“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. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations. His rules shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.”
– Zechariah 9:9–10
Are these minor prophets not awesome? Did you hear this description? See this picture in your mind, of a king coming, humble and mounted on a donkey?
Zechariah 9:9–10 Shows Us God’s Plan to Bring Peace to the Nations
This is prophecy about Jesus fulfilled in his entrance into Jerusalem. Shout aloud O daughter of Jerusalem. Jesus comes into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. This is the picture of your king, the king of the universe, God in the flesh, coming with righteousness and salvation. That’s what He’s bringing with Him. This picture of Jesus.
And then verse 10, “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations.” The picture there. No more war, no more conflict. Peace for all the nations. There’s a king who has power to bring peace to all the nations, and His rule shall be from sea to sea. In other words, over the whole earth, from the river to the ends of the earth. No more war, only peace among the nations, ultimately when this king comes back.
Zechariah 9:9–10 Shows Us God’s Plan to End Human Conflicts Forever
So we pray, in light of Zechariah 9:9–10, oh God, praise you for sending Jesus the king. For coming, Lord Jesus, with righteousness and salvation. For riding a donkey into Jerusalem and days later being crucified for our sins, for our rebellion, for the judgment we deserve. We rejoice greatly. We shout loudly. All glory be to your name, Jesus our king. We praise you in a fresh way today with fresh words today, and we’ll sing your praises for all of eternity. There’s no one like you. We praise, honor, fear, glorify, we love you as our king. We love your righteousness and your salvation.
And we pray, come Lord Jesus, come back quickly. We pray for the day when you shall break the battle bow, cut off the chariot and the warhorse, and speak peace to all the nations. God, we want a world where there’s no more war. We want a war where there’s no more conflict. We pray today for the end to wars, for the end to war in Ukraine and Russia. God for your mercy, for your grace, over Ukraine and Russia and Yemen amidst civil war there.
Praying for the Socotran People
As we were praying for Yemeni Arabs yesterday on this podcast, and we pray today for the Socotran people of Yemen, also caught in the middle of this civil war. God, we pray for your grace and your mercy over them. We pray for peace in Yemen. Pray for peace in the Middle East. We pray for peace in Ukraine and Russia.
And we pray for the day when you will speak peace to all the nations, and your rule shall be from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth. We can’t wait. We can’t wait, Lord Jesus. Bring it about, we pray. And we pray you would use our lives to bring that about, to bring peace, even into people’s lives around us today as we proclaim the king who is righteous and who came with salvation. God, help us to faithfully, boldly, compassionately share the gospel, King Jesus, with somebody today.
And God, we pray that you would use our lives, our resources, our prayers, even now, for the spread of your peace in Jesus among the nations, for the spread of your righteous rule in the hearts of men and women and children among the nations, as we long for the day when the ends of the earth are experiencing your righteous, peaceful rule and reign.
We pray all of this in light of your word in Zechariah 9: 9–10. We love your word and we pray in light of it according to it, in Jesus name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
