Audio first posted: September 5, 2026
Below is a machine-generated transcript of the The yoke of the Lord audio word, with a few minor manual edits. At the bottom, after the transcript, is a machine-generated summary of the transcript.
| Hello, in this audio word, we'd like to discuss something new. But before we get to it, I just wanted to make a comment about something that the Lord brought to my heart right before the video recording that was done last week, seven days ago. And I kept... | |
| perceiving that God wanted me to say something about that date. That was the 29th of August, 2026. That was the date seven days ago when the last video on Bitchute was recorded before this, the one that was recorded the day of this audio recording. | |
| The thing is that last week we were recording on the 29th of August, 2026, and the Lord wanted us to talk about the | |
| that date, because the 29th of August is the date when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans back in 2005, 21 years ago. So last week was 21 years to the day of Hurricane Katrina. And I remember that shortly before the video recording, I felt God reminding me of Katrina, like, don't forget Katrina. | |
| And the thing is that I ended up forgetting Katrina, and I did not mention it either in the video or the audio recording of last week, the 29th of August. | |
| So I felt reminded again this time. And to be frank, I'm not sure if it was my mistake that I forgot to do what the Lord had asked me to do or if the Lord just wanted me to have it in my heart and mind and that it wasn't the time to talk about it last week and it had to be done this time. And I felt that God reminded me for certain this time | |
| because of a couple of things that he brought up before the recordings. And then just before this recording was done, I looked out and it had been a sunny day here where I live, sunny and muggy. | |
| a very hot day. But then as I was getting ready to start this recording, I looked out and everything outside was just dark. And it's still daylight. But it's like a humongous circular cloud came and | |
| and just decided to hover right over the, the, the place where I live. Um, and I can only see part of the cloud. When I look out, I, I see, um, I see the circle, um, a part of a portion of the, the cloud that reaches out into the horizon and it's a dark cloud. Um, and, uh, but the, the odd thing is that I can see past the cloud, you know, where the cloud ends, um, | |
| At least in my line of vision. And it looks like it's a very beautiful day, a very bright, normal day after the cloud. And because of the curvature of the cloud, it does feel like it is a circle. | |
| That's hovering right over where I live, but it's a humongous cloud. And I felt like the Lord brought that cloud as if to say, don't forget to talk about Katrina. Don't forget to mention it. Because as this dark cloud that I'm still looking at here... | |
| appeared, the wind began to blow and I can hear the rustling of the leaves as if the weather suddenly got violet. And as I'm looking out the window at this moment, just a few seconds ago, I saw some flashes of lightning. So it was like God reminding me, don't forget about Katrina. I'm mentioning Hurricane Katrina. And I don't know exactly why I have to mention it. And I just, right now, | |
| I'm hearing thunder rumbling outside, but I don't know exactly why I have to mention Katrina, but I'm mentioning it and I had forgotten in the video recording that was done before this audio recording. So now for sure I won't forget. So I'm just mentioning it. I found it interesting that after last week when I realised, oh, I forgot to mention Katrina. | |
| that I saw that there was a hurricane that showed up that is called Karina. And I don't I'm not following news that much anymore for a whole slew of reasons. | |
| But I heard that there was a hurricane called Karina. Maybe it's in the Pacific or somewhere. And yeah, it's in the Pacific. I'm looking here at a weather website. Yeah. | |
| And apparently it was headed directly for Hawaii. And that's significant because Hawaii is a cursed state. It's the state that gave us Barack Hussein, oh bastard. It was the entry point for Satan to bring in that monster into the country. | |
| And it's a very liberal state, very unrighteous, and it's a cursed state. So it deserves whatever may be coming to it. | |
| So the fact that the name of this Hurricane Karina sounds so much like Katrina just hit me real hard as if to say, like the Lord was saying, I am still angry. 21 years later, I'm still angry. And so I just wanted to mention that. And then last week, I also noticed that as Karina was making news heading for | |
| for Hawaii. I'm not sure where it is right now, its current status. But as that was happening, there was a hurricane that was forming in the Gulf Coast, the Gulf of Mexico. And it was headed for... | |
| Texas and Louisiana, and I believe the name of it is Edward, if I'm not mistaken, either Dolly or Edward or both, or Eduard, I think that's what they're calling it, Dolly or Eduard. But the fact that we had had such a silent hurricane season and suddenly | |
| a hurricane shows up called Carina in the Pacific Ocean, and then two hurricanes show up in the Gulf Coast headed directly, you could say, towards the area of Texas and Louisiana. It felt like more than a coincidence. So I'm just mentioning that I don't know what's going to come of that. | |
| And as I'm talking right now, the rain just began, and it sounds very, very strong. It's going to be very rainy around here. But I just feel that it's God reminding us of something, that he is still angry that the wrath that produced Katrina is still in his heart against America for what it has done. | |
| uh uh done to his uh to his remnant and and and to and to the calling uh that god had for her um okay so now that we have mentioned that um we wanted to uh share what we wanted uh what the lord prompted us to talk about uh this time uh a couple of days ago um it was a thursday uh thursday afternoon i was outside walking | |
| And I remember, oh, we have to do a recording on Saturday. And I had no idea what topic the Lord wanted us to talk about. So as I was walking, I looked up and I asked the Lord, Lord, what do you want us to talk about? And then suddenly I saw it in my head. I don't know if I heard it. I more saw it than heard it. And it was... | |
| I saw Matthew 11:29, and that's all I saw, and I said, okay. And I could have stopped there to kind of look in my phone to go online and find what Matthew 11:29 says, but I felt the Lord say, no, just let it be and wait until you get home and then look it up. | |
| And even that little action seemed significant, the fact that he didn't want me to immediately look at it, that I had to kind of rest and give it some time and then look at it later. So eventually, that night, I think, I looked at what it said because I had no idea what Matthew 11:29 said. And I was taken aback because when I read it, I said, Lord, maybe I... | |
| Maybe what you were talking to me about was something personal because I really don't know if I have much to say about Matthew 11:29. My understanding is very limited. | |
| But as I kept asking the Lord, I kept feeling this confirmation that that's exactly what He wanted us to talk about, even though my understanding of it is so limited at this time. So we'll share the little that we can discern, that I can discern, and we pray that it will be a blessing and that it will open... | |
| some understanding about other things that the Lord may have already spoken to you about regarding this passage or anything in general that he may be. | |
| speaking to you about so Matthew 11 29 I'll just read the verse but obviously we have to read the surrounding verses to get the understanding of that verse but 11 29 itself says take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls and I'm pretty sure that you've heard this verse before it's a very popular passage | |
| well-known passage and especially in the matriarchal pastoral system that we have this is one of one of the crowd favorites because it's all about resting and God comforting us and and that's all very pastoral so so the matriarchal Christian just eats it up so that's Matthew 11 29 so and then Matthew 11 30 says for my yoke is easy and my burden is light and | |
| So, to get an understanding of what that yoke is about and the nature of that yoke, we have to, I believe, go back in the chapter and read some of the things that the Lord said before He talks about that yoke. So... | |
| Let me see if I can see here. We'll just quickly go over certain things. We'll not go into great detail on every verse because otherwise it would take too long. I believe the Lord wants us to... | |
| to get to the yoke soon enough, shall we say. So Matthew 11:7, a few verses earlier, it says, And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? Then Matthew 11:8. But what went ye out | |
| A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses. Matthew 11:9. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. Matthew 11:10. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. | |
| Then Matthew 11:11, Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist, notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. So there's a lot of things to say there, but the thing we wanted to mention that is very directly related to the yoke, | |
| of 1129 is that the Lord here is talking about John the Baptist, a man who had a very hard life, not an easy life at all. That's why the Lord says, a man clothed in soft raiment, is that what you went out to see in the wilderness? | |
| And he said, behold, they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses. So John the Baptist was not a man who had a soft life, an effeminate soft life where he could just lay back and have someone dangle grapes over his mouth, that sort of thing. | |
| So that's one thing to keep in mind. God talking about John the Baptist and then praising him for being how he was. Because he says he was a prophet and more than a prophet. And then he said, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. So the thing is that, so here we have the idea of a man who had a hard life. | |
| and didn't experience much, quote, softness. And then verse 12 says, And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent taken by force. So it's talking about someone who leads a hard life, someone who is carrying out violence to establish a kingdom. | |
| And all of that makes you think of what, at least in my head, I think of those two things and I think of a soldier. Someone who has a hard life, no comforts, and who is doing violence to expand a kingdom or defeat an enemy. So that's the context. | |
