The Bible story of the red heifer is found in the Old Testament in Numbers, chapter 19. The red heifer is a ritual element in the Jewish tradition’s purification process. God instructed Moses and Aaron involving a red heifer unique in that it was required to be completely red and without blemish.
The purification ritual procedure involved sacrificing the red heifer outside the camp, then burning its carcass with cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet material. The ashes were mixed with water and used in the ceremonial purification ritual. Ashes would be sprinkled over individuals who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, allowing them to regain ritual purity and participate in communal worship.
Sacrifice or Revelation?
There is a lot of anticipation and confusion when it comes to the prophetic red heifers of Israel. They have drawn the attention of people around the world, especially those who understand their importance to end times eschatology.
Yet there are many who do not seem to grasp what these cows referenced in both the Old and New Testaments signify, and summarily dismiss them. For believers in Jesus Christ, the significance of the red heifer is not that it is used to ceremonially purify priests outside of the holy of holies. Too many appear to think this is the case, when it is not.
The red heifers are significant when it comes to the study of the end times as described in the Bible. This is why biblical knowledge and wisdom are so crucial, especially in this present era, to interpret the world around us using discernment granted by the Holy Spirit.
So why care about these cows that Christians do not believe are necessary for purification and salvation?
Many believe there is still a third temple to be built, most likely on the Temple Mount, where the holy of holies is believed to have existed. But this poses some very serious, world-altering issues. Currently, the Dome of the Rock sits atop the Temple Mount. And if the Al Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock were to be removed, the odds are you could expect violence, chaos and war to break out across the world.
Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24 that the end times would see wars and rumors of wars, so it is possible. But for those of the Jewish faith, the third temple is a very real event that many pray for. In fact, the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, as written on their website, “is dedicated to every aspect of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, and the central role it fulfilled, and will once again fulfill, in the spiritual well-being of both Israel and all the nations of the world.” The Temple Institute has faithfully restored and constructed the vessels which Jews hold sacred for the third temple.
One of the last pieces needed to restore the third temple is the ashes of a pure, red heifer. Revelation 11 and Daniel 9 are just two of the Bible passages that refer to this restored temple, so expect to see it happen during the end times—and be ready for what follows!
Having a pure, of age, red heifer is an indicator for Christians that these days are fast approaching. The increase of knowledge, another biblical prophecy that is being fulfilled each and every day, is itself only accelerating. Evil is permeating the world just like in the days of Noah, perhaps even moreso with how wickedness seems to manifest every week across every sphere from entertainment media to government to academia.
Even the evil terrorists of Hamas have come out recently and said part of the reason for their massacre of thousands of innocent Israelis on Saturday, Oct. 7—and one of their primary targets—was the red heifers! As Charisma News reported, the spokesman for the military wing of Hamas, Abu Obeida, revealed that the red heifers were targets on Oct. 7: “We look back 100 days to remember the educated, the complicit and the incapacitated among the world powers governed by the law of the jungle, reminding them of an aggression that reached its peak against our path (Al-Quds) and Al-Aqsa, with the start of its actual temporal and spatial division, and the ‘bringing of red cows’ as an application of a detestable religious myth designed for aggression against the feelings of an entire nation in the heart of its Arab identity, and the path of its prophet (the Night Journey) and ascension to heaven,” read Abu Obeida.
Hamas and jihadists worldwide fear these animals for what they represent, the rebuilding of the third temple, and a sure sign of the end times with the revelation of the Antichrist. This is why Christians need to pay attention and discern what is taking place in the world fully grounded in regular Bible study, literate in what God is telling His people throughout time.
Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
No, we do not believe as the Jews do in the purification through the blood of the red heifer. We believe in the purification through the blood of the Lamb. But these things must come to pass before the return of Jesus Christ.
Take time to study and meditate on the Word of God. Study the words of the prophets in the Old Testament, and learn what must take place during the end times in Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation. Also, do not forget that the disciple John who was entrusted with the Revelation begins by telling us that we will be blessed by reading it and keeping the Word near to our hearts.
Look at events such as the red heifers taking place through a biblical lens. Use biblical knowledge and wisdom to discern the signs of the times and move forward in faith, while warring against the principalities, powers and rulers of darkness, as all Christians are commanded to do.
James Lasher is copy editor and staff writer for Charisma media. This is his fifth article for Charisma Magazine Online.
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