The Prophecy of the Coming King
Zechariah wrote:
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (Zech 9:9).
Let's look at each element of this prophecy. It is addressed to the Daughter of Zion, the Daughter of Jerusalem, which obviously refers to Israel and the Hebrews, particularly those living in Jerusalem. They are commanded to rejoice greatly and shout in triumph as they behold their King (Heb., melech) coming to them. We know this is none other than their Messiah coming into Jerusalem, because He is righteous (Heb., tsaddı̂yq) and endowed with salvation (Heb., yâsha‛), which cannot be said of any other king.
Furthermore, they would know for certain when this prophecy was fulfilled, because it states exactly what kind of beast He would be riding on. He would not be walking, or riding proudly on a horse, nor even a chariot, but humbly on a donkey. None of the kings of Israel recorded in the Old Testament fulfilled this prophecy, so it was yet future when the prophet Zechariah prophesied it. You may recall that in 1 Kings 1:33, it mentions Solomon riding a mule on the day he was recognized as the new king of Israel around the year 1010 BC. He did this at his father's instruction, and it was one of king David's mules that he rode upon. However, I will give you two reasons why that was not a fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy, which was given around five hundred years later around 520 - 518 BC.
First of all, that was a mule, not a donkey. While we may use these terms interchangeably, they are not the same. "A mule is produced when you breed a male donkey to a female horse, also known as a mare...Mules possess characteristics of both of their parents but are typically sterile and unable to reproduce." 1 Since Solomon rode on a mule, he could not have fulfilled this prophecy precisely, since the prophet said it would be a donkey.
Secondly, the prophet did not say the Messiah would ride upon only one animal, but upon two! He said, "Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." In order for Messiah to fulfill this prophecy, He would have to be mounted simultaneously on both a donkey (Heb., chămôr: a male donkey) and a colt (Heb., ‛ayira: a young donkey or colt, foal), which is a donkey's foal (Heb., bên: son, child, firstborn, foal). If the prophet meant that the King would ride only on a donkey, he would have simply said "a donkey," but he added that he would ride even upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.
This is not a poetic interchange, or an expression using two different terms interchangeably, but a reference to two different animals that the king would ride upon. Zechariah would not have used the Hebrew word chămôr for male donkey if he were referring to a colt. He simply would have used the word ‛ayira for a colt of a donkey. But he used both the words chămôr and ‛ayira, plus he added the word bên to leave no question that one of the animals he would be riding would be a young one or youthful foal. This is similar to the way we call a small cat a kitten and not a cat, and a small dog a puppy, in order to differentiate between the adult and the babies. Therefore, keep in mind that according to Zechariah's prophecy, the Messiah must be riding both a donkey and a colt.
Fulfillment of Zechariah's Prophecy
Now let's look at the amazing, supernatural fulfillment of the prophecy, which is found in all four of the gospels in Matthew 21:1–11, Mark 11:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, and John 12:12–19. The gospels were all written by Jewish authors who all mentioned the colt, but Matthew, who was writing to Jews with an aim to show that Jesus Christ was their Messiah King, mentions both the donkey and the colt. Therefore, I would like to quote Matthew's passage which says:
"When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, "The Lord has need of them," and immediately he will send them.'"
"This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 'Say to the Daughter of Zion, "Behold your king is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden." ' "
"The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord; Hosanna in the highest!' "
"When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, 'Who is this?' And the crowds were saying, 'This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.' " (Mat 21:1-11)
First, Jesus knew in advance exactly where the donkey (Gr., onos) and its colt (Gr., pōlos) would be located, and told his disciples precisely where to find them. Prophets tend to know things like this that they could not know unless God showed them, and they can see things that they would not be able to see unless God enabled them to do so. Jesus was obviously more than a prophet, but He was a prophet (Acts 3:22,23; Deuteronomy 18:15). It would have been impossible for anyone to know exactly where these two animals were without having seen them in advance, unless God showed Him.
Secondly, once they brought the donkey and its colt to the Lord and spread their coats on the two animals, He sat on their coats on top of the two animals. I suppose that he must have sat side-straddling the donkey, with his feet -- as if on a footstool -- resting upon the back of the colt, which was right alongside the donkey. That would be the only way to ride both a donkey and it's colt at the same time, since it would be impossible to easily straddle both animals while wearing a long robe down to your ankles. I challenge anyone else to try this and see if they can do it. I am sure that no other king has ever done this, especially not a king of Israel. Yet Jesus was so relaxed about it and did it so effortlessly that He made it look easy.
Thirdly, in two of the other gospels (Mk 11:2 and Lk 19:30), it mentions the fact that no one had ever ridden this particular donkey, so the Lord was the first one ever to ride it. As you may know, an animal must be taught to allow people to ride on it. It must become accustomed to being ridden, so that it doesn't throw the rider. This takes time, and one would expect the donkey to throw the first one who attempts to ride it, or at least run away, so that the rider would fall off. But this donkey and its colt didn't do that. Rather they allowed the Lord to ride them easily and gracefully, because they were under God's control. Both animals were drawn by God similar to the way that God drew all the animals to Noah and then into the ark (Genesis 7:15), or the way that God sent an angel to block Balaam's donkey from taking the prophet to curse Israel (Numbers 22–24).
