And some of this will skip through rather quickly as we look at it. But just to introduce you, this is the tabernacle. This is the tabernacle in the wilderness, the bronze altar, the washbasin, the laver. You come into the holy place, you have the table of showbread. You have here would be the candelabra, that's the priest. And then you have the altar of incense right before the curtain, the veil that leads you into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant is. The tabernacle, did I do that? Okay. Let's get this right. Okay. Well, ultimately, the temple was built, and the temple is laid out in the exact same way. It's just a lot bigger. You have here the bronze altar. You have the molten sea, they call it, the wash basin. You come into the holy place, the holy of holies. You have the lamp stand and everything. The temple is just a more elaborate tabernacle. And so God wanted a permanent residence, and that would be in Jerusalem. Now, notice the picture. This may be unique to some of you. Solomon's temple had 11 menorahs. Solomon's temple had 11 tables of showbread. How many of that is new to you? In addition to the original menorah and shobred table from the time of the tabernacle, King Solomon added another 10 menorot, which is candelabras. and 10 showbread tables. These 11 menorah, 11 showbread tables, and the one incense altar stood inside the holy place, the Kodesh. The menorah ranged in two rows of five. At the end of these rows, adjacent to the curtains, stood the original menorah from the time of Moses, which would be down at the end. And then you have the curtain right here. The tables of showbed arranged in similar fashion. Now, this is not Jewish tradition. This is Bible. 1 Kings 7, 48 and 49. Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord. The altar of gold, the table of gold, whereupon the showbread was, and the candlesticks of pure gold. Five on the right side, five on the left. Before the oracle were the flowers, the lamps, and the tongues of gold. So he made 10 additional plus the original. That was a huge room. It's not like the tabernacle, obviously. So in Solomon's temple, there were actually 11 menorahs and 11 tables of showbread. When I was in Israel a number of years ago, I said, when we went to the Temple Institute, I said, why did you put so many menorah and tables of showbread in this picture? They said, well, it comes from the Bible. I said, really? I didn't know that. He said, yeah, let me show you. So he showed me this verse. Interesting. Well, Leviticus 16, the Day of Atonement, which just passed, the Lord spoke unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they offered before the Lord and died. Now, Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement, the most holy of days in the Jewish calendar, when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, one day a year, and offer a sacrifice for the people. Now, very fascinating. A lot of these pictures come from the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, who are making the items for temple worship as they're preparing. And Aaron's sons brought an offering to God wrongly, and they were killed. And so God tells Moses, tell Aaron not to come at any time before me. Your sons died, Aaron's sons died, because they did. Now, there was an altar, a ramp, and the horns of the altar on it. This is the first altar that you get coming into the temple. You can see it here. The altar was built as a perfect square. It was quite large. It reached a height of approximately 16 feet. Its width was approximately 52 feet square. Both were constructed of two main, it was constructed of two main parts, the altar and the ascent ramp. You can see it here. Both were constructed of stones and earth. On top of the altar at its four corners, there were hollow boxes with small protrusions of horns, right here, here, here, and here. They measured 18 by 18 by 15. 18 inches square, 15 inches high. The Bible states that the altar may not be approached by way of steps, since this would be considered unseemly and immodest behavior for this holy place. Do not climb up to my altar with steps, so that your nakedness not be revealed on it. See, the priests had robes. Women have dresses. They used to. Some do still. And if you're going up steps, ladies, and you step up, depending on how, you know, it can become immodest, right? So if you have a ramp, you don't have to step, you can shuffle. It's called the Priestly Shuffle. No, it's not called the Priestly Shuffle. But anyway, you get the idea. So you don't be immodest when you're going up there. And there are three fires. There are three fires, separate burnt piles of wood. The largest of these arrangements was designated to receive all the sacrifices. The second provided the coals for the incense altar within the holy place. The third was the perpetual fire, which constantly burned on the altars, the verse states Leviticus 6-5, and a fire shall burn there on the altar constantly, shall not be extinguished. So you would have to have one of those that would burn continually and not go out. Well, in