Dropping Hints

I read something about this a few years ago, but recently I dug into it in a little greater depth and detail. The Talmud discusses several unusual events that occurred around the time of Christ's death (or at least around the time of His ministry)—things that stopped happening or began happening about 40 years before the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, or about AD 30.

The Talmud is a huge collection of Jewish writings generally focused on the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and the Tanach (basically the entire Old Testament), and these writings comprise a massive compendium of teaching, opinions, and interpretation pertaining to both, as well as other aspects of Judaism. These writings began to be compiled in earnest in the aftermath of the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, since prior to that such teachings had primarily been passed down orally within a relatively closed Jewish society. But after the temple was destroyed at the hands of the Romans and the Jewish people were scattered to the nations of the world, such oral traditions became far more difficult to maintain and pass on.

Plus, after AD 70, Jewish scholars had their work cut out for them. The challenge? Invent a version of Judaism that could function in the absence of a temple—which, if you count the original tabernacle in the days of Moses, had been the heart and soul of Jewish life for 1,500 years.

There are two versions of the Talmud: a smaller one compiled in the land of Israel and redacted in the mid-fourth century known as the Jerusalem Talmud, and a larger version compiled in Iraq from the third to the sixth centuries known as the Babylonian Talmud. There are many differences between the two, but the majority of Jewish scholars consider the Babylonian Talmud as more authoritative, and refer to it more often than the Jerusalem Talmud.

The reason I mention this is because the unusual events I am about to discuss are described in both, which lends greater credence to the fact that these were widely accepted by the Jews as actual historical events.

As we shall see, the four unusual events we are going to look at that occurred around the time of the Crucifixion each in its own way gives us the distinct impression that God was giving the Jews signs that His relationship with them had fundamentally changed. It seems very much as if God was dropping hints for His people that things were different after their religious leaders persuaded their Roman masters to execute this grifter from Nazareth who did nothing but spout parables, use His demonic power to perform "miracles," and mislead many people into foolishly accepting Him as the Messiah, in spite of His obvious failure to fulfill a single messianic prophecy to their satisfaction.

The four unusual events we will discuss are connected to the following:

1. Which of the High Priest's hands the lot for the LORD came up in.
2. Whether or not the scarlet ribbon tied to the goat would turn white.
3. The center lamp of the temple menorah failing to remain lit.
4. The temple doors opening by themselves every night.

A hint that's NOT in the Talmud

Before we look at the four unusual events that are mentioned in the Talmud, I want to mention one miraculous sign that was given to Israel that was an obvious hint that at the moment Christ died, something radically changed in God's relationship with not only Israel, but with all of mankind.

It is recorded in all three of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), and it involved an extraordinarily tall, thick, heavy curtain (or "veil") that concealed the Holy of Holies:

⁵⁰Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. ⁵¹Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. 

(Matthew 27:50–51 / emphasis added)

³⁷Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and gave up the spirit. ³⁸The veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. 

(Mark 15:37–38 / emphasis added)

⁴⁵The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 

(Luke 23:45 / emphasis added)

In the temple, there were two main curtains, and one of them hung at the entrance to what was called the Holy Place (equivalent to a nave). The Holy Place contained a seven-branched candelabra called a menorah (representing Christ as the Light of the World), the table of shewbread (representing Christ as the Bread of Life), and the altar of incense, and priests went in and out of this area on a daily basis to perform various duties.

But the Holy Place also contained the Holy Of Holies, a smaller area which contained the ark of the covenant and which was separated from the rest of the Holy Place by a second thick, heavy curtain. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement to offer sacrifices for both his own sin and for the sins of the entire nation of Israel.

The moment Christ died, it was this inner curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Holy Place that was ripped in two, from top to bottom. At a height estimated by some at about 60 feet, this is clearly suggestive of the fact that it was God who did the ripping. But most importantly...

It told us that the way to God
was now open to all, thanks to the
blood that Christ shed on the cross.

¹⁹Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus [some translations render this as "the Holy Place," but note that Paul is clearly referring to the Holy of Holies contained in what many refer to as the Holy Place, just as I did above], ²⁰By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; ²¹And having an high priest over the house of God; ²²Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 

(Hebrews 10:19–22 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)

"Let us draw near"...in a way that no one on earth could dream of doing prior to Christ's perfect work of atonement. Especially the Jews.

After Christ's death, the effective atonement for sin no longer required any High Priest to enter any Holy of Holies and offer any sacrifice, and the reason is thunderingly simple:

The Son of God's perfect sacrifice for sin had just been offered once and for all, and had been accepted by the Father.

But unlike the other four unusual events we are going to discuss, the ripping of the curtain that concealed the Holy of Holies from view is NOT mentioned anywhere in the Talmud, or in any Jewish writings anyone is aware of.

