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Hosanna!


“Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.(Daniel 9:25)
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)
O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. (Psalm 118:25)
        These are passages I should have shared yesterday. If you went to church, you probably heard about them. Yesterday, the Church celebrated the anniversary of Jesus' riding a donkey into Jerusalem with the masses celebrating all around him, shouting "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." You may have heard that this event was a fulfillment of prophecy - of several prophecies, as it turns out. 
        Not long ago, I shared about the 69 weeks of years from the issuance of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Anointed One. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem fulfilled that prophecy. His riding on a donkey meant that He was entering Jerusalem at peace with its residents. He was not a conqueror but that, too, was a fulfillment of prophecy.
          The third prophecy is the one that required a little research. In the fulfillment of the prophecy, the people were to cry out "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." In the New International Version, at least, there's no passage that uses those words, because they have been translated. "Hosanna," which I tend to think means "praise" or "Hurrah!" or some such actually means "Save!" It is the fulfillment of Psalm 118:25. 
          As I look at the world, this is my prayer, "Hosannah! Hossanah! Save! Save!"  

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