Ezekiel 30:18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt… I shall break there the yokes of Egypt. There are many yokes which are laid on men's shoulders from which they may well wish to be freed; and there is one yoke concerning which no such thought need be cherished for a moment. There is the yoke of - I. HUMAN OPPRESSION. The sad story of the human race is, to a very large extent, the history of human oppression. "Man's inhumanity to man ' may well "make us mourn" as we dwell upon it. And among his various cruelties and wrongs we have to give oppression a prominent place - political, domestic, personal oppression. It includes the denial of the rights of manhood and of womanhood, the exacting of hard and burdensome labor, or of heavy and excessive tribute, or of a dishonoring and hurtful homage, the inflicting of pain and suffering of many kinds. It seems to be in the nature of sin to harden men's hearts against one another, until they not only endure but positively enjoy the sight of the oppression they impose. Ezekiel speaks of" the yokes of Egypt." No doubt that country, in the plenitude of its power, exacted tribute, enforced labor, laid heavy burdens upon many of its own subjects or (as in an earlier time, when Israel was under its heel) on other peoples. But when the Babylonian power came up and subdued it, its hard hold on these had to be relaxed, its yoke was broken in twain. This, in the providence of God, has frequently happened. Power becomes wealthy; wealth leads to luxury and indulgence; indulgence leads to effeminacy and decline; weakness succumbs to some other power that has arisen; and then and thus its "yoke is broken." II. THE SERVITUDE OF SIN. "Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants [slaves] ye are to whom ye obey? Ye were the servants [slaves] of sin" (Romans 6:16, 17). Sin conducts, by sure steps, to spiritual bondage; it lays a hard and heavy yoke upon the soul; it may be that of a grasping selfishness, or of an absorbing worldliness, or of a degrading vice, or of such a fatal habit as that of procrastination. But it is a hard bondage, a cruel yoke, which must be broken if there is to be spiritual liberty and eternal life. God, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, can and does break this deadly yoke. 1. He fills the soul with a sense of shame, and with a holy, renewing sorrow. 2. He leads the awakened soul to a Divine Savior, in whoso love and service the bond is broken. 3. He gives to the seeking, trustful soul the cleansing, liberating power of his Holy Spirit; and thus the yoke is broken and the man is freed. There is another yoke of an entirely different nature; it is in - III. THE SERVICE OF JESUS CHRIST. "Take my yoke," he says; "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." In that which is the service of love and of righteousness there is real liberty and lasting joy. - C. Parallel Verses KJV: At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. |
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