Fourthly, of all the animals that the Lord could have chosen for this event, a donkey would be one of the most difficult ones with which to accomplish this. For a donkey does not think like a horse and can often be more challenging to train. Horses respond, donkeys and mules evaluate. Horses are more cooperative and responsive to directions than donkeys. Since donkeys can be more independent, it would normally be more challenging to ride a donkey that has never been ridden and to get it to go exactly where you want it to go, even if you put a halter on it. In fact, it could even result in injury to the rider. This donkey that the Lord rode did not have a halter and had never been ridden, yet it went right down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem with the Lord on its back, as if it had all been rehearsed beforehand. Donkeys don't normally do that, especially not the first time they have ever been ridden. That was supernatural!
Fifthly, not only did this donkey peacefully carry the Lord exactly where He was supposed to go in order to fulfill Zechariah's prophecy, but it walked side-by-side with its colt in perfect unity. The foal walked close enough to the donkey that the disciples could cover both animals with their coats and the Lord could sit on both of them simultaneously. It would have to be supernatural for that to happen and for the two animals to stay together, walking in unison all the way down the hill carrying the Lord into Jerusalem.
Sixth, the spontaneous reaction of the disciples was to put their coats on the animals, so the Lord would not have to ride bear-back on them. They didn't even know until afterwards that this event had fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy.
Seventh, the spontaneous reaction of the crowds of people was to spread their coats on the road for the donkey and colt to walk over as they carried the Lord down the hill. They afforded Him the honor of a king. In fact, Mark's gospel says that others also took palm branches they had cut from the fields and spread them out on the road in front of him (Mk 11:8; Mt 21:8). They also spontaneously rejoiced and shouted in triumph just as Zechariah prophesied they would. As they did, they recognized Him as their coming king who comes in the name of the Lord, as stated in Luke's gospel:
"When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'" (Lk 19:37-38, NIV)
John's gospel says: "They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!' ” (Joh 12:13, NIV).
The Hebrew people know what to do when they recognize their king, in order to acknowledge him as their sovereign ruler. And that is exactly what they did for Jesus on this particular occasion. They did it in one accord as if on cue. This was consistent with the Jewish coronation custom. In Israel, when someone was anointed king, they would publicly proclaim it with great fanfare. For example, when Jehu was anointed as king, they spread their cloaks on the bare steps for him to walk on. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!” (2 Kings 9:13). Likewise, when Solomon was anointed as king, “They sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ And all the people went up after him playing pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.” (1 Kings 1:39-40).
Closing Words
It could not be more clear that the people recognized Jesus as their coming King, the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of David. And the Lord fulfilled it all with such ease. He didn't get anxious about it before hand, hoping everything would go perfectly according to prophecy. He just did it all so gracefully and humbly, because it was ordained by God and it was meant to happen. In doing so, He perfectly fulfilled Zechariah prophecy that was given some five hundred years beforehand. It all happened in God's perfect timing, too, less than a week before they crucified Him on the cross with the inscription above His head written in three languages (Hebrew, Latin and Greek) that identified Him as: "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews" (John 19:19-20).
If you have not yet put your trust and hope in Jesus Christ as your Lord and King, let me invite you to do so today. What are you waiting for? He is the missing piece of the puzzle in your relationship with God. He is righteous and endowed with salvation, as the prophet said. You can find a link in the final section after this article about how to know Him personally. You don't know what you are missing until you meet Jesus Christ personally and come to know Him. You begin by turning from darkness to Him, repenting of your sins, believing that He died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead, then asking Him to forgive you, inviting Him into your heart to take control of your life, and trusting Him to save you. That's what I did over thirty years ago, and my life has never been the same since then.
Recently after I had I spoken on this topic, and shared the points I made above, my oldest daughter Charity wrote a lovely poem that communicates my message beautifully with rhythm and rhyme. It's called Coronation in Jerusalem, and I close my message with these verses that she has written saying:
A lowly man,
The Great I AM,
Descends the olive mount.
O Daughter of Zion,
Your entry widen!
Make a joyful sound!
Divinely drawn,
Crowds gather on
The city’s ancient streets
As if by plan
To hail the man
God sent to set them free.
The Promised One
In flesh had come,
How stirred are hearts within!
Their cloaks they lay
Along the way
And fronds cut just for Him.
He rides a foal
And donkey both.
They walk in sync as one.
The nation’s sign—
The two assigned
To act in unison.
Here comes the Lord,
The One adored,
In one accord, they shout.
Not once rehearsed,
The words that burst
From lips that cried aloud:
“O Son of David,
Long-awaited,
Commissioned by our God,
Hosanna to
None else but you!
The Chosen One we laud!”
Overtaken,
Spirit-shaken,
Prophetic praise spills forth.
The very sight
Of Christ ignites
Such praise unto the Lord.
In days of old
The seer foretold
This well-known, true event.
'Twas all fulfilled
In style and skill,
So gracefully it went.
Footnotes: (1) Animals on Mom.com, Jen Davis.
Attribution notice: Most Scriptures quoted from the Holy Bible NIV copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Other Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, copyright The Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Image from the Public Domain. Coronation in Jerusalem poem by Charity Lacroix taken from Verses to the King, used by permission.
Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Is Jesus God?, Supremacy of Christ, The Sinlessness of Christ, The Son of Man, and Christ's Two Ascensions. I also recommend my daughter Charity's music video called Coronation in Jerusalem. You may also access the Main Directory for this blog, or my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what G-d's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of G-d, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
