Being Equally Yoked In God    
By Rev. Cathryn Ndyabagye

Ever notice, when a farmer plows the fields with his oxen, they have a yoke around their necks that locks them into place to walk together as pairs?

Why is that? Well, in order to keep the animal from going ahead of the other, and to keep them even in pulling the plow, they both need to be yoked together as a team to pull the plow straight.

If they were not yoked, they could go different directions, and the plow would be all zigzagged and the line would not be straight for planting.

So, it was always important to for the farmers to use yokes on their horses or oxen. Sometimes they would use groups Up to 12 oxen to pull the plows. That way they could get work done faster.

When Christians who are yoked in fellowship and in marriage. We are yoked as a team to accomplish God’s Divine Purpose!

We can work together, pulling together, networked, join to combine our ministries to accomplish just want God wants.

To be yoked! We are ONE in God. So many people are out there going so many directions and if they were yoked together, as they did in the days of the Bible, we would see so many more miracles and find favor and blessings.

God makes us each person uniquely different, yet we are ONE Equally in the Body of Christ--in His Spirit.

This is so wonderful when we are really yoked in Christ, as we all go the same direction—Heaven bound! We are all going the direction to accomplishing what God puts before us to do before we leave this earth.

We plan seeds, and harvest the crops, pull the weeds, and plow the land for Jesus. AMEN And we do this ALL Yoked together in Jesus!

God uses yokes in many forms in the Bible. Yokes can either be bondage, or a uniting together in God. There are different kinds.

God’s whole reason for sharing yokes in the Bible were, so that people would be Equally yoked with Him, and not be bound in sin, or bondage. God gave many instructions about yokes:

Fasting--to break the yokes of bondage:

Isaiah 58:6

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”

God had people wear yokes to represent the bondage of the people:
And in Jeremiah’s day, the people were living in sin so much and God wanted to see them delivered from their bondage. God instructed Jeremiah to have people put on actual yokes (like on the oxen above) over their necks and travel to many kings to present themselves and to represent themselves as how the people in Israel were bound by sin.

Jeremiah 27:2-11

Amplified Bible (AMP)2 Thus says the Lord to me: Make for yourself thongs and yoke bars and put them on your neck,3 And send them to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the Ammonites, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon by the hand of the messengers who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.4 And command them to say to their masters, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to your masters:5 I have made the earth, the men, and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever it seems right and suitable to Me.6 And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant and instrument, and the beasts of the field also I have given him to serve him.7 And all nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the [God-appointed] time [of punishment] of his own land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.8 But any nation or kingdom that will not serve this same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says the Lord, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, until I have consumed it by [Nebuchadnezzar’s] hand.9 So do not listen to your [false] prophets, your diviners, your dreamers [and your dreams, whether your own or others’], your soothsayers, your sorcerers, who say to you, You shall not serve the king of Babylon.10 For they prophesy a lie to you which will cause you to be removed far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish.11 But any nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, that nation will I let remain on its own land, says the Lord, to cultivate it and dwell in it.

Jeremiah obeyed God and then. God was actually having them do this act to illustrate of the future and of how Israel will return. Because if you go to Jeremiah

The scriptures below speaks of the promise of bondage being broken off of Israel.

Jeremiah 30:8-14

" 'In that day,' declares the LORD Almighty,'I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them.9 Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 " 'So do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,' declares the LORD.
'I will surely save you out of a distant place,your descendants from the land of their exile.Jacob will again have peace and security,and no one will make him afraid.

11 I am with you and will save you,'
declares the LORD.
'Though I completely destroy all the nationsamong which I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.'

12 "This is what the LORD says:
" 'Your wound is incurable,
your injury beyond healing.

13 There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore,
no healing for you.

14 All your allies have forgotten you;
they care nothing for you.
I have struck you as an enemy would
and punished you as would the cruel,
because your guilt is so great
and your sins so many.

In Verse 17 - 18 it says:

17 But I will restore you to health
and heal your wounds,'
declares the LORD,
'because you are called an outcast,
Zion for whom no one cares.'

18 "This is what the LORD says:
" 'I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's tents and have compassion on his dwellings;the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,and the palace will stand in its proper place.

So God sometimes allows us to have yokes of bondage if we live in sin. and will restore us if we live right before Him. We don’t have to live in the yokes of bondage!
God’s Faithfulness to break the yokes from His Faithful People:

Ezekiel 34:27

The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.

Hosea 11:4

I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.

Taking Jesus’ Yoke:

Matthew 11:29

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:30

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Another type of yoke is to be united with someone, as in marriage, or as in fellowship.


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Yoking can also mean as ‘a team’ or ‘associate’. Yoke doesn’t always mean bondage.

Do not Yoke (or become one or united with) Unbelievers: This means both in marriage and in fellowship--we are to love unbelievers and pray for them. AMEN

Corinthians 6:14
[Do Not Be Yoked With Unbelievers ] Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

The Bible also says

2 Corinthians 6:17
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not
the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Believers have Freedom from any Yoke of Bondage!

Galatians 5:1

[Freedom in Christ] It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm,
then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Marriages are Yoked in God:

Being Equally yoked is God’s great plan in our life.

