A snap shot of the Bride.

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me:  (John 15:26 KJV Emphasis by writer)

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you.  

(John 16:13 KJV Emphasis by writer)

This morning I received a mail from a sister in Yeshua HaMessiach - it was a copy of a mail that she in turn had received from what seems to be another believing sister known to her. 

The mail dealt with the semantics concerning the recognition or non-recognition of Messiah Yeshua by the Orthodox Jews, The Christians and lastly the Messianics (NOTE: I use the title Messianic for ease of reference when referring to those coming out of the Church system and back to their Hebraic Roots as most are familiar with this generic name - so please no offence intended).

The observations made were merited and definitely worth closer consideration, but one very   definite theme evident to me was that YHWH reveals HIMSELF to HIS Remnant in a progressive manner built on a Perfect, Stable, Uniform Foundation Who is MESSIAH YESHUA AS REVEALED THROUGH HIS WORD, initially within the first Five Books of Moshe (TORAH) and then more so in the daily lives of Israel through the Prophets, the Chief thereof being MESSIAH YESHUA HIMSELF, WHO IS THE VERY SPIRIT OF PROPHECY  and then lastly through the  Apostles trained and taught by the Chief Apostle HIMSELF, MESSIAH YESHUA and recorded in The Apostolic Writings (New Testament)!

Please, please understand and grasp this absolutely essential theme:  

• THE ENTIRE WORD IS ONE UNITED WHOLE!
• THE ENTIRE WORD IS SEAMLESS, IT IS US WHO ADDED THE UNBIBLICAL CONCEPT OF A SEPARATED "NEW COVENANT" DIVIDED BY THE ADDITION OF BLANK PAGE WITH "NEW TESTAMENT" WRITTEN ON IT!
• THE ENTIRE WORD EXPRESSES THE VERY NATURE OF YHWH's UNCHANGING UNITY WITHIN HIMSELF AND WITH HIS PEOPLE BECAUSE OF HIS PROGRESSIVELY REVEALED COVENANT WITH ADAM, NOAH, ABRAHAM, MOSHE AND FINALLY BY YHWH YEHSUA HIMSELF!

Are not all relationships, especially the most intimate, built on the very same principle?  Imagine a relationship with your spouse that never grew from the day that you met him or her?  It is laughable AND DEAD and marriage and children would never have followed!

Is it not only with our spouses that we can have these intimate little tete a tetes?  We cannot go sharing these details with just anybody, that would be ridiculous:  So why should it be any different with YESHUA through HIS RUACH HAKODESH?

SHEMA YISRAEL YHWH ELOHEINU YHWH ECHAD (Deut: 6:4)

HEAR O ISRAEL, YHWH OUR ELOHIM, YHWH IS ONE!

This is the central prayer of Judaism and the theme of absolute UNITY is DECLARED FOR ALL TO HEAR!

And for the Swanepoel House who are Bondservants of ELOHIM and MESSIAH YESHUA, THE VERY SALVATION OF YHWH we pray:

SHEMA YISRAEL YHWH ELOHEINU YHWH ECHAD (Deut: 6:4)

and add to the Glory of OUR MESSIAH YHWH, YESHUA OUR KING we further declare -

BARUCH SHEM KEVOT MALKHUTO LE'OLAM VA'ED

Blessed be the Glorious Name of HIM Whose Kingdom is for ever!

We do this because we believe it is Biblically founded; we do it as well to DECLARE to the entire Universe and all Creation WHO AND WHAT OUR ELOHIM IS AND WHAT WE BELIEVE!  There is also the rest of The Shema, but that is for another platform, not here.

The very first word in the Hebrew  Text of Deut. 6:4 is SHEMA which  means basically hear and do thereby Proclaiming that YHWH IS ONE.

Why do we do it every morning and evening?  Well we believe that once again there is a Biblical foundation upon which this Halacha (application to TORAH in daily life) is based:  

In a few words what we believe regarding The Shema and its application goes something like this:  We were commanded to bring morning and evening sacrifices to YHWH as a Nation -Ex. 29:38-46; Num: 28:1-8.

However the Nation is in Diaspora, we have no Temple in Jerusalem and we have fallen away abominably, so without going into details we believe that Ps. 141:2 as read with Hos. 14:2 & Heb. 13:15 is applicable and requires us to bring the Shema morning and evening of each day in obedience and to declare as stated above. 

Now what has this to do with anything?  Well if you read our last blog "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees!" we speak out against forcing traditions onto anybody and making them a religion by which a persons spiritual condition or relationship with Yeshua YHWH is measured; and here now I am speaking of a "tradition" that our house keeps.

