This passage of the Old Testament ( Hg 2: 6- 9 ) proves that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah, who was to come to Israel to be sacrificed for the redemption of our sins.  For some decades a great number of  "wise linguists"  have existed, who disguise themselves as  "honest" and  "objective"  translators of the Bible.  Their job is to change some key words in order to make a Bible that fits Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc.   These translators and seminar professors say that the word  "desire"  which has appeared for centuries in our Bibles must be changed for the word  "wealth".  Suddenly they have  "discovered"  that all the translators of centuries past were ignoramus who did not know Hebrew.
    According to these modern ecumenical translators, Haggai, instead of prophesying that "the desire of the nations",  the Messiah,  Jesus Christ, was going to come to the Temple they were building, they say that what Haggai was prophesying was that the wealth of the nations was going to come to that Temple.  According to them, this passage instead of saying that the  "Desire of Nations"  was going to come to that Temple, it must say that the  "wealth of nations"  was going to come to that Temple.
    It is evident that they are trying to accomplish their task by voiding the passage of its messianic contents.  With this change it will become an adequate passage for Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and any other religion that do not accept Christ as their Messiah.  The saddest thing is that there are many Christian seminar professors and Christian publishing houses that back this evil effort. Let us read the passage.

            "For thus saith the LORD of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will
        shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will
        shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill
        this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the
        gold is mine, saith the LORD of  hosts. The glory of this latter house shall
        be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place
        will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts."                                   (Hag  2: 6-9)

    Even a person who does not know a single word in Hebrew or Greek, can prove that this modern translation is wrong.  Anyone can see that it is an evil attempt to diminish the power of that Messianic prophecy, or at least, in the best scenario, a huge blunder.  Let us reason together.

    First.  As we read the passage we can realize that the verb  "to come"  is properly used only if the phrase  "the Desire of nations"  refers to Jesus Christ.  A person can come to the Temple by himself.  On the contrary, the wealth of the nations cannot come by itself; it has to be brought.  It seems that he who altered the word  "desire",  and changed it for  "wealth",  forgot to alter the verb  "to come".  If the word that existed in Hebrew would be  "wealth",  the prophet would have used the verb  "to bring"  not the verb  "to come".

    Second.  Anyone who believes in God knows that His prophets never erred.  If Haggai, who lived before the coming of Christ, wrote the phrase "The Desire of all Nations",  referring to Christ, he was right because Jesus came to that Temple;  and this coming filled that house of glory.  But if he wrote the word "wealth", then he was miserably wrong, because the prophecy did not happen.  The wealth of the nations was never brought to that Temple.  No real believer would accept that Haggai failed in his prophecy.
    Also it is ludicrous to think that God was going to shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land because of the wealth that was going to be brought to that Temple.  It is evident that the word "wealth" does not match with the context.
    It was Rome, the Roman Empire who got the wealth of the nations during that period of history.  That Temple was destroyed, and the wealth of the nations was never brought to it. Therefore, if we believe these  "experts",  these  "modern"  translators we have reach to the conclusion that poor prophet Haggai failed, and also He who inspired him.
    On the contrary, if we believe the translators who did their work before the  "ecumenism", those ancient translators that always translated  "the Desire of the Nations",  then the prophecy was fulfilled, because: a) the Messiah,  Jesus Christ, came to that Temple;  b) the Earth and the heavens were shaken with the First Coming of Jesus Christ;  c) with the coming of Christ at the Temple that they were constructing in the moment of the prophecy, that Temple was filled with glory;  d) the glory of the Second Temple was greater than that of the first, as Haggai said, because Jesus came to the Second Temple, and never came to the First Temple, even though it had a lot more riches.
    That is why in Hag  2: 8 God says: "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts";  meaning that if He wanted He could fill this Second Temple of gold and silver.  But God did not want it to be so.  The glory of this Temple was going to consist in the fact that Jesus was going to come to it, not in having more gold than the former one.
    With persecutions and massacres Satan never could destroy Christianity, therefore, he joined it to destroy it from the inside out, little by little, eroding it.

    Third.  If this passage is translated with the word  "Desire"  as it always had been, it agrees with Malachi 3:1 that announces that the Lord was going to come to his Temple.  On the contrary, if it is translated with the word  "wealth",  it does not agree with any other passage in the Bible, it becomes singular, unconnected.

            "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:
        and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his Temple, even the messenger
        of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts."
                                                                                                                        ( Mal 3:1 )

    Fourth.  The real reason behind this fairy tale that these translators have spread among Christians is to weaken a prophecy that points to Jesus.  Sadly many Christians believe this fairy tale, including the editors of the New American Standard Version and others.
    This fairy tale says that the Second Temple was constructed by Herod, or at least, that he worked on it so much, that he made it greater and richer than the one built by Solomon.  They invented this fairy tale to be able to later  "demonstrate"  that the prophecy  "agrees" with an inexistent "reality": that the wealth of the Second Temple was greater than the First One.  This is not true, let's see why.
    Herod was a vassal of Rome, a kinglet of third category that only reigned over a little section of Palestine, a kinglet that had to send the wealth of the country to Rome. Therefore, it is ludicrous to say that such man could build a Temple wealthier and bigger than Solomon's.
    Solomon was a great king who reigned over all of Palestine and several nearby nations, see verse 26.  He also had several other vassal kings bringing him presents, see verse 24.  He personally possessed a great wealth according to the Word of God, see verses 20-22.  Silver was as common as stones during his kingdom, see verse 27.