| And then verse 13 says for all the prophets in the law prophesied until John verse 14 and if you will receive it this is Elias which was for to come. Verse 15 he that had ears to hear let him hear. And again Elijah or Elias as it's spelled out as spelled here was a man who also had a hard life. | |
| and who was in conflict and battle with the enemy and so forth. And then verse 16, Matthew 11:16, but where unto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows and saying, verse 17, and saying, we have piped unto you and you have not danced. | |
| We have more done to you, and you have not lamented. Verse 18, For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath the devil. Verse 19, The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a man gluttonous and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners, but wisdom is justified by her children. | |
| Okay, so I'm not sure what to make of this in the context of the yoke, but I feel like it's talking about people who, they were offered John as an example, and they say he's crazy. And | |
| And John, the Lord says, didn't come eating or drinking. And then they said he has a devil. And then the Son of Man came eating and drinking. And they say, oh, he's a gluttonous winebibber and all that. So I think what the Lord is saying is that's what the remnant have had to go through. They've been going through battle, living a life of hardship. And when they speak this harsh, very male message of judgments and... | |
| and spiritual violence in evangelistic conquest and prophetic sacrifice and prophetic defiance of kings, just like Elijah would do and all that. When they speak like that, they go, oh, he's crazy. That's a radical. That's not the God of love that we know and love. That's not the God we care for. | |
| So when the remnant show up like John the Baptist with this harsh message, they call him crazy and that he has a devil. But then when the remnant also, aside from speaking this harsh message, they start speaking of being one with God, that we have the ability to have eternal life, and that means eternal oneness with God himself, that we can manifest the nature of God on earth. | |
| that we can be God in the flesh, then when we start talking like that, which feels like the opposite of the other side, the side of judgments and limitation and all that. And then on the other hand, we start talking about a level of grace that is much, much deeper than anything that the matriarchal church offers or talks about. | |
| When we start talking, saying that that's the grace that God has for us, then they say, oh, these are crazy people who want to be like God. | |
| and who think that they are divinity and this and that and the other. It's the same way that they would speak out against the Lord. So when they see limitation or the harshness of the male message, they say, oh, that's too nasty and he has a devil. But then when the remnant speak of the... | |
| of the God potential in us and that level of grace that is so, so amazing, so, so incredible. God is saying, you, you have the opportunity to be one with me for all of eternity. You, you, God and us being one. When we start talking like that and saying the fullness of what that means, then, then, then the remnant get called to, uh, uh, | |
| called crazy in the sense of, oh, too much grace. So on the one hand, it's too little grace and on the other hand, too much grace. So that's the context so far. And then verse 20, Matthew 11:20 says, "...then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not." | |
| Verse 21, Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done entire in Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. | |
| Then Matthew 11:22, But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. Then verse 23, and that's very important, 23 number of pastor, 11 number of judgment. Matthew 11:23, And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. | |
| And then verse 24, but I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. So here the Lord is beginning to speak with harshness, the harshness of John that the people of Israel rejected. And notice that he said, I did all these mighty works amongst you and you did not repent. In other words, I showed all this power of God | |
| Amongst you and and all you cared about is enjoying that power, but there was no desire for justice and repentance. So it's kind of like. | |
| They saw a bit, they're seeing like the two sides, the harsh side right now. And they also saw the side of grace. Someone who was God in the flesh manifesting that and releasing power that was blessing them. Okay. | |
| But the thing that we wanted to talk about is focus a little bit on Capernaum because that is related to the yoke, very strongly connected to the yoke. And Capernaum, the word in English comes from the Greek word Capernaum. | |
| That's how they spell it, kafarnaum. And kafarnaum comes from Hebrew. It comes from the word kafar, meaning village. And then this is the part that we wanted to emphasise, the naum part. Naum means comfort. And it's spelled N-A-H-U-M. That's how they spell it. Or nahum. It might be the better pronunciation in Hebrew. Nahum. | |
| And we pronounce, we spell that N-A-H-U-M, and that happens to be the name of the prophet, the prophet Nahum, the one who wrote against Edom, if I'm not mistaken. And Nahum, or Nahum, Nahum means comfort or consolation. | |
| So Kaphar Nahum or Kaphar Nahum means village of comfort or consolation. So notice that you can see like the beginning of the connection to the yoke when the Lord said, you know, take my yoke. My yoke is easy and my yoke is light. And when you hear it, the first thing you think of is comfort, someone being comforted. | |
| his burden being lightened and his difficulties being reduced. So there's a level of comfort that you kind of begin to feel as you read those verses. And so it's interesting that Kafarnaum means village of comfort or consolation. And consolation in the sense of someone who is being consoled for what he has been going through. And | |
| And another thing to look at when you look at that Nahum and how it's used in scripture. Nahum is a name, obviously the name of the prophet. But let's see if I can find it here. Nahum comes from Nahum, which means to be sorry, to repent, to regret, to comfort, to be comforted, to console oneself. So it has the concept of consolation. | |
| and repentance or regret being sorry about something. So as you can see, the word Naham has this idea of someone who has gone through something terrible and is kind of looking with sadness towards something in the past. | |
| And then needing consolation, if that makes any sense. But the interesting thing is that Naham for the first time in scripture appears in Genesis 5.29. It says... | |
| And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us, shall not naham us, concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. So notice that, and I guess, to be very frank, I had no idea about this verse. I don't know why, after so many years of being a Christian, but this was said by Lamech, who was the father of Noah, you know, the | |
| the brother who built the ark. And I didn't realise that that's what Lamech said. And he called his name Noah when Noah was born. And he was born when, Noah was born when Lamech was 182 years old. So it says, and he called his name Noah saying, this one, you know, this son shall comfort us, shall nachom us concerning our work and toil of our hands. So notice the connection to working and toiling, which kind of makes you think of the yoke of, | |
| of Matthew 11 29 so Noah is going to bring comfort that's what Lamech said when he saw him he's going to bring comfort and consolation to us concerning our work and toil because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed and so notice Noah is a person that went through a lot had a very difficult life but he was | |
| to Lamech, and I believe to the Lord, a source of rest and consolation. | |
| It's interesting that the next time that Nahum is used is Genesis 6, Genesis chapter 6, verse 6. And it says, And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and grieved him at his heart. And the word repented was Nahum. So it's the Lord looking back with regret at creating man on earth. | |
| And it's almost as if to say that Noah was the consolation for God following his regret of having made man. So God is saying, I'm looking back and I'm regretting. I feel sorrow for having created man. And then Noah came along and he served as the consolation for that because through Noah, there was hope of, shall we say... | |
| humanity having a a second chance shall we say okay so okay so now so we are having all these things in our mind first you know John the Baptist living a very hard life and being called crazy and | |
| And then someone who leads a hard life but at the same time speaks of a grace that is so over the top, at least to the natural mind, that it seems ridiculous. There's a person living in great limitation speaking of an incredible amount of freedom. And limitation and freedom obviously are kind of like opposites. | |
| Okay, and then the Lord talks about Kapernaum, a place that received power of God coming from someone manifesting God in the flesh. | |
| and then getting judgment, severe judgment, worse than the judgment for Sodom, as the Lord said. And Sodom is connected to the Canaanite spirit. So what does Capernaum mean spiritually? So the name means village of comfort, village of consolation. And in a negative sense, it's talking about the matriarchal church, the pastoral church. | |
| Because the pastoral church is all about consolation. And that's why when they read Matthew 11:29 and the yoke, they see it from a completely different angle than when God intended. Because everything with the pastoral system is about consolation. | |
| making you feel better. If you're tired and weary, then come and we will make you feel better and feel happier and feel in communion with other brothers and sisters and you won't be alone and we will love you, we will pet you and we'll hug you. So that's the message. It's a village of consolation. | |
| But unfortunately, it turns into a village of regret because God looks down and he regrets having done what he did for these people. It's like the Lord is looking back with regret and what he did in Capernaum because he did all these mighty works, all this release of dunamis power, and it was for naught. They didn't respond. They didn't repent. | |
| So there's regret, and because of that, there's judgment, just like when God saw the world, the humanity in the days of Noah, and he saw, he felt naham, he felt regret, and then, but he took naham, he took comfort and consolation in Noah, who was a man of righteousness, and through him, he regenerated the earth. | |
| So the thing is that the church is a Kapernaum, a village. Why village? Village is a place of limited vision. So it's just focused on consolation, Nahum, Nahum, Nahum. And in doing that, it becomes a place of regret for God. God regrets having created the church. | |