Leviticus 16, the Lord spoke unto Moses after the two deaths of the sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord and died. One of the things that God wanted to get across is God will judge sin. God is holy. Psalm 53, Psalm 59, 1 and 2, our sins separate us from a holy God. Isaiah 64, 6, we are as all as an unclean thing, all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. God wanted to get across his holiness and the sinfulness of mankind. He did that in Yom Kippur. He did that with the deaths of Aaron's sons because they offered a strange fire to the Lord. So the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron, your brother, not at all times to come into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark, that he die not. For I, God, will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. Moses tell Aaron, if he comes whenever he wants into my presence, he will die. You only come into my presence, in other words, God's presence, his way. So what do they do on Yom Kippur? Yeah, just a little bit. Thank you. He shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Now, I want you to notice something. Two goats for one offering. The sin offering singular is made up of two goats. Keep that in mind. He shall take the two goats. and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord, the other lot for the scapegoat. So what would happen is the two goats would be brought, there would be lots, and I'll show you these in a moment, that would be cast. One would be the Lord's goat, that'd be the blood offering. The other would be the scapegoat. Here's a picture of that. These are the lots that had been done, completed by the Temple Institute, waiting for sacrifices to start. What would happen on Yom Kippur? The high priest, looking away, would reach into that container with the two lots, one for the Lord, one the scapegoat. Not being able to tell which was which, he would pick up one of those. If his right hand held the lot for the Lord, the assistant would declare, Master, high priest, raise up your right hand. And hearing this cry, all those assembled would receive the tiding, the news, and know that this favorable sign had indeed transpired. But if his left hand was seen to contain this lot, the head of the family clan cried out, Master, high priest, raise up your left hand. Thus the deed would be known. pull out one lot with his right hand, one lot with his left hand. And they all hoped that the right hand had the lot for the Lord, not the left hand. Flanked by two men on either side of him, the high priest thrusts his hands into the lottery box, stirs the two lots within, in order to ascertain that he has no idea, no notion, whatever, which one of them is inscribed for the Lord. It was considered an auspicious sign from heaven if that lot were to be drawn by his right hand. So he mixes the lots about so he'll not recognize them and picks out that lot, the first one, raises it in his right hand, hoping, the nation, hoping, That is the lot that says for the Lord. Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, offer him for a sin offering. That's the blood sacrifice. But the goat in which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make an atonement with him, to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. A scapegoat is someone or something that is innocent but takes the blame for others. The scapegoat here would symbolically have all of the sins of the nation of Israel placed on it. It was innocent, that goat, but it would symbolically be having all of the sins of the nation placed on it. that goat would be taken out to the wilderness. While that's happening, the high priest would kill the goat of the sin offering, that's the Lord's goat, that is for the people, bring his blood within the veil, do that with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, before the mercy seat, He shall make an atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions and all their sins. And so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. There shall no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goes in to make an atonement in the holy place. Nobody else would be there until he comes out and he's made an atonement for himself, for his household, for the entire congregation, the entire nation of Israel. When he's made an end of reconciling the holy place, the live goat, Aaron lays both hands on the live goat or the high priest, confesses over the live goat all the sins of the people, the children of Israel. He puts them upon the head of the live goat and sends him by a fit man into the wilderness. When he is brought into the wilderness, he is ultimately let go, thrown off of a mountain. You want him to die. You want him to at least break his legs. and the lions or the wolves, the coyotes would eat him. The very last thing you want him to do is survive and make his way back to the camp. Why? It had all the sins of the people. So he would be dropped off. He would be dropped off a mountaintop where he wouldn't survive. And this shall be a statute forever, Yom Kippur. Two goats, one sin offering. One is blood, one is a scapegoat. Now, the Talmud. It's the oral law of the Jewish people. Talmud is a huge, huge piece of work. It's an encyclopedia in size. There are a number of different volumes. This is the Yoma, if you can see it, I'm not sure. It's the Babylonian Talmud. This is the Yoma edition, this is volume one. And Yoma is day in Hebrew. So this volume and the additional volumes all have to deal with the Day of Atonement. There is one paragraph, now the Talmud is made up of the Mishnah and the Gemara. Mishnah is the commentary on the Mosaic Law. The Gemara is a commentary on the Mishnah. The Mishnah can be a paragraph commenting on some facet of the Mosaic law. The Gemara can be 10 pages commenting on that one paragraph. So when it comes to Yom Kippur and the Atonement, there's a fascinating quote in the Talmud. I'm going to highlight it and read it to you. Yoma 39b. Our rabbis taught during the last 40 years, before the destruction of the temple, the lot for the Lord did not come up in the right hand, nor did the crimson colored strap become white. Nor did the westernmost light shine, and the doors of the hakel, the temple, open by themselves. 40 years. During the last 40 years of the standing of the temple. Now, what is this all about? Let's take them one by one. During the last 40 years before the destruction of the temple, the lot for the Lord did not come up in the right hand, remember? Flanked by two men on either side of him, the high priest thrusts his hands into the lottery box, stirs the lots within so that he has no idea which lot is which, and it's an auspicious sign from heaven when the right hand picks up for the Lord. So he mixes them and he raises it up. But the Talmud, the Jewish writings tell us, during the last 40 years before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, the lot never came up in the right hand. The lot for the Lord not coming up in the right hand for 40 straight years. shows no favor with God. The mathematical odds of one out of two objects being chosen 40 times, it's like flipping a coin. If you'd flip a coin, and you only have two options when you flip a coin, heads, tails. What are the odds of that coin, if you did it 40 straight times, coming up 40 heads, 40 straight times? I'm about to show you. This is what this is about. One in one trillion, 99 billion, 511 million, 627,776. You might as well play the California lottery. It is virtually impossible. that 40 straight times that lot would come up in the left hand, not the right. Because it was an auspicious sign from heaven that God was pleased when it came up in the right hand. If it didn't come up in the right hand, God was not pleased with it. 40 straight years. Our rabbis taught during the last 40 years before the destruction of the temple, nor did the crimson colored strap become white. It's based on Isaiah 118, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. They would take a crimson strap, right here. They would tie half of it to the sides of the altar in the temple or the tabernacle prior to that. they would put the other part of that crimson strap around the scapegoat. And tradition says that when they took that scapegoat out into the wilderness and they dropped it, that crimson strap always turned white. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Except for the last 40 years, of the standing of the temple when that crimson strap never turned white. These lengths of wool were specifically dyed crimson on account of the verse which reads, Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. It is related that a great miracle occurred concerning this crimson colored wool. For in addition to the piece which was tied to the scapegoat, a similar length was tied to the entrance of the sanctuary, where all could be holded high up like a banner. The sage Rabbi Yishmael taught that when the scapegoat reached its destination in the desert, this wool miraculously turned white before the eyes of all of Israel in keeping with the words of the prophet, thus providing a heavenly sign that the sins of the people had been atoned for. But the last 40 years, of the temple, it never turned white. The rabbis thought before the destruction of the temple, the doors of the hackle would open by themselves. Now, the Mishnah relates, that's part of the Talmud, that the sound of the great gate opening could be heard as far away as Jericho. See, in now Herod's rebuilt temple, the doors were huge. Here is a picture depicting what they believe it was like taking 10, 10 or 12, one, two, three, 10 men, five on each side, to open and close those huge, heavy doors. I don't wanna go there yet. But these doors could not be kept closed. they'd open by themselves. Now, think of it this way, and I might have this first later. Remember what happened when Jesus died? What happened to the doors of the temple? They opened, and what happened to the veil hanging between the holy place and the holy of holies? It was torn in half from top to bottom. That veil was as thick as a man's fist. Four to six inches wide. Extremely thick. If these doors, and they were, were so heavy and huge, how would the people be able to look right into the Holy of Holies? The doors couldn't be shut. They supernaturally opened. that then the people could look directly into the Holy of Holies, because the veil had been torn in two, showing that the way to God had now been provided through Jesus. And for the next 40 years, the 40 years prior to the destruction of the temple, they could never close those doors, because the way to God had been opened through Jesus. This is Jewish Talmud. During the last 40 years before the destruction of the temple, nor did the westernmost light shine. Now, according to the rabbis, the westernmost light is the middle light of the menorah in the holy place. It's facing towards the west, they believe. The menorah is one of three vessels located in the holy place, the Kodesh. The Kodesh Kodesh, the holy of holies, would be the holy of holies. The menorah symbolizes spiritual blessing. The Talmud states whoever wishes to become wise should go south. This is alluded to by the location of the menorah in the south. The menorah features seven branches and a lamp is on top of each branch. The western lamp is unique. According to the Rambam, the western lamp is the middle lamp of the menorah. All six flames face the middle one, and the middle flame in turn faces west in the direction of the Holy of Holies, hence the name the Western Lamp. That was to always be kept lit. They couldn't keep it lit. For the last 40 years, the Talmud records that the Western Light never shone. They'd pour oil in it, and they'd light it, and it'd go out. They couldn't keep it lit, that eternal light. So our rabbis taught during the last 40 years before the destruction of the temple. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD. 40 years earlier, around 30 AD, Jesus, who claimed to be Israel's Messiah and the Savior of the world, died for the sins of Jew and Gentile. The lot not coming up in the right hand for 40 straight years shows God was not pleased with the continual offerings. Hebrews 10, one through six. Crimson colored strap, not turning white, showed that the sins of the people were not forgiven. Hebrews 10 again, because the forgiveness is found through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10, seven through 14. The eternal light, not being able to be kept lit, showed that there was another eternal light that God had provided. Speaking of Jesus, he is the light of the world. The doors of the holy place, opening by themselves, show that the way into the presence of God is now available to all. When he had cried, Jesus cried with a loud voice, shield up the ghosts, behold, the veil of the temple is written too, from the top to the bottom, the earth did quake, the rocks went. We have a way into God now through Jesus Christ. That's why those doors could never be closed for those 40 years. What an amazing series of events. testified to by Jewish writings proclaiming there is no longer any need for Yom Kippur. Jesus has opened the way to God for each of us by his sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. Comes from Jewish writing, it's amazing. But I wanna bring us down to today. Story's not finished. Bible prophecy tells a lot of a temple standing during the middle of the tribulation period. 2 Thessalonians 2.4, the Antichrist will sit in the temple of God at the middle of the tribulation, showing that he is God. In that middle of that 70th week of Daniel, he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease in the temple. So if the Antichrist is gonna stop the sacrifice and the offerings in the middle of the tribulation, what does that tell us? Prior to the middle of the tribulation, the temple has to be rebuilt. How much prior? I don't know. Could it be before the beginning of the tribulation? Yes. Does it have to be before the beginning of the tribulation? No. It could be at the beginning of the tribulation. Certainly by the middle it has to be standing. Daniel 11, 45 speaks of the same thing. And the Temple Institute in Jerusalem is working toward the building of the third temple. Build the third temple. Here's some of the things that they have made. The golden crown for the priest. The golden incense altar. The golden table of showbread. The menorah that's outside in Jerusalem. Silver trumpets. the garments of the high priest, the silver shovel, small chalice, small oil flask, copper meal offering vessel. This is the wash basin, I think. Measuring cups, and there is many, many other items. They have completed every single item for temple worship. They found, just a few years ago, pure olive oil for the first time in 2,000 years that can be used for the lighting of the menorah. Years of research and experiment, and the three months of intensive preparation, December 22nd, 2014, a ceramic vessel made in complete accordance with the rules guiding purity in the holy temple. and they had that olive oil they put in it. That's not coincidental. They have built the ramp. This is the smallest version of the ramp that is allowed. Remember the high priests