Thursday, November 25, 2021

Reflection - Number Our Days - The Yoke

Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 42, "The Yoke", Page 191.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.


Who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best.
PHOTO: Who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best.
- John Milton, "On His Blindness"

There was an occasion on which Judah's king, Zedekiah, and a number of dignitaries from surrounding nations gathered in Jerusalem to plot rebellion against Babylon. (Jeremiah 27:1-15)

Jeremiah the prophet, who was always unpredictable, crashed the party, bearing a heavy wooden yoke on his shoulders and offering this explanation: "'Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live.'" (Jeremiah 27:12)

History proved him right. Those who patiently endured Babylon's yoke lived in Jerusalem in peace and safety; those who resisted lost their lives. (2 Kings 24:1-25:30)

Jeremiah elsewhere said of his own transgressions: "My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand." (Lamentations 1:14)

I think of those who have sinned recklessly in their youth and who now must bear the consequences - an alienated family, a ruined reputation, a sexually transmitted disease. Although the sin itself, if confessed and repented of, has been fully forgiven, the sad consequences of sins may linger on and on.

Have your sins been bound into a yoke that causes great grief? If so, "bow your neck under the yoke" and bear it patiently. Let God determine the time and the terms of the burden you bear and rely on His mercy, remembering that all things, even the dire consequences of your sins, flow out of His wisdom and love.

The yoke may cause great grief, but resistance only leads to greater discomfort. We must endure the hardship of discipline. (Hebrews 12:7) We must learn the lessons of faith and patience that are found in the burden. This, and not escape, leads to "an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:17)

God is not punitive. He disciplines us "for our good, that we may share in his holiness." (Hebrews 12:10) Pain and sorrow become the means by which He frees us from our preoccupation with earthly things and turns our hearts to unseen, eternal realities. He searches into our character and reveals its flaws so that His likeness may grow within us. And thus we come to the end of ourselves that we may share His glory.

Though chastened, we'll not be overwhelmed; though corrected and diminished, God will not "finish [us] off," for He has "more work left to do" on us. (Jeremiah 46:28) And in His time, when His holy work is done, He will lift the burden from our shoulders - in this world or in the next.

In the meantime, we must pray for those we've damaged by our sin, knowing that God can bring good even from the suffering we've inflicted on others.

Finally, we must not grow anxious about those whom God is using to chafe us. They may go beyond His boundaries, as Nebuchadnezzar did, but their time will come. (Jeremiah 27:7) There's no need to quarrel or contend with them, or to take their judgement into our hands. We must leave them to God, the judge of all, and be at peace.

He will judge the world in righteousness
and the people in his truth.
(Psalm 96:13)
 

Who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best.
- John Milton, "On His Blindness"


Who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best.
PHOTO: Who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. - John Milton, "On His Blindness"
iStock by Getty Images/Guliver Photos - Daniel Defoe on the Pillar of Shame, 1862
Picture posted by Valeria Kalcheva, impressio on 26 April 2020 at 19:24

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU8TAt2C7gR5atKeXmyjJuEIKtwX3QBMInc71R5Xa5VOBc2Ba2UXvOUtK7I4Q6qf9lgF7wmqirV5wNdEZe8uBmHPtCUciVpXJqyXy9J51L7ak99J_r91liy7L1U0OV3XdDx0ggpOGml0tfxHbHgick2i0xYzyZU6ARb_FW4ep6oJCCfdA5WX7lraTD=s1067
https://static.dir.bg/uploads/images/2020/04/25/1996227/768x.jpg?_=1587806204
https://impressio.dir.bg/ikoni/bashtata-na-robinzon-kruzo-umira-samoten-presledvan-ot-kreditori



There was an occasion on which Judah's king, Zedekiah, and a number of dignitaries from surrounding nations gathered in Jerusalem to plot rebellion against Babylon. (Jeremiah 27:1-15) [210]

Jeremiah the prophet, who was always unpredictable, crashed the party, bearing a heavy wooden yoke on his shoulders and offering this explanation: "'Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live.'" (Jeremiah 27:12) [211]