I suspect that at least part of the reason for this is because the rending of this curtain was such a disturbingly bizarre event that the priests would have instinctively sought keep it as quiet as possible. According to Jewish tradition, the priests simply got busy and quietly sewed the curtain back together and pressed right on as if nothing had happened...and no doubt labeled any lingering rumors as pernicious conspiracy theories spread by heretics who foolishly clung to the absurd notion that the Nazarene trickster that had been executed was actually their anticipated Messiah.

The abject spiritual bankruptcy of the
Jewish religious leaders had reached
the point where they literally didn't
know what else to do, think, or say.

Plus, this curtain-ripping thing only happened once. The other events we will discuss each occurred on a regular basis (daily or annually) for 40 years, and so they would have been widely known and acknowledged by the Jewish public—and as a result are mentioned in both versions of the Talmud.

The Yom Kippur miracles

The four events we are going to discuss are sometimes referred to as the "Yom Kippur miracles," which is perhaps not the best name for them since not all four are specifically connected to Yom Kippur. I've never made any effort to come up with a moniker of my own, but if someone threatened to spit in my coffee to get me to do so, it might be the "post-Crucifixion, pre-temple-destruction oddities mentioned in the Talmud" (clunk...)

On second thought, I think I'll just go with the "Yom Kippur miracles."

But regardless of how you choose to refer to them, all four of these strange events are mentioned in both the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. Here is how the Babylonian Talmud summarizes them:

The Sages taught: During the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest's right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest's right hand at all. So too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white, and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually.

And the doors of the Sanctuary opened by themselves as a sign that they would soon be opened by enemies, until Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai scolded them. He said to the Sanctuary: Sanctuary, Sanctuary, why do you frighten yourself with these signs? I know about you that you will ultimately be destroyed, and Zechariah, son of Ido, has already prophesied concerning you: "Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars" (Zechariah 11:1), Lebanon being an appellation for the Temple.

Rabbi Yitzhak ben Tavlai said: Why is the Temple called Lebanon [Levanon]? Because it whitens [malbin] the Jewish people's sins, alluded to by the root lavan meaning white.

— The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Yoma 39b [Source]

1. The lot for the LORD.

One of the procedures carried out on Yom Kippur involved two goats of very similar size and appearance. One goat was chosen to serve as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people (i.e. the one "for the LORD"), and the other would symbolically carry the sins of the people far away from the camp (i.e. the one "for Azazel," or the scapegoat).

I'm going to keep this rather general, because the details of how these things were actually carried out varied somewhat over the centuries. First of all, the roles of these two goats would be chosen by lot. At one time, two stones from the High Priest's breastplate were used. At other times, two marbles or stones were used: one white and one black.

The High Priest would draw out one lot in his right hand and the other in his left. It was considered auspicious if the lot for the LORD came up in the High Priest's right hand, and according to the Talmud it did so every single year during the tenure of the venerated Shimon HaTzaddik (aka Simeon the Righteous), who served as High Priest for 40 years in the fourth century BC. After his death, the Talmud indicates that the lot for the LORD came up in the High Priest's right hand only occasionally, but it still did sometimes.

But the Talmud also states that starting around AD 30, or 40 years before the destruction of the temple, the lot for the LORD never came up in the High Priest's right hand again.

Now, this business of drawing lots makes this all sound like it was just random chance, but according to Scripture it was anything but:

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh.

(Proverbs 16:33)

In other words, the LORD always had total control over which lot came up in which of the High Priest's hands.

Lord help him with his math: While I was working on this, I stumbled across an article by some well-meaning individual who blubbered on about how the odds of this occurring were about 5,500,000,000 (5.5 billion) to 1!!! WOW!!! Uh, no. First of all, his numbers are off by a factor of 200. Assuming it's at the mercy of random chance, the odds of this occurring 40 consecutive times would be approximately 1,100,000,000,000 (1.1 trillion) to 1. Second of all, and more importantly, odds have nothing whatsoever to do with it: "Its every decision is from Yahweh." So save the blubbering.

But odds or no odds, the religious leaders understood that the fact that the lot for the LORD was consistently coming up in the High Priest's left hand every single year did not bode well for the Jewish people.

They just didn't know why it was happening.

2. The scarlet ribbon.

Warning—sharp curves ahead: What follows in this section is a bit involved, and I literally don't know one single person who agrees with me on every detail...which tends to make me a bit nervous. So hang in there and focus, and I'll do my best to get us through this in one piece.

The goat for Azazel or the scapegoat would be driven far from the Jews' camp, or far outside the city of Jerusalem and out into the wilderness. There, it would either simply be killed or shoved off a cliff so it would fall to its death.

