How close are the end times? No really?
The sacrifice of the Red Heifer has happened only 9 times in Jewish history. The last was not long before the coming of Christ.
Jews believe that the 10th Red Heifer sacrifice will usher in the coming of Messiah. In order to qualify for sacrifice the heifer has to be completely red (brown!) without any two hairs of a different colour adjacent to each other. The heifer has to be in its third year. In 2022 5 red heifers were imported from the United States in readiness for at least one to qualify for sacrifice. They are currently under heavy security on a farm in Shiloh (where Joshua set up the Tabernacle).
This 10th sacrifice could happen around Passover this year, i.e. any time now. It will trigger the process of rebuilding the temple (destroyed by the Romans) on the Temple Mount. This of course is the last thing that Moslems want and as you’ll hear in the YouTube footage below one of the reasons for October 7th was anger around the existence of the Heifers and the implications for the possible destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount to make way for the new Jewish Temple. Neither religion can countenance their temple being alongside the other’s. Some might argue that the Islamic Temple is what Jesus (and Daniel) referred to as the “Abomination of Desolation“. The Daniel prophecy will of course be on the minds of practising Jews in this context.
BTW there was an article in the Guardian a few years back.
What is truly intriguing is that Moslems are also looking for the coming of Messiah, well sort of, Mah·di ˈmä-dē who assumes a messianic role before the return of Jesus. The huge irony for Moslems however is that the Bible predicts the coming of the one commonly called “The AntiChrist” – in 2 Thessalonians 2 we read, “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.”
The Qur’an even says that the Mahdi will rule for seven years. The exact same time as the Bible says the Anti-Christ will rule for! Why Mohammad didn’t have a better grasp of Christian teaching is remarkable. He dared to have more knowledge of the life and person of Jesus than the Apostles it seems, yet he missed this crucial point. Of course being apparently illiterate he couldn’t have read the Bible, so he was making stuff up from hearsay and snippets of information and downright imagination.
So is Jesus coming back a mere seven years or so from now? If so of course we have the seven years of Islamic domination of the world to get through!
I have been astounded at the effect of October 7th. Far from alienating people to Islam it has generated a bizarre backlash against Israel and by association Christians. Perhaps if that gets worse it might mean that Israel says, “Enough is enough, we will tear down the Mosque!”
I used to read Daniel and Revelation with some excitement, like a good Sci-Fi film! But the nearer the reality comes, the less romantic death and destruction on a collosal scale sounds!
See also Tews and Christian persecution and October 7th from the menu bar.
Time to pray.
Shalom and Maranatha.