Now we come to the heart of my burden in this message. Verse 11 says, "Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine." We all must bind our donkey to the vine. I hope that this saying will become a proverb among us. In the Bible a donkey is an animal used for transportation. The prophet Balaam traveled by means of a donkey (Num. 22:22). When the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem shortly before His crucifixion, He also rode upon a donkey (Matt. 21:5). According to the Bible, a donkey is always used for traveling toward a goal. To tie a donkey to something indicates that the journey is over, that you have arrived at your destination, and that you have reached your goal. To bind a donkey is not a negative thing. Any donkey would be happy to be bound to a vine. A donkey's labor is to travel to a certain destination with a certain goal. What a meaningful picture we have in 49:11! All the worldly people today are donkeys traveling, striving, laboring, and journeying to reach their goal. Without one exception, all Christians are also journeying, striving, and laboring donkeys. I certainly used to be like this when I was young. I was striving to overcome sin with the goal of one day becoming an overcomer. That was my destination, my goal. I continued my striving until the day I saw the vision of binding my donkey to the vine. I saw that there was no need for me to labor or travel to reach my destination because I had already come to my destination and I had already reached my goal. Our destination is the vine, the living Christ who is full of life. We must bind our donkey to this vine. This means that we must cease our labor and our striving and rest in Christ, the living One.
Suppose a brother tells you of his desire to be holy. Holiness is his goal, and the holy country is his destination. He tells you that he is striving and endeavoring to reach this goal; he is laboring to be filled with holiness and to dwell in the holy country. What would you say to this brother? You should say, "Brother, bind your donkey to the vine. There is no need for you to labor and strive to reach the goal of holiness. Christ is here. He is the vine, the source of life. Christ is so rich in life. Bind your donkey to Him. This means that you must cease your striving and rest in the rich, living Christ."
Suppose another brother, recently married, says to you, "Brother, as one in the Lord's recovery, I want to live a victorious life. My wife is a great test to me. Day and night I am striving to keep from being angry with her. My goal is never to lose my temper with my wife." What would you say to this brother? Firstly, you must be one who has had the experience of binding your donkey to the vine. After you have experienced this yourself, others may come to you with their problems. When they do, you should say, "You need to bind your donkey to the vine. Cease from your labor and your striving. There is no need for you to strive, because Christ has won the victory. The scepter, the kingship, and the kingdom all belong to Him. You simply need to rest in Him as the vine." How often have you heard that you must cease from your striving and simply rest in Christ, the source of life? I believe that many of us have done this. But I hope that in the recovery we shall have a new proverb to help us in this matter: Bind your donkey to the vine. This proverb is a proverb of rest. Sisters, why are you still striving? You need to bind your donkey to the vine. People used to bind their donkeys to stakes. But we do not bind our donkey to a lifeless stake; we bind it to a vine that is full of life. Just recently I have seen a clear vision concerning this matter. However, hundreds of times in the past I bound my donkey to the vine. I stopped my journeying, ceased my striving, gave up my goal, and forgot my destination. I could give up my goal because I had already reached it, and I could forget my destination because I had already arrived at it. Holiness is Christ. The power to overcome our problems with our wives is also Christ. We are already in Christ. How foolish it is to continue journeying, striving, and endeavoring! All such labor is vain. When I saw this vision, I bound my donkey to the vine.
When many young brothers first come into the church life, they are striving donkeys. In the meetings they even compete with the others. But whenever you strive, endeavor, and compete, you are not at rest. Instead of striving and competing, you should tie your donkey to the vine, which is Christ, the source of life, the One who is full of life. Christ is not only the vine, but even the choice vine, the very choice source of life. We must stop our labor and rest in Him.
Now we must see how to bind our donkey to the vine. In gaining the victory over the enemy, Christ is the lion. But to us He is the vine for our satisfaction and rest. It is through His victory that He can be the vine. If Christ had never won the victory, He could never be the vine to us. But because the victory is Christ's, He is our vine full of life. Thus, we must cease our labor and be tied to Him and rest in Him.
As some read this message, they may think that I have gone too far in interpreting these figures to apply to Christ. But if you do not interpret verse 11 in this way, how do you interpret it? What does it mean to bind your donkey to the vine? Some may say that this is a reference to the riches of the tribe of Judah, that it is a figure showing that the tribe of Judah was so full of wine that even the laboring donkeys could be bound to the vine. This is correct. But remember that verse 11 is also a picture and an illustration. We have seen that according to Revelation 5:5 Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Based upon the principle of interpreting the lion in verse 9 as the victorious Christ, we may say that the significance of binding our donkey to the vine is that we cease our labor at Christ who is the source of life. This is not an imaginative interpretation. It is a proper, genuine, and sound interpretation according to the principle of the Bible. We thank the Lord for giving us this proper interpretation. Hallelujah, we have the vine to which we can bind our donkey! Are you still laboring? Are you still striving and journeying to reach your goal? Even the young ones among us must say, "Praise the Lord! I don't need to labor, strive, or journey. I simply need to bind my donkey to the vine."