Again, I have to go easy here because the details varied over time and so you will see sources that describe things a bit differently. Basically, however, the scapegoat would have a scarlet ribbon or cord tied to its horns or around its neck, and a section of that same ribbon would be kept by the priests or tied to the door of the temple. If that scarlet ribbon turned white, it represented the fact that atonement for the sins of the people had been successfully carried out. This idea was based on the following passage of Scripture:

¹⁸Come now, and let us reason together, said the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

(Isaiah 1:18 AKJV)

If it didn't turn white and remained scarlet, it may have cast a bit of a pall over the proceedings, but life went on—do some good deeds and all that. But the fact that this scarlet cord never turned white again for the entire 40 years prior to the destruction of the temple told the Jewish people something of critical importance, and it told them with screaming clarity:

Their actions on Yom Kippur were no longer atoning for anything.

Something had fundamentally changed in the way atonement was made for sin, and every born-again believer knows exactly what that is:

What happened about 40 years prior to the destruction of the temple was that the Lamb of God provided atonement for sin through His perfect, one-time sacrifice on a cross at Calvary.

That's an integral part of what the Day of
Atonement had foreshadowed for 1,500
years—but when the Jews were finally
confronted with the reality, they balked.

Notice I said that what Christ did on the cross is part of what the Day of Atonement had foreshadowed for 1,500 years. It's notoriously easy for us as non-Jewish believers to overlook the fact that there's more than Christ's work of atonement being foreshadowed by the Jewish celebration of Yom Kippur.

I recently saw a question online that a Jewish person had asked that was related to the idea of the scarlet cord being attached to the scapegoat and failing to turn white for the last 40 years before the destruction of the Second Temple, and the answer was written by none other than Rabbi Tovia Singer, founder and director of Outreach Judaism and Christian-basher extraordinaire. Here is an excerpt, and he is talking about the Millennial Kingdom and referencing the book of Ezekiel:

In chapters 43–44, Ezekiel clearly states that the animal sacrifices will be reinstated in their full glory. [He tries to make it sound like it's the Old Testament all over again—but it isn't.] In fact, the messiah, who is called "the prince" seventeen times at the end of the Book of Ezekiel, will personally offer a sin offering in the future messianic temple (45:22). [Wrong answer. The prince will have to offer a sacrifice for his own sin. In 46:16, we also see the prince may have sons in the normal sense. Although that sacrifice may be a commemorative one that looks back on what Christ did or one that simply removes ritual uncleanness as a lot of Old Testament "sin" offerings were designed to do (see below), either way this proves this prince isn't Jesus the Messiah.] This simple fact should stir Christians to tremble before they consider suggesting that the transformation of the scarlet strip of wool had ceased due to the fact that God had done away with animal sacrifices. [Straw man alert—that's not what we are suggesting. The only people stupid enough to suggest such a thing are those who don't even know the book of Ezekiel has more than 39 chapters.] Clearly, God has not done away with them as evidenced by the fact that these elaborate Temple rituals will be restored with the advent of the messiah. [Translation: All you deluded Christians don't realize the Old Testament is comin' back in its "full glory"! So enough with your heretical "Jesus is the Messiah" nonsense!]
(emphasis & [comments] added)

— Rabbi Tovia Singer [Source]

Notice how Rabbi Singer cleverly tries to make it sound as if all the temple activity during the Millennial Kingdom will essentially be a return to the Law of Moses as per the Old Testament, and that nothing in this regard will have substantially changed. His goal is obvious: He wants to scare Christians (at least those who aren't as well versed in the Old Testament as they should be) into believing that these Torah-esque animal sacrifices are the only way there will ever be to atone for sin, just as it was for Israel under the Law of Moses—so phooey on your phony Messiah and all your born-again baloney.

"Yep, it's gonna be one big Law of Moses redux, so all you deluded missionaries* can take your book of lies and go pack sand."

(*Be aware that in Israel today, the word "missionary" is used as a pejorative term for Christians, especially those who attempt to share the gospel with them. It's more or less the equivalent of Gentiles calling Jews "kikes.")

Sadly, the reason a man like Tovia Singer can do this with abandon and with every confidence that he can get away with it is because he knows from experience that 99.9 percent of Christians don't know the Old Testament well enough to call him out on his grotesque misrepresentation of Scripture and run it through a shredder.

Well, stand by...because that's precisely what I am about to do.

Ezekiel 40–48 reveals some very interesting facts about the Millennial Kingdom. Yes, there will be a temple. Yes, animal sacrifices will be (gasp) reinstated. But a careful reading of a couple of those last few chapters of Ezekiel also reveals that there are some crucial differences between what was done in the Old Testament and what will be done during the Millennial Kingdom. And I'll just go ahead and spit one of 'em right out at you:

There will be no Yom Kippur
in the Millennial Kingdom.

No Day of Atonement?! Hmmm...now that's interesting.

