In this article, we will explore what it means when the Word says the anointing breaks the yoke in Isaiah 10:27. So, grab your Bible, and let’s dig in…
“The anointing breaks the yoke.“
We’ve all heard those words, and preachers love to preach them from the pulpit. We know it’s from the Bible, but how many of us can, in all honestly, say that we’ve ever given thought to what it means and how to apply it to our lives?
Christianity has a unique language of its own. Words like anointing, yoke, power of God, prophesy, gifts, and grace are often heard in Christian circles and churches.
Still, if we don’t take the time to learn what they mean, we will miss so much of what God is really trying to tell us, opening us up to corrupt interpretations and unbiblical teachings.
With that in mind, let’s study the words “the anointing breaks the yoke” to find out what God is really saying in Isaiah 10:27.
The Anointing Breaks The Yoke: What Does It Mean?
The quote “the anointing breaks the yoke” comes from Isaiah 10:27, which says the following:
“It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.” – (New King James Version.)
The King James Version says “because of the anointing” without the word “oil” at the end. Other translations use the word “fat” instead.
So, to clearly understand what this means, we must look at the meaning of “yoke” and “anointing” within the context of the rest of Isaiah 10.
What Is A Yoke?
A yoke is a wooden crosspiece that people in Biblical times used to tie an animal or two animals together so they could pull a load or work a field.
It was meant to keep the animals in bondage, subjugating and controlling them to enforce cooperation.
The word is usually used metaphorically rather than literally in the Bible to indicate some kind of oppression, bondage, or slavery.
The Bible uses it in several references:
- Israel’s slavery in Egypt (Lev 26:13)
- Oppression from rulers (1 Kings 12:4)
- Religious laws and practices (Acts 15:10)
- Sin (Gal 5:1).
We can see almost any situation that steals our life of freedom in Christ as a yoke.
It can be a stronghold in our thoughts, a sin we’re struggling to break, oppression from legalistic believers, wrong beliefs, or any situation stealing our joy and freedom.
>> Check out The Joy Of Rest: The Meaning Of Matthew 11:28-30
What Is The Anointing?
The anointing is one Biblical concept that’s often misquoted, and part of the reason for that is that the term was used slightly differently in the Old Testament from what it means in the New Testament.
In the Old Testament, anointing served a few purposes:
- To consecrate something or make it holy, dedicated, and set apart to the work of God.
An example is the anointing of the altar (Exodus 40:9, Leviticus 8:11, Numbers 7:10). It meant that this pile of stones was no longer a regular pile of rocks but an altar dedicated to the service of the Lord. - To call a person to a particular service.
For example, God instructed prophets to anoint priests (Exodus 29) and kings (Saul, David, and Solomon). It was a sign of their calling, that they were dedicated to the service of God, and that God walked with them (Psalm 105:15).
The anointing is part of your calling and a consecration, you can grow in the anointing by spending time with the Anointed One.
People confuse authority with anointing, but though the two walk hand in hand, they are not the same thing.
The altar was anointed but carried no power and authority; apart from what the priests were called to do on it, it was still just an oily pile of stones.
The Anointing In The New Testament
Jesus also separated the power of God and the anointing in Luke 4:18-19, where He reads from the book of Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus says that the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him because God has anointed him. We know that the Holy Spirit is the One Who gives us the power of God (Acts 1:8), so Jesus was saying that He had the Holy Spirit (and His power) because He was anointed.
The anointing (calling and consecration) came first, after which He received the power.
The power and indwelling of the Holy Spirit are the results of the anointing, but the church often preaches it the other way around.
The next crucial point about the anointing in the New Testament is that it is closely tied to Jesus. He is the Christ (the Anointed One). He never anointed His disciples with oil or prayed an anointing over them.
What He did was send them out, calling them as apostles. After that, they received power when they received the Holy Spirit.
We are to understand that the anointing is not tied to some “anointed” preacher from the past, and we are not to seek their anointing as Elisha did with the anointing of Elijah. Our anointing is in the Anointed One, Jesus Christ, and because we are in Him and He is in us, we have His anointing.
The power we receive because of the anointing comes from the Holy Spirit, and we receive Him as the promise of the Father, included in the covenant we have through Christ Jesus.
How The Anointing Breaks The Yoke
We said that the yoke is anything keeping you from the fullness and freedom we should have in Jesus. It’s some kind of oppression, captivity, slavery, or bondage.
Keeping that in mind, let’s look again at the passage in Luke 4:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Doesn’t that scripture say that Jesus is the One Who breaks the yoke?
God sent Him and anointed Him to break the yoke. We can see this fact reflected in Matthew 11:28-30:
“Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
So, What Do We Do?
We have to go to the Anointed One to let the anointing break the yoke!!
- We have to go to Jesus Christ and let Him take our yoke, and in return, we are to take His yoke. This is the process of being born again and dying to ourselves.
This gives us the anointing of Christ since we become one with Him, which is the yoke-breaking anointing. - Through Jesus, we can receive the Holy Spirit; the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11) lives in us and gives us power.
He teaches us all that Jesus taught and helps to set us free. We can ask Him for guidance and help to break the yoke. - Some yokes may require boldness, strength, and some fighting. Jesus breaks the yoke, but we often keep living under that yoke because we don’t realize that we’re free or don’t have the courage to do what we must to break the chains.
We must understand that the Holy Spirit is in us because God has anointed us (in Christ) to break the yoke and remove the chains. He has done His part; now, we must take the necessary steps to grasp our freedom.
The anointing isn’t hard to understand when we view it in the context of the Bible. People in the Old Testament didn’t have the Holy Spirit yet, since He had not yet been poured out.
That’s why God sent the Holy Spirit to particular people whom He had anointed to perform a specific function, like priests, prophets, judges, and kings.
We no longer have that limitation. Jesus paid the price, and we can be one with Him, giving us His ultimate yoke-breaking anointing. We also have the Holy Spirit, Who will give us wisdom, guidance, and power to overcome any type of bondage we find ourselves in.
It is our choice to become free, but the Holy Spirit is ready to give us whatever we need to break the yoke!
Melissa is a passionate minister, speaker and an ongoing learner of the Bible. She has been involved in church and vocational ministry for over 18 years. And is the founder of Think About Such Things. She has the heart to equip the saints by helping them get into the Word of God and fall more in love with Jesus. She also enjoys family, cooking, and reading.
She has spoken in churches in California, Oregon, Texas, and Mexico and has been featured in Guidepost Magazine and All Recipes Magazine. Read More…