walk up the ramp? You have the horns of the altar right here on each side. That is the smallest that is allowed to be acceptable to the Jewish world. It's built. It's ready to be used. The red heifer. What does a red heifer have to do with any of this? Perhaps it would be difficult for some to believe that a cow could be so important. I didn't write this. Somebody else did. That's the Temple Institute. But in truth, the fate of the entire world depends on the red heifer. For God has ordained that its ashes alone are the single missing ingredient for the reinstatement of biblical purity and afterward the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. You probably heard some of the stories. Farmer in Mississippi raising red heifers. Somebody up in New Jersey had birthed a red heifer. And they were excited about it. All of those turned out to be unkosher. The ordinance of the red heifer has detailed requirements found in Numbers chapter 19. The heifer must be three years old and perfect in its redness. This means that the presence of as few as two hairs of any other color will render it invalid. If it is related for this reason, the red heifer was always very expensive to procure. Even its hooves must be red, must also be totally free from physical blemish, whether internal or external. Here is the page from the Talmud, just to give you an idea of the Mishnah, the Gemara. But in Jewish tradition, from Moses, to the second temple, Herod's temple, destroyed in 70 AD. Only nine red heifers. The Mishnah teaches that up until the destruction of the temple, second temple, not Solomon's temple, second temple, ashes had been prepared from a total of only nine red heifers. The very first red heifer was processed by Moses himself. Moses and Aaron, as the verse states, had them bring you a red heifer. The second was done by the prophet Ezra in the days of the first temple. And during the entire era of the second temple, only seven more red heifers were used for ashes. This was enough to provide for the nation's needs for purification throughout all these years. Now you will find Christian prophecy writers saying that they must find the ashes of the original red heifer. No. That's somebody marketing books. That's not Jewish teaching, and they're building the temple. This Christian is not, whoever it might be. The names of all the high priests who prepared those seven heifers during the Second Temple times are recorded by the Mishnah. Simon the Just, Yaqanan, each made two. Elione ben Hakaf, Hanamel ha-Mitzri, Ishmael ben Pe'avi processed one heifer each. Thus, from the time that Moses received the commandment of the red heifer, from the Holy One, blessed be He, that's God, until the destruction of the second temple, 70 AD. Purifying ashes have been produced by the hands of these great leaders from a total of nine red heifers. Jewish tradition says the 10th red heifer will be prepared by the Messiah. And recounting this historical record in his commentary to the Mishnah, The Great Mammonides ends with the enigmatic statement, and the 10th red heifer will be accomplished by the king, the Messiah. May he be revealed speedily, amen, may it be God's will. So when the 10th red heifer comes on the scene, that's the time of Messiah. With this amazing statement, Maimonides recounts an ancient tradition that the 10th red heifer is associated with the Messianic era. Does this perhaps mean that the appearance of a red heifer in these waning end times is an indication, this is by the Temple Institute, they wrote this, a forerunner of the appearance of the Messiah himself who will officiate at its preparation? If there had been no red heifer for the past 2,000 years, perhaps, It is because the time was not right. Israel was far from being ready. But now, what could it mean for the times we live in to have the means for purification so close at hand? With the words of Maimonides and mine, we cannot help but wonder and pray if there are now red heifers as ours the era that will need them. This comes from the Temple Institute. July 12, 2015, the Temple Institute announced that they're going to have a Raise a Red Heifer program in Israel. After 2,000 years, with great thanks to the Almighty, we are pleased to announce the Temple Institute is raising red heifers in Israel for the first time in 2,000 years. The restoration of biblical purity is within reach, the prerequisite for building the Holy Temple. They have to have a red heifer. Even if they had a heifer, even if they had the temple, had the priests, it's no good without the heifer and the ashes. The birthing and raising of red Angus heifers until we arrive at a proper red heifer fit for the production of the purifying ashes is a real life endeavor. The proper care for the raising of red heifer requires daily oversight. The heifer must be fed, vaccinated, cared for, watched over, and kept from harm. The slightest physical blemish will render even a perfectly red heifer unfit for production of the purifying ashes required before the Holy Temple can be rebuilt and the divine service renewed. All this demands a