7 And I will shake all nations, and <the Excellency [all the Saints]> of all nations <they> shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith Yahweh hosts.

In the English Version, kheimdath is rendered the Desire of; and some Lexicons tell us that the word has no plural. But if this be true, by what rule is it made the nominative of the plural verb vahu, "they shall come"?

The Messiah is supposed to be the person desired by all the nations at his coming. But in what sense can he be said to be the Desire of the nations, when they are all to compass him about, and in the Name of Yahweh he will destroy them? Psa. 118:10; Apoc. 17:14.

It seems to me that a letter has been dropped in transcription, and that the word should read khemdoth in the plural; as, "and the excellencies of all the nations shall come;" but if khemdath in the singular be correct, then the construction is to be accounted for upon the same principle that Elohim, plural, is so often construed with a verb in the singular -

"the Excellency of all the nations they shall come,"

or as Zechariah expresses the same thing,

"Yahweh Elohim he shall come in, all the Saints with thee"

- he and all the saints being the Excellency of all the nations.

Eureka 16.12.3.

and

 "the powers of the heavens shall be shaken," 

repeated the Lord Jesus.

This was to accompany the introduction of the desires of all the nations. The shaking was to precede, and be contemporary with the coming Abrahamic blessing, but did not attend Christ's birth, for he was born in a period of profound peace.

The shaking at the destruction of Jerusalem, nor any national convulsions since did at all result in his manifestation, or the coming of any object of Gentile desire. Hence, then, the prophecies of Haggai, Joel, and Jesus, look to the future for their full terminal accomplishment, and as Israel has no longer any heavens and earth to be shaken, the shaking predicted must relate to other heavens, which can therefore only be the heaven of the Gentiles.

The conclusion, then, to which we are led is this: that in the Gentile world in its heavens and earth, will be displayed wonders and signs, attended with

"blood and fire, and pillars of smoke,"

or bloody and destructive war; and that their sun shall be turned into darkness, and their moon into blood, as Judah's has been; that is, that its existing supreme secular sovereignty shall be set aside by the overshadowing of a new power, whose vengeance will be disastrous to the ecclesiastical orders; and that all this shall come to pass

"before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come."

Synchronous with these "wonders" and "signs" is the period alluded to by the Lord Jesus in these words, saying,

"And there shall be signs in sun, and moon, and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear and anticipation of the things coming upon the habitable; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And afterwards shall they (who pierced him-the Jews, then hereafter in Palestine) see the Son of Man coming in cloud, with power and great glory."

This period is a time of great trouble, but not the greatest that will be. The coming of the Son of Man is the end of one period, and the beginning of another. His appearing is the standing up of "Michael, the great Commander," who stands for Judah.

Before this standing up there is a period of great trouble; but after the appearing is "the great and terrible day of the Lord," when

"there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation to that same time;" it will also be "the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it;" for "at that time Daniel's people shall be delivered and many of them who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake."

The nations have already entered the pre-adventual time of trouble, in which the "wonders" and "signs" in the sun, moon, and stars of the Gentile heavens, and "the blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke," upon the habitable, are being displayed to the eye of enlightened faith, for whose benefit they are alone revealed. The work is begun which Joel did foresee, as well as the apostle John. "The nations are angry;" but not yet so enraged as they will be before "the wrath of the Lord God Almighty comes."

"Secret diplomacy," against which there is so much indignation in Europe, is effectually at work upon "the kings of the earth and of the whole habitable;" and will not intermit its labours until it have involved them all in war, the crowning event of which will be the rushing of the roaring sea and waves-"the upwakened nations"-into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where they will be encountered and rolled back with terrible disaster by the mighty ones of God.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, April 1855 

8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.

But the New Man of the Heavens will spoil the Old Rebel and appropriate his assets upon a higher principle than that of conquest. "Whatsoever," saith Yahweh,

"is under the whole heaven is mine"-Job. 41:2;

he is therefore styled by Melchizedek, "possessor of the heavens and earth"-Gen. 14:10. In another place, it is written, "The earth is Yahweh's"-Exod. 9:29; and

"the earth is Yahweh's and the fullness thereof; the world, even those that dwell in it."-Ps. 24:1; "the gold and the silver are mine, saith Yahweh of hosts"-Hag. 2:8.

These testimonies are sufficient to prove that Yahweh still claims the earth and the world of mankind upon it, and all they call theirs, as his. It is a claim he has never surrendered; and, although the Old Man has possessed it since the Flood, and even taken forcible possession of that portion of it which Yahweh declared to Israel, saying, "the land is mine"-Lev. 25:23, the claim is not extinct, it is only in abeyance, for there is no statute of limitation to bar it against the Lord.

The earth being Yahweh's, its eternal possession can only be acquired by deed from him. It is clear that the Old Man of the Earth has not obtained that deed, because he is corruptible and mortal; and a mortal man cannot acquire more than a tenant-for-life possession. "Corruption cannot inherit incorruption."

A New Man must therefore appear in court with ability to show, first, that he is incorruptible and deathless; and secondly, that Yahweh, the possessor of heaven and earth, hath given the earth and world to him. This Man hath appeared in the Court of Israel, and his name is Jesus. He has put in his claim, and proved by witnesses and by Yahweh, that he is his Son by resurrection from among the dead, and alive for ever more: and having proved this, he hath also proved that Yahweh's promises to his Son are of right his.

Now concerning his Son, Yahweh has said in the second Psalm,

"Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask from me, and I will give the nations for thine inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."

Nothing can be plainer than this. Yahweh hath promised the earth to his Son; and that Son he hath acknowledged to be Jesus. Then Jesus, the New Man of the Spirit, is the rightful owner of the earth and world.

Has he got it? Has he ever had it? No, never! What is the hindrance? The Old Man of the Earth has possession of it, and will not surrender it until a stronger than he appears to turn him out. This necessitates a conflict of the deadliest character; a time of tribulation unsurpassed.

The earth and world, and all their fullness, being assigned to Jesus by a divine statute, it is competent for him to say who, if any, shall share with him in fee. Will he enter into treaty with the Old Man, and leave him in possession of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, if he will acknowledge him King of the Jews in Zion; or will he demand the unconditional surrender of the whole. Nothing less than this will be accepted. The present rulers will not be tolerated.

They are a blot upon the face of things; obstacles in the way of righteousness and truth. Jesus is "the Heir of all things," and he has announced his willingness to share his inheritance with all who, like himself, "fulfill the righteousness of God." This excludes the old man totally; but opens the door to all that will forsake him, and turn to God, They are invited

"to put off the Old Man with his deeds, and to put on the New Man."

When they have put on the New Man they are a constitutional part of him, and consequently "joint-heirs with Christ" of the earth and world, and all the fullness thereof. To such Jesus says

"I will give you power over the nations, and you shall rule them with a rod of iron, sitting with me on my throne, as kings and priests, reigning on the earth." Rev. 2:36; 3:21; 5:10.

When they possess this power over the nations, all that the nations and their present rulers call theirs, will then be at the disposal of these joint inheritors. Paul addressing this class at Corinth, said to them,

"the world is yours," "all things are yours," "all things are for your sakes."

It is clear, then, that the gold and the silver, and the power and the riches, extant will all be relinquished to them-

"He will fill the poor with good things, and the rich he will send empty away."

Assuredly the coming panic will be tremendous-fear and disaster on every side.

..."Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments."

...Be warned, then, and trim your lamp; for the time is short, and the terror hasteneth.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, April 1858