Church of God News

Temple Institute (Photo by Bob Thiel)

Today’s newsletter linked to the following Facebook article for the Temple Institute:

Five perfectly red heifers, required for the ritual purification of those who have touched a dead body, arrived in Israel from a ranch in Texas on Thursday, as the Temple Institute continues preparations to lay the ground for the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem.

The heifers are all under one year old and if they remain 100% red and avoid any blemishes which would disqualify them, they will each be eligible to be used to create the ashes required by Jewish law to purify those who have been in contact with a dead body, explained the Temple Institute on Monday. This level of purification would be needed in order to allow the kohanim (priests) to carry out their work in a future Temple.

The prized cattle were immediately transported to Haifa where they will sit in quarantine for no less than seven days, in accordance with the regulations of the Israel Veterinary Authority. …

What is a red heifer?

The red heifer is first mentioned in the Book of Numbers 19:3, when God tells Moses and Aaron “This is the ritual law that God has commanded: Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid.”

The Torah goes on to explain how the heifer is processed and burnt and its ashes mixed into sanctified water. Those who became impure due to touching a human corpse would be purified by having the water mixed with the ashes sprinkled on them twice: once three days after they came in contact with the corpse and a second time seven days after contact.

The Torah relates that a red heifer was brought to Elazar the Priest, the son of Aaron, and was processed for its ashes for the ritual. According to the Talmud, those ashes were used from that moment until the end of the First Temple period. During the Second Temple period, another five to seven red heifers were burnt for their ashes. Maimonides wrote in his compendium of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah (Laws of the Red Heifer, 3:4), that the next red heifer will be brought by the Messiah.

Why is the red heifer important?

In the modern day, all Jews, including kohanim, are assumed to be impure with the impurity imparted by a corpse. While in everyday life in the modern day this status does not have much of a practical effect, those impure with this type of impurity are prohibited from entering the Temple.

Kohanim impure with this type of impurity are thereby prevented from conducting the services required in the Temple and would need to be purified with the ashes of a red heifer before being able to serve again, making the creation of such ashes a necessary requirement for any attempt to reestablish the Temple in Jerusalem. (One exception is the Pascal sacrifice, which can be offered even by those who are impure with the impurity imparted by a corpse, as long as the majority of the Jewish people are impure with this type of impurity). https://www.facebook.com/templeinstitute/posts/10151740340689969

As far as the red heifer goes and the Temple Institute’s teachings go, a while back we put together the following video:

Here is a link to that video: Red Heifers and the Fate of the World.

This past Sunday, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following Bible News Prophecy video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel, the audio portion of which was sent for broadcast on the European Gospel Radio station AM 1323 kHz last Monday:

15:19

5 Red Heifers and Year 5783?

The Temple Institute announced that “5 perfect, unblemished red heifers arrived in Israel from the USA” on September 15, 2022.. Chanan Kupietzky, an Orthodox Jewish teacher, pointed out that last year was 5781 in the Jewish calendar, pointing to the year these red heifers were conceived, 5782 is when they were to arrive in Israel, and that the year beginning sunset September 25, 2022 is supposedly 5783, which is supposed to be the year of red heifer redemption. Is that the correct year anno mundi (year of the earth) or is 5989 to 5992 more in line with history? What about the claimed Shemitah year? Might the appearance of a proper red heifer encourage the Sanhedrin to begin regular animal sacrifices? Might political considerations result in the resumption of animal sacrifices? Does the Bible show that animal sacrifices in Israel will be stopped? Does possibly having a red heifer mean that a massive Jewish temple is about to be rebuilt in Jerusalem? Do Christians need the sacrifice of Jesus or the blood of a red heifer to be purified? How close do we seem to be for Daniel 9:27b to be fulfilled?

Here is a link to our video: 5 Red Heifers and Year 5783?

Note: The year that the Jews call 5783 is off by over 200 years according to several of their scholars–that is mentioned in the above video, as well as more thoroughly documented in the following article: Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?

As far as a massive Jewish Temple goes, while the Jews likely will build something, a massive Jewish Temple is not required for the resumption of animal sacrifices per the Bible.

hen I was there, I confirmed with one of their men that the Jews did NOT need a temple in order to reimplement regular sacrifices, only an altar–which they now have–which is consistent with Ezra:

6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. (Ezra 3:6)

I also have verified with  a Temple Institute employee when I was in Israel as well as via email years earlier with the reconstituted Sanhedrin that an actual temple was not needed for the resumption of sacrifices.

Because the Bible teaches that animal sacrifices will be stopped (Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:10), we know that they will be started again.

Having an eligible red heifer will motivate certain Jews to push harder for their resumption.