| And then God looks at the Noahs, the remnant in the body of Christ, those of you who seek his righteousness, and then he finds consolation in you. | |
| And that helps to reduce the sting of the regret of Capernaum. And it's through you that he will judge Capernaum and regenerate it, if that makes sense. Okay. Okay. | |
| Because Capernaum is cursed, just like Lamech said, the ground is cursed. And Noah will give us comfort on account of the toil that we've been doing on this cursed ground. | |
| And the Lord here, Matthew 11, is cursing Capernaum. This is a curse. I mean, what else is it? And I know Joseph Prince and all the others may go, oh, God doesn't curse. That's, you know, for witches or whatever. But... | |
| The Lord Jesus here is cursing Capernaum. What else is he doing? Oh, he's not complimenting Capernaum. He's not giving Capernaum a medal of honor. He's cursing it. He's saying, curse it or you. Verse 24. It shall be more tolerable for this land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. Okay. And then verse 25 of Matthew 11. | |
| At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Verse 26, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Verse 27, All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. | |
| So after saying all these things, the Lord Jesus suddenly starts talking, saying to the Father, thank you, Lord, that you've revealed, you've hidden all these things from the wise and the prudent and have revealed them unto babes, unto the little ones. So God is saying these things about Capernaum, the things we just said are things that if you say them to the matriarchal believer, he just doesn't get it. | |
| doesn't get it because in his mind, everything is about consolation. God is a pastor. That's all he is to them. So when you talk to them about Capernaum and how God cursed Capernaum and compared it to Sodom being worse than Sodom and | |
| None of that resonates. It's like, oh, that's not for me. That was for some city from some small village back in the Middle East. It has nothing to do with me. No, it has everything to do with you. You don't understand. God brings you a harsh message. You don't get it. God brings you a message of abounding grace where he's saying you can be one with me and you don't get it. | |
| But those who are in the spirit will get it. Those are the babes that the Lord is talking about here. And God said all of this before he starts talking about the yoke. And he added the thing about the babes and those are the ones who understand and the wise and the prudent don't get it. And that you have chosen who to reveal it to. | |
| It's like all of this is being said right before the yoke, instead to say, if you don't get any of what I just said, you're not getting the yoke either. You're not understanding | |
| Yeah, when I said getting the yoke, it just made me think of getting the joke. But the Lord here is saying you're not getting or understanding what the yoke is if you don't understand anything above this. And if you're a matriarchal, if you're of a soulish understanding, when I speak to you about the yoke, you'll have no clue what I'm talking about. You'll misinterpret it. | |
| And think of something completely different than what I'm talking about. And then the Lord says here that... | |
| we'll read it again, verse 27, Matthew 11:27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no one knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth anyone the Father save the Son. And the words knoweth that are in this verse, they're both translated from epiginosko. And ginosko, we've talked about that verb before, epiginosko. | |
| maybe in some recordings and also on the Shema Elam website, the word gnosko means heart knowledge. The noun form is gnosis, G-N-O-S-I-S, and it talks about knowledge of the heart. When you know someone intimately as a friend, you know the person on the inside kind of thing, as opposed to eido, E-I-D-O, which is mental knowledge. | |
| But this is not just ginosko, it's epi-ginosko. And epi means above or high. So epi-ginosko, spiritually, when I read it, it just hit me in my heart that it made me think of epi-synagoge. So those who epi-ginosko... | |
| The Father and the Son are those who go up into the Episynagogue that we've talked about in other recordings and on the website, who gather with Him as spirit beings to be with Him and to be ministered and to minister others in the Spirit. And where we do warfare and all these things. So those are the people that will understand all of this. | |
| And then the fact that the Lord starts talking about the Father and the Son and knowing the Father and knowing the Son, all of that points to the thing we just said a moment ago about how the remnants speak of a level of grace that the matriarchal church, the pastoral church does not understand. They can't grasp that. | |
| that intimate level of being one with God himself, that a human being can be one with God himself. Okay, so now we get to the yoke, and that's in verse 28 through 30, the last three verses of this chapter, Matthew 11, that we've been reading. So it says, "'Come unto me,' verse 28, "'all ye that labour and are heavy laden, "'and I will give you rest.'" | |
| Okay, so, and the rest kind of ties in with what we said a moment ago about Nahum. Nahum, which means consolation, and we saw that that word comes from Nahum. | |
| which means comfort, and Noah was a source of comfort for Lamech, for his father, and for God, as God was lamenting, was regretting having created man. Okay, so... | |
| And to be frank, I had always, when someone would ask, what does Noah mean? I would always say, oh, Noah means rest. But I didn't realise that it was rest, giving rest to someone who has been feeling sorrow over something. | |
| something I always thought like rest as in kind of take a siesta kind of thing but so the concept of rest is there and as you may recall Lamech called when he named Noah he said he's going to give us comfort or Naham because of all the work and the toil that we've been doing because the curse the ground is cursed of God | |
| Okay, so now let's think of these words here in verse 28. Come unto me. And that hit me, and I hadn't thought about that. It's interesting that the Lord Jesus says, come unto me. So he doesn't say, I'll go to those who are laboured and heavy laden. | |
| He says, come unto me. And that kind of made me think, and I hadn't thought of that, that it's like I have to make an effort to be given rest, to go be given rest, if that makes sense. | |
| It's like God is saying, look to me and I'll give you rest. Come to me. So it takes like the onus is on me. The initiative is on our end to go to him when we are laboured and heavy laden. And the word labour was translated from kopiao, kopiao. | |
| uh k-o-p-i-a-o more or less and it means um to grow weary tired exhausted with toil or burdens or grief to labour with wearisome effort to toil of bodily labour so that it's the word for labour you know someone doing hard labour um | |
| And the first time that that verse appears is in Matthew 6:28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they work, how they grow. They toil not, they kopiao not, neither do they spin. So it's talking about the first time that God mentions kopiao is in the context of | |
| of lilies that don't have to make any special effort to produce their beautiful, um, um, dress or, you know, raiment. Um, | |
| That's the first time. And then the second time that kopiao, labour or toil, is used is in the verse we were reading just now, Matthew 11:28. Okay, and then the next time that kopiao is used is in Luke 5:5. And it says, And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net. So you may know the story that... | |
| And Simon Peter and the other fishermen with him had been working all night and trying to catch fish, and they didn't catch anything. The Lord Jesus appears, and he tells them, go into the middle of the water and let down your nets again. And Simon says, we worked all night and got nothing, but because you said so, we're going to go do what you just said. And then they caught so many fish that the nets broke, if I'm not mistaken. | |
| So notice that the first two times outside of Matthew 11:28 that kopiao appears is in the context of someone who is receiving something without much effort. Just like the lilies of the field, they don't have to do this extra work to get this beautiful clothing, quote unquote, on them. | |
| And then Simon not having to do much effort. He was working all night, but then he tries again, just throws the net and boom, he gets all these, all this fish. Okay. | |
| And then it appears again in Luke 12:27, kopiao. We're looking at the appearances of a kopiao because we're looking at the word labour in Matthew 11:28. So the next time that kopiao appears is Luke 12:27, and it's the same like parallel verse to Matthew 6:28 that we just read. And it says, consider the lilies how they grow. They toil not, they kopiao not, they spin not. And yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed | |
| like one of them. And that makes me think of Solomon represents the spirit of Solomon, the matriarchal spirit, the pastoral spirit. And God is saying, when you're in the spirit, you can achieve so many more things. The level of production that you can do resting | |
| is so much deeper than what the pastoral people can do with all their labour. And that kind of goes with a lot of what happens spiritually. With the pastors, everything is about doing things in the natural human effort. And they don't realise that the battle is fought in the spirit first. | |
| And we've said this before, like in Pentecost, when the 3,000 and the 5,000 converted all at once, God said, pray for 10 days in the upper room. Instead of going around doing ministerial work and handing out pamphlets and | |
| and talking to people and posting stuff on Facebook or whatever, or social media, instead of doing all that work, all that God asked them to do is pray for 10 days, intercede for 10 days, and then something supernatural happened. So I think that's kind of what it's emphasizing here. But the next time that Kopiao appears is in John 4:6. And it says, Now Jacob's well was there, | |
| Jesus, therefore, being wearied, being copiaud with his journey, sat thus on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. So that'd be noon, more or less, in our time. So it's interesting. And when I read that, I'll be very frank, I don't remember reading this verse, at least with much attention. | |
| But the fact that is used to refer to Jesus. | |
| It just hit me that Jesus was wearied, that he was tired. Because we tend to associate being tired to sin. Like, oh, if you're weary or tired, it's because you're not trusting God and this and that and the other. And the matriarchals start going in that because, you know, everything has to be pastoral comfort and spiritual. | |
