than articles, and partly because I have been out of action for a while, preoccupied with other things. However, for the Christmas season this year I have the following to share….]

I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. Haggai 2:7

Imagination is a wonderful mental activity. It can take so many forms, invent scenarios and transport to diverse places. I-magi-nation! As I imagine, I can deconstruct the component parts of the word and find “I”, myself; “Magi”, wise men; and one of many “Nations” before me for contemplation.

The magi came from their nation, in the east, on a journey to find the promised one. “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?” they inquired. The Christmas-card image presents three regal camel-riders carrying gifts as they progress serenely across the desert.

My imagination can also take me to an eighteenth-century country house library in Leicester, England. A bewigged gentleman of middle years sits at his desk with his Bible open before him. He turns the pages slowly, scouring the Scriptures. Occasionally his quill pen scratches a few lines onto the paper beside him.

The man is one of the wealthiest to be found outside of the aristocracy. Heir to a Midlands ironmaster’s fortune all his needs were met from an early age. He became known as a patron of the arts. He was also a devout Christian gifted to see the Bible as a continuous narrative from the promise of the garden to its fulfilment in the eternal city. His writing followed the redemptive narrative, pointing the way to the coming King and beyond.

After days of work, reading, praying and selecting; editing, transcribing and assembling, the writer folds various pages together, seals them and calls for a servant. He gives him a coin and instructs him to arrange a courier to deliver them to a friend, along with the hope that they form an acceptable offering for his next musical composition.

I don’t know how long Charles Jennens spent contemplating the inclusion of the line “and the desire of all nations shall come”, into the script which he sent to Georg Handel.Nor do I know why the latter decided to set these words to a bass voice. However, I do know that they are profound in both senses: the gravity of the prophet Haggai’s words and the depth of the solo expression.

Handel’s Messiah, with the scriptural selection of his friend forming the libretto, has become the most famous oratorio in history, performed every year since its debut, throughout the seasons and for large and small ensembles in diverse locations. It points the way to the coming of God’s Messiah, just as a star led the magi to worship in Bethlehem. Beyond Messiah’s coming and the unfolding story of redemption it concludes with the eternal chorus from every tribe, tongue, people and nation, extolling His worthiness to receive all glory and blessing.

Of all the references to nations found in scripture, however, the quotation from Haggai is the only one included, as it represents Messiah as The Desire of All Nations. Here, encapsulated, is the truth that all were made for the Lord, a truth for which, whether aware or not, all long, from all nations, languages and tribes.

The Apostle Paul, who understood God’s purpose in the nations tells us that since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen (Rom. 1:20). Yet he also notes: The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor. 4:4)

Two thousand years ago, the message of the Messiah was unknown in the islands from which I come. Yet two hundred years ago they were the home of one of the strongest churches in the world. In that same era the gospel had made scant impression in Korea, yet today the Korean church is one of the modern world’s strongest missionary-sending movements. As the veil of blindness is stripped away, so revelation occurs, faith is birthed and Christ comes in.

A century ago, there were virtually no Nepali or Mongolian Christians, yet today churches in their nations are sending members to share good news with Buddhists around Asia. Meanwhile, the churches among Iranians, Afghans and Somalis are believed to be the fastest growing movements of Jesus’ followers in the current age. All are among peoples whose nations have been hotbeds of Islamic fundamentalist and extremist oppression.

As the Desired of the Nations is revealed and received around the world we long to see Chechens and Moroccans; Bhutanese and Yemenis; Tibetan and Turk and a host of others come in their numbers to a knowledge of the Son of God. For only in Christ is the fulfilment of all things, at first through the cross and the resurrection, and secondly, in His return in glory. Even so Lord Jesus, Come Emmanuel!