Being in the Spirit, and being yoked For Jesus! AMEN

Men and women of God are Yoked together as ONE

When they marry, they are equally yoked.

God sees them both as servants of God.Yoked together as a team, and associates with each other. Each have their work to do, and they work together to do it.

Not intimidating each other, instead going the same direction in God. This was the whole plan of God.

In today’s world you always hear of ‘unequal’ coming right out of the mouth of believers, and pastors, and thus, degrading women, degrading denominations, and other people with their negative ‘self-righteous attitudes’.

God wants to bring us back to unity and yoked! 'ON-FIRE' IN HIS SPIRIT!

How can this happen if we all can’t be yoked in the Love of God? AMEN!

‘Yoked in God!’ As a team! As one! Putting away childish and worldly ways, and man-made doctrines!

God is not interested in doctrine. God is interested in us being yoked in a real relationship with Him. When Jesus walked on earth he proved this time and time again.

Jesus got so tired of the doctrines of men. He made this very clear that even ' the 'doctrine-keepers' were hypocrites. Jesus' whole focus was on living according to the will of the Father, and in the Spirit.

He even broke the commandments to show the Pharisees and Sadducees, that it’s what we do according to what God shows us, not doctrine. He wanted us to know how to be lead by the Spirit of God under grace.

This is why doctrines are not what God wants--He want us! A true relationship with Him.

He is more interested in us loving him than, to stand and argue with our neighbors about our beliefs. AMEN!

If Jesus found people to be fake and phony, you know that we should not associate or yoke with such people either. AMEN!

Jesus even warned us about the 'puffed up ones'. Because people who stand in PRIDE are not walking in the will of the Lord.

Sometimes couples cause this precious God-given yoke to be imbalanced, or broken by their sins as they associate themselves with such as: Jealousy, Adultery, dishonesty, and not being faithful to each others needs.

Think of it this way; If God makes us Yoked, why would he want His own people Unequally yoked?

Just as the Bible says "who has bewitched you?" So you should be concerned if your marriage is not yoked together.

Don’t allow anything to take that Special yoke away from you! Even If your spouse rebels, sins, and even leaves you or goes they’re own direction.

The Bible simply says: I Corinthians. 7:15 ‘If the unbeliever depart, let him depart, for a brother or sister is not under Bondage in these cases.’

Of course you pray for them, but if they break the marriage by unfaithfulness, it’s broken.

Yes there is forgiveness too, if they decide to make things right, if not, we must move on to bigger and better things in God. AMEN! We still have to stay faithful and yoked to Jesus!

He leaves it for us to decide what will work best in our own circumstances. He is a very understanding God and forgives. AMEN!

So you see, God understands what broken yokes are. God does consider each of our circumstances separately. This is also why repentance is so important.

I say all this to teach things that many couples go through, and face, hoping to encourage some who are facing such things.

So many get hung up on what God wants us to do.

We are all different and each one of us Is dealt with in according with what we go through. So when we pray, God will reveal to each one of us how to handle it.

Sometimes he saves the unbeliever spouse, and other times God will release you from them so you can go on with what He has for your life.

So each person will face different things in these situations. So we can’t put everyone in the same basket, or judge anyone. For God is the one to
decides. We are yoked In Christ and need to always stay that way. AMEN

So many people get hung-up on man’s rules but you see, that is not God’s yoke. We have a heavenly yoke that no man can put rules on. AMEN!

God has many scriptures that are not even taught. God does forgive past and God forgives mistakes we make. So it’s not right If, we point fingers on other Christians. We must only point fingers at ourselves,
and watch our own steps and be responsible in God in our own life. AMEN

We must know that we all go through things, and sometimes we all make mistakes and some people break yokes.

We can only account to God if we do ourselves, and make it right.

We will never  have to break the yoke we have with Jesus. AMEN!

And if we are living right by God, He understands and will bless our faithfulness to Him. He will never break the yoke He has in us. AMEN So stay true to yourself and your spouse. AMEN

We must stay yoked in a Godly and loving way in the Body of Christ. Not to control, just taking,  we also have to give too.

That is what Jesus did. A total servant to others.

To be faithful to God and our spouses, or our workers in the Church.

These yokes are given to us to free us from bondage of every kind, and unite us strong in God!

We have freedom and liberty in Jesus. AMEN To work together! To accomplish the best that God has for us.
If we remember this, we will be more responsible to our calling in God and to each other.

Galatians 5:1 " Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

Like the yoke the oxen wear to work together as a team. We walk in Jesus’ yoked and working together to fulfill His calling. We have an obligation to Him and to work as a team with our Peers--Christian brothers and sisters. We are yoked in the Blood Of Jesus and we are yoked with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

To walk the straight and narrow way, without going crooked--to stay on the right path with God.

God does not care if you are male or female. In heaven there is no gender. We are all one spirit!

Many stray from the yoke of God, and go their own ways. God Wants us to stay steady on his pathway. 'His yoke is easy and His burden is light'. God wants us to rest in Him and Stand firm in the faith and to be confident in Jesus. AMEN

Being Equally Yoked in God!

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