| And everything like, so, so, so there's a, this creation of like guilt that if you're weary, it's because you, you're not right with God, but it says Jesus himself was weary. Um, okay. Um, | |
| Okay, and then the next time that kopiao is used is John 4:38. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour. Other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. So kopiao is used twice there. So I sent you to reap that you did not kopiao. You did not labour in that, and you're reaping from it. | |
| And then it says other men copy out, other men laboured. So God is saying labour is part of what you need to do sometimes. And sometimes it's a time to labour. And then sometimes it's the time to receive what others have done. Does that make sense? It's like... | |
| God is not saying don't labour. It's saying labour and there will be times when you just stop labouring and can rest and receive. It's like Simon, he and the other fishermen were fishing all night. | |
| labouring all night trying to catch fish and caught nothing and then the next day boom uh they they they receive so it's like the lord is saying there's a time to labour and there's a time to receive the fruits of the labour or uh and sometimes you even receive the the fruits of someone else's labour as the lord is saying here okay um | |
| And then the next time the copia was used is in Acts 20:35. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring, copia, ye ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said it's more blessed to give than to receive. This is Paul talking to the believers in Ephesus when he was leaving Ephesus and they would never see him again. So he was talking to them. | |
| But the important thing here to get, there's a lot of things going on here, but just to get the gist of it, this is Paul talking. | |
| Talking about his labouring. And as we all know. Paul was an apostle. And then Romans 16 verse 6. Is the next time that Copiao is used. It says greet Mary. Who bestowed much labour on us. Who did much labour on us. And the us I think is Paul. The apostle Paul. And someone else. I forget who. And then Luke. | |
| Romans 16:12, it says, salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. And I don't know, don't remember. I think that we, let's see if I can, those names Tryphena and Tryphosa. | |
| Try the other. Oh, yeah. Tryphena means luxurious. And the other sister, I'm assuming they're sisters, tryphosa. Tryphosa means luxuriating. So these two sisters, tryphosa and tryphosa. | |
| Trifina and Trifosa, they both have to do with living in luxury, which kind of makes you think of what we read at the beginning about John, was he wearing soft raiment and living a life of luxury? And so it's interesting that two women who had the name of Comfort | |
| A life of luxury are mentioned in the context of labouring. And I find that very interesting. And why, too, I don't know. So it says, Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa who labour in the Lord. And then it says, Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. And Persis, I think, means from Persia. | |
| It's a Persian woman. I think that's what the name literally means. The name meant Persian woman. And I get the sense of the irony that Persia makes me think in a negative sense of the matriarchal church and the matriarchal religious system. | |
| So it's like the Lord saying that he will be able to take people from the matriarchal system and have them labouring, even in the midst of having been taught not to. That's all I can get. I know... | |
| That might not be it. I think there's something of that there, but I think there's a deeper substance that I'm completely missing right now. But we wanted to get to this last verse. It might be the last verse that we read. One of the last two from Copiao. So this one has Copiao as well, 1 Corinthians 4.12. | |
| and labour working with our hands being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it so 1 corinthians 4 is a chapter where paul goes on and on about his all the things he went through uh you know singing that song um you don't know the trouble i've seen um and and in that chapter uh he says we the apostles this we the apostles the other so and he's connecting it to labour so | |
| we can see the kopyao has a strong connotation of apostolic labouring because the apostolic endowment is the endowment of trailblazing, you know, cutting a new trail in unchartered territory. So sometimes it's very, very labourious and difficult. So that's kopyao. It has this connotation. | |
| And then we're seeing that it has the connotation of you work, sometimes you labour, labour, labour, and then there's a time to rest. Just like the Lord Jesus in John 4:6, when it says, Jesus being wearied with this journey, sat thus on the well. So he had been wearied, and then he sat down on the sixth hour. And you could say that, yeah, so the thing is that... | |
| it's like having the awareness that we need to labour at some point, and then there's a time to stop. It's like there's a time to stop to be able to receive of God. And I hope that's making sense. You labour, labour, and then you stop and receive of God. Yeah. | |
| And all of that is apostolic labour. So God is talking about, he's not talking about, uh, the, the things that the pastoral mindset thinks about this labour is apostolic male apostolic labour. Okay. Um, all right. So, uh, and then the next time that copia appears is 1 Corinthians 15:10, uh, | |
| But by the grace of God, I am who I am. And his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain, but I laboured, I copied out more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. And I think, is he talking about other apostles? Yeah. | |
| Yes, he's talking about the other apostles. If you read the preceding verses, it's talking about Cephas. In other words, Peter and James and all the apostles. In verse 9, the preceding... | |
| preceding verse for I am the least of the apostles that I am not me to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God and then verse 10 but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain but I laboured I copied out much more abundantly than they all yet not I but but the grace of God which was with me so as you can see that that that just reinforces | |
| the connection between kopiao and apostolic labour. So several things to take from that. Like God wants us to engage in apostolic labour. And then there's a time to rest from it. There are periods of rest. Okay. And then, so we got a bit of a sense of the word labour. Come unto me all ye that labour, kopiao, and then are heavy laden. | |
| And the phrase heavy latent was translated from one word in Greek. It's fortizo. Fortizo. And it literally means to place a burden upon, to load. And that word comes from fortos. And fortos means a load or a burden. And that word comes from ferro. | |
| which means to carry. So, okay, so the thing is, what does this verse convey? What I get in my heart is that it's talking about the prophetic. That's why if you see a lot of verses in the prophetic books, you'll see this is the burden of Isaiah, or this is the burden of Hosea, or this is the burden of Nahum. | |
| When a prophet is to speak, it's a burden. So prophets carry a burden within them. It's the prophetic burden. And it's a burden of slavery where they are slaves to God and where they suffer for the sake of others. Prophetic sacrifice, that's the burden. | |
| And so those who are heavy laden, those who are fortizo, are those who are doing prophetic work. So you can see labour, kopiao is apostolic labour. | |
| And this carrying of burdens is a prophetic carrying of burdens. So two things that are very male, of the male ministries, apostolic labour and prophetic burden carrying. So this is talking about people who are out doing male stuff. This yoke passage, I mean, you may want to apply it to someone who is living | |
| a matriarchal life. And it may have some application, but it's very, very limited. If you read the whole chapters we saw, I mean, the Lord is talking about John the Baptist living a harsh life with no luxuries. And then, you know, Tryphosa and Tryphena, the two sisters whose names have to do with luxury. Even in their luxury, they were working. | |
| So even though they had abundance and could live a life of luxury, they were labouring. So it's people who have embraced the male anointings of apostolic judgments and labouring and trailblazing and seeking the wisdom of God. | |
| and learning and looking for searching scripture to understand and have new revelation to release into the atmosphere. That's apostolic labour. And then prophetic burden where you're carrying the vision of God and you're suffering for others and all of that. And go through the sufferings and the turmoil that a prophet goes through. | |
| being a slave to God, not having a will of your own. So these are the people that the Lord is talking about. And these are people who live a harsh life and who believe in a level of grace that is beyond what the matriarchal church understands. | |
| Okay, so apostolic and prophetic. So the rest of the verse says, and I will give you rest. And the word rest, give you rest, the whole phrase comes from one word in Greek. So it's not like God says, I will give, you know, the verb dido me in Greek, and then rest, a word for rest. It's not... | |
| We think of give you rest like someone handing you a loaf of bread, you know, with the word rest on it. You know, like someone giving you something called rest. But that's not what it says in Greek. In Greek, the word is anapauo. Anapauo, maybe that's the best way to say it. Anapauo, they spell it here, A-N-A-P-A-U-O. | |
| P-A-U-O. And if you look at P-A-U-O, at least when I look at it, I go, wow, that's the word. That's pause. You know, in English, pause. P-A-U-S-E. This is the same as pause, only that the S-E at the end becomes an O. Anapawo. | |
| So, and it literally means to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labour in order to recover and collect his strength. That's what God is going to give us. The opportunity to stop and collect strength. That's what God is promising. Okay. | |
| So if we come to him and we've been doing apostolic labour and prophetic burden carrying, then he's going to allow us to stop. We don't have to go on and he will refresh us. So instead of labouring, we will be laboured on. We will be provided. I hope that's making sense. It's like instead of us being the ones giving and giving, | |
| We will be given something without much effort like the lilies of the field and And like Simon when he went out and just just cast the the net and all the fish Got caught there so much so that the nets broke And he did it without much effort So that's what God is promising and it's interesting that | |
