Jeremiah 27:2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck
I don’t know if you watched the rocket launch and retrieval of the Musk rocket in the fall of 2024, but it was amazing. The rocket went up into some kind of orbit, then returned to earth, not crashing into the ocean, but reversing course and reducing jet power until it came down to rest in the cradle from which it was launched. There were opportunities for it to go left or right, to explode or implode, but all that incredible power was controlled and constrained. It not only launched the rocket, but landed it again safely. All of us live under constraints, and if we are going to land safely, we need to think about the constraints under which we live.
There are all kinds of constraints, mental, physical, financial, geographical. That is hard to hear, and we are living in a country where we pride ourselves on throwing off all constraints. The idea is that if you can believe it, you can achieve it. I’m thankful for a country where we can live up to our God-given potential, but if we mean that we can do whatever we want to do simply because we want to do it, that is a pipe dream; it is not honest, clear, or true. If you think you can fly and jump off a building flapping your arms, what is going to happen? You can believe whatever you choose, but you are going to drop to the ground like a brick because there is a constraint called gravity.
God talks about constraints in Jeremiah 27. Verse 2 says, “Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck.” A bond constrains and shackles you. A yoke is the same thing for an ox or pair of oxen, where two animals are constrained to walk together. They may wish to walk to the right or left or to stop, but they can’t. They are yoked together. It is energy that is harnessed and directed. There is no direction in life if there is no constraint by God to curb what is wrong and to guide in what is right. What you learn as you read Jeremiah 27 is that freedom is accepting the constraints that God gives you. None of us naturally likes restraints, but all of us need them and benefit from the right ones.
First, everyone has restraints. Here is a child in a car seat. Does the child like that car seat? No! When the child is older, he doesn’t like the constraints of waiting in line at the DMV. When he is a little older, he does not like speed limits constrained upon him by law. Everyone has constraints. In Jeremiah 27:3 God tells Jeremiah to make bonds and yokes and send them by messenger to all the kings in the area “and command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; thus shall ye say to your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands unto the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant.”
Nebuchadnezzar was a wicked pagan tyrant, but he was God’s servant. It doesn’t mean he was a great man, but it means that he was under the control of God. Even kings have constraints. This collection of kings was in Jerusalem, perhaps to foment a coup against King Nebuchadnezzar. In verse 11 God talks about the prophets, dreamers, and enchanters who were prophesying lies and saying, “You’ll all be fine.” God says, “If you listen to them, you are going to have more constraints, not fewer, more misery and slavery, not less.” Every yes you enjoy in life is at the expense of saying no. Every time you say yes to something you automatically say no to something else. Everyone has constraints. We may not always like them, and they may not always be good, but good or bad, they exist.
Second, God gives some constraints. The constraints, which were really a form of judgment, were imposed by God on His own people and others who were trying to conspire against Nebuchadnezzar. We have constraints of nature. I can wish to be a runner, but I am putting my energies into a weakness and not a strength. My bone structure and physique are not made to be a runner. Now, I have run at times, but I have constraints naturally.
Sometimes we have constraints because God as a Father is chastening us. Sometimes there are seasons of constraint because of age, location, or some other thing. When a constraint is God-ordained, I just need to know that God is good. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you…thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” If your freedom is not giving you rest, it is not really freedom. It is the yoke of Jesus that gives that freedom. Jesus continues, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
What matters is not how you feel, but what God has said. Some people have this mistaken notion that if they want to do something, it must not be God’s will. Other people think something they want to do must be God’s will because God wants them to be happy. Both are missing the point. Feelings are fickle; God’s Word is lasting. Despite what the world might be saying right now, what matters is truth and reality.
God was sending a prophet to give His own words to Nebuchadnezzar and all the kingdoms he would conquer. Focused power comes from direction God gives. That direction sometimes comes from the constraints He gives to channel our energies in the right way. So, get going. Stop saying “I can’t,” or “It’s hard,” and start doing what God wants. On the other hand, don’t be discouraged because you can’t do all you want to do. Freedom is accepting the constraints God gives you. The way you know if it is from God is to know what God has said. It is God’s Word, not your feelings, that give truth.
Finally, wise people choose under which constraint they will live. In Jeremiah 27:17, God says of false prophets that lie and give sweet nothings, “Hearken not unto them, serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?” We are talking about living under the constraints God gives. Sometimes we live under constraints we should not and sometimes we buck the yoke God is placing on us for our own good.
Live under God’s constraints and not your own. That is providence, God’s providing, now and ahead of time. It may be the constraints of today will provide the freedom you need tomorrow. Constraints are rarely enjoyable, but they are good if we live under the constraints God has given us. They are bad if we impose constraints upon ourselves that do not need to be there. So, freedom is accepting the constraints that God gives us and living a life of focused power because we do.