            "20 And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all
        the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none
        were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
          21 For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram;
        every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver,
        ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
          22 And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and
        wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to
        hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart. 24 And they brought every
        man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness,
        and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 25 And Solomon had four
        thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom
        he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
          26 And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of
        the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.  27 And the king made silver in
        Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are
        in the low plains in abundance."                    ( II Chronicles  9:20-27 )

    Besides Solomon's personal capabilities and wealth, his father David left a large quantity of gold, silver and other metals for the construction of the First Temple, see I Chronicles 29:1-8.

            "1 Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon
        my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the
        work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God. 2 Now
        I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for
        things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass
        for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood;
        onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours,
        and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.
           3 Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have
        of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house
        of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, 4 Even
        three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand
        talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:  5 The gold
        for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of
        work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to
        consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?
           6 Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the
        captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work,
        offered willingly, 7 And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five
        thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents,
        and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents
        of iron. 8 And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the
        treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite."
                                                                                                  ( I Chronicles 29:1-8 )

    After knowing all these facts, can someone try to convince us that Herod, a kinglet vassal of Rome, that had to send the wealth of the country he ruled to his superiors in Rome, did a better job than Solomon?  Absurd!  Ludicrous!  Illogical!  Why then this "modern" translation.  Is it ignorance, stupidity or evil plans?

    Fifth.  In I Chronicles 28: 3 we read that David wanted to build the Temple, but God forbade him because he was a man of war and shed blood.  Even though these bloods were in general shed in just wars, God forbade him.

            "But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build a house for my name, because thou
        hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood."                        ( I Chronicles  28: 3 )

    Could anyone in their right mind think that God forbade a man like David to build His Temple, but rewarded a murderer like Herod in letting him build a better temple than Solomon's?  Could you believe that a man, who murdered lots of infants in order to kill the Messiah, was blessed by God with the construction of a better temple than the one Solomon built?  It is like saying that Adolf Hitler was blessed by God bestowing on him the glory of building a better Temple than Solomon's.  Would God base the glory of His Second Temple in the wealth and constructions of a callous murderer?  Was God going to forbid David, who was a prophet and a Hebrew, but remunerate Herod who was a murderer and was not a Hebrew but an Edomite?  Does this make sense?

    Sixth.  Saint Paul, in the Epistle to the Hebrews says that this prophecy of Haggai, where he says that heaven and earth would be shaken, refers to Jesus.  Therefore, it does not refer to the wealth of the nations.

            "Whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once
        more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more,
        signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made,
        that those things which cannot be shaken may remain."
                                                                                                        ( Heb 12: 26-27 )

    Now, according to these modern translators, who are  "experts"  in the Hebrew language, we have to believe that none of the ancient translators, who were closer to those times and to those languages, knew a thing.  Now we have to believe that who really know these languages are the ecumenical translators.
    Sadly there are many brothers who have been confused by these "experts".  A sad example of how the brethren fall in the snare of these translators is  found in the teacher's  manual for Sunday Schools, in the lesson for Sunday September 7, 1986, pages 72-73.  In the lesson for that day teachers are told that what was going to enter in the Temple was  "the wealth of the nations" and not  "the Desire of all the Nations".  According to them, Haggai's prophecy was referring to the wealth of the nations. It is sad that the writers of these manuals make such errors.  If they just read more of the Bible, and read less of the  "experts"  books, and used a little more of their common sense, they could avoid teaching their brethren an error.
    These horrible mistakes are due to a lack of inspection and supervision from the editor and production team, and the passive silence of those that lead Christian denominations.
    In order to hammer in  the pieces that don't belong to the puzzle, they allege that the phrase  "I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land"  meant the political problems during the Persian Empire.  But as we have seen in Heb 12: 26-27,  Paul himself interpreted that this shaking was referring to the coming of Christ.  Therefore it was not referring to the political problems, that besides could never shake the heavens.

    Seventh.  It is silly to think that the earth was going to be shaken because of the wealth of the nations being brought to the Temple.  It is absolute foolishness to think that because of the "wealth of the nations" being brought to the Temple, the heavens would be shaken.  Do these people think that those that are in heaven care about gold and silver?  Therefore, it becomes evident that the phrase  "the Desire of Nations"  is the correct translation, not the "wealth of the nations",  because only the coming of Jesus did shake even the heavens. Let us read again the passage.

            "For thus saith the LORD of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will
     shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake
        all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house
        with glory, saith the LORD of hosts."                             ( Hag  2: 6-7 )

    This trick of changing to  "the wealth of the nations", instead of  "the Desire of Nations",  is just a concession of protestant publishing companies to Islamism, Judaism, Bhudism, etc., for ecumenical and economical motives.  This prophecy of Haggai is an irrefutable one.  It stands against the ecumenism, which is why it is necessary for them to get rid of it.
    The business of businessmen is to make business.  That is why many  "Christian" publishing companies do not care about the truth of God.  They care about their business because they are in business, not in the Truth.
    Another falsehood some are trying to introduce among Christians is to take the word  "virgin" which appears in Isa 7:14, and change it for the word  "young lady".  For this case see the biblical note referring to that passage, which will appear in this same website.
    Please brethren; don't let anyone fool you. Be alert.  Don't take as true everything that someone tells you, not even your religious leaders, or Christian Scholars.  The swindlers that can swindle you are those who do not have a swindler's face, but those who look like decent people.  By the same token the religious leaders that can cheat you are those who seem to be spiritual and honest.  Don't look at the outside of David's older brother, look at the Bible, read it daily, continuously and use your common sense.