The Yoke of Bondage

What was it?

Compiled by Rachel Cory-Kuehl, April 6, 2014

Last edited August 10, 2025

Scripture is from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

 

Acts 15:10 “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the [new] disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”

 

Peter was speaking to the Jerusalem Council of elders and apostles. The focal point of this council meeting, (at least the point detailed in Acts Chapter 15) involved the large number of converts from among the Gentiles, who were coming to worship with Hebrews, at Jewish synagogues across the Roman Empire. What to do with them? Should they be allowed to fellowship freely with Jews?

 

We can hardly appreciate how earth-shattering this would have seemed, to those first century Jewish followers of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus the Christ). Both the Torah of Moses and the Oral Torah of the Pharisees, forbade the free association of Hebrews with uncircumcised non-Hebrews. I address some of those commands of separation in my study, “What Law was Abolished?”

 

The issue being debated at this Council meeting, was physical circumcision. Should physical circumcision be required of all male converts? Were they converting to Judaism?

 

This issue involved much more then the physical cutting of flesh. Under the Torah of Moses, circumcision was a requirement. No uncircumcised male could partake of the Passover (Exo 12:48). And by Pharisaic law, a man could not receive circumcision until he had made the “Vow of Obedience,” to keep the whole law, including the offering of animal sacrifices through the Aaronic priesthood at the Jerusalem Temple, including thrice yearly journeys to Jerusalem for the Feast days, and including obedience to all the traditions of the “Oral Torah” as taught by the Pharisees. This vow could not be taken until the man had completed two years of study under an approved teacher.

 

Peter, along with Paul, argued that physical circumcision should not be required for converts

from the Gentiles. This would preclude their entry into the Temple court, and their participation in the Feasts or sacrifices. The written Torah of Yehovah commands all of the above. Israelite men must be circumcised. Israel is commanded to offer sacrifices in the Temple court, through the Aaronic priesthood. Israel is commanded to keep the Feasts of Yehovah AT Jerusalem. And to top it all off, Paul argues that believing Gentiles have been “grafted in” to Israel (Romans Chapter Eleven).

 

How could they have it both ways? How could a man be a citizen of “the commonwealth of Israel,” while he remained uncircumcised?

            See our studies: “Who are Israel?” and “Circumcision under the New Covenant.”

QUESTIONS

            Who were “our fathers?” What was the “yoke of bondage?”

                  Why were they not able to “bear” that yoke?

THE FATHERS

 

Who were they?

            Answer: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Acts 3:13)

            Answer: the 12 Sons of Jacob (Acts 7:12 & 15)

            Answer: those who came out of Egypt (Acts 3:22, Acts 7:44, Acts 13:17, 1Cor 10:1)

            Answer: those who heard Isaiah the prophet (Acts 28:25)

             Answer: male ancestors (Acts 7:52, Acts 28:17)

             Answer: older male authority figures (Acts 22:1)

            Question: When did “the fathers” begin to experience the yoke?

 

We cannot know for certain which “fathers” are referenced by Peter in Acts 15:10. The “fathers” were unable to bear the yoke, therefore the yoke experience was continuously born by Hebrews, right down to the first century. Now Peter and Paul are arguing against it - against the “yoke,” at least for Gentile converts.

 

NOTE: Peter said “neither our fathers, nor we were able to bear” the yoke. He did NOT SAY “we are able” to bear it. Certainly sounds as if Peter regards himself FREE from this “yoke,” whatever it was.

 

The “Oral Torah” - the Law of the Pharisees, is only referenced in documents written after the return from captivity in Babylon. It was a reaction to that destruction and captivity. It was meant to protect future generations from another such destruction.

 

The laws of the Oral Torah built an additional wall of obedience, around the written Torah, to ensure strict obedience to that Law. It became a “burden” and a “yoke.” For sure! But was it the “yoke” that Peter argued against, at the Council meeting?

THE LAW OF THE PHARISEES - WAS THIS THE YOKE ?

 

Peter said “we” were not “able to bear” - this yoke of bondage. Whatever the yoke, Peter and those present at the Jerusalem Council felt the weight of it. This would apply particularly to the Oral Torah of the Pharisees. This collection of law and commentary (according to the Pharisees) had been communicated by Yahweh, to Moses, at Mount Sinai and during the wilderness wandering, but Moses never wrote it down.

