The Red Heifer Practice Burning and the Third Temple: An Update from Israel
The short answer: A practice burning of a red heifer has taken place in Israel, using an animal that had already been ruled unqualified, so the priests could work out the details of a ritual not performed in two thousand years. According to journalist Eliyahu Berkowitz, every vessel needed for the temple service now exists. For believers, the bigger point is what Hebrews 9 says: the ashes of a heifer purified the flesh, but the blood of Messiah cleanses the conscience.
A follow-up from the Golan
Pastor Chris welcomes back Eliyahu Berkowitz, an Orthodox Jewish writer living in Israel who covers the Temple movement, for an update on the red heifers and the preparations for temple service. As Eliyahu puts it, the Talmud asks whether redemption comes slowly or quickly, and it seems the answer is both: slow for centuries, then all at once.
What actually happened with the red heifer
Reports circulated that the red heifer ritual had already been carried out. Eliyahu checked directly with the leadership of the red heifer project. Here is what he says took place:
One of the heifers brought to Israel had been inspected and ruled unqualified because of non-red hairs.
It was slaughtered and burned in a full rehearsal, on the correct types and amount of wood, so the priests could work through the practical details.
It was done in Samaria, not on the Mount of Olives, where the true ritual must take place, so it could not have been the real thing.
The ashes were not used for anything, and the rabbis had wanted it kept private before someone filmed it.
It was not the first rehearsal. In 2019, Professor Zohar Amar of Bar-Ilan University ran an experiment burning a heifer to measure how much ash the ritual produces. Eliyahu's point is striking: only a tiny amount of ash is mixed into each container of water, so one heifer could supply purification for an enormous number of people. Jewish tradition records that only nine red heifers were prepared from the time of Moses until the Second Temple was destroyed (Mishnah Parah 3:5).
What the red heifer is for
Numbers 19 describes the red heifer: an unblemished red cow, never yoked, slaughtered outside the camp and burned completely, its ashes mixed with water to purify anyone who has become unclean through contact with the dead.
Eliyahu adds an important nuance. In Jewish law, communal offerings tied to set times, like the daily offerings and the Passover, are required even while the people are in a state of impurity. In his view, the red heifer is not the only obstacle; neither is a building. When the exiles returned from Babylon, the altar and sacrifices began before the temple was rebuilt (Ezra 3:1–6).
"We are literally ready"
Eliyahu reports that the Temple Institute has completed what it describes as the last missing vessel, the laver the priests use to wash their hands and feet (Exodus 30:17–21). The priestly garments exist. The priests, the kohanim, are known by family line and still bless the congregation in synagogues today.
For the red heifer specifically, the requirements are stricter: young priests who have never become ritually impure through contact with the dead, born at home and never having left the land. All that would be needed for the service itself, Eliyahu says, is an altar on the place King David consecrated (2 Samuel 24:18–25). In his view, the obstacle is political, not practical.
What Scripture says about the coming temple
This is where the conversation became especially meaningful. Pastor Chris walked through the passages that make the temple so significant for believers:
Daniel 9:27 — a coming ruler confirms a covenant with many for one week, and in the middle of the week brings sacrifice and offering to an end.
Matthew 24:15 — Yeshua points to the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, spoken of by Daniel.
2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 — the man of lawlessness takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
Revelation 13:15 — an image is given breath and allowed to speak.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 — when they say "peace and safety," sudden destruction comes.
Eliyahu was candid that he had never read Revelation, and that he had only recently learned that later Jewish literature also speaks of a temple of the antichrist, drawing on Daniel. It was a powerful moment of two men from different traditions opening the Scriptures together.
Signs Pastor Chris is watching
Pastor Chris pointed to prophecies he believes are moving toward fulfillment, among them the drying of the Euphrates (Revelation 16:12), the ruin of Damascus (Isaiah 17:1), and the war of Gog and Magog, after which Israel spends seven months burying the dead in the valley of Hamon-gog (Ezekiel 39:11–12).
Eliyahu offered a Jewish perspective worth hearing: promises of blessing must come to pass, but prophecies of judgment can be softened by repentance. Jeremiah 18:7–10 teaches the same principle, and Jonah's Nineveh is the classic example.
The Ark of the Covenant
Asked about the Ark, Eliyahu was confident: Jewish tradition holds that it was hidden beneath the Temple Mount, in a chamber prepared under the temple, and has never left (see the discussion in the Talmud, Yoma 53b–54a). He does not believe it is in Ethiopia. No one has retrieved it, and he does not expect anyone to try until conditions on the Mount change.
The better sacrifice
For followers of Yeshua, the red heifer points beyond itself. Hebrews 9:13–14 makes the comparison directly: if the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctified for the purifying of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Messiah, who offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The red heifer purified from contact with death. Yeshua defeated death itself. He was offered once for all, outside the gate (Hebrews 13:12), and on the third day He rose. Whatever happens on the Temple Mount, the One who conquered the grave is the true temple, and He is coming back.
We are really living in the prophetic end of times. Ask yourself: what should I do with the time that's left?
Eliyahu's closing advice was simple and wise. Do not waste the time arguing. Draw near to God with your whole heart, and love your neighbor.
Frequently asked questions
Has the red heifer been sacrificed?
According to Eliyahu Berkowitz, a practice burning was carried out with a heifer already ruled unqualified, away from the Mount of Olives, and its ashes were not used. It was a rehearsal, not the ritual.
What is the red heifer used for?
Numbers 19 describes its ashes mixed with water to purify people who have become ritually unclean through contact with the dead.
Is Israel ready to begin temple service?
Eliyahu says the vessels, garments and priests are ready, and that an altar in the proper place is the main remaining step. The obstacles are political.
What does the New Testament say about the red heifer?
Hebrews 9:13–14 says the ashes of a heifer purified the flesh, but the blood of Messiah cleanses the conscience to serve the living God.
Take the next step
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