The Yoke

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

in Jewish culture, the word “yoke” meant a teacher’s way of observance, how they interpreted and taught Torah law.

The scribes and Pharisees had added hedges and traditions to the law. They made  some of the laws more strict and others they relaxed and made less demanding. 

Matthew 23:Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.

27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.

This explains what Yeshua meant when he said my yoke is easy and my burden is light. He taught the Law as it was written in the Torah without adding unnecessary rules and traditions.  Contrary to what most of us were taught, the Law of Moses, the Torah, is not impossible or even too difficult. YHVH himself said so. 

Deuteronomy 30:11 “This commandment I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote.12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 For the thing is very near you – it is in your mouth and in your mind so that you can do it.

Compare this to what Paul taught,

Galatians 4:21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise. 24 These things may be treated as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. 2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all! 3 And I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!

Paul is literally saying that those that obey God’s Law are the children of the bond woman! He says that those that disobey God’s Law are the children of Abraham and Sarah and the children of promise. How absurd! What does Paul think Yeshua set us free from? I personally don’t want to be set free from the blessings and promises that I become a recipient of due to obedience. 

Deuteronomy 30:16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

Joshua 1:8  I am the Lord your God who brought you out Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

This is an example of the upside down thinking of Paul and those that follow him. The Law is a blessing, not a punishment. The Law is for our benefit. It is not punitive. It is not a difficult burden. Yeshua never said  he came to abolish the Law. He taught that the Law would be in effect until “all things are fulfilled”. He also said that anyone that relaxed even one of the least of the commandments would be called least by those in the kingdom of heaven. 

The Christian churches have abandoned YHVH’s Law. They have chosen Paul over Yeshua. Paul’s teachings have supplanted the teachings of Moses, the prophets and Yeshua himself. They have, by so doing, abandoned the promises and blessings that were given to those that obey. Are you confused as to why your prayers aren’t being answered?

Proverbs 28:9 One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.

Take Yeshua’s yoke upon yourself. It is easy it is YHVH’s instructions and it brings great blessings to those that choose to accept that yoke.