At the end of April, in front of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, they will burn non-calving red cows, specially brought from Texas for this purpose.
Fanatical proponents of the revival of the legendary Temple in Jerusalem believe that the sacrifice will fulfill the Old Testament prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. They are supported and funded by conservative evangelical Christians in the United States who seek to hasten Armageddon.
What the Prophecy Says About “Red Heifers”
The instruction about “red heifers,” that is, red cows that never gave birth, is considered one of the most mysterious in the Old Testament. According to legend, even the biblical King Solomon, known for his wisdom, could not explain it.
The essence of the instruction is set forth in the Old Testament Book of Numbers. Among other things, it mentions a conversation between God and Moses, who at that time was leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. “Say to the children of Israel, let them bring you a red heifer without blemish, without blemish, without blemish, without a yoke,” God demanded. He ordered the heifers to be burned at the stake, and their ashes, mixed with water, to be used for purification.
And some one who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and put them outside the camp in a clean place, and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel, for the water of purification: it is a sin offering; And he that gathereth up the ashes of the heifer shall wash his garments, and he shall be unclean until the evening. This shall be an everlasting statute for the children of Israel, and for the strangers who dwell among them. Book of Numbers, Chapter 19
According to the Mishnah, the oldest code of Judaism, apart from the Bible, “red heifers” have been sacrificed only nine times in history. The first sacrifice was made by Moses himself. The second is the prophet Ezra in Solomon’s Temple, which was later burned down by the Babylonians. Seven more were sacrificed in the second Temple, which was built on the site of Solomon.
In 70 B.C., Jerusalem’s second Temple was destroyed by Roman soldiers, and there have been no more sacrifices since. In his commentary on the Mishnah, the Jewish theologian Maimonides predicted that a new ritual would take place when the Messiah came. He will sacrifice the tenth “red heifer”.
The conditions for the coming of the Messiah are also in the Bible. The Old Testament prophets promised that this would happen when the three prophecies were fulfilled. First, Israel will be reborn. Second, Jerusalem will once again become a Jewish city. Third, the Temple will be rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The first and second prophecies have already been fulfilled. Only the Temple remains.
How they searched for the “red heifer” for the slaughter
The most zealous supporters of the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem are united by the so-called Temple Institute. This is a radical Israeli organization, which the The New Yorker once compared to the “Jewish Taliban”.
The Temple Institute believes that it is impossible to build a third Temple in Jerusalem without the slaughter of “red heifers.” Followers have been trying to find suitable cows for almost 40 years and have failed each time.
Red cows are a great rarity in Israel, not only in ancient times, but also today. At one time, the Temple Institute hoped for biotechnology and embryo transfer. Then they tried twice to import suitable cows from the United States, where the Red Angus breed is bred. Both attempts failed.
It’s all about the strict requirements for the “purity” of ritual cows. They should not have a single hair that cannot be called red. In addition, the “red heifer” must be ignorant not only of the yoke (i.e., the yoke), but also of any other burden. A person should not even lean on it or put a jacket on it, which would make it unclean.
Suitable cows were eventually found by Byron Stinson, a Texan, and Yitzhak Mamo of the Israeli organization Uvne Jerusalem, which also works for the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem. After the rabbis confirmed their integrity, the five “red heifers” were flown to Israel.
In order to circumvent the strict restrictions on the export of livestock to Israel, they had to resort to a trick: the cows were smuggled under the guise of pets
If you count the cost of business class air tickets purchased for the rabbis, the venture cost Stinson and Mamo $500,000. The money for the project was donated by local Zionist groups funded by evangelical Christians, representatives of one of the largest religious movements in the United States.
What is the connection between “red heifers” and the end of the world?
American evangelicals are also interested in Old Testament prophecy, but for a different reason. They are sure that the end times are coming, and from their point of view, this is wonderful. The end of the world means the second coming of Christ, therefore, in their opinion, it should not be feared, but should be brought closer by all means.
Many of them associate the end of the world with the same prophecy of the Messiah who will come after the rebuilding of the Temple. However, they interpret it in their own way. They believe that the Jewish Messiah who will sit in the Temple in Jerusalem is the Antichrist, and that his appearance will be followed by destructive wars that will bring destruction to both Jews and other “infidels.” Disasters and cataclysms will not affect only the true believers, to which they consider themselves.
Evangelical Christians in the U.S. believe that the creation of Israel hastened the second coming of Christ
That belief has had a tangible impact on American foreign policy for decades. It was because of this policy that Donald Trump, when he was president, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in full accordance with the prophecy. The decision led to a surge in protests and violence around the world, but pleased the conservative evangelical Christians who made up the backbone of his electorate.
In this sense, attempts to make a sacrifice and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem are particularly dangerous. Now the Temple Mount is occupied by Muslim shrines – the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Supporters of the restoration of the Temple do not hide the fact that they intend to get rid of them. They are opposed by radical Islamists, so unpleasant consequences are inevitable even without supernatural intervention.
When the Sacrifice Begins
Since September 2022, the “red heifers” brought from the United States have been waiting in the wings in one of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The sacrifice is to take place on Passover, which this year is celebrated from sunset on April 21 to night on April 29.
For the ritual, supporters of the restoration of the Temple want to build a huge white altar overlooking the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Yitzhak Mamo of Uvne Jerusalem, an Israeli organization that has been collecting ritual cows in Texas, believes that it should be held at the site where the second Temple once stood, that is, in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Palestinian movement Hamas is closely watching what is happening. In November 2023, Middle East Eye reported, citing a source with ties to Hamas, that supporters of the restoration of the Temple had already managed to get into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and they even made sacrifices, although so far only fruits.
Only the slaughter of the “red heifers” that they brought from the United States remained. If it happens, it will be the signal for the restoration of the Third Temple
Middle East Eye Source in Hamas
The last sacrifice took place during Sukkot, a few days before the Hamas attack on October 7. On the 100th day of the Gaza war, Abu Obaida, a spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, directly cited “red heifers” as one of the reasons for the massacre.
Supporters of the restoration of the Temple are not embarrassed by this. “Everybody is saying that this building, the Third Temple, will bring war, destabilize the Middle East,” CBS News quoted a New York-based activist who defies bans on tours of the Temple Mount. “But there seems to be no stability in the Middle East anyway. And the war, if I’m not mistaken, is already here.”