 

According to the Pharisees, Moses was never commanded to write it down. So they too, had not written it down. It was passed to each new generation of the Pharisees, orally. This Oral Torah explained and expanded upon, the Law that Moses had written down. The “Oral Torah” was also called “the traditions of the elders.” Problem was, portions of the Oral Torah, contradicted other portions.

 

SIDE NOTE: To preserve these traditions after the dispersion, the Oral Torah was written down between 130-150 years after the destruction of the Temple in 70CE. Those collected writings are know as the Mishnah. (Picture all of the volumes containing the judicial rulings of the Supreme Court.) The Mishnah, together with the Gemara (a collection of later commentaries) are known as the Talmud.

 

The critical factor was the weight given to this “Oral Torah.” The Pharisees of Christ’s day, held the Oral Torah to be above, and of greater authority, than the written Torah of Moses. I think you can grasp the potential for abuse. The ruling authorities could add laws for the people, and make laws to exempt themselves from the greater part of the burden, simply by “remembering” that these were part of the Oral Torah. Rabbis of Orthodox Judaism continue this tradition today, but the potential for additions is curtailed since the Oral Torah commentaries were collected and written down, in the third century.

            For more information look up “Oral Torah” in The Jewish Encyclopedia.

 

Exodus 24:4 “And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD.”

 

Admittedly, the context of above passage, was early in the wilderness journey. But if Moses began by writing down “all the words of the LORD,” because the LORD directed him to do so, why would he later fail to record everything that Yehovah said to him? Just asking . . .

 

 

Matthew 23:1-4 “Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples saying: ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat [ruling the people] . . . . For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.’”

            They “lay them on men’s shoulders,” like a yoke.

 

Mark 7:8-9 [Jesus] “‘For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.’ He said to them, ‘All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.’”

Matthew 15:3 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your     tradition?”

 

Matthew 16:12 “Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

 

The “doctrine of the Pharisees” was (#1) the teaching that the Oral Torah should be regarded as of more importance than the written Torah, and (#2) that righteousness in the eyes of God, could be attained through “the works of the law.” The moral “leaven” of this teaching, was hypocrisy (Lk 12:1). One could appear to obey outwardly, while actually feeling nothing towards Yehovah or His Temple. Worse still, one could harbor resentment towards the LORD, His priesthood, and His Torah. As years went by, an upper class evolved who exempted themselves from many of the rules they invented for everyone else. “I won’t stray,” they told themselves, “but they might.” The apathy and resentment only grew. Yeshua definitely held the Pharisees and the Sadducees responsible for much of the problem.

 

The Oral Torah is still today regarded as above the written Torah, among Rabbinic Jews (who are largely descendants of first century Pharisees). The way to obtain right standing before God, was morphed (after the destruction of the Temple) into the teaching that right standing before the LORD may be earned through doing “good works.”

 

Yes! The Oral Torah was a yoke. Was this the “yoke” referenced by Peter and Paul at the Council Meeting? I believe it was. But I think we are we missing the larger picture.

 

Why did the Pharisees add rule upon rule upon rule? Was it because they had no respect for the original Covenant of Ten Commandments. No! It was because they wanted to make very sure the people were keeping those Commandments - all of the commands written down by Moses. Failure to keep the Law would mean destruction, captivity, and dispersion. It could mean death for Judah, and for what was left of Israel. The Pharisees piled rule upon rule to prevent infractions of the law. But - think about it.

 

      If the law is written on the heart by the Spirit of God,

                                                            then you don’t need rule upon rule.

 

Ezekiel 36:27  [The LORD had promised] “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

 

You would only make more rules, if you do not believe that God will actually keep His promise to write His Law on every heart.

 

The Oral Torah of the Pharisees came about because they lacked faith. They did NOT have the Spirit within. And they doubted the promise of God.

 

Consider socialism, and the forced redistribution of wealth by the state. Where “sharing” is forced - that system will ultimately fail. Elites will find ways to exempt themselves from regulations. Criminals will find other ways around the state system. Bribery will become the order of the day. Compare that system to the giving behavior of the early believers, who “held all things in common” and no man considered ought of his property as exclusively his own (Acts 2:44-45). This because the law of unselfish love was written on their hearts.

 

Like a marriage without love, so the law without the indwelling Spirit, becomes a “yoke of bondage.” How appropriate that Yehovah referred to Himself as the “husband” of Israel. That first marriage ended in divorce and murder. We are tempted to blame God for this. Why did He not simply indwell every heart. Problem solved. The limiting factor is free will. The LORD “knocks” at the door of every heart. But the human must “open the door.” The human must give consent. See our study: “Two Covenants.”