Yom Kippur gone AWOL: Don't believe me? Read Ezekiel 45 carefully. I've written about this before, but please understand that during the Millennial Kingdom animal sacrifices will still be made in the Millennial Temple. Why? Because they will still be required to cleanse and make atonement in the sense of covering over or purging the ritual uncleanness of people entering His presence and objects being used in His service. Just as in the Old Testament, He will still be a holy God living in a sinful world among natural men with sin natures. The chief difference is that during the Millennial Kingdom, those sinful men will be required to believe in faith in the work of atonement Christ accomplished on the cross to atone for their sin in the sense of removing the moral guilt—not merely the blood of bulls or goats as in Old Testament days. They will also have to maintain a faithful testimony. During the Millennial Kingdom, there will only be Passover/Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles—the Day of Atonement has gone AWOL.

Here is the key passage from Ezekiel's discussion of the celebration of Jewish holy days during the Millennial Kingdom:

²¹In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month [that's the biblical day of Passover (Lev. 23:5)] , you shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten [hence this could easily and naturally be viewed as including the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6)]. ²²And on that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. ²³And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. ²⁴And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah. ²⁵In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month [that's the biblical day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:34)], shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.

(Ezekiel 45:21–25 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)

And that's pretty much it as far as traditional Jewish festivals are concerned: Passover/Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles.

There appears to be something missing, as in Firstfruits (nobody is waving any sheaves of grain before the LORD), Pentecost, Trumpets, and Atonement. Not to be overly dogmatic or anything, since sometimes others see things in different ways and find ways to read things into Scripture that don't jump out at me. But in my humble opinion, it's crystal clear:

They're not there.

Ezekiel only mentions the actual biblical dates for two of the seven festivals: Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles—and I'm more than willing to toss in the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a gimme, since the eating of unleavened bread is specifically mentioned in connection with Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is considered part of the celebration of Passover anyway.

Where's the blood? To hear the "gospel" preached in many churches today, you might almost get the idea that our dear, sweet Jesus just waved a magic wand to forgive everyone who deigns to invite Him into their heart: no muss, no fuss. Easy peasy Japanesey. Straight up—there are simply no words to describe the horrific pain and suffering that was inflicted on Christ that day 2,000 years ago by the Romans. The lashes alone were enough to kill a man. They weren't intended to merely inflict pain—they were intended to literally rip the flesh from a man's body so severely many would bleed to death (or pray they would). After the lashes, being nailed to a wooden cross was almost redundant—that was intended primarily as a final, humiliating public spectacle. Most victims of crucifixion were three-quarters dead by that time anyway.

The point is that God is going to continue Passover, which foreshadowed and was fulfilled by the Crucifixion, throughout the Millennial Kingdom because the Father is going to honor His Son by never letting us forget what that perfect, sinless Son endured on our behalf, all so that we could be forgiven of our sin and reconciled to Him through faith. In other words:

God is never going to let us forget the blood.

Now, I believe the Feast of Tabernacles will be continued in the kingdom because the Millennial Kingdom is its prophetic fulfillment. For the entire 1,000 years of the kingdom, that prophetic fulfillment will be a work in progress because God will be "tabernacling" with us. That's the entire point.

But Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, and Atonement? Zip. Nada. And that begs the question: Why?

I don't want to go too far afield here because it's an interesting subject in and of itself, but consider:

• Firstfruits (Yom Hibikkurim): Firstfruits was fulfilled by the Resurrection: That one's been a done deal for 2,000 years.

• Pentecost (Shavuot): The fulfillment of Pentecost was inaugurated by the conception of the Church 50 days after the Resurrection, and I believe the entire Church Age is its complete fulfillment. Israel's prophetic time clock is stopped while God deals with His "heavenly people" the Church. When the Church Age ends at the Rapture, God will restart the prophetic time clock of His "earthly people" Israel and this one will be a done deal as well.

• The Day of Shouting (Yom Teruah): What most Christians call the Feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled by the Second Coming of Christ to the earth to launch His kingdom. And I referred to it by its more literal name just to remind you that what many believers (this writer included) routinely refer to as the "Feast of Trumpets" (a) is not one of the three "feasts" (those would be Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles), and so does not foreshadow a gathering of people to God and so is not the Rapture. Also, it (b) arguably has precious little to do with trumpets. After the Second Coming, that'll be a done deal.

• The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur): On Yom Kippur, Jews believe the books are sealed—and in Old Testament days you were either in or out. They had just completed a 10-day period known as the Days of Awe that served as their opportunity to repent, right wrongs, forgive others, do good deeds, make amends, etc. If you had done an adequate job of it, God would forgive you and your atonement was secure—your name would remain inscribed in the Book of Life and you would live and be blessed for another year. If not, however, your name would blotted out and the books would be sealed without your name in them, and you would die during the coming year.

