The wonderful promise according to which the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, and the rod of their taskmaster, are smashed as on the day of Midian seems, perhaps, too promising to be true—at least in the light of our own experience. For, despite our heartfelt appeals to God for this liberation from the burdensome oppression of our sinfulness, the yoke, pole, and rod seem to still weigh heavily upon our weary shoulders. Instead, the degrading, by the Lord, of the land of Zebulun and Naphtali more accurately mirrors our inner experience.
However, if this latter experience is where we find ourselves, then the purpose of this “degrading” has, perhaps, not been fully accomplished. Let us not forget that the day of Midian recalls that unforgettable occasion when God decimated the powerful Midianite army through Gideon and his small band of three hundred men. For, it was precisely Gideon’s weakness and his resolute trust in God’s promise that allowed God to act and enabled this victory to occur. Similarly, our unavailing attempts to smash the yoke, pole, and rod of sin’s oppression, may be the very condition that opens us to God’s surprising deliverance. Thus, the “day of Midian” becomes the symbol of God acting precisely when our human resources are exhausted.
The problem, however, is that when our human resources are exhausted, our wounded pride can prevent a loving and trusting surrender to God and, instead, lead us to give up and resentfully withdraw from the battle. And so the heavy yoke remains in place and the gloom and darkness Isaiah describes continue to enshroud us with their suffocating grip, stifling the hope we struggle to keep alive. In his wisdom God may allow this burdensome yoke to remain so that we learn humility and that trusting openness of God’s merciful love that is otherwise obstructed by prideful self-reliance and our futile attempts to make ourselves worthy and deserving of God’s undeserved love.
Gradually, if we do not withdraw from the battle but bear the yoke that Christ leaves in place it is gradually transformed into that easy yoke which he promises—a yoke that is easy, not because it is light, but because it is shared with Christ. Thus, the promise of Midian invites us to remain in the struggle with a humble and trusting heart. The yoke may not fall away at once, nor the darkness lift in a moment, but Christ walks beside us, bearing the greater share. In the slow fidelity of daily conversion—of rising after each fall, of surrendering pride, of consenting to be loved in our poverty—the yoke becomes sweet and the burden light. And when the dawn finally breaks upon our inner darkness, we will recognize that the victory was never ours to win, but God’s to give. Our task was simply to remain in the battle long enough for grace to triumph.