Day 235

Wearing the Yoke

Read: Jeremiah 26-28

The priests and the prophets decide to kill Jeremiah, but the princes come to his aid. Not so fortunate was Uriah, another prophet with a message similar to that of Jeremiah. They killed him. One is reminded of the time just before the Reformation. Hus was burned at the stake, but Luther, proclaiming the same message, survived because the German princes protected him.

Now Jeremiah is commanded once again to use visual aids. He wears a yoke, symbolizing the fact that Judah and the nearby nations will soon be brought under the yoke of Babylon. The false prophet Hananiah comes with a different message, saying that God will break the yoke of Babylon within two years. To underline his message, he breaks the yoke Jeremiah is wearing. Jeremiah’s response to this is that the Lord says he will replace this wood yoke, which Hananiah has broken, with an iron one. Jeremiah further predicts that Hananiah will die within the year and he does.

We must make our message clear and vivid. The current use of various visual aids in the educational program of the church is an attempt to do just that.

The yoke reminds us of the words of Jesus that we are to take his yoke upon us because it is light. The yoke controlled the direction of the oxen; so also we are to surrender to the lordship of Christ. His yoke is light compared to the legalism of the Pharisees.

PRAYER
Father, give us wisdom to use methods which will make the message of Christ clear. In his name. Amen.