 

Without the Spirit of Christ within, no human being can keep the Law of God. Paul called it a “ministry of death, written and engraved on stones” (2Cor 3:7). It’s like pushing a huge boulder uphill. When you get tired, it will roll right back over you and crush you, or crush someone who is behind you climbing the same hill - which is exactly what the Law of the Pharisees did to the Jews.

 

Romans 9:31-32 “But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, [through the Spirit] but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.”

 

The “stumbling stone” was FAITH. Specifically their lack of FAITH.

 

Acts 7:51 “You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.”

 

Ahhhh - here are the “fathers” again. In the Acts 7 context, “the fathers” were those who came out of Egypt. For them, the Law was a heavy burden, and a yoke of bondage. Why? Because they resisted the spirit that would have enabled obedience. Instead of praying for strength to obey, they rebelled against Moses and against the LORD.

 

Hebrews 3:19 [Speaking of those who died in the wilderness] “So we see that they could not enter in [to the promised land] because of unbelief.”

 

Remember. The Oral Torah of the Pharisees did not make its appearance, until after the Babylonian captivity. Many hundreds of years after the exodus from Egypt and the wilderness wandering.

 

Romans 11:20 “Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.”

 

Romans 11:23 [Concerning the Jews] “And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”

 

The unbelieving Jews of Paul’s day were indeed “broken off.” But branches were “broken off” from Israel (the Olive Tree) long before Yeshua Messiah lived and died. They were broken off when Assyria decimated the ten northern tribes. This was before Judah [the Southern Kingdom] was conquered by the Babylonians. Faith vs. unbelief was the issue then. It was the issue in Paul’s day. It is the issue now. The coming of Yeshua Messiah just tested what remained of Israel. Would Israel believe - in Him? Most did not.

 

1 Peter 2:7-8 “Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ (Ps 118:22) and ‘a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense’” (Isa 8:14).

        “They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.”

To the believing He is precious. To the unbelieving, He is “a rock of offense.” They stumble over this “stone of stumbling.” They stumble, and are disobedient to the Word of God because of unbelief. The Torah of Moses was the written word of God. Yeshua was the incarnate Word - the living visible Law of God, lived out in a human life.

 

Yeshua became “a stone of stumbling,” but THE larger overriding issue from the beginning was faith with trust resulting in obedience, vs unbelief, resulting in disobedience, out of which grew the Law of the Pharisees.

HAGAR AND SARAH

 

Galatians 4:22-26 “For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic.

For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar-- for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children-- but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.”

 

Ishmael was born after Abraham lost faith in the promise of a son, and (at the urging of His wife Sari) impregnated Sari’s “handmaid” Hagar.

 

Hagar was a “bondwoman.” She was not free. She had no choice in the matter. In the Ancient Middle East, brides came with handmaids, as backup, in case the bride proved unable to bear sons. That is why the Lord answered the prayer of Hagar, and blessed her. Sarah’s effort to fulfill the LORD’s promise by human means, didn’t turn out well. Sarah had been promised a child. The Lord just moved too slowly, and she lost faith. Do you see that the whole Hagar/Ishmael debacle resulted from lost faith? When the Lord fulfilled His promise to Sarah, she did have a son. And at 90 years old! Now THAT was some miracle! Just as true heart obedience to the Word of God is also a miracle!!

 

The Sinai covenant “gives birth to bondage.” Was it the covenant itself that gave birth to this bondage, or was it the spirit - the heart attitude, of the people, who entered into that covenant. I believe it was the latter. The Children of Israel viewed themselves as slaves - slaves of Yahweh, just as they had been slaves of Pharaoh. Yahweh was their master, rather than their Helper, and their loving Father. They chaffed at any restraint. The Jerusalem of Paul’s day, was still in that “bondage,” and was still “resisting the Holy Spirit.”

 

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

 

Paul is writing to believing former Gentiles. They had lived under a “yoke” of heathen idolatry, with all its rituals and requirements. Paul is begging them not to become entangled again, this time with Pharisaic Judaism.

 

We - you and I, are about as able to keep the Law, as Sarah was to conceive a child. When we try to keep the law by our own efforts alone, we produce something akin to what Abraham produced through Hagar - Trouble! When the law is forced on a people, through strict rules upon rules - like the Law of the Pharisees, it produces either rebellion, or religion without heart.

