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Talmudic Evidence for the Messiah at 30 C.E.

by Nicholas Federoff

(Dr. T. Peterson, Editor)

In the centuries
following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70 CE), the Jewish
people began writing two versions of Jewish thought, religious history and
commentary. One was written in Palestine and became known as the Jerusalem
Talmud. [see special endnote at the end of this article concerning the
Talmud] The other was written in Babylon and was known as the Babylonian
Talmud.

We read in the
Jerusalem Talmud:

"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). [the
Temple was destroyed in 70 CE]

A similar passage in
the Babylonian Talmud states:

"Our rabbis taught:
During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple the lot ['For
the Lord'] did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-colored
strap become white; nor did the western most light shine; and the doors of the
Hekel [Temple] would open by themselves" (Soncino version, Yoma
39b).

What are these passages
talking about? Since both Talmuds recount the same information, this indicates
the knowledge of these events was accepted by the widespread Jewish community.

The Miracle of the
''Lot''

The first of these
miracles concerns a random choosing of the ''lot'' which was cast on the Day
of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The lot chosen determined which of two goats would
be "for the Lord" and which goat would be the ''Azazel'' or ''scapegoat.''
During the two hundred years before 30 CE, when the High Priest picked one of
two stones, again this selection was governed by chance, and each year the
priest would select a black stone as often as a white stone. But for forty
years in a row, beginning in 30 CE, the High Priest always picked the black
stone! The odds against this happening are astronomical (2 to the 40th power).
In other words, the chances of this occurring are 1 in approximately
5,479,548,800 — or about 5.5 billion to one! By comparison, your chances of
winning your local state or municipal-run cash Lottery would be much more
favorable!

The lot for Azazel, the
black stone, contrary to all the laws of chance, came up 40 times in a row
from 30 to 70 AD! This was considered a dire event and signified something had
fundamentally changed in this Yom Kippur ritual. This casting of lots is also
accompanied by yet another miracle which is described next.

The Miracle of the Red
Strip

The second miracle
concerns the crimson strip or cloth tied to the Azazel goat. A portion of this
red cloth was also removed from the goat and tied to the Temple door. Each
year the red cloth on the Temple door turned white as if to signify the
atonement of another Yom Kippur was acceptable to the Lord. This annual event
happened until 30 CE when the cloth then remained crimson each year to the
time of the Temple's destruction. This undoubtedly caused much stir and
consternation among the Jews. This traditional practice is linked to Israel
confessing its sins and ceremonially placing this nation's sin upon the Azazel
goat. The sin was then removed by this goat's death. Sin was represented by
the red color of the cloth (the color of blood). But the cloth remained
crimson — that is, Israel's sins were not being pardoned and ''made white.''

As God told Israel
through Isaiah the prophet:

''Come, let us reason
together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet [crimson], they shall
be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as [white]
wool'' (Isaiah 1:18).

The clear indication is
that the whole community had lost the Lord's attention in relation to
something that occurred in 30 CE The yearly atonement achieved through the
typical Yom Kippur observance was not being realized as expected. Atonement
apparently was to be gained in some other way. Who or what would provide the
atonement for another year?

Concerning the crimson
strip—though not mentioned in the Scriptures and long before 30 C.E.—during
the 40 years Simon the Righteous was High Priest, a crimson thread which was
associated with his person always turned white when he entered the Temple's
innermost Holy of Holies. The people noticed this. Also, they noted that ''the
lot of the LORD'' (the white lot) came up for 40 straight years during Simon's
priesthood. They noticed that the ''lot'' picked by the priests after Simon
would sometimes be black, and sometimes white, and that the crimson thread
would sometimes turn white, and sometimes not. The Jews came to believe that
if the crimson thread turned white, that God approved of the Day of Atonement
rituals and that Israel could be assured that God forgave their sins. But
after 30 CE, the crimson thread never turned white again for 40 years, till
the destruction of the Temple and the cessation of all Temple rituals!

What did the Jewish
nation do in 30 CE to merit such a change at Yom Kippur? By some accounts, on
April 5, 30 CE (i.e., on the 14th of Nisan, the day of the Passover sacrifice)
the Messiah, Yeshua, was cut off from Israel, himself put to death as a
sacrifice for sin. To this event there is a transference of the atonement now
no longer achieved through the two goats as offered at Yom Kippur. Like an
innocent Passover lamb, the Messiah was put to death though no fault was found
in Him! But unlike Temple sacrifices or the Yom Kippur events (as detailed
above) where sin is only covered over for a time, the Messianic sacrifice
comes with the promise of forgiveness of sins through grace given by God to
those who accept a personal relationship with Messiah. This is essentially a
one time event for each person's lifetime and not a continual series of annual
observances and animal sacrifices. The mechanism providing forgiveness of sin
changed in 30 CE

The Miracle of the Temple
Doors

The next miracle, which
the Jewish authorities acknowledged, was that the Temple doors swung open
every night of their own accord. This too occurred for forty years, beginning
in 30 CE The leading Jewish authority of that time, Yohanan ben Zakkai,
declared that this was a sign of impending doom, that the Temple itself would
be destroyed.

The Jerusalem Talmud
states:

''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).

Yohanan Ben Zakkai was
the leader of the Jewish community during the time following the destruction
of the Temple in 70 CE, when the Jewish government was transferred to Jamnia,
some thirty miles west of Jerusalem.

Might the doors have
opened to also signify that all may now enter the Temple, even to its
innermost holy sections. The evidence supported by the miracles described
above suggests the Lord's presence had departed from the Temple. This was no
longer just a place for High Priests alone, but the doors swung open for all
to enter the Lord's house of worship.