Jeremiah the prophet, who was always unpredictable, crashed the party, bearing a heavy wooden yoke on his shoulders and offering this explanation:
PHOTO: Jeremiah the prophet, who was always unpredictable, crashed the party, bearing a heavy wooden yoke on his shoulders and offering this explanation: "'Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live.'" (Jeremiah 27:12)
Picture posted by Art of it
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizoNyRVkw9mmPeFdbasY_siQx0gWZqVo8sBoLeRqvtYJ8LRMEI0MdUUOHAGlCCdfTrKQYIXsB9RbsVOvioTYz8JfMXo-uFX8BkjAdcJIeitR5oyDkbMO-oGXysyzxhltnNKO4kXQwbdOiwVc1AijeJyRr07D7OVcukW-_dSdnfZ3QjSawJr0esQODP=s1053
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b1/4f/01/b14f013f582aa92e3ceedb062531fae1.jpg
https://www.artofit.org/image-gallery/24558760458878274/



History proved him right. Those who patiently endured Babylon's yoke lived in Jerusalem in peace and safety; those who resisted lost their lives. (2 Kings 24:1-25:30) [212]

Jeremiah elsewhere said of his own transgressions: "My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand." (Lamentations 1:14) [213]


Jeremiah elsewhere said of his own transgressions
PHOTO: Jeremiah elsewhere said of his own transgressions: "My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand." (Lamentations 1:14)
Picture posted by Follow Pursue Righteousness on 21 August 2014
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjaHRT9aeF-BD4SMbGZUPniHJGV2FKqEW1uRtnn4_l-vl4mo73V1C0vjRmkGavBepMropN3VKDcaQzw7xLCVEAEMsg1-WbllDd57FsBkJnkw3fZndb1H7-6Xs7v1kBTyQ2TV7HZ12y_DM8nx-lcZyI-lM_lea8X9Ur2sdE4cJTJNV0LbJawL_LPzVrd=s720
https://godfilled.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/jeremiah-50-52-lamentations-1.jpg
https://godfilled.wordpress.com/category/jeremiah/



I think of those who have sinned recklessly in their youth and who now must bear the consequences - an alienated family, a ruined reputation, a sexually transmitted disease. Although the sin itself, if confessed and repented of, has been fully forgiven, the sad consequences of sins may linger on and on.

Have your sins been bound into a yoke that causes great grief? If so, "bow your neck under the yoke" and bear it patiently. Let God determine the time and the terms of the burden you bear and rely on His mercy, remembering that all things, even the dire consequences of your sins, flow out of His wisdom and love. [214]


Have your sins been bound into a yoke that causes great grief?
PHOTO: Have your sins been bound into a yoke that causes great grief? If so, "bow your neck under the yoke" and bear it patiently. Let God determine the time and the terms of the burden you bear and rely on His mercy, remembering that all things, even the dire consequences of your sins, flow out of His wisdom and love.
Picture posted by Adventist Org

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-xAxUpygmTidz3E7X74nytAL3tlCr0tok1xSANvniLV0jKYW_xvXBOFxhy6Y-ZtV39ZKCmrb2kpECLkcpNbhWZesBwixWW9hene4wGw5TOz8jRuLU-bx1RWEOokm5cEGC_ZKMLCFZ-w5x5rhQQ5u2pujPlslllaa2gWFYwKVjdH5SFFH5Xue8RaG3=s795
Jeremiah's_yoke_ERQ415_09 pdf.png
https://absg.adventist.org/pdf.php?file=2015:4Q:ER:PDFs:ERQ415_09.pdf



The yoke may cause great grief, but resistance only leads to greater discomfort. We must endure the hardship of discipline. (Hebrews 12:7) [215] We must learn the lessons of faith and patience that are found in the burden. This, and not escape, leads to "an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:17) [216]

God is not punitive. He disciplines us "for our good, that we may share in his holiness." (Hebrews 12:10) [217] Pain and sorrow become the means by which He frees us from our preoccupation with earthly things and turns our hearts to unseen, eternal realities. He searches into our character and reveals its flaws so that His likeness may grow within us. And thus we come to the end of ourselves that we may share His glory.


