Jeremiah 27:2

Jeremiah Was To Make Simulated Yokes And Bonds And Wear Them On His Neck (Jeremiah 27:2).

The plural of yokes possibly indicates the top and bottom bars of the yoke which would be bound together round the neck by the ropes (bonds). But if what follows is taken literally (the sending of yokes to five kings and the retention of the one worn by Jeremiah) a number of yokes and bonds would be required. They need not have been the size required for yoking animals. The very sight of even a small yoke would be sufficient to indicate bondage.

Jeremiah 27:2

“Thus says YHWH to me, Make for yourself bonds and bars, and put them on your neck,”

YHWH's call to Jeremiah was initially that he make and wear bonds and yokes which were to fit on his neck. That he carried it out literally is clear from Jeremiah 28:10. The plural nouns, and what later happens, suggest that he made a number of sets. His wearing of them (not necessarily continually, but certainly on special occasions such as the great feasts) was probably intended to be a continual indication to Judah that it was now under permanent bondage, first to Egypt and then to Babylon because of its rebellion against YHWH. (YHWH had already indicated that the death of Josiah would end any guarantee of peace for Judah - 2 Kings 22:20; 2 Kings 23:26). It would be typical of Jeremiah to feel that while his people suffered bondage, he should do the same.

It will be noted that here the command was to wear them, whereas in Jeremiah 27:3 he was to send them to various kings. There is thus an interval between the two acts, and there is no reason why it should not have been a period of twelve years or more. Such rapid jumps in the narrative are often made in Scripture causing problems to modern man who likes to enter into historical detail. But Kings continually presents history in this way with huge but unidentified gaps between events during the lives of the kings. Compare also how Isaiah walked ‘naked and barefoot' for three years, possibly wearing only a loincloth, in order to convey a similar message (Isaiah 20:2), and how Ezekiel lay on his side for well over a year (Ezekiel 4:4).

We are not called on to wear yokes as a symbol of our submission to God, but we are called on to ‘wear His yoke' (Matthew 11:28) and to walk humbly before God, revealing that we are true followers of the One Who came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).