In Genesis, Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel) gave a prophecy to Judah which said, in part, “[Judah] will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk” (Gn 49:8-12).

Judah’s blessing has always been believed to be a Messianic prophecy. It indicates he is of perfection and his blood will somehow be important. Donkeys represent peace and the vine prosperity.

It seems the prophet Zechariah picked up on this theme from Genesis as he spoke of a coming king: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zc 9:9).

The verse before this one speaks of the One to come to be a victorious warrior, but he would have Israel reign in peace. This is reminiscent of King Solomon (1Ki 1:32-40). His father, King David, had been the warrior king and conquered many nations and incorporated them into Israel. Solomon became a king of peace. When he was inaugurated, he was placed on David’s mule and paraded throughout Jerusalem so that all would know he was the succeeding king and that he was about peace and not war.

The mule is different from a donkey. The mule has a mare, a female horse, for a mother and a donkey for a father. Solomon riding on David’s mule indicated he was the current king’s choice for who would be the next king, and the animal he rode being a mule indicated the kingdom was going from a nation at war (the mare) to a nation at peace (the mule).

Jesus told two of his disciples: “Go to the village [Bethphage] ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me” (Mt 21:2). When the disciples were questioned as to what they were doing, they simply stated that the Lord had need of them and those questioning let the disciples take them.

Jesus had the colt and its mother brought to him because some believed the passages in Genesis and Zechariah spoke of two separate animals. This ensured no one could claim the prophecy was not fulfilled. It is also likely that the colt’s mother being present helped the animal to remain calm when amid the throng of people around it.

Scripture states that Jesus rode on the colt of the donkey which had never been ridden. Normally, without being trained, a donkey would never allow a human to ride it. Yet, Jesus had no problem in riding on the donkey colt. Jesus was indicating two things by doing this. One, he was indicating his kingdom. Solomon rode on David’s mule to indicate he was now the reigning king of David’s kingdom. Jesus is riding on a donkey which had never been ridden indicating that his kingdom is not of this world for no one in the world could ride a donkey of this type without issue. Second, he, like Solomon, would be a king of peace, and the donkey indicated how he would bring about that peace.

It is interesting that all donkeys bear a dorsal cross on their backs. This likely explains, at least in part, why Jesus rode on a donkey to indicate how he was going to bring peace. Solomon rode on a mule which does not have this cross. He was going to bring peace based upon his father David’s previous work by bringing other nations under the umbrella of Israel. Jesus was going to bring peace based upon his Father’s work as well. His death would bring those currently under Satan’s kingdom under the umbrella of peace of his spiritual kingdom.

Note that here at Jesus’ first coming, Jesus is riding on a donkey to indicate the peace he offers. Yet, when he returns to this earth, he will be riding on a horse, as Revelation 19:11 states: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.” As noted, the horse is a symbol of war because Jesus will defeat Satan and take the Earth which will null and void any rights Satan currently has to it.

I think this can be a lesson for us today as well. Scripture will always be fulfilled just as biblical prophecy indicates. Yet, it is us humans who use our imagination as to how God will accomplish his prophecy but it is rarely how God fulfills his word. His fulfilment is always more profound and impactful than we can ever imagine. So, we should know our Scripture and know what God is going to do, but we should let God be God and follow his lead when he fulfills Scripture before our eyes. We don’t want to miss it as the Jewish leaders did in this case we just mentioned. Let’s be watchful, vigilant, and be open to God’s leading.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Ever been frustrated because you had to get something done, but you couldn’t because someone else had to do their part first – and wasn’t? I’m sure this is how Ezekiel felt many times. God had him sacrifice so much to be the watchman to his countrymen. Yet, he wasn’t seeing any change in them. I’m sure he often asked God, “What’s the point?” But God helped him to realize that Ezekiel’s future hope and the hope for the world was not dependent upon their obedience. Sure, we decide if we become a part of that, but our actions to not deter God from his plans. Let’s see what he told Ezekiel.

Israel was now dispersed. Nebuchadnezzar had captured Judah along with their beloved capital city Jerusalem and had even destroyed their beautiful temple. The Northern Kingdom of Israel has been taken captive by Assyria some one-hundred years earlier. Only a remnant was now left in their land. I’m sure Ezekiel felt all was lost. He likely couldn’t see how any of God’s promises could now come true. Was all hope gone? God said no.

God gave Ezekiel another vision (Ek 37). A very strange vision. One could classify it as a nightmare – an Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom-type of nightmare. Before Ezekiel lay a dry valley filled with human bones. There were likely hundreds of them all thrown together, many of them now disconnected. I’m sure Ezekiel was bewildered. Why was he here? Suddenly, the bones began to vibrate and then move! Do you think Ezekiel jumped backward? I think he did. I would have run! The bones then came together and formed skeletons. Sinews came upon the skeletons, and then flesh covered the sinews. Now, rather than a valley of bones, it was a valley of corpses. It just went from bizarre to morbid. Ezekiel then felt a wind. The wind blew over the corpses, and then into them! The corpses began to breathe! They then sat up and then stood to their feet. God had taken something totally worthless and made it purposeful.

It’s obvious this vision was about Israel. After all, God had just told Ezekiel he would make his Name great again and would cleanse Israel and put his Spirit within her (Ek 36:23-17). Isn’t that what the wind just did? Many have put history to Ezekiel’s vision: the bones represent Israel dispersed throughout the world, the formed skeletons represent the national pride of Israel which still remained in those dispersed which united them as a dispersed nation, the sinews represented the return of Jews to Israel from Russia, Poland, Germany, and central Europe in 1881-1948, the flesh covering the sinews represents the Tribulation period when Jews an Israelis from every nation will gather back to Israel, the wind entering the corpses represents Israel’s national conversion at Christ’s return, and the bodies living and standing to their feet represent Israel in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom. Is this an accurate interpretation? It would seem reasonable. Either way, it was clear God was going to bring about a miracle in Israel’s future and make them his people again.

While this vision was for Ezekiel, God reiterated this message to him and told him to give a visual message to the people. Ezekiel took two sticks (Ek 37:15-23). On one he wrote, “belonging to Judah and all the Israelites associated with him.” On the other, he wrote, “belonging to Joseph and all the Israelites associated with him.” Joseph represented the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two largest tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Ezekiel then joined the two sticks together into one whole. God stated he was going to join Judah and Israel back into one nation (Ek 37:22) by gathering them from wherever they had been scattered. They would no longer, and never again, be two nations. God also stated he would cleanse them and be their God.

Although many Jews did return to Israel from Babylonian captivity by the decree of Cyrus who conquered Babylon (2Ch 36:23), this promise was not completely fulfilled with this return. Not all Jews returned, and it did not include Israelis from the Northern Kingdom, although there were likely a few. Actually, most Jews stays in Babylon. So, what was God referring to?

God gives more information to Ezekiel. He states that the Messiah will rule the people and David will be his prince (Ek 37:24-25). Now, the term Prince is used later in Ezekiel, but this was not used in the same context here. Here, God is calling David both king and prince. Why? David will be the king of Israel and will be subservient to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the King of kings. God states the temple will be restored, everlasting peace will be established, and all nations will know God made Israel holy since his sanctuary will be among them forever (Ek 37:26-28). We know this must be future, even to us, because these things have not yet occurred.

God was giving Ezekiel hope. God was giving Israel hope. Israel’s hope is also our hope. Don’t you want to be part of it: something so grand it is hard to comprehend. Everyone wants to be part of something mind-blowing. You can. It just takes a little faith to put your trust in this coming Messiah and off yourself. Christ did it all for us. Reach out to him. He’s reaching out to you.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens