Repairing the Breach in the Kingdom of God - Part Two

BREAKING THE YOKE...

A “yoke” is a pole or bar that two oxen are chained up to so that they can pull a plow in a field. With the strength of the two of them, a field can be plowed very easily. The yoke can become burdensome, though, if it is not supported by both of them. So how does this relate to a marriage? When a man and a woman come together in marriage, they are “yoked” together. They begin their life together by moving forward in plowing out the field of their relationship and purpose together as one, but when they start to disagree on how to plow their field, that is when division can start. One spouse might want to move on to the next row to plow, but the other might not be ready and may start to pull back. Then the other spouse tugs harder, trying to turn them around, but the other spouse may stop dead in their tracks. Then the resistant spouse might start pressing the opposite way on the yoke, moving the plow right off of the field. Then the other spouse may start resisting too by constantly pressing hard on their side of the yoke and trying to make their spouse come their way, back onto the field. They might add other yokes on them to try and force the resistant spouse to stay in line, but the extra yokes become very heavy so that they can’t even move the plow anymore. The resistant spouse may then decide that they don’t want to plow the field anymore and may want to be set free from all of the yokes because they are too heavy for them to bear.

Christians can place burdens on the yoke of their marriage if they try to control the plowing of their field with unloving ways. They might resort to belittling and accusing the other spouse of not doing their part, and they may feel the need to constantly correct them if the plowing of the field isn’t being done the way they think it should. Lack of love and disrespect will cause a married couple to not want to “plow” with each other anymore. This is what has happened in the Church and this is why Zion is divided.

And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. "Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." (Mat 13:11-23 ESV)

Zion started in the same yoke with King Jesus, sowing the seeds of His Kingdom, but a part of her fell out of love with Him and didn’t want to plow His field anymore, so that part of her left and started to plow a field of her own, expecting her lovers to help her plow it, but they didn’t. Instead, they destroyed her field and threatened her life, forcing her to go into hiding. She ran away to other lands but still lives in fear. She hopes one day to come back to her field and her King.

The remaining part of Zion continued to plow along with her King, but then another part of her got upset on how He wanted her to plow His field, so she became disobedient and started pulling on the yoke, making it harder to plow. She grew tired of her struggle, so she left their yoke and found someone else with a plow and field she liked better and started plowing with him. He was nice at first, but then he added more yokes upon her and now the yokes are too heavy for her to bear. Enslaved to her new master, she is forced to sow his wicked seed and to do all the hard labor. She is sick, diseased, and malnourished.

The part of Zion that stayed with King Jesus has continued to divide over the years and now there is only a very small, faithful remnant of herself left. She is very weak, but King Jesus gives her the strength to continue on because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (http://toknowandtolove.blogspot.com/2008/01/kings-garden-part-1.html) She knows the truth that her sisters do not know and she will patiently do the work with her Husband and will wait for their harvest.

Roam around in Jerusalem's streets and see now, and know, and seek in her plazas if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her. And though they say, As Jehovah lives, surely they swear falsely. O Jehovah, are not Your eyes for the truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You consumed them, yet they refused to take correction. They made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return. So I said, Surely they are poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. I will go up for myself to the great men and will speak to them. For they have known the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. Surely these have joined in breaking the yoke; they have torn off the bonds. On account of this a lion out of the forest shall strike them; a wolf of the desert shall destroy them; a leopard is watching over their cities. Everyone who goes out from them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many; their rebellions are multiplied. Why should I pardon you for this? Your sons have forsaken Me and have sworn by No-gods. When I adjured them, they then committed adultery and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot's house. They were like lusty, well fed stallions in the morning, everyone neighing after the wife of his neighbor. Shall I not judge for these things, says Jehovah? And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Go up on her vine rows and destroy, but do not make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been very devious with Me, declares Jehovah. They have lied against Jehovah and said, It is not He; and, No evil shall come on us; and, We shall not see sword or famine. And the prophets shall become wind, and the Word is not in them; so it shall be done to them. So Jehovah God of Hosts says this: Because you spoke this word, behold! I will make My Words fire in your mouth, and these people wood; and it shall consume them. Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, O house of Israel, declares Jehovah. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say. Their quiver is as an open grave; they are all mighty men. (Jer 5:1-16 LITV)

Right now, all the daughters of Zion are under attack by the King of Assyria. All of this has come upon us because we have not joined together in breaking the yoke. King Jesus has allowed these attacks, and will allow more to come in order to get our attention and to turn us back to Him so that He can heal us and bring us back together as one.

King Jesus also wants to protect the daughters of Zion because the King of Babylon is rising in power. The King of Babylon is very deceitful and will seduce the daughters of Zion with a false peace, turning their heart away from King Jesus. The King of Babylon’s ultimate purpose, though, is to take the daughters of Zion captive so that he can kill them.

So how do we repair this division or breach in the Church and our marriages, and how do we break these burdensome yokes? Also, how do we help others escape their captivity? I believe Isaiah wrote about the answer for all these questions:

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed ones go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to break your bread to the hungry, and that you should bring home the wandering poor? When will you see the naked and cover him; and you will not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break out as the dawn, and your health shall spring out quickly; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Jehovah shall gather you. Then you shall call, and Jehovah shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If you take the yoke away from among you, the pointing of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. And Jehovah shall always guide you and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones fat; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. And those who come of you shall build the old ruins; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. (Isa 58:6-12 MKJV)

Let’s focus on our marriages first because marriage is the most important relationship in the Kingdom of God. Summing up these scriptures in Isaiah, I believe that in marriage, we need to be more giving to the needs of our spouses. We need to lovingly lead our spouses back home, those who have wandered off. We need to cover their sins with love. We also need to take a real good look at ourselves to see the truth on how we have actually been behaving and treating our spouses. We need to stop pointing fingers of blame at each other. We need to stop speaking vanity – slandering and criticizing our spouses and proudly telling others how we deserve better. We need to take up the King’s yoke again, and not force our own yokes on each other. We also need to follow this same advice towards our fellow members of the Church.

King Jesus gave us the example that we should follow.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (Joh 3:16 MKJV)

I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf. (Gal 2:20 MKJV)

Therefore be followers of God, as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. For let fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness not be once named among you, as becomes saints, neither baseness, foolish talking, jesting, which are not becoming, but rather giving of thanks. For you know this, that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous one (who is an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. (Eph 5:1-7 MKJV)

So, if God loved His wife so much that He gave His life for her, and we are supposed to follow in His loving ways, imitating Jesus, then why are we giving up on the ones we love and those who we are in covenant with? God never broke His covenant with His wife, but He renewed it with Jesus! He gave life to her dead body and they renewed their marriage vows. She now has the promise of a new, purified body as a virgin Bride when He returns.

"I hate divorce," says the GOD of Israel. GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says, "I hate the violent dismembering of the 'one flesh' of marriage." So watch yourselves. Don't let your guard down. Don't cheat. (Mal 2:16 MSG)

"For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless." (Mal 2:16 ESV)

No one has greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master does. But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you. These things I command you, that you love one another. (Joh 15:13-17 MKJV)

In marriage, we have betrayed the ones we have made vows of love to and that is treacherous. It dishonors God and makes us Christians look like hypocrites. If we want to be a testimony of God’s love, then we need to lay down our lives for our spouses. Our kids need to see this kind of love because they are growing up without it and violence is filling our land.

Divorce affects our children because they become confused on which field they should help plow, so some stay with their mother and some go with their father when they split up. They don’t know the love of King Jesus and they don’t know how to plow His field, so they go off looking for other fields and a plow that they can connect with.

But if the unbelieving one separates, let him be separated. A brother or a sister is not in bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace. For what do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? Or what do you know, O man, whether you shall save your wife? (1Co 7:15-16 MKJV)

"There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked." (Isa 48:22 ESV)

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. (1Co 7:39 ESV)

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. (Rom 7:2-3 ESV)

We are called to peace, but neither Jesus nor any of the other Disciples said that remarriage or divorce would bring peace. A spouse is only free to marry another only after the death of the other spouse. We don’t have to live in a house of bondage, but we do not break our covenant with our spouse. We have made a grave mistake by remarrying and we need to repent of our adultery! Peace only comes from King Jesus when we follow after His ways, obeying his commands, loving each other the way He loves us.

Only God has the authority and right to divorce, to kill, and to take vengeance. God gave Israel a certificate of divorce to test her, just like He did when He let her wander in the wilderness for 40 years (Deut. 8). It was to humble her so that she could see what was in her heart. But God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16) because it covers you with violence and leads to death. And that is what happened to Samaria, after her divorce from God. But even after she left, God still considered Himself married to her and Jerusalem (Jer. 3). God had a better way planned to get the heart of His wife back. He had planned it from the beginning.

God came as Jesus to die for her! That was the only way to release her from the law (Rom. 7) that only produced death in their relationship. He did this so that she could be made new like Him, and so that they could be fully joined together in everyway. True love fulfills the law and Jesus fulfilled it by dying for His wife. There is no greater way to show love than by laying down your life for your friend (John 15:13). A husband and wife are friends, according to scripture.

Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. (Jer 3:20 MKJV)

Here’s a commentary that I found on Jeremiah 3:20 pertaining to the term “husband” and how the scripture shows that it can be equal “friend” –

Keil & Delitzch Commentary of the Old Testament:
But Israel did not meet the expectation. Like a faithless wife from her husband, Israel fell away from its God. The particle of comparison כּאשׁר is omitted before the verb, as in Isa_55:9, cf. Isa_55:10 and Isa_55:11. רע does not precisely mean husband, nor yet paramour, but friend and companion, and so here is equal to wedded husband. בּגד

"You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (Joh 15:14 MRC)

So, if we are to imitate Christ Jesus and walk in love, then divorce is not an option. Christians need to fear God and they need to stop rationalizing ways to justify divorce. Divorce just makes the breach in the Kingdom of God wider. We are commanded to love each other.

These things I command you, that you love one another. (Joh 15:17 MKJV)

And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. (1Jn 3:23 MKJV)

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. (1Jn 4:11 MKJV)

Love has patience, is kind; love is not envious; love is not vain, is not puffed up; does not behave indecently, does not pursue its own things, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. Love quietly covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But if there are prophecies, they will be caused to cease; if tongues, they shall cease; if knowledge, it will be caused to cease. (1Co 13:4-8 LITV)

In our marriages, we are to be a testimony of His love and friendship to others, especially our children. We are to remain faithful until death. God didn’t cast away His wife and covenant with her to go looking for a new nation to make a covenant with. He paid the ultimate price to make His relationship with her new again. He made the way so that she could get closer to Him – joined by His Spirit. He wants her to come back to Him, to His house, and to His city.