Do Not Fear

The Red Heifer

There has been a lot of speculation lately about the end times and the red heifer. Of course, there is always something to speculate about with the end times people.

The story is that a ranch in Texas has bred a number of red heifers that could fulfil the requirements of purity to be the sacrifices. While the Biblical significance of this is unclear, Jewish tradition requires that the grounds of the temple will be cleansed by the red heifer sacrifice before the temple can be rebuilt. Therefore, it is argued, we have the red heifers so now the temple can be rebuilt and bring on the rapture.

According to a recent article in “Charisma”, they have found a potential candidate to perform the ceremony. This is a young man who was born at home and has never set foot in a hospital or a cemetery where he could inadvertently touch a dead body and therefore be unclean.

I don’t like to be the wet blanket in the end times party, but this is total rubbish.

When I got my drivers’ licence I did not assume this meant that God must soon provide me with a car. The licence was a necessary condition, but many things had to happen before I was able to own my first car. Just because you have a red heifer does not mean the temple can be rebuilt.

As christians we don’t follow Jewish tradition. Yes, the Jewish traditions can inform our reading of scripture, but it is the Bible that is the source of our doctrine, not tradition. That was what the Reformation was all about. Yet we now have end times preachers building their doctrines on Jewish tradition.

So what does the Bible tell us about the red heifer? In Numbers 19:1-13, we read:

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:‘This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned – its hide, flesh, blood and intestines The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.  ‘A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.  ‘Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them.

So, to summarise, a red heifer without defect or blemish was to be sacrificed outside the camp. The heifer was to be burned and the ashes stored in a special place outside the camp. Then the ashes were to be mixed with water to purify people from sin and to cleanse those who have touched a dead body.

There is nothing there about the end times or the new temple. Jewish rabbis can make their own pronouncements about the necessary rituals to rebuild the temple, but this has nothing to do with christians.

Like many of the requirements of the Old Testament Law, the red heifer sacrifice is an illustration of Christ’s sacrifice.

• He was sacrificed outside the city
• His blood was shed in sight of the Temple (equivalent to the tent of meeting)
• His body and blood cleanse us from sin and remove from us all impurity

The writer of Hebrews tells us that we have a better sacrifice, one that is suitable for all sins. Unlike the red heifer sacrifice which had to be repeated, Christ’s sacrifice is complete.

“But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:26

“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:14

“And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” Hebrews 10:18

The red heifer sacrifice may be necessary to inaugurate the Jewish Temple, but Christ’s sacrifice inaugurated the new Temple, the people of God.

Instead of getting excited about the production of perfect red heifers, let’s press in to Christ, the one whom the heifers point to. He alone is the author and finisher of our faith, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega.