Proclaimer Blog
Duh! It’s a donkey
Been reading Zechariah 9.9-10 this morning:
9 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. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River[a] to the ends of the earth.
What's the significance of the donkey? This is a prophecy, of course, of the Triumphal Entry (as Matthew makes clear in Matt. 21). I've heard sermons which carefully explain that the donkey is a symbol of humility.
But that is worthy of an entry in the Donster's Exegetical Fallacies. The donkey was certainly the mode of transport of the rich and famous (see, for example, Judges 12.14). Poor people walked. The point of the donkey is this – it's not a war animal. The coming of the King is to usher in a reign of peace. A warrior King would have ridden a war horse. That much is made clear in the verse that follows. The King who comes on a donkey will remove the chariots, warhorses and battle bows – they simply will have no need of them in the kingdom of peace.
Of course this King comes humbly too (as verse 9 says, not only is he riding on a donkey, is is also lowly, compare the hymn in Philippians 2). But the donkey indicates a reign of peace. And that is the kind of King I want!