It was just a few years ago when several red heifers were spotted in Rockwall, Texas. They were carefully inspected, and after being qualified by several rabbis, they were transported to Israel, where they still reside today. So, what is the big deal with these red cows, and more importantly, why would Hamas concern itself with a Jewish Temple requirement?
What we know about the red heifer from the Bible can be found in Numbers 19:1-22. In a nutshell, there are a few biblically based requirements:
โข An unblemished red heifer in which is no defect is selected (v. 2)
โข It must be a heifer on which a yoke has never been placed (v. 2).
โข It shall be slaughtered (v. 3).
โข The heifer shall be burned (v.5)
โข The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer (v. 6).
โข A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin. (v. 9).
Biblically, that is all we know, but rabbinically, as is often the case, more requirements have been added. Talmudic sages have contributed to the requirements for the ashes of the red heifer.
While sages disagree on how old the heifer needs to be (from 1 to 5 years old), many rabbis agree on two years. The latest batch of five heifers that came from Texas were born on October 5, 2021. In taking the longest range for qualification, five years from that date puts them at October 5, 2026, for the slaughter to take place. Two years would have placed them at the October 2023 mark. The point is, by now, the red heifers could already be qualified for slaughter and burning.
There is, of course, the issue of the purity of their coat. Biblically, the cow is to be red, but there are no details given regarding the purity of the coat and what would disqualify the cow from a color standpoint. Once again, the Talmud gives us many opinions but no consensus, and yet, somehow, the rabbis have arrived at the number two. So, two hairs or more of a different color than red disqualify the heifer.
The location for the slaughter is agreed upon by the vast majority of rabbis, stating that the heifer needs to be slaughtered on the Mount of Olives. Incidentally, Jewish people didn’t have control of the Mount of Olives until 1967, when the control of East Jerusalem was regained by Israel as a result of the Six-Day War. But Jewish control of that area doesn’t preclude the Arab world from being against the slaughter. Doing it today would cause quite a stir.
So, why did Hamas declare that one of the main reasons that they started the war on October 7, 2023, was the “red cows” that Israel had just brought in from America? Hamas seems to understand the meaning of the red heifer, maybe even on a deeper level than many Jewish people around the world, and possibly better than some Christians as well. Their speech took place 100 days after the start of the war as they declared, โWe 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.โ
What seems to be the problem is the idea that once the red heifer is slaughtered and burned, and the ashes gathered and mixed with water, there is nothing left to be accomplished before the Jewish people start the rebuilding of the Third Temple. For that to happen, the Temple Mount has to be cleared, which means that the Al-Aqsa mosque, which is currently there, has to go. The real estate is there, but it is occupied by another edifice than the Jewish Temple. Hamas leaders understand the gravity of the matter. Once the ashes of the red heifer have been mixed with water, priests can be purified and made ready for Temple worship and duties, and for the Palestinian Authority, or at least Hamas, it is the point of no return.
Despite Hamas declaring that the “red cows” are partly responsible for the war, I believe that what drove the terrorists on October 7, 2023, is antisemitism, which is pure evil. The same carnage would have happened without the red heifers in Israel (currently kept in Shiloh). I am not convinced that the red heifers started a war in Israel, but it is clear that Hamas and possibly more of the Arab world understand what is to take place in Jerusalem with the next Temple, as soon as the ashes are available.
There is no doubt that another Temple will be rebuilt in the near future. Jewish people know it as the Third Temple, and they believe that through its building and the priest’s duties, peace on earth will be achieved.
That Temple is also known as the “Tribulation Temple,” and it will indeed be rebuilt, but only to be desecrated by the Antichrist halfway through the seven-year Tribulation. The peace sought by so many will be a false peace brought on by the Antichrist soon after he signs a peace treaty with Israel. At that time, it will be very possible for Jews and Arabs to get along and rebuild the Temple together.
So, no, the red heifers didn’t start a war in Israel, but they are the last piece of the puzzle before the Temple is rebuilt. The Rapture is truly imminent, and soon the Temple will be rebuilt, bringing the seven-year Tribulation and the Campaign of Armageddon to Israel. At that time, 1/2 of the world will perish, except for those who have placed their trust in the death and resurrection of Yeshua of Nazareth. It’s not too late to trust Him, but it’s too important to wait another day, especially in the days we live in, where so many events are converging at the most rapid speed in the history of mankind. We are one red heifer closer to the end!
