*Please email reachus@peterwyns with questions Burning the Yoke Known or unknown, many people have a yoke to contend with. It is a heavy burden, yet one’s yoke may not be recognized until the challenges of life press in. A yoke is an agricultural instrument that hangs on the neck and shoulders of an animal. It is usually made of wood and once in place an animal is controlled and steered by it. The Bible teaches that a negative, spiritual yoke can be on a person’s neck. It may be there because of sin, oppression, abuse, curses or by a willful choice of the one who bears it. A yoke may be a sickness, an addiction, an unequal joining with a person or group, an oppressive environment, or a demonic stronghold. If it is one of these, it must be broken off and the bearer set free. The other kind of yoke mentioned in the Bible is the yoke of the Lord. This yoke is never put on by someone else. We alone, choose to put the yoke of the Lord on us. Then we come under the control and steering of the Holy Spirit and we are led by Him. The first mention of the word yoke in scripture is one on the neck of a person, not an animal. Isaac prophesied over Esau saying that Jacob would rule over him. “You will serve your brother, but when you are grown restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.” Ge. 27:40 Chosen or forced, a yoke means servitude and sometimes slavery. The second place that the word yoke is mentioned in the Bible touches the subject of slavery. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.” Lev. 26:13 The Israelites had a yoke of slavery around their necks. They were ruled by the Egyptians and were not free men. The Lord broke the bars of the yoke that enslaved them so they could walk in freedom. Then they were able to walk with their heads held high. When a yoke is removed, people will find dignity and value. I remember the teen-aged boy who came to church. He was a slave to a spirit of rejection and depression. He had such a yoke of abuse on him that when he shook someone’s hand he could not look at them. Although he was 6 ft. 4, he was too shy to speak and he avoided all contact with people. His angry father had terrorized the home with such yelling and violence that the boy stayed in his bedroom and only came out when absolutely necessary. He had a debilitating yoke on him that had been placed there by his father. We took him into our home, and within a few months, the yoke of slavery was completely broken off of his neck and he became a lovely man of God and a wonderful minister of the Gospel. Soon, he could hold his head up high. Recently, in Bulgaria, we ministered to a pastor’s wife who had coughed, non-stop for 7 months. She was under attack from a spirit of witchcraft. A powerfull curse was killing her. She was and is a fantastic woman of God, but like Job, the enemy was attacking her. The doctors could not help her and bit by bit, her body was shutting down. She had a devastating yoke of bondage on her and she was unable to remove it. On the last day of our conference we prayed for her and the yoke was broken off. She stopped coughing immediately and a year later we saw her totally healed and absolutely radiant in the Lord. You can be free from any yoke of slavery. That is God’s plan for you. The Lord told Elijah to anoint Elisha to be the next prophet, in his place. Elisha was farming, but he knew there was a call of God on his life. When Elijah found him, he was in charge of 12 teams of oxen. The call of God was not convenient; he was a manager in a good position. God, nevertheless, called and he knew what to do; he sacrificed his oxen and burned his yoke. He was a servant under a farmer’s yoke, but he let go of that yoke. He turned away from that which held him back from the purposes of God. The Lord will give you the ability to burn some of the yokes that hold you back. You will have to make choices if you want your freedom and your higher calling. Then, you take on the Lord’s yoke. “Come to me, all who are wearied and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Mt. 11:28, 29. There may be more than one yoke that you will have to burn as you walk with the Lord, but it is your act of obedience that opens the doors for you to go to the next level. You must take on the learning yoke. The Lord invites you to take His yoke upon you so that you can learn of Him. His yoke is the learning yoke. He says His yoke is easy and light. It does not feel like that at first but the more we stop pulling against the yoke the more we discover that His yoke is real easy and His burden is very light. We learn to trust in Him and find our Sabbath. Presently, He is teaching me more about the healing gift. I have been struggling with some personal health issues and I know the Lord is behind it, to train me. He is healing me and I am learning to listen more acutely, obey more quickly and trust more deeply. I love the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and I love the relationship that the Father has with me as a son. All of my training will make me a better minister. In scripture, the yoke that controls and terrorizes people is mentioned much more than the yoke that is used for farming. The yoke came upon Israel from other nations who attacked and oppressed them. Other biblical examples of spiritual yokes include the yoke of witchcraft, tyranny and poverty. After taking on the yoke of the Lord, we are exhorted to walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit so that we will not return and once again come under a yoke of slavery. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm ... do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1 Once we take on the Lord’s yoke, we are called to break the oppressive yokes that hang around the necks of others. I love the emphasis God gives us concerning the poor. “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and ... your healing will quickly come … the Lord will be your rear guard.” Isa. 58:6-8 It is true that everyone is under some kind of yoke, even those who claim independence and autonomy. All of us serve someone. Burn the inappropriate yokes if you can, and have others minister for you when you cannot do it yourself. Then, take the Lord’s yoke, the learning yoke and let Him teach you how to break the yoke from the necks of the poor and the oppressed. Then your healing will spring forth and His light will go before you.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 14:13:01 +0000
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