Bridal Preparations

Dear Bride of Messiah,

Pursue Love…

The Lord is calling Yeshua’s bride to pursue love this month. In Scripture, this exhortation immediately follows the final verse of 1 Corinthians 13: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three: but the greatest of these is love.” Chapter fourteen begins with the words, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy” ([biblegateway passage=”1 Cor. 14:1″ display=”1 Cor. 14:1″]).

We believe that we have a prophetic word for our Jewish Jewels mishpocha for the special month of Elul (pronounced eh-LOOL) which begins on August 7, 2013 and ends on September 4, 2013 (the eve of Yom Teruah or Rosh Hashanah): IT IS TIME FOR THE BRIDE TO MAKE HERSELF READY. It is time for a spiritual bride (believers in Messiah) to prepare ourselves for our spiritual Bridegroom (Yeshua). We look forward to a glorious wedding! “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” ([biblegateway passage=”Rev. 19:7″ display=”Rev. 19:7″])

There is no better preparation than LOVE. We need more of it, and a greater desire to be with the Lover of our soul. It is love, more than anything else, that stirs the heart of the bride to cry out: “Come, Lord Yeshua.” It is time to ask the Ruach HaKodesh to increase and deepen our love for the One who gave His life for us. We need a liberal “pouring out”: “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” ([biblegateway passage=”Rom 5:5″ display=”Rom 5:5″]).

As we meditated on what God desires from His Bride, an unusual song came to mind, “Day by Day,” from the Broadway show Godspell. This song was originally a popular song written by a 13th century English bishop, with words based on three short prayers of St. Francis of Assisi: “Day by day. Oh, dear Lord, three things I pray: to see Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, follow Thee more nearly, day by day.” Let this be your prayer as well!

Could this be the Year?

The Bible makes it clear that Messiah came once (to purchase His bride), and is coming again (to take her home to Himself forever). What if this is the year He comes for us? According to the biblical, Hebraic pattern, our Bridegroom will come in fulfillment of a feast of the Lord—one that includes the sounding of the shofar. Yom Teruah (Rosh Hashanah) is the first fall feast that includes the blast of the ram’s horn. But Yom Kippur and Sukkot do also. All three occur in the month following Elul–the month of Tishri. So, any way you consider it, Elul will be the last month before the greatest wedding of all
time—the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. How should this affect how we live?

A heart check is in order. We need to make sure that we are not included in Matthew 24:12, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” ([biblegateway passage=”Matt. 24:12″ display=”Matt. 24:12″]). Love grows cold
because we don’t give God enough of a chance to show us how very much He loves us. We must spend time with Him in order to receive from Him. There is no getting around that! The Lord will pour out on us as much as we are willing to receive. We need to get desperate to hear from Him, to be touched by Him, and to know what we can do to please Him.

A Month of Bridal Preparation

In traditional Judaism, the month of Elul focuses mostly on repentance and returning to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, it has major bridal overtones, since an acronym for the Hebrew letters of Elul is Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li. This is actually a verse of Scripture from Song of Songs 6:3, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” Traditional Jews are encouraged to renew their love relationship with their God, believing that He is like a great King who leaves His palace once a year to mingle with the people of His kingdom, and have fellowship with them.

Spiritual preparation for the “High Holy Days,” which follow Elul, includes sounding the shofar and reading Psalm 27 daily. We would be wise to heed the words of Psalm 27:8, “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ My heart said to You, ‘Your face, LORD, I will seek.'” Some of us might also hear God’s voice, as a shofar, gently convicting us of spiritual unfaithfulness. As we repent, the Lord forgives.

Learning from Queen Esther

The book of Esther is a prophetic picture of a bride who prepares herself for a king. The parallels between Esther and Yeshua’s bride are treasures worth excavating. We recently re-read The Decree of Esther by Aaron Früh, and were greatly blessed by the revelation that God gave the author concerning deep truths about bridal preparation and authority. THIS BOOK HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE. WE CONSIDER IT A MUST FOR ALL END-TIME BRIDAL SOULS AND
LOVERS OF GOD!