 

The Pharisees kept the law outwardly. Inside they were dead. Yeshua called them “whitewashed tombs” (Matt. 23:27).

 

Without the Spirit of Christ, the law becomes a “yoke of bondage” - something to be borne - like slavery. But we are to be free from such bondage, because Yeshua Messiah has promised to “live in us.” He has promised that He will write His law on our hearts. Our part is to believe and receive. And to thank Him every day for this wonderful experience! When His law is revealed in us, this wonderful love has come about by promise - NOT because of our own efforts.

            When was the last time you read the Ten Commandments as His promise?

 

Romans 7:6 “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”

 

Every believer knows. We were condemned by the Law, in the sight of God. “The wages of sin is death.” But the record of Heaven has also recorded our death - in Jesus Christ. The penalty has been paid.

 

We should serve the LORD. We should keep the Ten Commandments. And with His indwelling spirit, we go beyond The Ten, by returning good for evil and by praying for our enemies. All while ever so aware that we cannot claim any credit. We walk by the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ. See our study: “Does Grace replace the Law?”

 

I remember years ago, there was a woman with whom I just could not get along. It seemed she rejected me constantly. I felt very defensive around her. I was supposed to “love” this woman because she was my husband’s mother, which made me feel all that much worse. (I can talk about her now, because she’s been dead for many years.) I remember crying to Jesus in frustration. “I can’t do this! I give up!! If I ever love this woman, it will not be me. It will be You Lord loving her through me.”

 

Well, I gave up. And that is when the miracle began. She began to sense something coming from me, that I myself could not sense. As her defenses dropped so did mine, and we ended up making a lasting connection. I could take no credit whatsoever.

  

I tell this story to illustrate our struggle. What we know we “should” do - we can’t do. This is Paul’s dilemma in Romans Chapter Seven. The more we struggle, the faster we sink. Just like Peter in the storm. Most of us give up in utter frustration. Some of us become rigid or legalistic like the Pharisees. A few look up, to claim the promise - “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

 

Romans 8:4 “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh [that is - by our own efforts alone] but according to the Spirit [in us].”

 

It’s the same “righteous requirement” - the same Ten Commandments kept. We just keep them by the Power that dwells “in” us, not by our own willpower alone. Strong-willed people are actually at a disadvantage, because they will keep on working at it, after the weak-willed have given up. See our study: “What does God want?”

  

Galatians 3:2 “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

 

I do NOT believe the Sinai Covenant began as a “yoke of bondage.” Moses said to Israel, “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach” (Deu 30:11 NAS). It became a “yoke of bondage” as the people “resisted the spirit” of God, who would have helped them.

REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS

 

Hebrews 6:1 “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection (completion or maturity), not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God . . .”

 

I would lump any “works” done to secure salvation, into that “dead works” pile. Yeshua Messiah won our salvation by His perfect “works.” Those are the only “works” that ever earned anything. And even He didn’t do it alone. He said Himself, “The Father who dwells in me, does the works” (John 14:10). His secret power is our power.

 

This understanding is absolutely foundational! We do NOT earn salvation through our own good “works.”

THE YOKE OF REST

 

Matthew 11:29-30 [Jesus speaking] “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

 

When we are yoked up with Christ, He will pull the load which we cannot budge. In His strength, and by His Spirit we will live His law of love.

 

Paul called himself a “bond-servant of Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:1). James, Peter and Jude, each called himself a “bond-servant” of Jesus Christ. They had taken the “yoke” of Christ.

THE MARRIAGE COVENANT - A YOKE

 

Paul strongly cautioned against marriage with unbelievers. “Be not unequally yoked,” he wrote (2Cor. 6:14). Marriage was termed a yoke. And I would venture, that any person who has endured a loveless marriage, would agree that it becomes a “yoke of bondage.” Whether a marriage is endured as a yoke of bondage, or enjoyed as a yoke of mutual strength and blessing, depends upon the spirit active within that union.

 

The Sinai covenant was a marriage covenant, between Yehovah God and the Congregation of Israel. See our study: “Two Covenants.”

 

Israel accepted that Covenant of Sinai, but resisted the Spirit that would have given it life and power and joy. That covenant - without the Spirit - gradually became a “yoke of bondage” for most of Israel. That covenant was rendered “obsolete” by the New Covenant (Heb 8:13).

 

Is it possible then, that Peter is referring to the laws of that “first covenant,” as the yoke, that both “the fathers” and “we” were unable to bear? Is he insisting that the Council not lay THAT YOKE, on the necks of the new converts? Why would Peter do this?

