From Splendor to Shadow

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The True Glory of the Second Temple

And yet this was the building concerning which the Lord had declared, “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former.” “The Desire of all nations shall come.” Haggai 2:9, 7. Jesus, the Desire of all nations, by His personal presence hallowed the temple. Yet many have refused to see in His advent any special significance. Their minds have been blinded to the true meaning of the prophet's words. SS 308.2

The second temple was honored, not with the cloud of God's glory, but with the presence of the One in whom dwelt “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”—God “manifest in the flesh.” Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16. In this alone did the second temple exceed the first in glory. The “Desire of all nations” had indeed come to His temple, when the Man of Nazareth taught and healed in the sacred courts. SS 308.3