God is not punitive.
PHOTO: God is not punitive. He disciplines us "for our good, that we may share in his holiness." (Hebrews 12:10) Pain and sorrow become the means by which He frees us from our preoccupation with earthly things and turns our hearts to unseen, eternal realities. He searches into our character and reveals its flaws so that His likeness may grow within us. And thus we come to the end of ourselves that we may share His glory.
Artwork by Robert Theodore Barrett -
Walking on Water
Picture posted by woodbineframe.net
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http://pm1.narvii.com/7041/61727d3a3dcc1af28fd3fc8e2ea86f740d85f56br1-1404-1825v2_uhq.jpg
https://www.woodbinefarms.net/christ-figure



Though chastened, we'll not be overwhelmed; though corrected and diminished, God will not "finish [us] off," for He has "more work left to do" on us. (Jeremiah 46:28) [218] And in His time, when His holy work is done, He will lift the burden from our shoulders - in this world or in the next.

In the meantime, we must pray for those we've damaged by our sin, knowing that God can bring good even from the suffering we've inflicted on others.


In the meantime, we must pray for those we've damaged by our sin, knowing that God can bring good even from the suffering we've inflicted on others.
PHOTO: In the meantime, we must pray for those we've damaged by our sin, knowing that God can bring good even from the suffering we've inflicted on others.
Picture posted by Heart 2 Heart on Thursday, 21 April 2016

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiySQu1TLJyNBiJTOl65C3wN3-IhizPew5mucq1DZqq8URQcexm1zuJVbIl0YOJVnWPvc6mbnIRuVsolQOnbBGi9HdpISfSqOk0Dg0sWiBNYZSvA4GwI8_GwRyyVKoGcnRFy1t70pjZOKFlDsAYmZ2tNDZPU0kWZki9-HF8AdyHk945JAxCxXmhgxbv=s1280
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNHUo8Mo8F0c_Obfo-SAO_SbB5622Q0VZrfKRgnNj2dsYFd770MD4m1gMwsjssAAmohMHdJ3R5wELhl8Nqazg_rhwHc1ieRWsRf5P9cJo7KNaZFFO6imzh0x3hrHCdQ98ggFcpIqirUs/s1600/Worship+in+Heaven..png
http://godsheart-heart2heart.blogspot.com/2016/04/is-worship-big-part-of-your-life.html



Finally, we must not grow anxious about those whom God is using to chafe us. They may go beyond His boundaries, as Nebuchadnezzar did, but their time will come. (Jeremiah 27:7) [219] There's no need to quarrel or contend with them, or to take their judgement into our hands. We must leave them to God, the judge of all, and be at peace.

He will judge the world in righteousness
and the people in his truth.
(Psalm 96:13) [220]


Finally, we must not grow anxious about those whom God is using to chafe us.
PHOTO: Finally, we must not grow anxious about those whom God is using to chafe us. They may go beyond His boundaries, as Nebuchadnezzar did, but their time will come. (Jeremiah 27:7) There's no need to quarrel or contend with them, or to take their judgement into our hands. We must leave them to God, the judge of all, and be at peace.
Picture posted by Shutterstock
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, We learn from Jeremiah the prophet during an occasion on which Judah's king, Zedekiah, and a number of dignitaries from surrounding nations gathered in Jerusalem to plot rebellion against Babylon.

Jeremiah the prophet, who was always unpredictable, crashed the party, bearing a heavy wooden yoke on his shoulders and offering this explanation: 'Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live.'

History proved him right. Those who patiently endured Babylon's yoke lived in Jerusalem in peace and safety; those who resisted lost their lives.

Jeremiah elsewhere said of his own transgressions: ‘My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand.’

Lord, we pray for your help. We who have sinned recklessly in our youth are able to bear the consequences now - an alienated family, a ruined reputation, a sexually transmitted disease. Although the sin itself, if confessed and repented of, has been fully forgiven, the sad consequences of sins may linger on and on.

