Red Heifers Raise Tensions in Islamic World
Game changing developments are happening right now in Israel concerning the Third Temple. The final missing piece of the Third Temple project - the infamous ashes of a red heifer – is now only months away from falling into place. These ashes are Biblically mandated for purification in a range of situations including contact with dead bodies (see Num. 19).
Without the red heifer ashes, priests and Levites currently in training with the Temple Institute are disqualified from serving in a future rebuilt Temple. Furthermore, with all the bloodshed on the Temple Mount down through the centuries, the Mount itself must be cleansed before the Temple can be built.
It will surprise many Christians to discover that by and large, secular Israelis are uninterested and unaware of these developments. In addition, many Orthodox Jews are opposed to any current moves to rebuild the Temple as most hold that it can only be rebuilt by the Messiah in the Messianic era.
The Islamic Response
The radical Islamic world is incensed by the red heifers. It was no co-incidence that Hamas called its infamous and deadly October 7 terror attack “Operation Al Aqsa Flood”. Speaking at the 100 day mark of the current war with Israel, Abu Obeida, a military spokesman for Hamas, said that the aggression against “our path and Al-Aqsa” reached its peak with the “bringing of red cows.”
YouTube videos about the red heifers are gaining significant traction in the Islamic world. For example, the world’s most popular Islamic YouTube channel known as “Merciful Servant” uploaded a video on the topic, which attracted over 400,000 views within two days of being launched. This viral video, and many others like it, are explicitly declaring that Israel will now launch an imminent attack on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
Will there be a Third Temple? While the ashes of a red heifer may become available in the next few months, the Temple rebuilding project still seems unrealistic in the current environment. The fears of the Israeli government leaders of sparking all-out war, combined with the lack of interest and even outright opposition from many Israelis to the project, makes it seem completely impossible.
However, the events of October 7 show how quickly long-held views can change. Prior to this heinous terror attack, the majority of Israelis were seeking to get on with their lives, content with Hamas being contained behind Israel’s state of the art border fence. The dismal failure of this high-tech fence to stop the October 7 attack has overnight smashed this long-held Israeli view, catapulting the nation into a determined decision to eradicate Hamas from its borders.
Similarly, I believe that long held Israeli reservations towards the Third Temple will one day change. When that happens, the Temple Institute stands ready to seize the moment. Will we as Christians be ready as well?
For more on this topic, see Enoch Lavender’s book Rebuilding the Temple, available at Amazon and Koorong.
Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based in Melbourne, Australia.
He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
Enoch writes regular articles about current events as they relate to Bible Prophecy, and is a regular contributor to the Australian Newspaper Christians & Israel Today, as well as the international news web site Prophecy News Watch.
Enoch has a B.A. in Intercultural Ministry from Harvest Bible College (2008) and is an assistant pastor at Living Way Christian Network in Blackburn, Melbourne.
A former youth leader, Enoch today serves as the Pastoral Leader of Shalom Israel. He is also a representative for Ebenezer Operation Exodus and serves on the board of Teach All Nations (the ministry of Dr. Kameel Majdali).
Enoch speaks as an itinerant minister on a specialised range of topics including End Times, Israel, the Jewish Feasts and Intercession. Some of the topics he has covered in the past include:
The Restoration of Israel and the Church – Both the Church and Israel are today being restored by God and are being prepared for their ultimate destinies
Passover at the Time of Jesus – Follow the last days of Jesus’ life on earth and delve into the rich symbolism contained in the Jewish Passover.
Series: Israel’s Fall Feasts – Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit all occurred sequentially on the first 4 feasts that God divinely instituted in Leviticus. Each of the remaining 3 feasts prophetically foreshadow different aspects of the Lord’s Second Coming in great detail. The dramatic messages of this series serve as a vividly illustrated wake-up call to the Church and to Israel about the times we are in and the need to be ready to meet our King.
The Torah for Christians – Christianity has long viewed the Torah (five books of Moses) in a negative light, but in this teaching series we discover that the Torah was (and is) foundational to understanding much of the New Testamant.
Hanukkah and God’s Temple – History is often prophetic, and the story of Hanukkah from about 150BC foreshadows the ultimate and final conflict over the Temple Mount. At its core, this Spiritual battle is about who will receive the worship of all mankind – God or Satan?
Aliyah: The amazing Return of the Jews – Learn about the amazing fulfilments of Bible Prophecy that have occurred in the scattering and regathering of the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth. Enoch shares with video clips about the various stages in the return of the Jews including their return from the far east of Siberia, the jungles of Ethiopia, from dark torture cells in Syria and from the desert dunes of Yemen. What is next in this amazing regathering?