Page 40 - Eschatology - Masters revised

The Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin is a group of 71 elders from all the tribes to share in leading the nation of Israel. It was
established by Moses in Numbers 11:16-17. For over 900 hundred years, the Sanhedrin held the
legislative and judicial powers. Ezra reinstituted the Great Sanhedrin to provide spiritual leadership and
guidance before the people began to rebuild the Temple in 516 BC.

On January 20th, 2005, Israel formally setup the modern-day Sanhedrin. The court’s leader, Rabbi
Yeshai Baavad declared that the rabbinic body would meet monthly to issue religious legal rulings. This
group is integrally involved in rebuilding the Temple and training hundreds of priests from the tribe of
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Levi in the precise rituals of the ancient Temple sacrifices.

Recovering the Blue Dye for the Garments of the High Priest.
The Bible emphasizes the necessity of using a certain rare blue dye to create the beautiful robes of the
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high priest (Ex. 28:31). Since the destruction of the 2 Temple, the ingredients of the dye have been
lost. The dye was produced from a rare mollusk found only in the Mediterranean Sea, a creature long
thought to be extinct. However, in the late 1990’s Israeli divers discovered the mollusk in the Red Sea.
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The Temple Institute in Israel has recreated the robe of the high priest using this rare dye.

The Ashes of the Red Heifer.
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The 3 Temple cannot be built and used for worship until the appropriate area on the Temple Mount is
ritually purified using waters of purification from the ashes of an unblemished red heifer (Numbers
19:2). Jewish authorities are raising a number of red heifers in Israel so they will have a qualified
candidate when they receive a divine sign that the time has finally come to rebuild the Temple. An
Israeli newspaper reports in May of 1997 that a pure-red heifer was born in Israel that met the
qualification described in Numbers 19.

The Ark of the Covenant.
John, in Revelation 11:19 says that the Ark of the Covenant will reside in the future Temple. The Ark of
the Covenant was the item in the Temple located in the Holy of Holies where the high priest sprinkled
the blood of a sacrifice once per year to atone for the sins of the people. It was the throne of God on
earth – the place where God’s Divine Presence would dwell continually. It was 45 x 27 X 27 inches,
composed of acacia wood and covered inside and out with pure gold. Inside the Ark was placed the Ten
Commandments, some manna, and Aaron’s rod.

The Ark disappeared more than 3000 years ago, during the reign of Solomon. A number of prophecies
indicate that the ark will be returned to Israel and will play a key role in the Third Temple in the last days
(see Isaiah 18, Jeremiah 3:15-16, Zephaniah 3:9-10).

Do we know what happened to the Ark of the Covenant?
Not positively. But we have two good guesses:

When the Queen of Sheba (who was Queen of Ethiopia) came to visit, Solomon fell in love with her and
married her. They had a child named Prince Menelik I and he was raised in the Temple by the priests.
He loved the Lord and was an ardent follower of the law. At age 19 he returned to Israel to meet his
father, Solomon. Somehow a replica Ark was constructed and when Menelik returned to Ethiopia, the
priests traveling with him has exchanged the arks. The real Ark was transported to Aksum, a city in

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