Why were red heifers sent to Jerusalem?

September 23, 2022

The Temple Institute made the news when five red heifers were flown to Israel from Texas to meet the requirements for resuming temple sacrifices. These five unblemished red heifers (a heifer is a young female cow that has not yet calved) were supplied by a Christian group in Texas. 

The requirement comes from Numbers 19:2-10, where God commanded a sacrifice of this special heifer whose ashes would be used for “the water of purification,” necessary to purify the priests before they could offer sacrifices. 

A red angus cow. The red heifers sent to Israel from Texas were of this breed. 

In times past, obtaining an unblemished red heifer was difficult. As a cow ages, hairs may turn white or black causing the animal to be rejected by the rabbis as blemished. 

Here’s the irony of the red heifers being provided by a Christian group:

For the Jews, the red heifers are for the purification of the priests so they can offer sacrifices in a future temple to prepare for what they believe will be the first coming of the Messiah. 

But some Christian groups believe that the third temple must be built so it can be occupied by the “man of sin,” based on their reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

So, by providing the red heifers to the Jews, they seek to speed up end-time events. Ironically, the fulfillment they wish to hasten will be largely destructive to the Jews and the world. 

Though the Temple Institute represents a radical fringe group in Israeli society, many evangelical Christians support their efforts because they believe the building of a third temple is necessary to fulfill prophecy. (Both groups seem to conveniently ignore that their respective views of the end times and coming of the Messiah are diametrically at odds.)

But does Bible prophecy require a temple to be built as a sign of Christ’s return? What does the Bible say about the third temple? 

Read the entire article at this LINK. The GOP’s Plan to Build the Third Temple

The Third Temple and Red Heifer