Holy Cow: Red Heifer Sacrifices are Ready to Trigger Third Temple

 Holy Cow: Red Heifer Sacrifices are Ready to Trigger Third Temple

Internet Rumors and Third Temple Prophecies

Something very interesting may be happening soon in Israel. There may occur on the Mount of Olives the tenth and final ritual sacrifice of a red heifer. According to an ancient rabbi named Maimonides, Moses offered the first red heifer and since then there have been a total of eight offered throughout historical, temple Judaism. The tenth offering, he predicted, would usher in the third temple and the coming of the messiah. 

The October 7th terrorist attack against Israel carried out by Hamas was in part motivated by the fear that the Jews will offer the tenth red heifer and then try to clear the Temple Mount to build another biblical temple on the site of the first and second Jewish temple. They would first have to tear down the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, two buildings on the site which Muslims consider to be sacred. The Muslims' fear of this threat to their mosques on the Temple Mount is not totally baseless.

Plans for the day of sacrifice and the fulfilment of prophecy are moving quickly. A few years ago some Jews have managed to fly in (from Texas of all places) five totally red heifers 'without blemish' and having 'carried out no work'. This was made possible by the Boneh Israel organization, which involves both Jews and Christians. The red heifers are now old enough to be sacriifced and priests for the sacrifice have been trained. They have relocated the cows to Shiloh, the ancient spot where the Tabernacle stayed before Solomon’s Temple was built. Some reports have suggested that they are obtaining rights to a piece of land on the Mount of Olives where they will carry out the sacrifice on an altar facing the Temple Mount. 

Social media is swirling with rumors of the red heifer sacrifice triggering a possible escalation of the war in Israel by their ritual sacrifice. Some mainstream media have also picked up this story. 

Christians and the Third Temple 

A large swath of Christian Zionists (mostly Evangelical Christians) have seen the creation of the nation of Israel in 1948 as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Likewise, they see the red heifer sacrifices as a biblical prophecy about to be fulfilled. Like the Jews involved, they too believe that the red heifer sacrifice will trigger the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. For the Jews, who obviously failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, it will be the ‘first coming’. For the Evangelicals, the necessity of a Third Temple preceded by the red heifer offering will trigger the Second Coming of the Messiah and therefore the end of the world. Others believe Jesus will return to earth and have a literal 1,000-year reign after the temple is built.

Catholics see things differently. We also have criteria or a set of signs that will usher in the end of the end of time and the Second Coming all rooted in scripture. But we do not see the necessity of a literal third temple in Israel because we see the Catholic Church as a type of third Temple and as the Kingdom of God on earth. Furthermore, we have a priesthood, altars and a liturgical sacrifice in the Eucharist. Traditional church building architecture fulfills the pattern of the biblical temple.  Every Catholic church is God's dwelling place, housing the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Jesus confirmed this when he referred to bread and wine as his body and blood. A new temple was already rebuilt in the resurrection, the Eucharist and in the Church. 

Biblical Meaning of the Red Heifer

So what is the Biblical root of these prophecies and the biblical meaning of a red heifer? The system of animal sacrifice that took place at the biblical temple is mostly described in the book of Leviticus as a manual for the priests (Levites). Animal sacrifice prepared the people to see that the wages of sin is death. They thought there must be a substitute victim to take that penalty of death on so that the sins will be covered over. Hence the need for animal sacrifice. The book of Hebrews tells us that this also lays out the context for Jesus’ sacrifice as an atonement for sin.

Aside from atonement offerings there are also purification offerings. Some sacrifices are required to be readmitted into the community after becoming defiled. The red heifer sacrifice is one of those. It is only in the book of Numbers, chapter nineteen that tells the story of the significance of the red heifer sacrifice.

According to Numbers 19,  the Israelites had to procure a red heifer without defect, free from every blemish and on which no yoke has ever been laid. The red heifer is to be offered whole as a burnt offering outside the camp  or to the east of the Temple on the Mount of Olives. The priest will take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting or the Temple Mount. Then the heifer will be burned in his sight; it will be burned with its hide and flesh, its blood and dung. 

Ashes of the sacrifice must be collected and added to running water. Then that water, with ashes mixed in, is sprinkled on the priests and anyone else who enters the temple precincts as a way to purify them spiritually. The reason they need this type of purification ritual is that contact with a corpse makes someone unclean and the usual mikvah bath on its own is not enough to clean the person for service on holy ground. This is why the sacrifice of the red heifer is needed as the first step in rebuilding the Third Temple in Jerusalem. Work cannot begin unless those who build the temple are themselves purified by the special water.

It is unlikely that the government of Israel will allow the destruction of the Muslim buildings on the Temple Mount. An act such as this would obviously be a match that would set off a powderkeg and thrust the Middle East into a world war. However, the Jews who seek a third temple are claiming that their preparations are complete and that the sacrifices are imminent. The current war against Hamas may be the grounds for making a move on the Temple Mount. However, zealous desire to slaughter the red heifers and then burn them as an offering to God is seen by many non-zionist and non-religious groups as literally ‘playing with fire’.