Before we go any further, recall one basic principle that applies to the final prophetic fulfillment of all seven of the Jewish festivals:

Every single one of them is fulfilled by
Christ Himself and in their given order.

1. He fulfilled Passover at the Crucifixion.

2. He fulfilled Unleavened Bread with His burial.

3. He fulfilled Firstfruits at the Resurrection.

4. He will fulfill Pentecost when He catches away the Church at the Rapture.

5. He will fulfill Trumpets when He returns at the Second Coming.

6. He will fulfill Atonement when He decides who is granted and denied entrance into the Millennial Kingdom (more on this below).

7. He will fulfill Tabernacles by ruling in the Millennial Kingdom on earth.

OK, steady now...I believe the Day of Atonement finds its final fulfillment in the form of the Sheep and Goat Judgment of Matthew 25:31–46, and I pray that I can make this clear because I already know some of what I am about to say is liable to rattle a few cages out there.

It strikes me that most Christians today have been mistaught about the Sheep and Goat Judgment, if they have been taught anything at all about it (which many haven't). I am convinced that everyone who stands before Christ at the Sheep and Goat Judgment is someone who believes the truth of the gospel. Yes, including the goats.

No? Consider: When Christ comes back at the Second Coming, all the people left alive on earth will be able to be divided into two groups: those who took the mark of the beast and worshiped the Antichrist as God, and those who refused to do so. That's everybody. The latter group, however, can be divided into two subgroups: (a) the believing Jewish remnant who will be protected in the wilderness until the Second Coming so they can be ushered alive into the kingdom, and (b) surviving Gentiles at large who have believed the message of the gospel and so have rejected the mark of the beast and as a result are struggling to survive the persecution from the forces of the Antichrist.

Out of the picture: In regard to the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, I am convinced they will have all been martyred before the end of the Great Tribulation, so they're out of the picture at this point. They're in heaven and in full rejoice mode. (Even if they're not, they would be lumped in with the Jewish remnant anyway.) Incidentally, unbelieving Jews who "didn't receive the love of the truth" will also be dead...but in "rejoice mode"? Uh, not so much.

If you think any of the goats standing on Jesus' left are people who took the mark of the beast and worshiped the Antichrist as God, then why would Jesus be asking them about the nature of their actions toward other believers (His "brothers"), to which they so innocently respond:

"Gosh Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? We certainly would have visited you in prison! How can you not let us into the kingdom?!"

Note that the nature of their reaction indicates that the goats were actually expecting to be admitted into the kingdom, and seem genuinely perplexed as to why they are being denied entrance. The question boils down to this:

Why on earth would Jesus be wasting His time
accusing people who took the mark of the beast
of failing to display a bold Christian witness?

Are you kidding?! They staunchly rejected everything connected to Christ and the gospel and worshiped the Antichrist in His place! And that tells us everything we need to know about them. However, you might say that there is another reason there are no markees at the Sheep and Goat Judgment that's a bit more pragmatic:

Uhm...they're all dead.

²⁰The beast [the Antichrist] was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹The rest [i.e. "those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image"] were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, the sword which came out of his mouth [it sounds like they're all dead before Christ even dismounts]. So all the birds were filled with their flesh.

(Revelation 19:20–21 / emphasis & [comments] added)

Revelation 19:20–21 makes it crystal clear that when Christ returns at the Second Coming, the first thing He is going to do is cast the Antichrist and the False Prophet alive into the lake of fire. Then He will kill everyone remaining who took the mark of the beast and worshiped his image—that's just initial housecleaning for the newly returned King of kings. This precedes any of the activities that follow that are part of the preliminaries of actually setting up the kingdom, which would include the Sheep and Goat Judgment.

So none of the people standing before Christ at the Sheep and Goat Judgment took the mark of the beast—it simply makes no sense and doesn't sit well with Scripture. Well, what does that tell us about them?

Let's think this through: During the Great Tribulation, following the launching of the kingdom of the Antichrist, everyone on earth is going to be required to take the mark of the beast and worship the Antichrist as God on pain of death. In other words, refusing to do so will be a capital crime. Now, what could possibly influence a person to risk their life by refusing to take the mark? I only know one thing—and I am convinced it is the only thing:

Belief in the truth of the gospel.

It's going to be a clear-cut choice: the Big Lie or the Bigger Truth. Listen: If you think this world is divided now, oh baby...you ain't seen nothin' yet!

The only reason people will risk their lives by refusing to take the mark of the beast is because they have come to a knowledge of the truth of the gospel. As a result, I believe all those standing before Christ at the Sheep and Goat Judgment are believing Tribulation survivors.

Are some Christians in name only (CINOs)? Let's let God be the judge.