Please understand, we apply this tradition, and others as stated in the last blog when we feel led of the Ruach to do and apply such tradition or practice (halacha) and we find no Biblical objection to such tradition!  

How do we apply it?  

Well, should we have believing visitors at the times of our "Shema" I will invite the man to come along with me and participate should he wish to do so.  IF HE IS NOT SURE, OR DOES NOT FEEL LED TO, OR IS EVEN OPPOSED TO THIS HALACHA I WILL EXCUSE MYSELF AND GO AND OFFER THE SACRIFICE ON BEHALF OF MY HOUSE TO YHWH ALONE! I WILL NOT FORCE, MANIPULATE OR COERCE ANY PERSON TO PARTAKE AT ALL!  YHWH LOVES A WILLING GIVER AND HE WILL REVEAL TO US AS HE SEES FIT IF WE ARE WILLING TO SUBMIT TO HIS LEADING THROUGH HIS RUACH!  

Please remember YHWH WILL GO AS FAR WITH YOU AS YOU WILL ALLOW HIM TO!  If you sow sparing, well then expect to reap sparing and obviously the converse would also apply as well!

I hope I have been able to lay the ground work for what I now need to say:

Four years ago Abba placed Zanja and I on a years sabbatical, turned off all the taps, relocated us and gave us something completely different to do.  A great time of refreshing and just sitting with YHWH followed.

During this period of the sabbatical I often had time to sit in the incredibly peaceful surroundings in which we lived and worked and contemplate the Word, particularly matters concerning the Bride and especially the difference between those in the Denominational Church, who do not accept Torah yet they say they are the Bride; and  those like Zanja and I, who never chose to leave the Church initially but having had certain revelations made, and arriving at certain truths, could simply no longer stay in the Church system.

To me it was an unsolvable riddle as to how the Bride could walk either one of two totally different and irreconcilable paths, and yet both could still qualify on equal footing to be a member of the Bride!

The riddle deepened even further when I contemplated the fact that YHWH through His Ruach led Zanja and I out of the Church system!

Why had this happened if it made no difference which path we followed - Church or Torah, Denominationalism without any Law (Torah) or Returning to The Law fully as led by The Ruach? 

Surely we could just stay where we are and avoid massive amounts of disunity within the Body?

It was at just such a time of pondering that I was led to think about the garment that belonged to the MESSIAH and which was so perfect and beautiful that whilst HE was still alive on the Cross HE had to watch as the Roman Soldiers threw dice for it - John 19:23-24.

What was so important about HIS clothing that they deserved a mention in the Eternal Scriptures, what yet to be included in all four of the Synoptic Gospels and even more prominent was this particular "vesture"?  Really, what was it about the vesture and the clothes and their disposal that warranted a detailed entry in the Eternal Scriptures at this most poignant period of time in the History of man, a time when the CREATOR HIMSELF WAS BEING MURDERED?

I knew that I was being shown something about HIS Bride, and indeed HE made an incredibly important fact known to me regarding HIS Bride and the "Seamless Vesture"!

I excitedly wrote down all that HE showed me in the Spirit, it blew me away; however being on a sabbatical meant I was never given a chance to share it with anyone apart from Zanja.  Just nobody at all came across my path with whom I could share "my secret".

Cutting a long story short, my computer that I noted this revelation on crashed and then later was in fact stolen with all my "e-sword" notes and studies, and try as I could I was never able to get to the root of how YHWH through HIS RUACH had brought this amazing fact showing the connection between HIS "vesture" and HIS "wife" together again.

That was until this morning!  Hallelujah!

After having received the mail from this sister in Messiah that I wrote of in beginning I knew I had to speak out about HIS Bride and the Vesture, but I did not know how.  I did all my Lexicon researches again on Mat. 27; Mark 15 ; Luke 23 and John 19.  A BIG FAT NOTHING.  I prayed fervently, asked forgiveness for having not been more careful with my recording of HIS revelation - and then - I read John 19:23-24 again and I saw the WORDS: THAT THE SCRIPTURE MIGHT BE FULFILLED WHICH SAITH:-   Bingo - there was the key, check out the writings of the Prophets - Ps. 22:18!!! I had just somehow been blind to that Scripture for the last 4 years.  How stupid of me!  Or was it? 

Dear brother and sister in MESSIAH - HERE I BELIEVE IS A PICTURE OF THE BRIDE OF THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, THE ELOHIM OF YISRAEL:

They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture (Heb. Strongs 3830 = leboosh = a garment; by implication (euphemistically) a wife) Ps. 22:18.

Do you see that?  The seamless vesture represents HIS BRIDE!  WOW!

