This article is based on a preaching of Bishop Manny Carlos during an online staff meeting of Every Nation Philippines in May 2020.

The last few months have been a time of disruption and uncertainty for all of us. In this very hour, the whole world is certainly being shaken economically and politically through this pandemic. Throughout biblical history, we see authors talk about God shaking the nations—and we wonder what that means. Here is what it boils down to: We are called by God to build His house, and God’s prerogative and initiative is to shake the nations as we build His house. 

How do we renew our faith and prepare ourselves for the days ahead as God shakes the nations of the world?

In Haggai 2:1–9, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai, to the leaders, and the people of the remnant to stir them up by the Spirit, so that they might rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God on the earth, where His people worship Him. God encouraged them to be strong three times in Haggai 2:4,5. He wanted to strengthen them physically and emotionally because God is determined to build His house, where He would dwell. 

When Jesus Christ commissioned the Church to go and make disciples of all nations, He also taught that God will no longer dwell in a temple, because He will dwell in the Church, as each one receives the Holy Spirit. And as He builds the Church, He is going to shake the nations in order to do so!

God has a purpose in shaking the nations; He does not do it out of impulsiveness. The question now is, why?

Three Reasons God Shakes the Nations

1. For the treasures of the nations to come into His house

“‘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 (NIV)

Bible commentaries often say the phrase “desired by all nations” as a reference to the Messiah, but more likely, they are people—Jews and Gentiles—who will come to faith in Christ as a result of the shaking, bringing their treasures with them. These treasures refer to the people who will come to faith in Christ because of the shaking (Haggai 2:8).

2. To bring down the kingdoms of nations and exalt His servants

The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”
Haggai 2:20–23

Every time there are kingdoms that rise and fall, wars, and even political leadership changes, it brings instability to the nations. Historically and even in our present time, there have been many shakings on the earth. God will not allow any empire on earth to be perpetuated forever.

In contrast, God exalts His servants, like He did with Zerubbabel. The Lord made Zerubbabel like a signet ring, which corresponded to a throne. Zerubbabel is part of the lineage of David and part of the ancestry of Jesus Christ.

We may not see this immediately, but God will raise men and women of His kingdom to take the lead and to serve His purpose. He will use the shaking of nations to do this more and more.

3. To establish His kingdom that cannot be shaken

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:25–29

After the church was birthed in Jerusalem on the Feast of Pentecost, the Roman Empire tried to snuff it out again and again. But after 300 years, the Roman Empire became Christian. 

To this day we see that the kingdom of God has been advancing, and it has brought political and economic freedom, salvation, and deliverance from spiritual bondage, idolatry, and all kinds of bondages in the nations. 

God is going to shake the nations once again so that something will be established—a kingdom that cannot be shaken. God has a reason for these shakings. It is not because He is not for us. It is so that the things that can be shaken will be removed. For many of us, there have been shakings, but in this hour that we are living in right now, everything that can be shaken has been shaken. This is because God is establishing His kingdom in our personal lives, in our church, and in our nation.

The primary way by which God shakes the nations is through His voice. It is the voice of God that brings the shaking, and His primary means of speaking His voice to the people is through His chosen servants, the Church. 

Every time we preach the gospel, every time we prophesy, every time we pray, the voice of God is going through the earth, and it is that preaching of the word that brings a shaking to our communities, to our cities, to the nations of the earth.