‘End of days’: Birth of red heifer in Israel may signal coming of Messiah, Hebrew scholars say
A Jewish group says an apparently completely red heifer has been born – the first in 2,000 years – thus fulfilling a biblical prophecy that signals the coming of the Messiah, which Christians believe will end with an apocalypse.
The birth of the potential cow of prophecy was announced by the Temple Institute, a group which says it is “dedicated to every aspect of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem.” “On the 17th day of Elul, 5778, [August 28, 2018], a red heifer was born in the land of Israel,” the group wrote on its Facebook page.
The organization says that the female baby cow foreshadows the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem, heralding the arrival of the Jewish Messiah. Evangelical Christian theologians also believe the construction of the Third Temple will lead to Judgment Day.
References to red heifers are present in both the Christian and Jewish traditions. The calf has reportedly been examined by rabbinical experts but will continue to be studied every few months to determine its legitimacy as the red heifer of Biblical prophecy.
The Temple Institute began its Raise a Red Heifer breeding program back in 2015 with the express goal of producing the heifer of prophecy, which would be required to meet a number of requirements, chief among which being that the calf be entirely red and “without blemish.”
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The group imported the frozen embryos of red Angus cows and implanted them in domestic Israeli cows. Red heifers have been born previously, but were disqualified for failing to meet all the prophetic requirements. A calf born in 1999 turned out to be male, and one from 2002 wasn’t entirely red – it had one patch of white hair.
It has been six years since the Earth survived the much-feared end of the world in 2012, as promised by the ancient Maya, but if the calf turns out to be the cow of prophecy, we may have to search for underground bunkers and stockpile cans of baked beans once again.
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