Before we share some of Pastor Früh’s revelations, we want to present a truth that has always been meaningful to us: The Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is intimately involved in the preparation of the bride. We see this with Queen Esther. Hegai, the king’s eunuch and custodian of the women of his harem, was in charge of giving beauty preparations to them. Hegai is a biblical type of the Holy Spirit. Esther submitted to Hegai’s advice, in beauty preparations and clothing. We read in Esther 2:15, that when it was Esther’s turn to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai advised. Why?
Hegai knew the king. He knew what would please him. The result? “…Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.” The lesson for us? Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as you prepare yourself to meet King Yeshua. As Proverbs 3:5 advises us, “…lean not on your own understanding.”

Put on. Put off.

The Holy Spirit speaks to Yeshua’s bride about being clothed, even as Hegai spoke to Queen Esther. God Himself has clothed us with garments of salvation, and covered us with a robe of righteousness. We, however, are the ones who adorn ourselves with jewels. ([biblegateway passage=”Isa. 61:10″ display=”Isa. 61:10″]) We are trying to help you do just that by sharing Jewish Jewels with you from a Hebraic treasure chest.

The Spirit speaks in 1 Peter 5:5, telling Messiah’s bride to be clothed with humility. In Rev. 3:5 we are given a promise concerning our bridal attire, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life…” The white garments speak of righteousness, and are reminiscent of the holy white linen garments worn by the priests who ministered to God in the Temple. We, of course, have that high priestly function today and have
imputed righteousness through Yeshua.

As we follow the Spirit’s leading, we “put on” certain things and “put off” others. The book of Colossians details some of these bridal do’s and dont’s: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, PUT ON (emphasis ours) tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Messiah forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things PUT ON LOVE, which is the
bond of perfection.” ([biblegateway passage=”Col. 3:12-14″ display=”Col. 3:12-14″])

“But now you yourselves are to PUT OFF (emphasis ours) all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have PUT OFF the old man with his deeds, and have PUT ON the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…” ([biblegateway passage=”Col. 3:8-10″ display=”Col. 3:8-10″]) Smith Wigglesworth put it this way: “The plan is to bring you to glory as a child clothed with the power of the gifts, graces, ministries and operations. You are to be clothed with the majesty of heaven.” The Holy Spirit helps us PUT ON and PUT OFF as we prepare ourselves for our Bridegroom King, resting in the truth of Zech. 4:6, “…Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.”

King Messiah’s Spotless Bride

In The Decree of Esther, Aaron Früh reminds us that the book of Esther is a story of a king, a bride and a kingdom. It begins with a king who wants to display the glory of his bride, the crown jewel of his kingdom…on the last day. In these last days, our King Yeshua wants to display to the world the glory and beauty of His Bride. May we cry out with the psalmist, “…let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us…” ([biblegateway passage=”Ps. 90:17″ display=”Ps. 90:17″]).

How do we become that beautiful bride? It is a process, just as it was for Esther. The King James Version of the Bible calls the process “purification” ([biblegateway passage=”Esther 2:3″ display=”Esther 2:3″]). The king wanted a “pure” bride. We,
the bride of Messiah, are also destined to be a pure, spotless bride. We become that bride through a process of purification and sanctification during which our blemishes and stains are removed. Many of you have experienced some intense spiritual beauty treatments without realizing what was happening. Esther experienced twelve months of preparation, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes. Twelve speaks of order, protocol, and the government of God. We can not escape either part of the purification process—especially the oil of myrrh.

“The Myrrh Anointing” is an entire chapter in Pastor Früh’s book. He begins by assuring us that this special anointing, while necessary for everyone who names the name of Messiah, is not a cushy trip to a day spa. The Hebrew root for myrrh is marah or bitter. Yeshua was familiar with myrrh. It was given to Him by Wise Men as an infant, and offered to Him on the cross. “Why does it take so much bitterness (half of the process) to become beautiful?” Because it is a prerequisite for wearing a crown.