Lord, when our sins have been bound into a yoke that causes great grief, help us to ‘bow our neck under the yoke’ and bear it patiently. May God determine the time and the terms of the burden we bear and rely on His mercy, remembering that all things, even the dire consequences of our sins, flow out of His wisdom and love.

The yoke may cause great grief, but resistance only leads to greater discomfort. Help us to endure the hardship of discipline. Help us to learn the lessons of faith and patience that are found in the burden. Because this, and not escape, leads to ‘an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.’

We learn that God is not punitive. He disciplines us ‘for our good, that we may share in his holiness.’ Pain and sorrow become the means by which He frees us from our preoccupation with earthly things and turns our hearts to unseen, eternal realities. He searches into our character and reveals its flaws so that His likeness may grow within us. And thus we come to the end of ourselves that we may share His glory.

We learn too, that though chastened, we'll not be overwhelmed; though corrected and diminished, God will not ‘finish us off,’ for He has ‘more work left to do’ on us. And in His time, when His holy work is done, He will lift the burden from our shoulders - in this world or in the next.

In the meantime, help us to pray for those we've damaged by our sin, knowing that God can bring good even from the suffering we've inflicted on others.

We pray for help not to grow anxious about those whom God is using to chafe us. They may go beyond His boundaries, as Nebuchadnezzar did, but their time will come. There's no need to quarrel or contend with them, or to take their judgement into our hands. Help us to leave them to God, the judge of all, and be at peace.

He will judge the world in righteousness and the people in His truth.

Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!
"
Picture posted by Shutterstock



"Faithful to the end", A Preacher's Exposition of 2 Timothy, @ 2014 by Robert M. Solomon

'Faithful to the end', A Preacher's Exposition of 2 Timothy, @ 2014 by Robert M. Solomon<br>
Reflection - Faithful to the end (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2017/06/reflection-faithful-to-end-links.html


"Finding rest for the soul" Responding to Jesus' Invitation in Matthew 11:28-29, ©
2016 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2018/10/reflection-finding-rest-for-soul-links.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, ©
2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-i.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, ©
2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-iv.html
 


"Songs of Christmas", The Stories and Significance of 20 Well-Loved Carols, ©
2018 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020
Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020

https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/04/reflection-songs-of-christmas-links.html
 

"Growing Old Gracefully", Following Jesus to the End, © 2019 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part.html
 

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part_9.html
 

"Teach Us to Number Our Days", © 2008 by David Roper

Reflection - Number Our Days, Chapter 1 - 40 (Links), posted on Tuesday, 16 November 2021
Reflection - Number Our Days, Chapter 1 - 40 (Links), posted on Tuesday, 16 November 2021
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/11/reflection-number-our-days-chapter-1-40.html
 


Reference
[1] From "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Copyright © 2008 by David Roper, ISBN 978-981-11-7184-0, Chapter 42, "The Yoke", Page 191-194.

[210] Read Jeremiah 27:1-15.

[211] Jeremiah 27:12. Jeremiah's action was not abstract symbolism. A bronze relief form Assyria depicts naked prisoners with their necks tightly fastened in a wooden yoke.

[212] You can read the record in 2 Kings 24:1-25:30.

[213] Lamentations 1:14

[214] C. S. Lewis learned that "the hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation" (Suprised by Joy).

[215] Hebrews 12:7

[216] 2 Corinthians 4:17

[217] Hebrews 12:10

[218] Jeremiah 46:28 The message

[219] Jeremiah 27:7

[220] Psalm 96:13


Links


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2 Corinthians 4:17 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A17&version=NIV

2 Kings 24:1-25:30 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+24%3A1-25%3A30&version=NIV

Hebrews 12:7 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12%3A7&version=NIV

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Jeremiah 27:1-15 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+27%3A1-15&version=NIV

Jeremiah 27:7 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+27%3A7&version=NIV

Jeremiah 27:12 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+27%3A12&version=NIV

Jeremiah 46:28 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+46%3A28&version=NIV

Lamentations 1:14 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lamentations+1%3A14&version=NIV

Matthew 11:28-29 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A28-29&version=NIV

Psalm 96:13 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+96%3A13&version=NIV