Hag.2:7,8 – and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts.
This has always been one of my favorite prophecies about the coming of Christ. Even though the modern translations and commentaries interpret this passage differently, the old ones point to Christ and His infinite value. The first Protestant Study Bible published in 1599, the Geneva Bible, describes Christ as the Desire in the heart of all nations. Christ Himself is the Desire or Treasure of all the earth and all of the wealth belongs to Him. He created all things, everything that is comes from Him. Here is how Matthew Henry describes this passage.
“All the silver and gold in the world are his: all that is hidden beneath the earth’s surface, all that is stored in the banks and treasuries on earth, and all that is in circulation to keep business going; it is all the LORD’s, for the earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof. Every penny bears his image as well as Caesar’s, and so when gold and silver are dedicated to his honor and employed in his service, no addition is made to him, for it was already his before. When David and his officers offered vast sums for the service of the house of God, they acknowledged, ‘It is all thy own, and of thy own, LORD, have we given thee’. God does not need sacrifices, for every beast of the forest is his. If we have silver and gold, we must serve and honor God with them, for they all belong to him.”
Recognizing these two truths changes our perspective of everything. First, He owns it all. If that is true I gave back to Him out of His own hand. The good news is that He constantly disperses His wealth to me because I am His son. Secondly, Christ is the greatest of all treasures. He is more valuable than all the accumulative wealth of all creation. Nothing in all of creation comes even close to Him. These two truths are the foundation of our Christmas celebration. We give gifts from His bounty, that is the truth behind all of our giving of gifts. Christ Himself is the greatest of all Christmas gifts. He is the Father’s gift to us.