The Miracle of the Temple
Menorah

The fourth miracle was
that the most important lamp of the seven candle-stick Menorah in the Temple
went out, and would not shine. Every night for 40 years (over 12,500 nights in
a row) the main lamp of the Temple lampstand (menorah) went out of its own
accord — no matter what attempts and precautions the priests took to safeguard
against this event!

Earnest Martin states:

''In fact, we are told
in the Talmud that at dusk the lamps that were unlit in the daytime (the middle
four lamps remained unlit, while the two eastern lamps normally stayed lit
during the day) were to be re-lit from the flames of the western lamp (which was
a lamp that was supposed to stay lit all the time — it was like the 'eternal'
flame that we see today in some national monuments) . . .

''This 'western lamp' was
to be kept lit at all times. For that reason, the priests kept extra reservoirs
of olive oil and other implements in ready supply to make sure that the 'western
lamp' (under all circumstances) would stay lit. But what happened in the forty
years from the very year Messiah said the physical Temple would be destroyed?
Every night for forty years the western lamp went out, and this in spite of the
priests each evening preparing in a special way the western lamp so that it
would remain constantly burning all night!'' (The Significance of the Year CE
30, Ernest Martin, Research Update, April 1994, p.4).

Again, the odds against
the lamp continually going out are astronomical. Something out of the ordinary
was going on. The ''light'' of the Menorah—representing contact with God, His
Spirit, and His Presence—was now removed. This special demonstration occurred
starting with the crucifixion of the Messiah!

It should be clear to
any reasonable mind that there is no natural way to explain all these four
signs connected with the year 30 CE The only possible explanation has to be
supernatural.

After 30 CE, and the
death of the Messiah, great trouble and awesome trials began to come upon the
Jewish nation. Yeshua Himself foretold it. As He was led away to be crucified,
Yeshua warned the women of Jerusalem:

But Jesus, turning to
them, said, ''Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they
will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts
which never nursed!' Then they will begin `to say to the mountains, ''Fall on
us!'' and to the hills, ''Cover us!'' ' ''For if they do these things in the
green wood, what will be done in the dry?" (Luke
23:28-31).

When we take an
objective look at the events of 30 CE, who can doubt that it was indeed the
true year of the crucifixion and resurrection of the true Messiah God sent to
Israel? Who can deny that He is the one and only true Messiah? Who else has
fulfilled all the prophecies of the Old Testament — including the amazing
prophecy of Daniel 9 and the ''70 weeks,'' coming at the very year predicted
for the Messiah to appear?

[Editor's note: A
detailed study of Daniel, including the prophecy of 70 weeks appears in
Chapter 15 of the Creator's Window. This chapter is available as a PDF file to
read online or to download for reading offline. The riddle of the 70 weeks is
essentially a time line that leads one to the same conclusion drawn
above.]

For additional evidence
of the Messiah in the Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a., the Tanach or the Old
Covenant) we suggest a reading of Dr. Arnold Fructenbaum's book 'Messianic
Christology,' see our book list for reference. This publication is a wonderful
study of the numerous Messianic prophecies that were all fulfilled by
Yeshua.

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Endnote:

The following three descriptions come
from the front page of a booklet entitled: The Messiah of the Targums,
Talmuds and Rabbinical Writers. 1971. by F. Kenton Beshore. (This booklet
is presently out of print)

"TARGUM
The Aramaic translation of the Jewish Bible. It forms a part
of the Jewish traditional literature, and in its inception is as early as the
time of the SECOND TEMPLE. The use of the term "Targum" itself was restricted to
the Aramaic Version of the Bible. … As an interpretation of the Hebrew text of
the Bible the Targum had its place both in the synagogual liturgy and in
Biblical instruction, while the reading of the Bible text combined with the
Targum in the presence of the congregation assembled for public worship was an
ancient institution which dated from the time of the SECOND TEMPLE, and was
traced back to Ezra by Rab when he interpreted the word "MEFORASH". … as
referring to the Targum.–Jewish Encyclopedia (vol. 12, p. 57, cols. a,
b.)
W.B.

'"PALESTINE TARGUM" (or Targum Yerushalmi). "A responsum of Hai Gaon
already cited with reference to the Targumim, answers the question concerning
the Targum of the land of Israel (Palestine) in the following words: "We do not
know who composed it, nor do we even know this Targum of which we have heard
only a few passages. If there is a tradition among them (the Palestinians) that
it has been made the subject of public discourse since the days of the ANCIENT
SAGES. … it must be held in the SAME ESTEEM AS OUR TARGUM, for otherwise they
would not have allowed it. But if it is less ancient, it is not authoritative."
–Jewish Encyclopedia (vol 12, p. 7, col. b).
W.B.

"TALMUD
Name of two works which have been presented to posterity
as the product of the Palestinian and Babylonian schools during the Amoraic
period which extended from the third to the fifth century, C.E. One of these
compilations is entitled, "Talmud Jerusalami" (Jerusalem Talmud), and the other
Talmud Babli (Babylonian Talmud). Linguistically, the Palestinian Talmud is
Aramaic. … The Aramaic, which assumed a fixed literary form in Yerusalami, is
almost the same as that of the earliest Palestinian midrashic works, differing
from them only in a few peculiarities, mostly orthographic. … The first complete
edition of the Bab. Tal. Was printed at Venice, 1520-23, by Daniel Bomberg, and
has become the basis, down to the present day, of a very large number of
editions.–Jewish Encyclopedia (vol 12, p. 7. Col.
b).
W.B."

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