But these have survived and are standing before Christ, being judged to determine whether or not they warrant admittance into the kingdom—admittance which some are granted and some are denied.

OK, so what is the criterion for admittance into the kingdom? Just belief in the message of the gospel? Just a profession of faith in Christ's work of atonement on the cross? No. They did that, or else they wouldn't be there. Failing that, they certainly would have taken the mark of the beast. At this point in time there's a bit more to it than that.

No matter how much someone wants to massage this and say the goats are actually just wimpy CINOs who weren't really saved (yet their belief in the gospel was initially strong enough to enable them to refuse the mark?), there is a cold, hard reality at work here that many in the Church today are blithely unaware of (or would prefer to ignore). And that buck stops at the pulpits of thousands of churches all over the world where preachers are doling out dollops of woke, politically correct whipped cream.

Remember: The Church Age—along with
its unique blessing of eternal security—
is ancient history at this point in time.

The criteria for entering the kingdom
for all surviving Tribulation believers
will include a faithful testimony.

They all professed faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ—that's why they are standing before Him at the Sheep and Goat Judgment to begin with. But now they are being judged on how they treated other believers during the darkest days of the Tribulation. Whether they protected them or gave in to pressure to rat them out. Whether they offered them food and drink and shelter and other types of aid and comfort, or steered clear of them and let them suffer out of fear for their own safety and well being.

Both the sheep and the goats obviously risked their lives by refusing to receive the mark of the beast and worship the Antichrist. But the sheep put it all on the line and maintained a faithful testimony by selflessly aiding other believers—no doubt at great personal risk. The goats caved and failed to do so in order to save their hides—it's pretty much that simple. The sheep and the goats are all people who either took a stand or took cover. And admittance to the Millennial Kingdom will be granted or denied accordingly.

And as on previous Yom Kippurs,
after the Lord's decisions are made
the books will again be sealed.

Only this time the books won't
be sealed for one more year—
they will be sealed for eternity.

So when the Millennial Kingdom is finally launched, the Day of Atonement will no longer be necessary because its final fulfillment at the Sheep and Goat Judgment will have already determined who among the Tribulation survivors who refused to worship the Antichrist are granted or denied entrance into that kingdom in the first place, and the books will be sealed for the last time.

That's what Yom Kippur foreshadowed for 1,500 years. Yes, something did change in how atonement was made for sin 2,000 years ago. During the Church Age, it is based on belief in faith in Christ's work of atonement alone. And I believe Scripture is quite clear: Members of the body of Christ—those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29)—are blessed by being sealed with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in a way believers in other eras are not and as a result enjoy the blessing of eternal security.

But they're Gentiles! Some out there may be grousing about the fact that I have the final, prophetic fulfillment of Yom Kippur being fulfilled by Gentiles, not Jews. Yes, the Jewish feasts were given to Israel...trust me. But the final, prophetic fufillment of all seven of these festivals basically form an outline of God's plan of redemption for sinful man—from the Crucifixion to the kingdom, and that's about more than just Israel. God planned for the Church to be grafted into this comprehensive plan and play a key role in it, right alongside God's Chosen People the Jews. For example, as I mentioned earlier, I believe the entire Church Age is the complete fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks, aka Pentecost—and its final fulfillment is the Rapture, an event the Jews know essentially nothing about.

After the Rapture, belief in faith in Christ's work of atonement will need to be supported by a faithful testimony—and that's what we see being played out in the final prophetic fulfillment of the Day of Atonement at the Sheep and Goat Judgment, which will determine who among these Tribulation survivors will enter the promised Millennial Kingdom. So when the kingdom is finally launched, the Day of Atonement will have served its ultimate prophetic purpose—and then it will be a done deal.

Whew...take a deep breath. I think we made it.

All right, where were we? Oh yeah, the third unusual event:

3. The center lamp of the menorah.

Inside the Holy Place in the temple there was a large golden candelabra (or menorah) with seven lamps. Some menorahs have a center lamp that is a bit taller than the others, but styles vary. Whatever the design, however, the priests saw to it that this center lamp remained lit at all times, and it was used to keep the other six lamps lit on a daily basis.

But starting about 40 years before the destruction of the temple, for some inexplicable reason the center lamp kept going out. Every single night, it would fail to remain lit. Exasperated priests tried everything they could think of. They kept extra supplies of oil on hand. They kept its wick carefully trimmed. Nothing worked. No matter what they did, the center lamp would go out every single night, and so was useless in its role of keeping the other lamps burning—they couldn't even keep it burning.

Of course, the lamps represented the Holy Spirit and hence God's presence with and favor upon Israel. And the grim, disturbing overtones of this unusual phenomenon were not lost on the Jewish religious leaders—they understood that this continual extinguishing of this central lamp indicated that God's presence and favor had departed from Israel, starting around AD 30, or 40 years before the destruction of the temple.

