Surrender a Heavy Yolk
October 15 Jeremiah 26:1-27:22
Object Lessons That Demand Obedience
SURRENDER A HEAVY YOKE
“The battle rages on. As storms and tempests roar. We cannot win this fight, inside our rebel hearts. We’re laying down our weapons now. We raise our WHITE FLAG. We surrender all to You, all for you.” (White Flag, Chris Tomlin)
The message in today’s reading is “SURRENDER”!
Unfortunately, none of the people of Judah want to hear or obey the message from Jeremiah.
The nation of Israel has received many doomsday messages… Both then and now!
Prophets make a lot of money proclaiming the destruction of God’s people. It is kind of like the Jews were the teacher’s pet and everyone wants to “bring them down to size”, but not Jeremiah. In fact, he doesn’t fit this profile AT ALL!
He was young, humble, and one of them! He did not get to marry or have a family, and he was persecuted, whipped, and thrown in prison for preaching a message of repentance and upcoming captivity. They HATED him! Even the religious leaders HATED him!
Face it, Jeremiah was “Bad for Business” and they were making money at the Temple Gates! It’s not that people weren’t “coming to church”, so to speak! They were just keeping ALL their options, OPEN… REAL OPEN! They gave a meager bit to God and the rest to their gods. They were people of CHOICE who were living life according to the old song, “I did it MY WAY”.
This morning I walked past the TV and heard a man talking about how they need to put out more “HORROR MOVIES”. (Oh yea, that’s what we need!) He was a scientist and is behind movies about MASS DESTRUCTION. He wants to show the world how global warming and other things can bring the entire nation down. So, he will “scare them to death” so that they will listen and follow science, because “Science is the only thing that can save us.”
Did you catch that? That is IDOLATRY. We don’t call it Baal; we call it Science. The worship of Baal was worship of Intellect. The name has changed but the very same battle is going on right now!
We read about famine, wars such as Ukraine, massive disease outbreaks like COVID, and major disasters such as hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. Then there are scandals, political unrest, and the nightly news. We are just plain ol’ tired to the bone!
Can we just turn it ALL off already? That is how Jeremiah felt!
Perhaps you get tired of READING THIS BOOK of the Bible. Jeremiah was exhausted from LIVING THE STORY in this book!
Listen to what God says to him and then what he calls him to do…“If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5)
The low-down of what God is saying is, “You’re telling me!”
Do you think you’re weary of these people? You don’t see the half of it! You don’t know how many chances I have given them, how faithful I have been over and over again. You don’t know how many prophets, kings, and miracles I have sent them. However, they prefer to “sell their soul” to idols. In fact, they prefer to kill their own children by offering them to idols. So, the time is coming to a close on my patience…
Now they will be ruled by the very IDOLS they worship. It is TOUGH LOVE. Very TOUGH!
So, the new object lesson that God sends to the people is a YOKE and Jeremiah is going to be the one to wear this heavy leather yoke fit for an animal.
They say that this occurred around 593 B.C. and Nebuchadnezzar had already invaded Judah once and taken many captives. God’s people want to fight their ungodly enemy, but instead, Jeremiah is telling them to Repent and Submit. This goes against their “Grain” (or "STRAW" as the case may be).
But listen to the backstory, “Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals under his control. All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson UNTIL his TIME IS UP. Then many nations and great kings will conquer and rule over Babylon. So you must SUBMIT to Babylon’s king and SERVE HIM; put your neck under Babylon’s YOKE” (Jer. 27:6-8)
Jeremiah is wearing the YOKE as an Obedience OBJECT LESSON.
However, the real object lesson is going to be the nation of Jerusalem, “And I will make Jerusalem an OBJECT OF CURSING in every nation on earth.” (26:6)
There is no HEAVIER YOKE than the bondage of sin and the resulting captivity. The message for all of God’s people today is simply the very same, “SURRENDER”
“We raise our WHITE FLAG. We SURRENDER all to YOU, all for YOU…” (White Flag, Tomlin)
