Very soon the world, or at least a good part of it, will be celebrating the birth of Jesus, also known as the Prince of Peace. Ironically, we are very far from knowing peace on Earth today. War and rumors of war are frequently announced in the news media. Some of the more recent of these include:
- The October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. This has caused the of deaths thousands of men, women, and children. Other factions of extreme Islam are calling for the annihilation of Israel and all Jews.
- Russia and Ukraine are still battling it out in a war that began in 2014 and escalated in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
- China is spreading its tentacles all over the globe, even to the point of constructing artificial islands containing military bases in the South China Sea.
- North Korea is constantly building and testing missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
- According to the Geneva Academy, in Africa, more than 35 armed conflicts are taking place in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.
And the list goes on, adding up to about 110 worldwide armed conflicts. There is a great need for the Prince of Peace to return and establish His peace on earth. How close are we to seeing that happen?
I recently read an interesting piece that was included in a promotional letter from Prophecy Watch Magazine. The article was about 5 red heifers that were flown from Texas to Israel. All five heifers were born in October 2021. What is so important about 5 female cows going from Texas to Israel? It’s simply the fact that for a new temple to be rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and be used for sacrificing as they did in the Old Testament, everything must be cleansed spiritually by water containing the ashes of a heifer that is without one single hair other than the color red. The lack of such a heifer has been an important factor in the delay in building a new temple. Now there are five candidates and here is something very interesting: The heifer needs to be 2 years and 1 month old to be qualified by age. These five heifers came of age about November of 2023. It is believed this was possibly the reason Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. It was to prevent Israel from their plans to build the temple that would interfere with or replace the Dome of the Rock, the Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount.
Technically speaking, a temple does not need to be rebuilt for the Jews to begin the sacrificing. All that is necessary is a covering such as a tent just as they did in Moses’ day. But the one necessity is the cleansing process by the sprinkling of water containing the ashes of the red heifer as per instructions given in Numbers, Chapter 19. The search for just one healthy red heifer, without a spot or blemish and not having a single hair other than red, has been going on for decades. They now have five!
If it is discovered that the original temple did not sit in the same location as the Dome of the Rock but some other place not near enough to cause disturbance to Dome of the Rock worshipers the temple, tent, or another structure could be built in short notice and sacrificing could begin. And why is that important? Because Daniel, chapter 9 tells us the Antichrist will stop the sacrificing and grain offering. And why is that important? Because if the Antichrist is here to stop the sacrificing, according to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory that means the Church of Jesus Christ will be out of here and in Heaven!
Before I close, here is a reminder that we don’t have to wait for the return of Jesus for the individual to have peace in every circumstance. Isaiah 26:3 assures us, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”
Merry Christmas!