“‘And it shall come to pass in that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘That I will break his yoke from off your neck and I will burst your bonds and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him, that they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.”
– Jeremiah 30:8–9
What a great promise here in Jeremiah 30:8–9. So picture it. You are in the yoke of slavery to a foreign nation. You have been exiled from your land and your people. You’re in this foreign land where you are serving as a slave and God says it’s gonna come to pass that I’m gonna break that yoke from off your neck. I’m gonna burst your bonds. You’re no longer gonna be a slave. Instead, you will serve God and David the king, who God will raise up to lead his people as he restores them to his land.
Obviously we know there was application of that in the Old Testament when God restored his people back in Jerusalem, but we also know that there’s a greater application of this. So think about it. You and I are slaves to sin, born with a sinful nature, in the yolk of slavery to sin, slavery to the devil, to the ways of this world, to ourselves and our sinfulness, dead in our sin.
Christ has liberated us from the yoke of sin and has burst its bonds by standing in our place at the cross.
Slaves is the word the Bible uses to describe our relationship to sin, controlled by sin and Jesus comes and what does he do? He breaks the yoke from off our neck and he bursts its bonds and he says, “You shall no longer serve sin. You will be free to serve me, to know me as king and my good plans for your life. My good purposes in your life. You will be free to experience. You will be free from sin, free from guilt, free from shame, free from bondage to the ways of this world. Free to experience the life that God has created you to live.”
Realize that is what happened to you Christian when you put your faith in Jesus. Realize that’s what happened on that day, the bonds were burst and the yoke off your neck was broken and you are now free. You are free today to live the life God has created you to live. Free from sin, free from its power, its hold on your life, and free to walk in God’s ways and experience God’s good purposes for your life.
Jeremiah 30:8–9 Shows God’s Liberation For His People Then and Now
So God, help us to live in this. Jesus, we praise you. We praise you. Our liberator. You have liberated us from the yoke of sin, from the bonds of sin, you burst them when you died on the cross for our sin. All glory be to your name, that we are no longer slaves to sin, slaves to fear, slaves to guilt, slaves to shame. God, I pray that, just over, all who are listening to this right now. They would realize right now, in Christ, they are not a slave to sin.
They are not a slave to fear. They’re not a slave to guilt. They’re not a slave to shame. You have burst those bonds and they’re free. Now Free to live. Free to walk with you. Free to run the race you have marked out for us. Freedom to experience your goodness and your grace in greater and greater and greater ways, every single day. Free to worship you, free to commune with you, free to exalt you in every facet of our lives, so God, may it be so. Help us to live in this freedom that you have bought for us, Jesus. We praise you for it and we praise you to help us live like free people today. No longer slaves, but sons and daughters of God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