| We'll read some appearances of Anapawo just to get a deeper sense, a little better sense of what rest is, what type of rest the Lord is talking about. So Anapawo appears for the first time in Matthew 11:28, the verse we're just reading. | |
| And then the next time is in Matthew 26:45. It says, So notice that... | |
| This is when they were in the garden and the Lord Jesus was about to be arrested and the Lord was praying and the disciples were supposed to be praying. But, you know, they kept falling asleep and all that. But they were in a time that they needed to be labouring, doing labour, spiritual labour, hard labour. | |
| But the time ended. And then the Lord Jesus, a very strange thing to say if you think about it. He's about to be betrayed and be crucified and all that. And he says, sleep. Sleep now. He was asking them to pray. And he would get up. He would be sad because every time he'd go look out, kind of check on them, they were all fast asleep. But then when the time came and it was done, the time of working ended. | |
| Then the Lord said to them, sleep now and just rest. It's time for you to stop. That's basically anapauo is to put a pause on it. And that's very important to understand. It's a time of putting a pause on it. So you kind of press pause and you just let God provide you. | |
| Yeah, and that's what they were supposed to do. Even though it was a very dark time, Jesus was about to be crucified and all that. But he said, no, you've finished. The time of prayer is done. Now it's time to stop and pause and wait. Because they couldn't do anything after that. They couldn't rescue Jesus out of jail or anything like that. They couldn't rescue him from being crucified or anything. All they could do is wait. | |
| And wait and rest. And God was going to provide for them. Okay. And then, and it was before a death. And that's very interesting. And he says, sleep on now and take on rest. So this resting, this putting a pause on it, it's almost like a form of dying. Okay. | |
| Like, like you stop, you know, like someone who just goes limp and, and, and stops. And there's like a form of death. You don't fight it anymore. Kind of thing. You're not fighting the same problem over and over again. You, you just, you're not fighting like you're done. And, and, and, and you just die. You just die to it. That's what this rest is about. You just die to it. Um, | |
| die to whatever you were fighting or die to whatever you were labouring in. That's what I mean. Okay. And then we're going to skip the next two appearances of Anapauo and we're going to go to the fifth appearance. That's Luke 12:19. It says, | |
| And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, anapawo, eat, drink, and be merry. And this is the parable of the rich man who gathered lots of money, goods. And he says, okay, now it's time to retire and get my social security check and enjoy the rest of my life. And I have a lot of stuff stored up. I can now, anapawo, I can now rest. | |
| And we all know that the Lord said to him, and let's go there in verse 20. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? So this man rested at the wrong time because he laboured for the wrong reasons. | |
| And notice how it's talking about the soul. So this rest, this anapauo is for the soul. The soul needs the rest, not the spirit so much, but the soul. I think the spirit does need rest, but it's not as much. The soul is the one that needs it the most. And notice that there's death connected to it. And that's what I always get. So that's what I'm getting here. | |
| This anapauo means kind of like dying, just stop fighting and dying. Not literally, of course, but you know, like the attitude, like I'm not fighting, not labouring anymore. Like you go limp and you just go to sleep and die in a figurative way. Okay. | |
| And then just as a side note, it's a thing that I found interesting because the next two appearances of Anapauo are about the spirit, not the soul. Like 1 Corinthians 16:18 says, for they have refreshed Anapauo, my spirit and yours. Therefore, acknowledge them that are such. Excuse me. | |
| And 2 Corinthians 7.13 says, Therefore we were comforted in your comfort, yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. His spirit was anapauo. And what I'm getting, I'm sorry, I might be wrong on this, what I said earlier about the spirit and anapauo. | |
| I'm getting the sense that when you're toiling in the spirit, your spirit will also need refreshing, need anapawo. Yeah, and I think those who are in the soul, everything is just soul, soul, soul. So all... | |
| Their spirit is never tired because their spirit is like dormant. With a person who is soul-centric, their spirit is not really doing anything. They're not doing spiritual work. They're not doing apostolic labour and prophetic burden carrying. | |
| Because they don't believe in any of that. They are living in Capernaum, the village of comfort, the village of consolation, where they just go there to get manicures and get treated. It's like a spa treatment. They go to church to get a spa treatment for their soul all the time. And their spirit is just dormant. They're not doing labour. They're not doing apostolic labour and prophetic burden carrying. So maybe, yeah, this is for people who are in the spirit. | |
| And that's why they need refreshing. Um, okay. Um, all right. Uh, so going, going back to, uh, Matthew 11. Um, so we've, we've seen a little bit of, uh, come unto me all you that labour copial and are heavy laden, um, | |
| And I will give you. And Kevin Layton was fortizo. And I will give you rest. And I will anapauo you. I will come to me. And I will put you on pause. And allow you to be recharged. That's what the Lord is saying. Without you doing anything. Just rest. Just die. Just go limp and die. And I will refresh you. Yeah. | |
| Okay, and then verse 29, the verse that got us here, Matthew 11:29 says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls. And maybe you've heard a sermon about this in the past. To be frank, I don't think I ever have, but I wouldn't be surprised that maybe someone out there did catch this tiny detail about | |
| that I had never caught until shortly before, you know, this recording, you know, between Thursday and today, that it says, take my yoke upon you. So if you think, like, imagine that you're Joseph Prince or some one of those matriarchal, Jesus did everything for us harlots. And imagine that you're writing | |
| Matthew, well, God wouldn't have you writing Matthew to begin with, but let's say you think you're writing Matthew. And you're talking about, oh, come unto me, all ye that labour and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Imagine that if you're one of those, the pastors, sheep herders from Capernaum, that... | |
| I imagine that. I'm pretty certain that you would type or write, the yoke that the enemy has placed upon you shall be broken and you will be able to dance with joy unfettered by the chains of the enemy. You know, something like that. But you would never put a yoke on the brother, right? I hope I'm making sense. You'd never say, take my yoke. | |
| You wouldn't put those words in Jesus' mouth. You wouldn't say, I'll take my yoke upon you. It's like, no, no, there's no yoke. With Jesus, everything is grace and freedom and happiness. No, there's no yoke because yoke means slavery. You put a yoke on an ox to force the ox to do hard labour out in the sunny, hot field. | |
| So, but notice that God, the Lord Jesus doesn't say, there's no yoke for you. I'll break the yoke of the enemy and give you freedom and joy and happiness. No, he says, no. All I can promise you is a change of yoke. And that's all he promised. A different yoke, but a yoke nonetheless. And that's very important to remember. | |
| And the matriarchal cannot comprehend that. No, no, no, no. Because he says, oh, I will come to Jesus to get rest because I am laboured and heavy laden. I have so many problems. And then, and as they're there, just in the Capernaum sauna, getting their spa treatment and their facials and all that, | |
| They don't expect God to suddenly, as they're lying there comfortably, they don't expect Jesus to come and put a yoke on them. Okay, now it's time to go out. That's why to them, none of this is relevant. They don't get any of this. | |
| So there is a yoke. So we are recognizing that we are called to labour and carry burdens because we understand the male nature of God, the apostolic and prophetic nature of God, and that we are to operate in apostolic labour and prophetic burden-carrying. | |
| So we know there's a yoke, but the Lord says, my yoke is different from the yoke that you would normally have. Because even those who live in Capernaum, in the matriarchal system, they get burdened with nonsense, with other stuff. So they all end up carrying a yoke of their own. But it's a yoke that has no benefit whatsoever. | |
| So the yoke that we are to carry, it says, it requires a certain attitude. It says, | |
| Okay, so now the rest here is for the soul. Interesting. The Lord Jesus is saying, and in the Greek, it does say souls, psuche. And the word rest is anapausis. It's the verb form of anapauo, the verb we just saw a moment ago. So anapausis, it's spelled A-N-A-P-A-U-S-I-S. So you could, if you wanted to anglicise, the pronunciation would be anapausis. Anapausis. Anapausis. | |
| So it clearly has the connotation of pausing, stopping, seizing activity. So, okay. So the Lord is saying, my yoke, to learn, to take my yoke means embracing two qualities, being meek and lowly in heart. And meek, what does meek convey? Meek means... | |
| has the connotation of someone who allows himself to be led by someone else. That's meekness. So, yeah, like the word in Greek is praos. But yeah, it has this connotation of someone who is not imposing his will, who is willing to be taken and led by someone else. In this case, God. So you have to have a meek attitude. And then... | |
| You have to be lowly of heart and lowly in heart. And the word lowly is tapenos, which literally means like humble or not rising far from the ground. I guess so lowly seems like a good translation, but it has this connotation of humility. So you have to be meek and humble. You have to be easily led by God to wherever he takes you, taken in the spirit. | |
| And then you have to, um, you have to be humble. In other words, uh, you have to, uh, be lowly, like not have much, not have many expectations. Um, yes, like, uh, uh, how, um, trying to get a sense of, of this word for myself. Um, yeah, it's, um, | |
| It's having the attitude that you're okay with being a slave and a servant, a lowly servant. And that is a requirement to carry the yoke that the Lord is offering. Yeah, you have to be easily led. If God takes you to something that is unpleasant, you will do it anyway. | |
