Palm Sunday Pastor Bruce of our local Assembly of God Church talked about the donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. First a little background.
Daniel 9:25, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”
This was a timeline brought to Daniel by the angel Gabriel; from the time Nehemiah was sent to Judah to rebuild the walls until The Triumphal Entry and when the “Messiah be cut off.”
Jesus sent two disciples to find a tethered donkey, and a colt with her and bring them to Jesus. If the owner asked why, they were to explain that the Lord needed the animals. Jesus would ride into Jerusalem to the cheering of the crowd as they spread palms before him.
Matthew 21:5, “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” This was in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
Pastor Bruce’s points concerning the colt:
1. Jesus choose the younger colt
a. It was not brainwashed
b. It was ready to be used
2. The colt was prophesied {Zechariah 9:9)
a. Are we, like the colt, the generation to fulfill prophecy?
Joel 2:28-29, “28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”
3. The colt had to be loosed, men had him tied up
a. Like the colt we are too often tied up by the cares and expectation of the world. We need to be set free (set aside) to follow Jesus.
b. Lesson learned, don't let the world (fresh) tie us up.
4. The colt was tied up, but Jesus knew where he was.
a. Jesus unties us as we accept His gift of grace, confess our sins, and repent.
b. The colt obeyed Jesus
c. Jesus turned Jerusalem upside down.
5. More lessons learned.
a. If God can use the colt of a donkey He can surely use us.
b. The colt received no recognition, nor should we, it’s all about Jesus.
As an aside, there is another donkey, a talking donkey, mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Numbers. Balaam was a soothsayer, a “prophet for profit,” for hire. He agreed to use his ability contrary to God’s will.
Balak, king of the Moabites, feared the Israeli so he sent messengers to Balaam and asked him to curse Israeli. God intervened. Numbers 22:12, "And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed."
At first Balaam refused to curse Israel and eventually traveled to Moab but not until after a conversation with his donkey. Numbers 22:28, “And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?” Numbers 22:31, “Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head and fell flat on his face.”
Balaam did suggest a way for Balak to corrupt Israel through the flesh. However, there was a final blessing, Numbers 24:17, “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.:
There is an earlier reference to a scepter, Genesis 49:10, “The sceptre (H7626) shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (H7886) come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
H7626, to branch off; a scion, that is, (literally) a stick (for punishing, writing, fighting, ruling, walking, etc.) or (figuratively) a clan: - X correction, dart, rod, sceptre, staff, tribe.
H7886, Shiloh, an epithet of the Messiah: - Shiloh.
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