Did God Reject Temple Sacrifices After Yeshua Died?
The 40-Year Mystery Recorded in Jewish History
When Yeshua breathed His last, the earth shook, the veil tore, and blood stained a Roman cross outside Jerusalem. Priests still offered bulls and goats — but Heaven no longer answered. The Temple continued in ritual, yet atonement stopped. Jewish history records the shock.
For forty years after the crucifixion, the signs of divine acceptance ceased entirely.
The altar smoked, but forgiveness ne... moreDid God Reject Temple Sacrifices After Yeshua Died?
The 40-Year Mystery Recorded in Jewish History
When Yeshua breathed His last, the earth shook, the veil tore, and blood stained a Roman cross outside Jerusalem. Priests still offered bulls and goats — but Heaven no longer answered. The Temple continued in ritual, yet atonement stopped. Jewish history records the shock.
For forty years after the crucifixion, the signs of divine acceptance ceased entirely.
The altar smoked, but forgiveness never fell again.
❖ The Witness of the Talmud
Yoma 39b records a shocking reversal beginning forty years before the Temple fell — the exact moment after Messiah’s death:
“Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the lot for the LORD did not come up in the right hand, the crimson thread did not turn white, the Western light did not shine, and the doors of the Sanctuary opened by themselves.”
Let’s slow down and absorb what Israel saw.
❖ Four Signs of Rejection — and Mercy
▶️ 1. The Crimson Thread Stayed Scarlet
Every Yom Kippur, a scarlet wool thread was tied to the scapegoat and another to the Temple. When God accepted atonement, the Temple thread turned white — a miracle of forgiveness.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)
But after ~30 AD, it never turned white again.
Not once. Not for forty years.
Fruchtenbaum writes:
“The scarlet cord was God’s visual proclamation of forgiveness. When it ceased turning white, Heaven declared that atonement was no longer through goats and bulls, but through Messiah’s blood alone.”
▶️ 2. The Lot “For the LORD” Never Again Appeared in the Right Hand
Two lots were cast — one for the LORD (atonement goat), one for Azazel.
Historically, the LORD’s lot appeared in the High Priest’s right hand frequently.
After Jesus died?
For forty straight years it never appeared in his right hand.
God no longer selected the sacrificial goat.
He had chosen His Lamb.
▶️ 3. The Western Menorah Lamp Refused to Stay Lit
This lamp — the “ner maaravi” — symbolized the continual presence of God and miraculously burned longer than the others.
But after the crucifixion, it repeatedly went out.
Priests relit it — it died again.
It was as if God was saying:
My presence is no longer here.
The Light of the World has come — and risen.
▶️ 4. The Temple Doors Swung Open by Themselves
Massive bronze gates requiring many priests to move them opened on their own.
Josephus records priests trembling at the sight, interpreting it as judgment (War 6.293).
Zechariah had foreseen it:
“Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars.” (Zechariah 11:1)
Jesus warned it:
“Your house is left to you desolate.” (Matthew 23:38)
When God leaves, doors announce His departure.
Fruchtenbaum adds:
“God gave Israel forty years of grace after Messiah’s death. He removed His glory from the Temple, yet delayed judgment so Israel might respond. The signs were His mercy — ignored until it became desolation.”
❖ The New Covenant
“He takes away the first to establish the second.” (Hebrews 10:9)
“We have been sanctified through the offering of Jesus once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)
“By a single offering He has perfected forever those being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14)
“Where there is forgiveness… there is no longer any offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:18)
The sacrificial system did not fade — it was fulfilled.
God accepted one final offering, once for all time.
❖ A Covenant for Israel — Not Against Israel
Jeremiah promised it:
“Behold, the days are coming… when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31,34)
At Passover, Yeshua raised the cup:
“This is My blood of the new covenant.” (Luke 22:20)
Not a Roman covenant.
Not a Gentile invention.
A Jewish covenant with a Jewish Messiah.
The scarlet cord stayed red because a greater red had been spilled.
The lamp died because the Light of the world had come.
The doors opened because the Shekinah had departed.
For forty years God waited, patient, calling Israel to look to the One they pierced.
❖ Think of the Priests
Imagine Yom Kippur in 33 AD. The High Priest waits.
The people hold their breath.
The crimson cord hangs on the Temple door — trembling.
It remains red.
Whispers ripple through the courtyard.
A lamp flickers and dies.
A month later — again.
Year after year — again.
Priests stare at a 60-foot veil ripped from top to bottom.
They stand before a 31-foot altar carrying a scarlet cord that refuses to whiten.
They watch the western flame die until smoke alone remains.
They hear the Sanctuary doors groan open in the night like a warning.
God is saying:
The Lamb has been slain.
The debt is paid.
A New Covenant has begun.
And the Temple knew it first.
One day all Israel will see Him.
“They will look on Me whom they have pierced…” (Zechariah 12:10)
The first coming ended sacrifice.
The second will bring restoration.
The Lamb lives — and so will Israel.
SGT Dinah Scivoletti
Joan of Arc Priory
God Above All
