The Easy Light Yoke and the Perfect Law of Freedom

The Easy and Light Yoke

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:28-30 KJV)
What is the light yoke that Jesus was referring to?
…they are foolish, for they do not know the way of YHWH, the requirements of their Elohim. So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of YHWH, the requirements of their Elohim.” But with one accord they too had broken OFF THE YOKE and torn off the bonds. (Jer. 5:4-5 see also Jer. 2:20)
In Jeremiah 5, the Yoke is Torah.
Thus said YHWH, stand you in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein. (Jer. 6:16)
Notice that this “way” which gives “rest” is “the old path”. Now lets read a little further down in Jer. 6 to obtain more context:
But they said, we will not walk therein (Jer. 6:16)… …they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my Torah, but rejected it. (Jer. 6:19)
Notice that the “old path” that brings “rest for your souls” to which they said “we will not walk therein” (Jer. 6:16) is identified by YHWH as “my Torah”.
Bringing the two together the Torah is: A yoke that will bring rest to our souls.
It's light in comparison to the heavy weight of Rabbinical Law and tradition:
"They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." - Matthew 23:4
Often tradition would contradict the Torah, leading the Jewish people into error:
Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? - Matthew 15:1-3
Jesus held the observance and study of the Torah as the highest priority. He disliked the inclination of the religious establishment to make God’s law more complicated, strict and heavy than it needed to be, and as we read in Matthew 15, he especially hated it when tradition permitted breaking the Torah and thus allowing sin.

The Perfect Law that gives Freedom

In the Epistle of James, James encourages the reader to continue in a “Perfect law that gives freedom” by “doing it” and that those who do so, will be blessed as a result:
"But whoever looks intently into the PERFECT LAW THAT GIVES FREEDOM, and continues in it--not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it--they will be blessed in what they do."
What is this “Perfect law that gives freedom?” Is it the “Law of Christ” - the supposed new law of Jesus that we are told nullifies and replaces the Torah?
The Torah is a law of liberty/freedom:
"And I will walk at LIBERTY: for I seek thy precepts." -Psalm 118:45
The Torah is perfect:
"The law of the Lord is PERFECT, refreshing the soul." - Psalms 19:7
Putting the two together - the Torah is a Perfect law of Liberty. James as a Jew, was referring to the Torah as described by King David in the Psalms. Thus James in his epistle, exhorts that the Christian believer should look intently into the Torah (study it, know it) to not forget, but to do it, in order to receive blessing!

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