Reading Ps. 22:20 I believe a case can also be made that The Psalmist David, under inspiration speaks of the Bride as The Darling of the MESSIAH, as it is obviously The MESSIAH Whom this Psalm prophecies about, and The RUACH, through DAVID, prays for the Bride of MESSIAH (The United one)  to be saved from the Dog - HaSatan.  See the soldiers of Rome  gambling over 'HIS BRIDE", the same Rome whom the Church married in Nicaea in CE 325!

Let's have a look at a few of the attributes of this VESTURE in Scripture & Daily Life:

1. It is seamless, woven from the "Top throughout", one thread from Top to bottom ECHAD - UNITED, ONE LIKE FATHER, SON AND RUACH HAKODESH.
2. It is like a Husband and a Wife - THE TWO SHALL BECOME ECHAD - ONE UNITED INSEPARABLE FLESH Gen. 2:24.
3. Like FATHER, MESSIAH and HIS Bride UNITED, INSEPARABLE. John 17:21.
4. This Vesture has no ending of one piece of cloth and a beginning of another different piece as claimed by the Church with their "New Covenant" doctrines John 19:23(b). 
5. This Vesture would have been the Tallit or Pray Shawl of our Master YESHUA on which HIS TZIT TZIT would have been attached to each of the four corners - Num.15:37 -41 - so as commanded YESHUA YHWH in TORAH YESHUA could have looked on HIS "fringes" and REMEMBERED HIS LAW (HIS MARRIAGE COVENANT WITH HIS WIFE) AND APPLIED IT TO HIS BRIDE!
6. Obviously this Tallit shows that the Wife was a Torah observant person of "Jewish Halacha" WITH A JEWISH (HEBREW) HUSBAND!
7. Amongst the Jews you usually only get one Tallit and keep it for life and usually it is a gift from a prominent person in your life like your father, and in fact some communities of JEWS, when they die, they are buried in their Tallit. Not even separated in Death!
8. The Tallit can also be referred to as the Robe of Responsibility because of the Tzit Tzit attached to the four corners reminding man of his responsibility to YHWH.
9. The Tallit is wrapped around the wearer, to be put on like clothes as we would put The MESSIAH on Rom. 13:14; Gal. 3:27.
10. The Tallit is usually large enough for a man to be able to put over both himself and his wife. 

• Do I have a Tallit?  Yes I do!
• Do I use my Tallit?  Yes I do when led by the RUACH HAKODESH at certain times, and I have, on occasions prayed with both Zanja and I under my Tallit presenting ourselves as a UNITED one before our Father and Creator.
• Do I insist others use a Tallit?  No I do not!

Although the word Tallit is not in the Holy Scriptures it is spoken of in various places and without stretching the concept one can see the use of it in daily life by Messiah and other Biblical figures: See Ruth 3:9; Mat. 9:20-22; Mat. 23:5.

We need to remember that a Tallit without the Tzit Tzit is nothing:  It is the Tzit Tzit, the reminder to remember and observe the Law of Moshe, The Torah, which gives the Tallit credence Num.15:38; Deut. 22:12.  Tzit Tzit is from the Heb Strongs 6734 -a floral or wing like projection, a tassel, a fringe Mat.9:20 & 14:36; Luke 13:34.

A point of interest which I should mention here is that when I checked the Greek of  the Gospel account of the word  "Vesture" it made various references  to items of clothing BUT NOTHING INDICATED THE ALLUSION TO THE BRIDE OF MESSIAH AS SEEN IN THE HEBREW WORD USED IN PSALMS WHICH JOHN REFERS TO IN JOHN 19:23-24, again just indicating to me the Divine Character of YHWH and the need for the Whole Word - NOT JUST PORTIONS OF IT:  The entire written Word is a seamless "vesture", a covering for the Bride of MESSIAH.

I feel that there is an urgency to get this message out.  There is obviously so much more that can be got out of this revelation, but I trust that each of you who may read this and believe it to have merit will conduct further studies at your own pace and as led by The Ruach HaKodesh.

I hope that I have been able to put across my thoughts on what I believe to be a crucial matter regarding the Bride of MESSIAH who shall be without stain or wrinkle, and will herself, not wait until midnight to crawl under the covering of BO'AZ, but will seek HIS covering now:

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

(Is. 55:6 KJV)

Again, please check all I have said with prayer and against the Holy Word - DO NOT TRUST ANY MAN, AS CURSED IS HE WHO RELIES ON THE ARM OF FLESH AND DEPARTS FROM YHWH. (Jer. 17.5).

Shabbat Shalom

Bo'az