Bars of your Yoke מֹטֹ֣ת עֻלְּכֶ֔ם

We are in chapter twenty-six of Leviticus with our word for today which is a phrase. מֹטֹ֣ת עֻלְּכֶ֔ם bars of your yoke. It is used twice in the Old Testament. The two words that make up our phrase are מוֹטָה used 12 times in the Old Testament and עֹל used 40 times in the Old Testament. Let’s look at the first word in our phrase. מוֹטָה yoke, carrying pole. This word is used in the sense yoke bar, a bar that forms the part of the structure of a yoke. Even though this word is used without the other word in our phrase it is usually translated similarly to our phrase. Jeremiah 27:2 Thus the Lord said to me: “Make yourself straps וּמֹט֑וֹת and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. Ezekiel 30:18 At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark, when I break there מֹט֣וֹת the yoke bars of Egypt, and her proud might shall come to an end in her. The other word in our phrase עֹל is used in the sense yoke, stable-gear that joins two draft animals at the neck so they can work together as a team. Deuteronomy 21:3 And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled בְּעֹֽל in a yoke. 1 Samuel 6:7 Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has never come a עֹ֑ל yoke, וַאֲסַרְתֶּ֤ם [this is a different word that means to tie up but is translated yoke in ESV that we are using] and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. It is also used in the sense of placing a heavy burden on someone. 1 Kings 12:4 Your father עֻלֵּ֑נוּ made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy וּמֵעֻלּ֧וֹ yoke on us, and we will serve you. We have both of our words in our phrase used in the same section of scripture when Jeremiah is dealing with the false prophets. Jeremiah 28:10-13 Then the prophet Hananiah took הַמּוֹטָ֔ה the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them. And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I break the עֹ֣ל yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way. Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken הַמּוֹטָ֔ה the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden מוֹטֹ֥ת bars, but you have made in their place מֹט֥וֹת bars of iron. Let’s look at the two uses of our phrase. Ezekiel 34:27 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break מֹט֣וֹת עֻלָּ֔ם the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. This is how our phrase is used in our chapter today. Leviticus 26:13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken מֹטֹ֣ת עֻלְּכֶ֔ם the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. I’ll close with two more uses of one of the words in our phrase that shows God’s heart to free us from what enslaves us. And Jesus quoting from the Old Testament that highlights a big part of what his mission and ministry was all about. Isaiah 58:6, 9 Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the מוֹטָ֑ה yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every מוֹטָ֖ה yoke? … Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the מוֹטָ֔ה yoke from your midst. Luke 4:16-21 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”