Why "western"? In the passage I quoted earlier from the Babylonian Talmud, it says "the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually." Most other translations simply read "the western lamp." But why the "western" lamp? At first blush, that would seem to rule out the center lamp, no matter how the menorah was oriented. I found several explanations for this, a couple of which were in complete disagreement.

However, the best explanation I found is that the menorah in the temple was aligned north to south, and the Holy of Holies was on its western side. The wicks of the three lamps on the north side were bent to point south and the wicks of the three lamps on the south side were bent to point north, so all six pointed toward the center lamp. The wick of the center lamp, however, was bent to point west, toward the Holy of Holies. I won't be dogmatic about it, but this is far and away the most satisfying explanation I found, because the center lamp that was kept burning continuously represents Christ, who is the Light of the World and imparts light to us through the Holy Spirit.

And it's worth noting that the center candle of the nine-candle Hanukkah menorah is also used to light the other eight candles. This candle is known as the "helper candle," which is interesting because the light comes from the Holy Spirit, and when Jesus promised His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit at the Last Supper, He used a form of the Greek word parakletos, which many English translations render as "the Helper." Just an interesting tidbit.

4. The doors of the temple.

The final odd event involves the huge set of doors the led into the Holy Place of the temple. According to some sources, these doors were so massive that a team of up to 20 men was required to open and close them.

But just as with the previous three events we have discussed, about 40 years before the destruction of the temple, something strange began to happen: These huge doors in the temple would swing open every single night about midnight all by themselves, and the door-closing detail had to be mustered to shut them again.

This inexplicable self-opening of the temple doors is not only mentioned in both versions of the Talmud—it is also referred to by Roman historian Josephus:

Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, [likely a reference to the doors that led into the Holy Place, which would have been on the east side of this court area discussed earlier] which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night [around midnight] . Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again.
(emphasis & [comments] added)

— Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews (6.5.3) [Source]

Like the other odd events we've looked at, there was no explanation for it. As hardened as they were, at least the Jewish religious leaders had enough sense to grasp the fact that God was using these strange events to speak to them, and they understood that these things didn't bode well for Israel and their relationship with God. In other words:

They understood God was dropping hints.

Now, in regard to the temple doors opening by themselves, this strange event was actually believed to portend the impending destruction of the temple, because the Jewish religious leaders interpreted it in light of the following prophecy from Zechariah:

¹Open your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.

(Zechariah 11:1)

As mentioned in the passage from the Talmud I quoted at the outset, "Lebanon" was seen as a reference to the temple itself since the word is based on the root lavan, which means "white." And one of the fundamental purposes of the temple was to "whiten" the sins of the Jewish people.

So, the religious leaders interpreted this opening of the temple doors on their own as God dropping a big, fat hint that the temple would soon be destroyed.

And destroyed it was, just as Jesus had prophesied to His disciples:

¹Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. ²But he answered them, "You see all of these things, don't you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.

(Matthew 24:1–2)

But for the last two millennia, these hints have fallen on deaf Jewish ears.

Baseless excuses: For the last two thousand years, Jewish rabbis have taught that the reason God turned away from the Jewish people and judged them so severely was due to the baseless hatred in their hearts. Nothing to do with rejecting the Messiah, no sir. It's all because of whatchya call yer baseless hatred—a terrible absence of social justice and a deplorable lack of kindness and brotherly love among people throughout Jewish society. Tsk tsk tsk.

OK, then I have two questions for the good rabbis:

1. If there was such "baseless hatred" and such a terrible lack of social justice and brotherly love among the Jews that God drove them out of their land and placed them under severe judgment, that would seem to suggest that the Jews were in greater need of atonement than ever before. So...why would God remove the only means of atonement from them in the form of the temple?

2. The Orthodox Jews believe that repentance and good deeds are more efficacious than sacrifices in maintaining a right relationship with God. If that's the case, then it seems that the long-term effects of the absence of a temple would prove to be beneficial for the Jewish people. So...why after two millennia do the Jews still mourn the loss of the temple and pray for another?

Just wondering. As for the Church, if the ongoing fulfillment of prophecy as well as the copious number of hints God is dropping for the body of Christ are anything to go by, then it seems that the Jewish people are just about ready to start getting the wax cleaned out of their ears.

A word about timing

Before I bring this in for a landing, I want to say a few words in regard to the year of Christ's death. As I said, these four unusual events either started or stopped happening about 40 years before the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, which places them at about AD 30. And it is believed by many that these events started around the time of the Crucifixion. And h-e-r-e we go...I can already hear people out there:

"You fool! Christ was crucified in AD 33/32/31/29 and I can prove it!"

