Some evangelical Christians like Texan Byron Stinson, as well as some Orthodox and Messianic Jews, believe the red heifer ritual described in the Biblical book of Numbers could pave the way to rebuilding a Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
They are convinced a new temple, which would replace the temple destroyed by the Romans in the first century, would usher in the kingdom of God, ruled by a messianic figure.
The Jewish News Syndicate reports only nine heifers were sacrificed from the time of Moses until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E.
It writes that: “In both Judaism and Christianity, the appearance of viable red heifer candidates heralds the Messiah.”
PRACTICE RUN OF RED HEIFER SACRIFICE RITUAL
Earlier this month a practice run of the ancient purification ceremony involving a red heifer — a cow that has not given birth — was held on a remote hilltop in northern Israel.
Byron Stinson told Religion News Service about the details of the practice ritual, which was held at 6pm local time on July 1.
He released photos and video of the ceremony.
A rabbi led the ceremony after the heifer was driven there from Shiloh in the West Bank, where the selected red heifers have been kept.
PREPARING FOR A RED HEIFER CEREMONY IN JERUSALEM
Numbers 19 explains how the sacred ceremony — in which the cow is slaughtered and then burned — must take place on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem with a view of the site of the former temple.
That’s according to Rabbi Yitzchak Mamo, president of Boneh Israel, an organisation that works to build up and revive biblical sites in Israel and oversaw the practice run.
Plans for the ritual have been years in the making.
HEIFER MUST BE WITHOUT FLAW OR BLEMISH
A global search was launched to find the perfect heifer.
It had to be composed entirely of red hairs and checked with a magnifying glass to ensure not even one of its hairs is a different colour.
There must be no flaws or blemishes, even from the ear tags commonly used by cattle ranchers.
“We just need a perfectly red cow. An exceedingly rare occurrence,” stated Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, author of Return of the Red Heifers: Paving the Road to Redemption.”
THE SEARCH FOR ‘PERFECT’ RED HEIFERS
Mr. Stinson, who has a home in Israel and lives there part of the year, funded a search to find heifers that would fit the exacting requirements of the Biblical text.
The transport tycoon who can recite the Biblical text about the heifers by heart, detailed the search for suitable cows in his book The Hunt for the Red Heifer.
That search included advertising in rancher magazines, reaching out to breeders and offering A$75,000 rewards.
it eventually led to 21 animals in Texas — two Santa Gertrudis and 19 Red Angus heifers.
After a review by rabbis also working on the project, five heifers were flown to Israel in 2021.
DID RED HEIFER PLANS TRIGGER HAMAS ATTACK ON ISRAEL?
One of the leaders of Hamas claimed the arrival of the red heifers in Israel was one of the motives for the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Temple Mount is the current site of the Dome of the Rock, part of the al-Aqsa Mosque, an Islamic sacred site.
“One of the reasons Israel was attacked is because of the red heifers,” Mr. Berkowitz insisted.
PALESTINIANS ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE REBUILDING THE TEMPLE
“The Palestinian Arabs were worried about Jews rebuilding the Third Temple, which is why the invasion was called Al-Aqsa Flood,” he explained.
“Hezbollah said the same. So, if our enemies focus on it, we should also know about it.”
“IDF soldiers fighting in Gaza reported that many homes there have a picture of the Dome of the Rock which Muslims call Al-Aqsa, because they’re focused on thwarting what they see as imminent attempts to build the Third Temple.”
“Muslim Arabs live in fear of the Jews taking over the Temple Mount.”
“PRACTICE RUN WAS A STEP TOWARDS REBUILDING THE TEMPLE”
Joshua Swanson, producer of a forthcoming red heifer documentary entitled Holy Cow, said the practice run was a step to the building of a new temple.
“This red heifer ceremony is both for purification of the flesh and a sin offering.”
Byron Stinson said that when the actual ceremony is performed, the heifer’s ashes will be mixed with water, which will then purify people from sin.
“It only takes one pinch of ash from the burnt red heifer mixed with around 40,000 litres from a fresh source of water, and you’re good to go,” he explained.
Preparations for the official red heifer purification ceremony on the Mount of Olives are still underway.
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