| or if he's taking you to do something that you don't want to do for X, Y, or Z reason, you will do it. And lowly means, or tapenos means, that you're willing to do hard labour, difficult labour that is not sexy, that is not fancy, that it doesn't come with external glory, | |
| associated to it okay and if you have those attitudes then you can take on the yoke of the Lord and then and then Matthew 11 30 it says for my yoke is easy and my burden is light | |
| And these are the words I think that are the most misinterpreted by the pastoral people, the matriarchal believer. Because, oh, life is easy. My yoke is easy. So they think the yoke is going to be like this big neck bracelet that they're going to be carrying around, like some sort of fancy decoration on their necks. | |
| And that's not what that, that yoke is a yoke. It's not, I mean, if you want the decoration on your neck, get yourself a bracelet, you know, a necklace, I mean. You know, get yourself something, you know, some fancy jewelry. You don't get yourself a yoke. So they say, oh, my yoke is easy, but it's still a yoke. | |
| But at least it's easy. Not if you read the Greek. So let me share here what the word easy is. The word easy in Greek is here is krestos. And I'm looking at all the appearances of krestos in scriptures, not too many, like seven verses. And | |
| It's never translated easy, except in the, in the King James, you know, they chose to use, uh, to say easy in Matthew 11:30, talking about the yoke and nowhere else do they try to translate it as easy because it's not easy. That's not what Christos means. So what does Christos means? I mean, it literally means fit, fit for use or useful or, uh, | |
| And it comes from the word kraomai. And kraomai literally means to receive a loan, to borrow, to take for one's use, to use. So kraomai means to take a loan. And that's where you get the key to what the Lord is saying. He's not saying the yoke is easy. Yeah. | |
| So kraomai, again, it's to receive, you're receiving something alone, you're borrowing, you're taking something for your own use. So in krestos, therefore, it's like, just to clarify a bit, the word krestos is sometimes translated as kind. | |
| And when I look at the word and how it's used and the origin, you know, with kraomai, I would dare say like a very good translation of krestos would be generous. | |
| Like if someone is generous, they will lend you whatever you need for you to do something. Like if you're out, you know, stuck on the road and you have a flat tire and for some reason you don't have the necessary implements to change your tire and you can't wait for AAA or whatever. | |
| then maybe someone stops and they are generous with their time and with their tools and they help you to change your tire. So they are generously lending you whatever you need to change your tire. And even if it involves their own manual labour, they are lending that to you so that you can take use of it and get what you need out of it. | |
| So the Lord is saying that the yoke is generous, that the yoke will lend you whatever you need when you need it. And that's the key to understanding part of the nature of that yoke. | |
| And that kind of reminds me of that famous verse in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that says that God will never allow us to be tested beyond that which we were able, but will with every temptation also provide a way to escape it. So it's like, so he will always provide. And that's what the Lord is saying. And that's when God gets pastoral. | |
| you've done your male labour, apostolic and prophetic labour, uh, labour and burden carrying. And now God says, you've been faithful in being male. Now I'm going to provide for you and provide you rest and refreshing and, and whatever you need to, to complete the task. So it's like saying, Oh, God is going to be generous. He's going to provide what I need. Uh, he's going to lend me whatever I need. Um, | |
| And so that I can use it. And just so you know, like I was curious and I took the words in Greek. I took them and I'll do it right now. I'm copy pasting the text of Matthew 1130 in Greek. You know, the text we're reading for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And I'm going to Google Translate and I'm going to copy paste the text. | |
| So I apologise here. Let me translate it to English. So when I copy paste it, I think it just translates it the way it is in Greek. You know, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. But if I take out all the words except my yoke is easy. So I'll take out the four and I'll take out the | |
| My burden is light. And I'm left with three words. Tsugos, which is yoke. Mo krestos. And believe it or not, what I'm looking at on the screen right now is the translation of that is my yoke is useful. Notice what a difference from my yoke is light. My yoke is useful. | |
| In other words, it lends itself to be used. It's like you hired someone to do something. And for some reason, let's say they're incompetent or they're lazy or whatever. | |
| and you say, oh, that guy is useless because you need something and he never does it. Or let's say you have a secretary. Someone has a secretary, and he asks the secretary, can you type up this letter or do something and send this to so-and-so? And then two hours later, you ask the secretary, did you do it? And the secretary goes, no. And then you go, oh, I'll have to do it myself. Oh, he or she... | |
| is useless, etc., etc. But if it's a person who's very helpful and is there, it's like, oh yeah, I'll get it for you and do you need anything else? It's a very useful person. And that's what the yoke is. And the Lord is saying, even though I'm asking you sometimes to do hard things, | |
| You will find that my yoke is very, very generous and very useful for when you need something. I will provide it for you and you will be okay. And that's what I get from my yoke is easy. It really says my yoke is useful or my yoke is generous. I think I prefer that translation, my yoke is generous. | |
| And then it says, my burden is light. And the word burden is fortion, which is a variation of fortizo that we saw a moment ago. So my burden is light. And the word light, you say, oh, well, you know, okay, finally, some good news, you know, because it's all been bad news for the matriarchal up until now. First of all, my yoke. That means, oh, I have a yoke. | |
| I thought I was going to be living in freedom. And then the second bad news is my yoke is not easy. It's just generous. It will provide you when you are in need. It will provide you what you need to get the job done. So again, it's not good news. It's not the sauna spa treatment that I was hoping for. That's what the major article would say. | |
| But then he gets to light and goes, oh, finally, some good news. At least it's going to be light. But if you look in the Greek, it's the word elaphros. Elaphros. And elaphros is only used twice in scripture. And I'm going to read the second time it appears. | |
| And yes, a lafrost literally means light, in wait, quick or agile. So technically it's light. It's a correct translation. So you say, oh yeah, the yoke is light. | |
| Well, this is what God means by light. And if you read the context, this is 2 Corinthians chapter 4. | |
| I'll just start reading from verse 7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. | |
| This was verses 7 through 10. So verse 11 to Corinthians chapter 4. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. Verse 12. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. Verse 13. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken. We also believe and therefore speak. | |
| Notice, this is saying, I'm applying my faith. And look at all that his faith has gotten him. Persecution, being cast down, bearing death in his body, and death working in him. | |
| And yet he's saying, I have faith. So notice that he doesn't use faith for what the Capernaum believer uses it for. It's not to get more consolation, feel all nice and gooey and happy on the inside. Okay, so now verse 14. Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you. | |
| Verse 15, For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. Verse 16 to Corinthians 4, For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. And then verse 17, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. | |
| Then verse 18, well, we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. So that's how light the yoke is. And I'm not going to read the whole thing again, but I believe you got the idea, I pray, as I read it very quickly, that there's a lot of suffering involved | |
| I, humanly speaking, would not call what I just read light affliction. That sounds like a whole ton of affliction. Very heavy, heavy, heavy affliction. Everything that Paul is talking about. | |
| But that's the affliction that... Oh, and notice that the context is always, I'm persecuting... We have life, death in us, so that life will be in you. That's what it said in verse 12. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. | |
| So that means this is all in the context of sacrifice. You're sacrificing yourself for others. So Paul is speaking prophetically here, even though he's an apostle, but he was doing prophetic work too, doing prophetic sacrifice, suffering for the sake of others. | |
| So that's what that light yoke is about. And I go, if I was a matriarchal, I'd go, well, there's nothing light about that. So it's like false advertising here. Jesus, you said a light yoke, and this light yoke comes with all this heartache and trouble. So what is light about it? And then what the Lord is saying is it's light in the context of eternity. | |
| Because the prophet aims at eternity. The Gergesche aims at the temporal. The prophet aims at eternity. So the Lord is saying, if you're a male, spiritually male, and obviously this applies if you're a woman, but if you're spiritually male and you act in the prophetic, then you will understand that | |
| That whatever you're suffering in this temporal realm is nothing compared to the weight of glory that will come upon us. When we are in eternity, it's like all that we went through is going to look like nothing, like feathers. And we don't have to be in eternity, like literally. | |
| It's like the Lord is saying, just be aware of that. Don't forget that this is all very temporal. And then when you get connected to the prophetic anointing and you recognise the value of the eternal compared to the temporal, then suddenly the heaviness that you feel is going to be reduced and it's going to feel light because you're gaining... In other words, the word light is God saying gain perspective. | |
| you're seeing things from the wrong perspective because from the perspective of eternity, everything you're going through is very light, very, very light. But someone who is in the soul, who is pastoral, who is not connected in the spirit, can't tap into that. They can't. | |
