Fearful Sights and Great Signs

This is a chapter from my book, Creating The Israel of God. Available on Amazon.

Apart from the veil of the temple being torn, other signs were reported to have occurred the same year Christ was crucified. In His Olivet teaching, concerning the lead up to the destruction of the temple, Jesus said,

And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. [Lk. 21:11]

I would like to address what likely is the meaning of the fearful sights and great signs He spoke of. We also have the witness of Joel’s prophecy concerning the Day of the Lord, quoted by Peter on Pentecost. He stated that in the last days of Judah,

Acts 2:9 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

The “wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath,” will be shown to be the same as those Jesus spoke of as fearful sights and great signs. The “blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke,” is an obvious reference to the destruction of Jerusalem itself.

Some of the information I am using comes from rabbinic sources, i.e., the Talmud. Typically, I do not rely on the Talmud as a historical source. However, in this case, I will make an allowance. According to rabbinic tradition,

"Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open.”(Jacob Neusner, The Yerushalmi, p.156-157) This information is taken from the Talmud, Yoma 39b.

According to the above, four things began to occur forty years before the Jerusalem temple was destroyed. This would place the starting point for these four events in AD 30, which happened to also be the year of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah Prince. Each of these occurrences was a sign of the temple’s demise.

Some Talmudists say these signs are quoted out of context. As one who always tries to keep things in context, I will give it here.

In the same passage, Yoma 39, just before the report stated above, it records that during the forty years of the officiating of the high priest, Simeon the Just, certain things were said to have happened.

• The lot always fell into the right hand of the priest
• The crimson wool always became white
• The western lamp always burned
• The fire of the altar remained strong
• The priests were satiated on an olive size piece of bread

The events reported during the time of Simeon the Just and the temple’s destruction are separated by over 300 years. For some reason, according to the Talmudists, this is supposed to explain away or invalidate the report concerning the events that began to occur forty years before the temple’s destruction.

However, it would only seem to strengthen the witness of it. Assuming God permitted these things to occur during the officiating of an upright or just priest, why would He not withhold them during the time of an evil and adulterous generation? Considering all of the warnings spoken by Messiah Jesus concerning the approaching doom of the temple and city, why would God not give validation to the warnings of His Son?

It has been pointed out in the Talmud itself, just how wicked the priesthood was during the Second Temple period. It is also known that the Jews of the Qumran Community retreated to the shores of the Dead Sea because of the corruption of the temple priesthood. We even have the activity of the Lord Jesus Himself who overturned the tables of the moneychangers twice during His ministry. He clearly stated that the Temple was intended to be a House of prayer for all nations, but they turned it into a den of thieves [Mark. 11:17].

So having said this, I think we can at least give consideration to these signs reported during the forty years from crucifixion to destruction. I think it should be obvious why they don’t want Christians using these signs as validation of Christ’s word and life. It validates the warnings that Christ gave to that terminal generation. They don’t like their own words being used against them. I can understand that, can’t you?

1. The western lamp in the temple went out and would not stay lit.
The seven-branched lampstand in the Holy Place had seven bowls or cups to hold oil for lighting the interior. The western-most lamp was always to remain lit. Every day the other lamps were lit from the flame of this Western Lamp. However, beginning in AD 30, regardless of the efforts of the priests, they could not keep the Western Lamp burning.

Some say the lamp represented the presence of God among Israel. Others said it represented Israel as the light among the nations. Either way, it was not good, as it represented the temple going dark.

2. The lot cast for the Lord always came up in the left hand of the high priest.
On the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the high priest cast lots, choosing two goats for the Scapegoat Offering. Each lot, or stone, was a different color; one black and one white. On the white stone was inscribed the name of the Lord, and on the black stone, the name Azazel.

The goat chosen for the Lord was sacrificed, while the goat for Azazel was sent into the wilderness, bearing the people's sin. It has been suggested, Azazel is another name for Satan.

Beginning in AD 30 and every year afterward, the lot for the Lord (the white stone) always came up in the left hand of the high priest, which was considered a bad omen. The chance of this happening every year for 40 years is astronomical. You are more likely to win your state lottery than this happening.

One possible reason this was thought to be an evil omen, is that the left hand was considered the “unclean” hand, whereas the right hand was the clean hand. The right hand is the hand that a person would eat with, while the left hand was used to clean themselves after a visit to the latrine. Hence, if the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand of the priest, it meant that the offering for the Lord would be considered unclean and not be accepted.

3. The crimson thread hung on the door of the temple did not turn white.
In conjunction with this miracle of the lot, the high priest would also tie a piece of scarlet cloth to each of the goats. The sacrificed goat had the scarlet cloth tied around its neck. The scapegoat had the scarlet cloth tied to its horn before being sent into the wilderness. It was believed if the Lord had accepted Israel's sacrifice, the scarlet cloth would turn white, based upon Isaiah 1:18.

A strip of the scarlet cloth from the horn of the scapegoat was torn off and nailed to the door of the temple. This way, all could see if the scarlet cloth turned white, signifying the offering had been accepted.

However, beginning with the Yom Kippur service in AD 30 and for the next 40 years, the scarlet cloth never turned white, signifying the sacrifices offered on Yom Kippur were not acceptable to God. In consequence of this, it showed their sin remained. This would have been devastating to the mindset of the people and the whole temple system.

4. The temple doors would open every night of their own accord.
This particular miracle has more to do with the coming destruction of the temple than the ceasing of the sacrifices. However, if the temple is destroyed, there can be no more sacrifices. Beginning in AD 30, every night the temple doors would swing wide open. These were extremely huge, gold-plated doors, which required 20 strong men to open and close them. Some of the common folk thought this was a good omen, but the more informed knew it was an omen of the temple’s coming destruction.

"Said Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai to the Temple, 'O Temple, why do you frighten us? We know that you will end up destroyed. For it has been said, 'Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars’" (Zechariah 11:1) (Sota 6:3).

Josephus also testifies to the doors opening of their own accord.

“Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, 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.” [Wars, 6.5.3]

These signs were public and made evident that the temple, with its services and sacrifices, were no longer acceptable to God. Hence, the temple had ceased to serve its purpose and had become obsolete. The whole temple service was made useless and obsolete by the offering of the blood of Jesus upon the cross. These previous four signs are reported by the rabbis. I don’t see any profit in it for them, in reporting these, if they didn’t feel there was something to it.