Yeah, yeah, yeah...chill. One of the clearest scriptural clues in regard to the timing of Christ's ministry is found in the Gospel of Luke, who has earned the respect of secular scholars as a historian of the first rank:

¹Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

(Luke 3:1–2 / emphasis added)

Of all the names and positions Luke refers to, the only one he attaches a specific number to involves Tiberius. He tells us that the ministry of John the Baptist began in the "fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar," and Christ's ministry—which kicked off with His baptism by John—began not too long after this and is believed to have lasted about three and a half years.

OK, so when did the reign of Tiberius begin? According to history books, that's an easy one: AD 14. So, it would seem that the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius (depending on the style of counting used) would be about AD 28–29. Toss in a few months here and there to smooth out the rough edges, and an AD 32–33 time frame for the Crucifixion fits just fine and dandy.

And AD 30 is obviously far too early to even be considered.

Tiberius was the step-son and later the adopted son of Rome's first emperor, Augustus (I'm not even going to try to explain this—family relationships among the Roman elite were scandalously convoluted). Augustus took the reigns of power in 27 BC, and in the latter years of his reign he wished to see his adopted son prepared to assume his role.

There are historical records that indicate that in AD 12, Tiberius was officially named as co-regent along with Augustus, and as such had the same authority as the emperor. By AD 12, Augustus was in his 70s and according to some reports was in failing health, and as a result Tiberius essentially became the acting emperor at least two years before the death of Augustus in AD 14, the year of the "official" crowning of Tiberius as the new emperor.

Now, don't get the wrong idea...this co-regency deal was no secret. There are records that make it clear that there was nothing clandestine in this regard. Tiberius was openly recognized and hailed as the emperor and was seen as wielding the same power and authority as Augustus by people throughout the entire Roman Empire—including Judea.

So, if one were to regard the reign of Tiberius as beginning in about AD 12, which is not a wholly unreasonable assumption, suddenly a Crucifixion year of AD 30 becomes eminently possible. The question comes down to this:

Was Luke going by the beginning of Tiberius' "effective" reign, or by the beginning of his "official" reign following the death of Augustus?

Of course, many assume the latter, insisting that Luke would have certainly gone with the official records to avoid confusion. But again, Tiberius' effective rule as emperor for about two years prior to the death of Augustus was widely known and recognized throughout the Roman Empire. So...your call.

By the way, it is not outside the realm of possibility that these strange events started or stopped happening around the beginning of Christ's ministry—when He began to make His messianic presence known to Israel, rather than the time of His death. I won't attempt to make the argument here, but I believe such an argument could be made. This would allow the Yom Kippur miracles of about AD 30 to mesh nicely with an already widely accepted time frame in regard to Christ's ministry, and everybody goes home happy.

Relax...I'm not trying to change anyone's mind here—not even my own. All I want you to see is that a good, reasonable argument can be made for AD 30 as the year of the Crucifixion, just is it can for several other years in that general time frame. And as a result, a good, reasonable argument can be made to mesh this with the Yom Kippur miracles starting around AD 30, as claimed in the Talmud. No veins are popping out of my forehead here.

What I'm not going to do, however, is waste my time trying to pin all this down with an ironclad degree of certainty, because I don't think anyone can or ever will this side of heaven. However this all fits together, I am convinced that the historical haze that enshrouds these events is no accident.

I believe we will never know the exact year of the
Crucifixion with absolute, 100 percent certainty
because that's exactly how God arranged things.

'Nuff said. If God intended for us to know these details, I have no doubt that we would have known them a long time ago.

Hint-dropping season

It occurs to me that if God went to the trouble of dropping hints for the Jews that He was turning His attention away from them (and to the Church), it seems reasonable to assume that God would drop some hints for the Church that He was ready to turn His attention away from us (and back to Israel).

And as we look back over the last few years, we see a number of hints that He is about ready to do just exactly that. Of course, only a small portion of the Jewish people grasped the import of these unusual events and understood the true reason for the hints that God was dropping: Israel had crucified their promised Messiah and God was about to judge His people.

In a similar manner, only a small portion of the Church today grasps the import of the hints God is dropping that He is about to bring the Church Age to a screeching halt via the Rapture and focus His attention back to His people Israel in preparation for the Tribulation, during which they will be purged and ultimately blessed with their promised kingdom.

Hints such as the REV12 sign of 2017, the solar eclipses of 2017 and 2024 that scrawl a big "X" across America, and any number of others.

As if we needed such hints, that is. We are being so bombarded with the ongoing fulfillment of end-time prophecy that God scarcely needs to drop a whole lot of hints that the Rapture is dead ahead—His Word says it all.

Yet He is dropping hints for those with ears to hear. So press in, stay close, and make sure the wax is cleaned out of your ears.

It's hint-dropping season.

From Greg Lauer @ A Little Strength—MAR '23: "Dropping Hints"

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