| Because they've been trained that my life is to provide for my soul, to make my soul feel good. I need pastoral care, pastoral love, pastoral compassion. So they can't grasp the idea of saying, wow, all that I'm going through is nothing compared to eternity. Okay, so... | |
| Okay, so there are two things that I get from easy and light. From the word that we saw for easy. And it was so easy I forgot it. Crestos. Crestos. Generous. So these are the two things. Like... | |
| And I'm starting to say some things that kind of are similar to some things that matriarchals talk about. So I pray I'm not mingling things of the soul with things of the spirit, soulish things with spiritual things. And this has helped me. So I feel that even if I'm not saying it right, or even if what I'm saying is not completely true, | |
| There's a kernel of truth in it. But one thing that I have thought about, and I've heard some people say something similar, and maybe that's where I got it, but I think there's truth in it, is that if man had not fallen, life would not be as messy and complicated and difficult as it is. | |
| We have to work by the sweat of our brow, it says in Genesis, because man fell. Life became so much more difficult than it needed to be because we fell. So the thing is, with that in mind, God's idea of man's existence is not a life of just labouring and toiling and suffering and difficulty. That was not his idea. | |
| There's labouring and difficulty involved, but it's not this constant thing, if that makes sense. So it's like if you're at work and it's just overwhelming you and everything is just so complicated and so many things to deal with and so many things to worry about, | |
| And your personal life and all that is just overwhelming. Then you have to know, well, this is not the way it's supposed to be. This is not the way it's supposed to be. God did not put me on earth to suffer with all these burdens. And the thing is, when you're caught up in all that stuff, you're not taking the yoke of Jesus. You're taking the yoke of the world. | |
| The yoke of the cursed ground. And the Lord says, pause, pause and take my yoke. Come to me and take my yoke. Put off that yoke of all that stuff that the world is putting on you. And that your soul feels overwhelmed by and say, no, this is not how it was supposed to be. | |
| So you shake it off and you go, no, it was not meant to be the same. | |
| heart if it was meant to be this heart if it's going to be this heart then I I'm either doing something wrong or or I should stop living I don't know how to explain it it's like you rest in him you pause and say no the Lord's yoke is generous | |
| This is all getting very complicated. I know it's not this way. It's not supposed to be this way. And if it feels like that, it's because it's the yoke of the curse of humanity's fall. So you remove that yoke and say, okay, God is going to provide. I've done everything I can and I seem to not be getting anywhere anymore. I'm just going to stop and just rest | |
| Life is not supposed to be this complicated. And then you trust that God will provide whatever you need to get the job done. And then that's when you start, that's when the yoke of the Lord becomes generous and you feel it, you know, oh, this is what the Lord meant. We're not supposed to be living a life of stress and | |
| and difficulty and tension and heartache. But see, yes, there's a life of tension and heartache or difficulties that we have to go through because we're serving the Lord and doing the spiritual battles. But there's a lot of that that's coming not from God, it's coming from the world, if that makes sense. And when the world is trying to put all that on you, | |
| You have to reject that yoke. You have to take it and say no. And you go to the Lord Jesus and you take on his yoke. And yes, you're going to have to suffer. You're going to have to do work. Sometimes you're going to do things you don't want to do because you're meek. You allow God to take you to do things you didn't feel like doing. | |
| and you don't care if it's hard labour or it's not sexy work because you're lowly, you're tapenos, you're humble, and you don't mind. So you do the work, but you know that if you need something and you're stuck with something, God will provide. God is generous. If you're in the Spirit, then God will provide whatever you need. | |
| And then suddenly things begin to get lighter and lighter. And then when it becomes overwhelming, you go, if I'm suffering for God, if I'm suffering because I'm taking on burdens I'm not supposed to take and all that, that's a different story. But if you're suffering in the Lord, then you go, whatever, however heavy this is, it's nothing compared to eternity. This is nothing. | |
| And when you tap into that, because it's not you convincing yourself into something. It's you recognizing something real, but you have to see it with prophetic eyes. That's the only way to be able to see that reality. And when you see it, boom. It's like, oh, okay, it does not matter. This is all going to end eventually. So those are the two attitudes. The Lord will provide, if it gets too complicated, | |
| And overwhelming and just stressful and just, or you can't take it anymore. Then, you know, God will provide. For example, imagine that you're at work and the work has become so complicated and so stressful and so everything. And you don't know what to do. And you say, oh, I'm going to get fired. Well, then you can rest and say, you know, if I'm fired, I'm fired. But God will provide a job for me. | |
| Um, that w w that will provide for my needs and, and I will be okay. Um. | |
| He will provide. Or if you're encountering a problem at work that you can't resolve, you know, you just pause and say, no, it's not supposed to be this complicated. God did not design man to live in this level of complication. Because you're seeing that the problem is coming from the outside. It's not from God. It's coming from the outside. So you rest and say, no, you stop. God will provide. Stop what you're doing. And you go to sleep. | |
| And God will provide while you're sleeping whatever you need. And the next day, boom, the idea will come and you'll be able to resolve it. So it's being aware that the yoke you're wearing is generous when it's the yoke of Jesus. That's what he's talking about. And then the yoke is light, meaning when I compare to eternity, this is nothing. It may feel heavy, but it's not heavy compared to eternity. | |
| Because at that moment you tap into the prophetic eternity of God and then the anointing of God comes into you and it just goes, wow, yeah. And then you don't feel the weight anymore. Okay. And all of this is in the context of people who are labouring in uncomfortable circumstances. Not living the luxuriously living situation. | |
| of Club Capernaum, that spa life and summer retreat that Christians want to turn the church into. This is not for them. If you read Matthew 11, you go, yeah, this is not for you. This yoke | |
| Passage is not for you. He's not talking to you. He's talking to those who are labouring apostolically and carrying heavy, sometimes very heavy prophetic burdens. And the thing about resting is, as we said, there's a connection to death. It's like, it does not matter. You have to have this attitude that it doesn't matter. You're willing to die. Like, | |
| it's a rest where you're willing to sleep and die. You don't fight anymore. So you relax and you rest and you go, yeah, God will take care of this. And this may seem overwhelming, but the worst that can happen is I will die and nothing more. So it's that attitude of like a certain abandonment | |
| That you enter into. You just let go. It's like that song. It's a verse in scripture obviously. But I always remember it as a song. It's a song. It says. My God shall supply all my needs. According to his riches in glory. And then the song says. He will give his angels charge over me. Jehovah Jireh cares for me. For me. For me. | |
| Jehovah Jireh cares for me. My God shall supply all my needs. According to his riches in glory, he will give his angels charge over me. Jehovah Jireh cares for me, for me, for me. Jehovah Jireh cares for me, for me, for me. Jehovah Jireh cares for me. | |
| So it's that my God will supply all my needs, whatever I need. That's why his yoke is useful. It borrows, it lends you. You can borrow from it. It lends you whatever you need. It is useful. It is generous. So my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory. | |
| And then he will give angels charge over me. So there's supernatural provision and even angels will be assigned to me to help me and strengthen my spirit. | |
| And then the song says, Jehovah Jireh cares for me. Jehovah Jireh means provider. Jehovah provides. Just like he provided for Abraham when he was about to sacrifice Isaac. And the Lord provided the ram. And Abraham was doing prophetic and apostolic work when he was about to sacrifice his own son. | |
| And then God provided as he was in the midst of apostolic and prophetic works. So it means God is saying be meek. Be willing like Abraham to be taken where you don't want to go. And be lowly. Be willing to do things that will not give you honor and glory in the sight of men. And be willing to engage in labourious things. | |
| and copiao labourious apostolic work and be willing to carry sometimes heavy prophetic burdens. And as you carry them, I will provide for you. I will, when you feel heavy, | |
| That's why the Lord says, come unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. When we start feeling weary, then we go. It's like God says, you have to seek me out. Come unto me. So you seek him out and then you just die to the problem. Just rest. Just die to the problem. And you trust that as you rest, God will provide what you need. | |
| Whatever resources, whether it's an idea, whatever it is, he will provide what you need because his yoke is generous. Not easy. It's generous. | |
| And it's light in the sense that compared to eternity, whatever you're going through is nothing. If you're going through it in the spirit, because you're battling in the spirit. If you're suffering because you inflict harm on yourself, that's a different story. Then this passage doesn't really apply to your situation. It's like something different, I would say. Okay. | |
| And I feel led to look for that verse in Scripture that says, He will give His angels charge over thee. But I don't know how to look for it. Let's see if I can find it. Oh, Psalm 91:11. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. | |
| Verse 11, for he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. Verse 12, they shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. So God will come and provide. And this also reminds me of the famous passage in Psalm 127. | |
