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Scripture reveals that at the time of Christ's death, the veil (or curtain) was split in two.
"Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent" Matthew 27:50-51
Interestingly, I recently stumbled upon historic writings, the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. Both written after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 . In these writings Jewish Rabbi's revealed that the curtain splitting in two was just the beginning of a period of judgement for the House of Judah (Ezekiel 4:6-8) during the 40 year period (AD 30 - AD 70) from the death of Jesus Christ to the destruction of the temple.
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 AD 70]"
The Babylonian Talmud
"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).
Surely these strange events are worthy of further study, what did they mean?
The Lot
The choosing of the lot was cast by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The lot was the determiner for which of the two goats would be "for the Lord" and which goat would be the Azazel (scapegoat). Two hundred years before AD 30, the lot fell to a black stone as often as a white stone. However, from AD 30 the lot always fell to the black stone.....every year for 40 years! This would have been considered very significant and the High Priest and Jewish rabbi's would certainly have known there was a reason that something had fundamentally changed in this Yom Kippur ritual.
The Crimson Thread
As part of the sacrificial ritual, a crimson strip of cloth or thread was tied to the Azazel goat (the scapegoat). A portion of this crimson thread was also removed from the goat and tied to the Temple door. The crimson thread on the Temple door would turn white, acknowledging the atonement (sacrifice) was acceptable to the Lord and that the sins of the house of Judah has been made white (Isaiah 1:18). However, from AD 30 the crimson thread no longer turned white, signifying that the sacrifice was not acceptable to the Lord and the sins of the the house of Judah remained. The crimson thread no longer turned white but remained crimson each year for 40 years until the Temple's destruction in AD 70. This would have certainly caused much confusion among the Jews. Something had surely happened in AD 30, the goats were no longer the sufficient sacrifice! Jesus Christ is and was the ultimate atonement for sin and the only acceptable sacrifice to the Lord, His death made an end to sacrifice.
The Western Light
The most important lamp of the Temple Menorah kept going out, and would not shine. Every night after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (AD 30) and for 40 years the main lamp of the Temple lampstand (menorah) went out of its own accord — no matter what precautions the priests took to safeguard it the western light would not stay lit.
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).
Another extremely strange event that would have certainly caused the priests serious concern. The ''light'' of the Menorah, which represents contact with God, His Spirit, and His Presence, was now removed. And most certainly not a coincidence that it started with the crucifixion of the Messiah!
The Temple Doors
Acknowledged by the Jewish authorities and documented by Jewish Rabbis after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Temple doors would swing open every night of their own accord. This occurred for forty years, beginning in AD 30 The leading Jewish authority of that time, Yohanan ben Zakkai, a leader of the Jewish community after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, declared at the time that this was a sign of impending doom, that the Temple itself would be destroyed
''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).
The Jerusalem Talmud states:
“Forty years before the destruction of the Temple,…. 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 Babylonian Talmud states:
“Our rabbis taught: During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple …. the doors of the Hekel [Temple] would open by themselves” (Soncino version, Yoma 39b).
Flavius Josephus States:
“At the same festival (Passover)… 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 base armoured 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 it’s own accord about the sixth hour of the night.”
-Josephus; The Wars of the Jews 6.5.3
After the death of the Messiah the Lord's presence had departed from the Temple (The Holy of Holies). There was no longer a requirement for an earthly tabernacle and the Holy Spirit of God would now dwell not in a building but in His people.
“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;” Hebrews 9:11
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19
After the death of the Messiah, great trouble came upon the Jewish nation. A 40 year period of judgement for the House of Judah as according to the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 4:6-8) As Jesus was led to His crucifixion He warned the women of Jerusalem to weep for what was to come:
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.
Sadly for the house of Judah, they did not repent during those 40 years of judgement. In AD 70 The Roman army, led by Titus, besieged Jerusalem. According to writings by Josephus, The city was ravaged by murder, famine and cannibalism and following a deadly 5 month siege of the city, Jerusalem was destroyed as was the temple. The 40 year period of Judgement that God had pronounced against the House of Judah was concluded but they still did not repent of their Sin. God warns in Leviticus 26:18 of a seven fold judgement that would fall upon the children of Israel if they continued in their rebellion toward Him, these further judgements are worthy of a separate study but suffice to say the destruction of the temple in AD 70 was not the end of punishment for the house of Judah.
For over 2,000 years the punishment of the Lord God has been upon both The House of Israel (scattered) and The House of Judah, the Lord is certainly longsuffering and gracious as He yet still extends his Mercy. "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him;" Daniel 9:9. The opportunity for forgiveness of sin through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is available to all who call upon His Name. Today is the day of Salvation. "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:" Isaiah 55:6
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