            Answer #1: Because Peter trusts the risen Yeshua to write His law, on their hearts.

 

Answer #2: Because Peter knows that compliance with the laws of the “first covenant” (Heb 8:7) concerning circumcision, Feasts and sacrifices, had become inextricably entangled with the traditions of Pharisaic Judaism, under the Oral Torah.

 

The statement of James in Acts 21:25, makes it clear that the Gentile converts were NOT expected to observe the law of sacrifices, or to be circumcised.

THE LAW OF SACRIFICES - NOT REQUIRED FOR NEW CONVERTS

 

Paul returned to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey. This was more than 20 years AFTER the Damascus road vision. Paul had already written his letters to the Galatians, Thessalonians and Corinthians. James - the head of the Jerusalem Council - encouraged Paul to pay for the purification sacrifices for four men, and to be “purified with them.” This he did because there were many new converts from among the Jews, and they were “all zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20). James felt that Paul needed to demonstrate his continuing obedience of the law.

 

Paul had apparently taken a Nazarite vow some weeks before Pentecost, as he journeyed towards Jerusalem, so it seems he had much the same idea in mind. Acts 18:18 says that he cut off his hair.

 

NOTE: Hair was shaved at least 30 days before final purification (The Jewish Encyclopedia).

James encouraged Paul to participate in the purification sacrifices, but stated specifically that “no such thing” was to be observed by “the Gentiles who believe” (Acts 21:25). Here we have evidence that purification at the Temple, along with circumcision and the law of sacrifices was NOT something expected of Gentile converts.

 

NOTE: No uncircumcised man could have been “purified” at the Temple anyway - not “according to the law.” Any such man would have been executed if he tried to enter the Temple court.

 

A dividing line was drawn, between Jews who believed, and Gentiles who believed. Is this what Paul believed? Is this what Christ wanted? Or was this just James and other believing Jews, trying to maintain the purity of the Temple? Or perhaps they were trying to avoid violent confrontation.

 

I do not believe that Paul’s actions demonstrate his belief that sacrifices were still necessary under the “new covenant.” Rather Paul wrote, “to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law;” (1Cor. 9:20).

 

Paul did not consider himself to be “under the law,” but rather as one “led of the Spirit” (Gal 5:18). He sought an opportunity to preach to Jews, and knew they would not listen to one they viewed as “cut off,” because he had failed to observe the rites of the Temple.

 

The law required that every Israelite male be present in Jerusalem three times during the year, for the Feasts. Paul certainly had NOT kept this law. He stayed away from Jerusalem for 14 years (Gal. 2:1). The Jews were watching the pilgrims at every Feast. If they spotted Paul, they would try to kill him. (And this happened!)

A NEW COVENANT

 

We must understand that there really is a New Covenant. The Sinai Covenant was rendered “obsolete” by the death of the “husband” of that “first covenant.” The New Covenant is a “new” covenant of marriage, to a new man - the risen Yeshua.

            See our study “Two Covenants.”

 

Under the New Covenant, the priesthood has been changed - from exclusively Aaronic, to Melchizedek - the priesthood of “the firstborn” (which will finally include all those from the first resurrection). The ministry of the priesthood has been moved to the “true Tabernacle, which is heaven itself,” until the end of this age. The One true “blood sacrifice” has been offered - “once for all” - rendering any other blood offerings unnecessary, and perhaps even offensive to God. See our study: “The END of Sacrifices.”

 

My focus in this study has been the “yoke of bondage” - which I believe IS the law. It is “the letter.” It is the law without the Spirit of Christ.

 

The prophet Jeremiah saw a day when the Ark of the Covenant will not be remembered or brought to mind. No one will need to consult the rules. The Ten Commandments will not be posted on a wall inside the New Jerusalem, because His law will be written in the hearts of His redeemed. We pray for that day!

 

Jeremiah 3:16-17 “‘And,’ says ADONAI, ‘in those days, when your numbers have increased in the land, people will no longer talk about the ark for the covenant of ADONAI – they won’t think about it, they won’t miss it, and they won’t make another one.

When that time comes, they will call Yerushalayim the throne of ADONAI. All the nations will be gathered there to the name of ADONAI, to Yerushalayim. No longer will they live according to their stubbornly evil hearts.’” The Complete Jewish Bible

 

Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” NRS

We pray this study will prove a blessing.

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