| When it says, it is vain, verse 2, it is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. So it's like, yeah, a lot of people are labouring and toiling and doing all these things. Verse 1 says, except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. | |
| And then in verse two, it is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. So you have to learn to pause and trust that he will provide. If the Lord is not building the house, you're building in vain. And sometimes you have to let God build. You have to stop interfering. It's like he's trying to put the brick down | |
| um, uh, lay the brick down and you're getting your hand in between, uh, you know, um, the brick and, and, and the, and the wall and, and you don't let him lay the brick down on the wall to, you know, to, to build the wall. You're getting in his way. And it's like, God said, just stop, stop. Let me lay this brick. It's time for me to do it. Um, I will give you what you need. Um, | |
| And you have to just rest in him. And resting means pausing. Pausing means dying. But in all of that, you're still labouring. You're still in an attitude of apostolic labour and prophetic burden carrying. So those are the thoughts that were... | |
| in my heart about this. And again, you have to read all of Matthew 11 to know who this passage is for. It's people who are not looking for luxurious living. Even if you have a name of luxury, like Tryphena and Tryphosa, I think the names were, | |
| you are going to labour in the Lord and do the male work that needs to be done, the work that is not for the effeminate believers of Capernaum from the village of comfort. You're going to be like a Noah that's going to do in your labour, you're going to be the source of consolation for God, to give consolation to God on account of the regret he has for having mercy | |
| created the church. God grieves when he sees the church and you are to be like a Noah that gives Nahum to God, consolation to God as he regrets what's going on so that through you, through your work, that which he regrets can be destroyed and regenerated. So your source of consolation to God is your labouring | |
| apostolically and prophetically. And that's like an amazing thing to think about, that you are a source of consolation to God. Because it says that God was regretting, and the word is Naham. He was regretting having made man. And then he looked to Noah, whom Lamech, his earthly father, referred to as being the source of Naham, of consolation, because of the toil... | |
| involved due to the ground being cursed. I hope I'm making sense. So it's like in a very subtle way, God is saying Noah comforted God because God was feeling sorrow and regret over humanity. And he looked down and saw Noah and said, oh, I feel better now. I feel consolation because through this one, | |
| I will restore humanity. And that's what God wants us to be. That when he sees you and sees me, that he will feel consoled because he sees your labour, your apostolic kopiao, and he sees your prophetic burden carrying. And he will bless you because of that. And he will provide whatever you need. | |
| And you will still carry a yoke, whether the matriarchals like it or not, you will still carry a yoke. And you won't mind because you're meek and humble. You're willing to carry a yoke. It's not like you're not embarrassed to be showing the yoke around. Like, oh, he's carrying a yoke. Oh, he must be a lowly slave. | |
| You don't mind because you are tapenos, I think was the word. You are lowly, you're of a humble heart, close to the ground. You don't try to elevate yourself to high stature. So you don't mind the labour, the hard labour. And that's who that yoke is for. | |
| the yoke that is, quote, easy and light that the matriarchals are always misunderstanding and kind of focusing on. It's interesting how they focus on that part of the chapter, but they don't focus on the rest about suffering violence and John living a harsh life and all that. Yeah. | |
| And they don't focus on Kapernaum that has judgments worse than the judgment laid out for Sodom. They don't focus on any of that. They don't even understand what that means to them. Kapernaum was some sort of village 2,000 years ago that has nothing to do with them. And they don't realise they are living in Kapernaum. They are living in the village of consolation where everything is about being consoled and about feeling better all the time. | |
| Okay, so thank you very much for listening. I know a lot of these things were very jumbled a bit, but I pray that at least what we said about the word easy and the word light and the word rest, that those things took hold in your heart and mind and in your spirit and | |
| And that, Lord willing, you'll be able to apply those things and be able to rest in him and not be overburdened by the yoke that the world, the system tries to, will want to put on you and that you will put on yourself if you live by the soul. And so thank you very much for listening and may the Lord bless you and give you rest. Amen. |
The speaker begins by addressing a divine prompting regarding the date of August 29th. He notes that a previous recording took place on this date, which marks the 21st anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans. He expresses a sense of conviction that he was meant to mention this connection, suggesting that the timing of spiritual reminders is intentional.
The speaker describes a sudden atmospheric change—a massive, dark, circular cloud hovering over his location, accompanied by lightning and thunder. He interprets these natural phenomena as a divine signal to fulfill the task of discussing Hurricane Katrina, linking it to the concept of divine wrath and the current state of the nation.
Further significance is drawn from the appearance of Hurricane Karina in the Pacific, heading toward Hawaii. The speaker views the phonetic similarity between "Karina" and "Katrina" as a sign of continued divine dissatisfaction. He notes the emergence of other hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, suggesting that these events are not mere coincidences but reflections of a spiritual reality.
Transitioning to the core topic, the speaker recounts a moment of prayerful inquiry where the Lord provided a specific scripture: Matthew 11:29. He reflects on the initial feeling that the verse might be personal, but through continued seeking, he felt compelled to share its deeper, more complex meaning.
The passage in question—"Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls"—is introduced. The speaker notes that while this is a popular "pastoral" verse often used to offer comfort, its true context requires a deeper look at the preceding verses.
To understand the "yoke," the speaker examines the character of John the Baptist as described in Matthew 11. John is presented not as a man of "soft raiment" or luxury, but as a prophet who lived a hard, ascetic life.
The speaker highlights verse 12, which mentions that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. He draws a parallel between this and the life of a soldier: a life of hardship and struggle used to establish a kingdom. This sets a tone of "spiritual violence" and prophetic sacrifice, contrasting with the "soft" life sought by many.
The speaker discusses how the religious establishment of the time rejected both John the Baptist (calling him demon-possessed) and the Son of Man (calling Him a glutton). He suggests that the "remnant" faces similar rejection: when they speak of harsh judgment, they are called crazy; when they speak of deep grace and divinity, they are called heretical.
The discussion shifts to the cities Jesus upbraided, specifically Capernaum. The speaker provides an etymological breakdown, noting that Kafarnaum relates to the Hebrew word Nahum, meaning "comfort" or "consolation".
This leads to a critical distinction. The "village of comfort" (Capernaum) can represent the modern matriarchal or pastoral church, which focuses primarily on emotional consolation and making people "feel better." However, the speaker warns that because the people of Capernaum failed to repent despite seeing mighty works, the city became a place of divine regret.
Drawing a connection to Noah, the speaker notes that the name Noah itself is linked to the concept of Naham (comfort/consolation). Just as Noah provided consolation to a grieving God during the time of the flood, the spiritual "remnant" acts as a source of consolation to God through their righteousness and labour.
The speaker arrives at the heart of the message: the nature of the yoke. He identifies two primary types of "male" ministry: Apostolic Labour (kopiao) and Prophetic Burden (fortizo).
Through an extensive study of the Greek word kopiao (to labour/toil), the speaker argues that true apostolic labour is not about natural human effort, but about working in the spirit. He references the lilies of the field and Simon Peter, noting that there are seasons of intense toil and seasons where one receives the fruits of labour through divine provision.
He defines the "heavy laden" (fortizo) as those carrying a prophetic burden—a weight of responsibility and sacrifice for the sake of others. He emphasises that the yoke of Jesus is not a removal of responsibility, but a transition from a useless, worldly yoke to a purposeful, divine one.
The speaker tackles the common misconception that "my yoke is easy" means a life without struggle. He explains that the Greek word krestos is better translated as "generous" or "useful." The yoke is "easy" because it is useful; it provides the necessary tools and strength exactly when the labourer needs them.
The concept of "rest" is defined through the Greek word anapauo. Rather than mere relaxation, it signifies a "pause"—a permission to cease movement to recover strength. It is a divine "pause" that allows the soul to be refreshed.
Using the example of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the speaker explains that even in dark times, there is a time to "stop and rest" because the season of labour has concluded. This rest is described as a form of "dying" to the struggle—leting go of the fight to allow God to move.
Finally, the speaker addresses the "lightness" of the burden (elaphros). Using 2 Corinthians 4, he explains that the affliction may be heavy in the temporal realm, but it is "light" when viewed through the lens of eternity. To the remnant, the suffering is perceived as light because they possess an eternal perspective.
The essay concludes by reiterating that this message is not intended for those seeking a "spa-like" spiritual experience in a "village of comfort." It is a call to those willing to embrace the apostolic and prophetic call.
The speaker encourages the listeners to be like Noah—a source of consolation to God through their faithfulness. By embracing the "generous yoke" and maintaining an eternal perspective, the remnant can find true rest even amidst the labours of a broken world.