4-13-24 Message to Beit Adonai Yisroel – Tazria (“she conceives”) Torah Portion; Tazria Lev 12:1 – 13:59
Haftarah: 1 Kings 4:42 – 5:19
Suggested Acheron K’tuvim: 2 Thess 2:1-4
The Red Heifer, and the Legacy of Amalek
Central question of this message: Will you be caught-up in the current fervor regarding the “Red Heifer?”
Today’s parasha is entitled Tazria. Its name comes from the 13th Hebrew word and from the 18th and 19th words in the English translation. Tazria is commonly translated as “conceives”, or in some cases “gives birth.”
Lev 12:1-3
12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the
sons of Israel, saying, 'When a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days, as in the days of her menstruation she shall be unclean. 3 'And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
This parasha contains a number of commands regarding childbirth, and then gives us an extensive diagnostic manual for an odd affliction which has for much too long been persistently translated as the disease of “leprosy”. I wish to put an end to that misnomer. The condition described in today’s parasha is not a disease. It cannot be “caught” nor can it be “cured.” It is entirely of spiritual origins, and it is tied directly to what is known as loshan hara, or “evil speech.”
Although there are a number of wonderful lessons to be gleaned from this parasha, I wish to continue with my series “Under the Law” with a lesson on yet another issue which seems to currently be causing a bit of unrest in
the body of faith – especially with messianic believers – and that is the “Red Heifer.”
Many articles and videos have flooded the body of faith recently with great flourish, all featuring one topic: the “Red Heifer.” I would not have a problem with all the discussion, if it only were firmly rooted in Scripture as well as a solid understanding of what the “Red Heifer” is, and what it is not. The purpose of this message is to clear away much of the fog which surrounds this animal, and restore us to a more firm foundation in faith.
We are now entering the first Hebrew month of the year, Nisan. This month represents redemption to our people. It was in this month (on the 14th day) that our redemption from slavery in Egypt was initiated.
It was the belief of observant Jews in the time of Yeshua that the true Messiah of Israel would present Himself during Passover. It was for that reason that the Roman government brought many reinforcements (some say a full legion) to Jerusalem every year before Passover. This was intended to be an adequate “show of force” to dissuade any possible Messiah from starting a rebellion, and as well to prevent any Jewish citizens from joining such rebellion. Rome made it clear to all in Israel that any threat to Roman rule would be dealt with ruthlessly, and with the edge of the sword.
And it is still the belief of observant Jews today that the final redemption, by the appearance of the coming Messiah, will also be during the month of Nisan.1 This belief is less than rock-solid, since there is also a belief that Messiah may present Himself at any time which He chooses.
It seems that the arriving of the month of Nisan this year has been heralded by yet another flurry of predictions and interpretations. One of these involved the eclipse which was seen in the US this last Monday, and another was a series of announcements regarding the “Red Heifer.”
Since the reestablishment of the nation of Israel in its homeland, people have been hoping for the sighting of the Red Heifer. They have seen this as a sign of the coming Messiah. Every year there seems to be a heifer which might qualify, but on closer examination, does not qualify.2 The repeated disqualifications of successive candidates has not blunted the zeal of those who are searching, though.
The idea of one red heifer being qualified as “the one” which will bring Messiah back to Earth has so captivated Christians, that they now have
1 Those who hold this belief do not believe that Yeshua, who presented Himself as the sinless sacrifice on Passover, was indeed the promised Messiah. Their “first arrival” may well coincide with Yeshua’s “second arrival” which would promote significant unity between these two disparate factions.
2 So much as a single white or black hair disqualifies. So does any injury. So would the act of placing anything at all on the neck or back of the animal – even as light as one’s jacket. Thus, it is rather easy to disqualify the animal.
undertaken the task of finding a qualifying animal somewhere in the world, and getting it to Israel unharmed.
As that effort was ramping up, an announcement came late in 2023, that a completely red heifer had been born in Israel. That announcement insisted that for the first time since the destruction of the Temple, Bible prophecy could be fulfilled.
This news was preceded in
2022
by
the
careful
breeding and shipping of
five red heifer calves from
Texas to Jerusalem.3 It is
reputed that they were listed
as “pets” so as to get around
the regulations prohibiting the import of live animals into Israel.
The Texas heifers were a bit older when they arrived, so they had a technical “head start” in the evaluation process, which requires a legitimate “Red Heifer” to be at least 3-4 years of age, but at that age be still completely red.4 These animals are currently in the lead to be “the
3 One of the heifers came from Urbanowsky Ranch just outside Houston. The other four came from Triple Creek Ranch in Rockwall.
Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/article277706743.html#storylink=cpy 4 Maimonides, laws of Parah Adumah.1:1
one” which is to be sacrificed. So far, none has been certified as “perfect” so as to be qualified.
Why does the Red Heifer matter? Because there are a number of Christians who insist that once a Red Heifer is found, then those ashes can be mixed with pure water from the Pool of Siloam, and then that mixture will purify the High Priest – and others who are ritually impure – so that they can enter the Temple and serve G-d who then can come to live among men on Earth once again.
The Muslims are also following all this rather closely, and they likewise hold an apocalyptic view of the arrival of the true Red Heifer. Daniel Hilton, a writer for the Islamic-leaning publication Middle East Eye, wrote in an article dated March 28, 2024 the following:
On the crest of a hill in the occupied West Bank, five Red
Angus cows chomp sombrely on some straw. Around them, a
group of Israelis look on in anticipation.
If all goes to plan, these cows could herald the end of the
world as we know it.
According to Jewish tradition, the ashes of a perfectly red
heifer cow are needed for the ritual purification that would allow a Third Temple to be built in Jerusalem.
That temple, say radical Jewish groups, must be constructed
on the raised plateau in Jerusalem’s Old City known as the
Temple Mount, where Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the
Rock shrine stand today. Some believe this will herald the
arrival of the messiah.
The Temple Institute, an organization which is dedicated to the construction and outfitting of the Third Temple in Jerusalem is using the “Red Heifer” fervor as a fundraising opportunity.
I find it sad that this group of people who seem dedicated to advancing the kingdom of G-d on earth, are actually working to advance the coming of the Antichrist. It is the Third Temple that will be occupied and defiled by the Antichrist, and then it shall be destroyed. Only then is it possible for the final Temple – that found in Ezekiel 40-46 – to be built as a pure undefiled Temple in which Yeshua shall dwell.
Daniel’s vision is a bit cryptic regarding the destruction of the Third Temple.
Dan 9:24-27
24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and
your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. 25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixtytwo weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of
the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the
sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the
end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 "And
he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week,
but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to
sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of
abominations will come one who makes desolate, even
until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is
poured out on the one who makes desolate."
This Temple will not only be desolate (empty of G-d’s glory), but will undergo a complete destruction. But Paul’s letter helps with a bit more clarity.
2 Thess 2:1-4
2 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, 2
that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or
be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless
the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is
revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts
himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so
that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying
himself as being God.
Then, as the Messiah returns, the Third Temple will be destroyed and the Ezekiel Temple constructed.
If you calculate the dimensions of the Ezekiel Temple, you will soon discover that it cannot fit at all on the site currently designated as “the Temple Mount” as constructed by Herod. The place that it occupies may well be a flat spot which is created by the power accompanying the coming of Yeshua.
Rev 6:12-15
12 And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was
a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth
made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and
the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 And the sky
was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
This may be the same event spoken of by the prophet Zachariah.
Zech 14:3-5
Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of
Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so
that half of the mountain will move toward the north and
the other half toward the south.
Regardless of the mechanism, it is clear that the very large Ezekiel Temple will occupy a flat place much, much larger than currently exists in Jerusalem.
Now that we have adequately disproven that the Ezekiel Temple is also the Third Temple, let’s turn to the Red Heifer.
Num 19:1-10
19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 "This
is the statute5 of the law which the Lord has commanded,
5 It is called a chukat, which means it is a command that cannot be rationally understood by the limited mind of men.
saying, 'Speak to the sons of Israel6 that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect, and on which a yoke has never been placed. 3 'And you shall give it to
Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. 4 'Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle
some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting
seven times. 5 'Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be
burned. 6 'And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop
and scarlet material, and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer. 7 'The priest shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp, but the
priest shall be unclean until evening. 8 'The one who burns it shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in
water, and shall be unclean until evening. 9 'Now a man who
is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove
impurity; it is purification from sin. 10 'And the one who
gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be
6 Only the “sons of Israel” can bring the Red Heifer. An imported animal – regardless of other qualifications – cannot qualify.
unclean until evening; and it shall be a perpetual statute to the sons of Israel and to the alien who sojourns among them.
The sacrifice of the Red Heifer is to be accomplished, according to Scripture, “outside the camp.” In today’s Israel, that location has been identified as a location on the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley from the Temple. There has been a picture created showing how one artist believes that might have looked during the time of the Second Temple.
The waters of purification created using the ashes of the Red Heifer are closely associated with the completed Mishkan (and later, the Temple).
The blood of the sacrifice must be sprinkled toward the sanctuary, so how can one sprinkle blood without having the structure already built?
The Red Heifer is also somewhat connected to Amalek. In the parasha immediately preceding the one about the Parah Adumah (Red Heifer), we read the prophecy by Balaam:
Num 24:20
20 And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and
said, "Amalek was the first of the nations [to go up to war
with Israel], But his end shall be destruction."
This suggests that Israel’s struggles with the nations begins with Amalek, and at the return of Messiah the final war – also with Amalek – will be finally won.
The Nazi Germans proudly proclaimed themselves to be the Aryan race, but the original Aryans were Persians – Iranians of today – who have an ethnic link with the Germans. Many rabbis have identified Germany as Amalek, and operated in the spirit of Haman the Amalekite. Haman was
Persian, so the connection between the holocaust of the Persians and the holocaust of the Germans seems more closely related.
Some commentaries on the Persians of today compare the nation to a bear. The picture is of an animal which never rests, is powerful, and operates through its proxies on every side. Iran claims to have never ceased from war because it has armed, trained, and directed its proxies in an everlasting conflict.
The next parasha after Amalek just happens to be the one of the Parah Adumah. This parasha emphasizes that this important national sacrifice is the only one which occurs outside of the Temple, and when it is accomplished, the Jews can be ritually pure, and will be able to enter the Temple Mount.
Again, the Muslims are quite terrified of that happening, knowing that once Jews enter the Temple Mount, their control will be forever lost.
Even the Sage Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon, 1138-1204) recorded that the first Red Heifer was offered by Moses, the second by Ezra, and only seven others until the destruction of the Temple by the Romans.
Maimonides then suggests there will be 10 more offered by Messiah.7
7 Laws of the Parah Adumah 83:54
Hamas spokesmen Abu Obeida, who appears once in a while with his face covered with keffiyeh, warned about the Jews planning to bring the red heifer. He spoke at the mark of the 100th day of the current war in Gaza, and explained to everyone's surprise that the reason Hamas started this war was because the Jewish people are preparing to sacrifice the Red Heifer.
Since the Quran explicitly declares that Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, they know that once the Jews retake the Temple Mount, Islam will lose its second holiest spot, and there is nothing they can do about that. So, they find a way to distract the Jews from offering the Red Heifer by simply hoping to take-back more of Israel with a war. Of course, that has failed miserably thus far.
Hamas started the current war to prevent Jews from moving forward with the Red Heifer. This is evident in the name of the war - Tufan alAqsa, (the al-Aqsa flood). In the final analysis, this war is all about the Temple Mount.
We may be on the verge of the final war of this age. Scripture suggests strongly that the final war will be one between the G-d of Israel and the god of Iran. It will be between Amalek, and Israel.
The struggle is once again over whose G-d will rule the Temple Mount as Muslims try to do everything they can to delay the coming of the Messiah.
But this doesn't help them, as symbolized by the reading of the Haftarah of Hachodesh HaZeh, which comes right after Parashat Parah. This symbolizes the new month, the month of redemption that comes with the victory of the Jewish nation over their enemies, after the purification done by the red cow and the destruction of Amalek.
We can conclude our study with reciting an old prayer, found in Psalm 83. It seems to fairly represent what we see happening in the Middle East today.
Ps 83:1-8
83 O God, do not remain quiet;
Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.
2 For, behold, Your enemies make an uproar;
And those who hate You have exalted themselves.
3 They make shrewd plans against Your people,
And conspire together against Your treasured ones.
4 They have said, "Come, and let us wipe them out as a
nation [“From the river to the sea!”], That the name of Israel be remembered no more."
5 For they have conspired together with one mind;
Against You do they make a covenant:
6 The tents of Edom [Jordan] and the Ishmaelites [Arabs];
Moab [Jordan], and the Hagrites [lost people, assimilated into Arabs];
7 Gebal [inhabitants of Petra], and Ammon [Jordan], and
Amalek [equivalent to Hamas];
Philistia [Gaza] with the inhabitants of Tyre [southern
Lebanon];
8 Assyria [Syria] also has joined with them;
They have become a help to the children of Lot [Jordanians].
Selah.
9 Deal with them as with Midian,
As with Sisera and Jabin, at the torrent of Kishon,
10 Who were destroyed at En-dor,
Who became as dung for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, "Let us possess for ourselves
The pastures of God."
13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust;
Like chaff before the wind.
14 Like fire that burns the forest,
And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest,
And terrify them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with dishonor,
That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever;
And let them be humiliated and perish,
18 That they may know that You alone, whose name is the
Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.