significant expenditure. And this is what the Temple Institute's current Raise a Red Heifer in Israel crowdfunding campaign is all about. I'm not recommending you go there and support this. Our loftiest dreams and prayers cannot be attained if we do not have the funding necessary. This week, the leaders of the Western world, led by United States President Barack Obama, Sign an agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which will effectively change our reality. That is, the entire world's reality, creating an instantaneous threat of nuclear proliferation involving the world's most radical jihadists and terror-supporting states. Non-state terror entities will be next in line. The real threat of nuclear Armageddon will cast a dark and foreboding shadow over all of us. This is the Temple Institute writing this a few years ago. We need not sit by passively. We too have the ability to create a cataclysmic change in the world's reality, a cataclysmic change for good. The raising of a red heifer in Israel creates a hope for purity in the world. Purity in the world reduces the breakout time for the building of the Holy Temple to zero years. With the ashes of the Red Heifer literally in hand, and the shadow of nuclear annihilation overhead, we can stand tall and say to the world, the choice is yours. Do we continue to suffer the reality of nuclear elimination, or are we ready to change our reality for the good, build a holy temple in Jerusalem, a house of prayer for all nations, a place where nuclear arms will be replaced by offering upon the altar? And the Temple Institute is working to bring to Israel in Jerusalem the Holy Temple. They believe it is the cornerstone for world peace. But even with a rebuilt temple, without the ashes of a red heifer to purify it, the vessels and the priests, it will sit in vain. But here's the news. Pure red heifer meets all the requirements according to the rabbis. August 28th, 2018, one month ago, a red heifer was born in the land of Israel. The red heifer candidate is being raised and specially cared for under the auspices of the Temple Institute's Raise a Red Heifer program. One week after its birth, the heifer underwent an extensive examination by rabbinical experts who determined that the heifer is currently a viable candidate for the biblical red heifer described in Numbers chapter 19. We'll be examining it in three months time to determine whether it continues to possess the necessary qualifications of the red heifer, a necessary prerequisite for the renewal of the divine service in the holy temple. And a few years ago, They announced, the Temple Institute, on Tisha B'Av, celebrating the two destructions of the temple on the same day, that the architectural plans for the third temple have begun. Here's the video of that. It's not a virtual representation, but a portion of complete, highly detailed plans. Whoops. You may have to press it there. Should be embedded. Can you get that playing? And with a sound? These are the plans for the temple. you Yeah. Plans are finished. This is a visual representation of what this will look like when it is built. They are ready to rebuild. This video comes one year after the Temple Institute appealed to its supporters to take part in the Indigo crowdfunding campaign that raised over $100,000 for the architectural plans. It was first released to support supporters of a current campaign to raise the first kosher red heifer in Israel in over 2,000 years. Over the past five years, the organization has released its most ambitious campaigns and poignant videos to reframe the mourning period into one of active preparation for the third holy temple. They now have, at this time, a red heifer. Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read, no one of these shall fail. None shall want or mate. From my mouth it is commanded. His spirit is gathered. Prophecy will be brought to pass. God will do it. It shall come to pass, Isaiah 2.2. How close might we be? Shadows of the tribulation, period. We are very close, I believe, to the coming of the Lord. I hope you're ready. All of this, this is not happenstance. This is not coincidence. This is providence of God. It's promised in the Bible. There will be a rebuilt temple. They're getting ready. And for the first time in 2,000 years, now this could become this red heifer. Unclean. But right now it meets all the requirements. for the first time in 2,000 years, they have a red heifer. How close might we be to the tribulation period? They believe that this is that 10th red heifer, and the 10th one will be a harbinger of the messianic age, the Messiah's coming soon. We know it from the Word of God. We are living, I believe, on the precipice First of the rapture for the church, but the tribulation period. There is so much happening in the world. God is setting the stage for the tribulation period. This is just part of it. I hope you're saved. I hope you're ready. Jesus is coming. And it seems like he's coming very soon. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your goodness and love. Thank you for your blessings and Lord.