The myrrh anointing is not something we readily embrace. It is the season in life that is bitter and painful. But the season of fruitfulness will not come without a complete immersion in “the oil of myrrh.” We are destined to wear an imperishable crown ([biblegateway passage=”1 Cor. 9:24-25″ display=”1 Cor. 9:24-25″]), a crown of righteousness ([biblegateway passage=”2 Tim. 4:8″ display=”2 Tim. 4:8″]). Aaron Früh comments, “Each crown is a reward for some point in your life when you endured
hardship and suffering and yet remained faithful to the process of becoming everything God wanted you to become. For me the myrrh season is a time when God is cutting through the outer layers of my heart and grinding down the residue of my callousness that is keeping me from His favor.” The myrrh season is really about LOVE. God loves us just as we are, but He loves us too much to let us stay that way! We must change and be conformed to the image of our Heavenly Bridegroom King ([biblegateway passage=”2 Cor. 3:18″ display=”2 Cor. 3:18″]).

Let Elul be a season of submitting to the correction of the Holy Spirit as He points out areas of your life where change is necessary. Myrrh may be bitter, but it was also used as a pain killer, a preservative, and had healing properties. In addition, it was used as an embalming spice. Pastor Früh encourages us to allow the Lord to apply the oil of myrrh in anointing our old nature for burial. This is love, even though it doesn’t “feel” like love when we are dying to self and old attitudes and issues.

There is great comfort in the myrrh season of life: Yeshua took all our pain and suffering upon Himself on the tree of sacrifice. They offered Him myrrh as a painkiller, but He refused it because He wanted to experience all of our pain ([biblegateway passage=”Mark 15:23″ display=”Mark 15:23″]).

More Bridal Preparation

The Decree of Esther contains revelation on more aspects of bridal preparation than we are able to cover in this newsletter. These include obedience to God and man, trust in God’s deliverance and enlargement program, endurance, standing faithfully in unity with fellow believers and knowing how to make a godly appeal by using four key principles: 1) the right appearance, 2) the right spirit, 3) the right timing, and 4) the right approach. Pastor Früh also explains in detail how to cancel judgments against us. Remember Haman? Once his evil plot was uncovered, and he was hanged, there was still
an evil decree against the Jews that had to be canceled. This decree was a proclamation in written form. Esther pleaded with the king to write a new decree. He gave the queen and Mordecai permission to write a decree of their own, “You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke” ([biblegateway passage=”Esther 8:8″ display=”Esther 8:8″]).

Write Your Own Decree

This concept was the most enlightening and powerful revelation for us. Yes, Yeshua canceled out all decrees against us on the tree of sacrifice. Yes, He “disarmed principalities and powers, [and]…made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” ([biblegateway passage=”Col. 2:15″ display=”Col. 2:15″]). But there is a stand we have to take, by faith, to appropriate in our lives what Yeshua did for us, since satan (Haman) may be a defeated foe, but he still issues decrees against us. We have the power, through the authority of God’s Word, to reverse all curses and evil decrees of the enemy.

Pastor Früh convincingly explains the process of WRITING OUR OWN DECREES. He shows how throughout the Holy Scriptures those who put their decrees in writing got God’s attention. They were putting a faith proclamation into the written form of a decree, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. As we prepare this month for the soon coming of our Bridegroom Yeshua, we personally are writing our own decrees, believing for great victories in the year 5774. “In writing a decree we are saying, ‘I trust so completely that God is going to work on my behalf that I am putting it in writing as proof of my faith.'”
Consider Job 22:27-28 KJV: “Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee…Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee.”

By faith, we are writing decrees concerning our health, our ministry, our condominium community, the destiny of our children, the 2013 Jewish Jewels Mercy Mission to Israel, and more! We sense God calling His Bride to take a step up in faith, in kingly and priestly authority, trusting Him for a glorious future. So, pray first. Ask the Lord to guide you. Then decree in faith—verbally, then in writing. Your King will be pleased as your faith moves to a higher level.

Love in the Beloved,

Neil and Jamie