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Zechariah 9 (ESV)

The Coming King of Zion

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

 

REFLECTION:

  • God foretold that a king would come among the people and he has four characteristics (9):
    1. He executes righteousness (9).
    2. Delivering salvation (9) – In the book of Isaiah, “righteousness” and “salvation” are often used together, and “righteousness” means “victory”.
    3. He is coming in humility (9) – humility means poverty and being oppressed.
    4. Riding on a donkey’s foal (9) – the donkey’s foal means “peace”. This King of Zion comes, destroys chariots and horses, and rules in humility and peace (10).
  • The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey (cf. Matthew 21:1-11) was foretold by prophet Zechariah more than 500 years ago (9). As Jesus’ first coming to earth fulfilled this prophecy, the prophecy of His second coming will also be fulfilled. We need to always be ready to wait for Jesus to come again, because He will come back anytime!
  • Ephraim is another name for the northern kingdom of Israel (10). There are two mountains there. From a distance, the two mountains seem to be connected, but from a close look, there is a big valley in the middle. They are actually very far apart. Many Old Testament prophecies speak of this situation. Verse 9 clearly points to the first coming of Christ, and verse 10 refers to His second coming. At that time all nations will obey Christ, and He will reign over the world, every knee will bow down to Christ, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord (see Philippians 2:9-10)!

 

PRAYER:

Thank God for giving us His only Son, the Lord Jesus, a humble King who came to do justice and salvation, but endured poverty and oppression for my sins, and was nailed to the cross. One day the Lord Jesus will come again, and every knee will bow down to Christ, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

 

HYMN:

He Is Lord – youtu.be/wBgESXUwKzY