What the Bible says about Wooden Yoke as Symbol
(From Forerunner Commentary)
God told Jeremiah to make a number of wooden yokes for himself and for various neighboring kings. The yokes symbolized servitude to Nebuchadnezzar, and poor Jeremiah spent many days wearing a wooden yoke as an example. Through this visual aid, God was instructing Judah, and the other kingdoms, to submit to Babylonian rule. Even though doing so would be very humbling for Judah, it would be better for them than to resist Nebuchadnezzar, and thus God's will. He had already sent numerous prophets, with scores of warnings to repent and turn back to Him, and now the time of reckoning had arrived.
David C. Grabbe
Hananiah's ErrorRelated Topics: Babylonian Captivity | False Hope | False Prophecies | False Prophets | Hananiah's 'Prophecy' | Hananiah's Error | Ignoring Warnings | Resisting God's Will | Warnings from God | Wooden Yoke as Symbol
Previously, God told Jeremiah to make a number of wooden yokes for himself and for various neighboring kings (Jeremiah 27:1-11), which symbolized servitude to Nebuchadnezzar. Through this, God was instructing to submit to Babylonian rule. Even though doing so would be humbling for Judah, it would be better for them than to resist Nebuchadnezzar, and thus God's will.
But not everyone in Judah was ready to accept this reality. Even though God specifically warned against false prophets who spoke against submitting to Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 27:9-10), this is exactly what happened in the case of an obscure prophet named Hananiah.
Jeremiah had previously prophesied that Judah would be in exile in Babylon for a full seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11-12). He also foretold that Jeconiah (Coniah) would die in a foreign land (Jeremiah 22:24-26) and that the vessels of the Temple would remain there until the day that God brought them back (Jeremiah 27:19-22). Now, though, Hananiah came with a message that directly contradicted Jeremiah's prophecies. In Hananiah's vision of the future, Judah's restoration was just around the corner; everything would be back to normal within two years.
David C. Grabbe
Hananiah's ErrorRelated Topics: Babylonian Captivity | False Hope | False Prophecies | Hananiah's 'Prophecy' | Hananiah's Error | Jeconiah | Jeremiah's Prophecies | Resisting God's Will | Wooden Yoke as Symbol
Hananiah ignored Jeremiah's words of caution and broke the God-ordained yoke that symbolized Nebuchadnezzar's authority over the kingdoms. Jeremiah probably enjoyed a measure of relief at no longer having to wear the yoke, but the gravity of what Hananiah had done overshadowed it.
David C. Grabbe
Hananiah's ErrorRelated Topics: False Hope | False Prophecies | Hananiah's Error | Ignoring God's Warnings | Ignoring Warnings | Jeremiah's Prophecies | Resisting God's Will | Wooden Yoke as Symbol