What Shifted at the Jewish Temple in 30AD?

The Ominous Temple Signs from 30–70 AD—And What They Might Mean

INTRODUCTION: Mysterious Signs—and a Nation at the Center of Them

In the decades leading up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, something strange began happening in Jerusalem. Every Yom Kippur—Judaism’s holiest day—rituals that had worked for generations stopped working. Signs once understood to reflect God’s favor began turning ominous. And then, without the Temple being breached by siege towers or firebombs—its own doors started opening by themselves.

That might sound like folklore—unless it was recorded by the Talmud, by Josephus, and even by Tacitus, the hostile Roman historian.

But before we explore what happened, it’s worth recalling what the Temple meant to the people of Israel.

The Temple: More Than a Building

The Temple was the dwelling place of God’s Presence, the sign that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in the midst of His people, just as He had promised. It was the center of national identity, of spiritual hope, of God’s covenant relationship with Israel.

It was also the place of cultic service—where sacrifices were offered to deal with sin. Only when the atonement sacrifices were accepted—especially the ones made on Yom Kippur—could the other sacrifices of fellowship and thanksgiving be offered. That’s how covenant relationship with God was maintained.

Yom Kippur: The One Day Everything Was at Stake

On Yom Kippur, two goats were chosen:

• One was “for the Lord”, sacrificed to atone for the sins of the people.

• The other was the scapegoat, symbolically bearing those sins away into the wilderness.

Together, these sacrifices restored Israel’s standing with God for another year. Without this moment, the entire nation stood guilty and uncovered.

So what if God stopped accepting the sacrifice?

What if the atonement no longer worked?

What if the Presence of God actually departed?

And what if, as a final judgment, God destroyed the Temple Himself?

What would that mean for Israel—and for her relationship with the God of the Covenant?

The Forty-Year Omen—What the Talmud Records

According to Talmud Bavli, Yoma 39b, four ominous signs began forty years before the Temple was destroyed—which would place the beginning of this period around 30 AD.

Here’s what the rabbis reported:

1. God Did Not Accept the Yom Kippur Sacrifice (30–70 AD): A strip of crimson cloth, tied on Yom Kippur, had historically turned white as a sign that God had accepted Israel’s atonement. But from 30 AD on, the thread remained red. Year after year, it became a public sign of divine rejection.

Primary Source: Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 39b

“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-coloured strap become white; nor did the westernmost light shine; and the doors of the Hekal would open by themselves...”

Explanation:

The Talmud claims that for 40 years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, key elements of the Yom Kippur ritual failed to work as expected. The most striking is the failure of the scarlet thread (lashon shel zehorit), which according to tradition would turn white if God accepted the atonement sacrifice (cf. Isaiah 1:18). The unchanging red thread symbolized divine rejection of Israel’s repentance.

Significance:

• 40 years before 70 AD = approximately 30 AD, notably the time traditionally associated with the death and resurrection of Jesus.

• Rabbinic tradition interpreted this as an ominous sign of divine displeasure with the Temple cult.

• Some Christian apologists (e.g., Alfred Edersheim) interpret this as post facto divine validation of the New Covenant.

2. The Wrong Lot for the Lord (30–70 AD): Traditionally, the high priest would draw two lots—one for the Lord, one for Azazel—and it was considered a good sign if the “for the Lord” lot appeared in the right hand. But from 30 AD onward, the lot for the Lord came up only in the left hand, a bad omen signaling disfavor.

Primary Source: Yoma 39b

“The lot [‘for the Lord’] did not come up in the right hand.”

Explanation:

Each Yom Kippur, two lots were cast over two goats—one for the Lord, to be sacrificed, and one for Azazel, the scapegoat. The high priest would typically draw the lot for the Lord with his right hand, considered the hand of blessing and divine favor. The repeated appearance of the Lord’s lot in the left hand was taken as a bad omen, indicating God's disfavor.

Significance:

• Again, said to begin 40 years before the Temple’s destruction.

• Implies the entire sacrificial system was becoming increasingly futile or spiritually ineffective in the eyes of the priests.

3. The Temple Lamp (Menorah) Would Not Burn: The westernmost lamp of the Temple Menorah, which was used to light the others and symbolized God’s presence, began going out continually—despite being carefully tended by the priests. The “eternal light” was no longer eternal.

Primary Source: Yoma 39b 

“The westernmost light (ner ma’aravi) of the Menorah did not burn continually.”

Explanation:

One of the lamps of the menorah—thought to be the central or westernmost lamp, also called the “ner tamid” or eternal flame—traditionally burned longer than the others and was used to relight them. It failing to remain lit was seen as a withdrawal of divine presence (the Shekhinah).

Significance:

• This symbolized God's departure from the Temple.

• May have resonated with prophetic traditions like Ezekiel 10, where God's glory departs the First Temple.

4. Temple Doors Opened Spontaneously: The enormous doors of the Temple sanctuary began opening by themselves, as if - according to Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai - God was inviting enemies in.

Primary Sources: Yoma 39b; Josephus, Jewish War 6.5.3 (288–300)

“And the doors of the Hekal (Sanctuary) would open by themselves…”

Explanation:

This phenomenon was seen by rabbis as a sign of judgment and vulnerability, consistent with Zechariah 11:1: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars.” The “cedars of Lebanon” were often metaphors for the Temple.

Josephus corroborates this tradition independently:

“The eastern gate of the inner court of the Temple… opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night.”

Josephus notes that temple priests interpreted this as a sign of doom, and diviners warned that the Temple was about to be destroyed.

These signs weren’t invented by Christians. They’re recorded in the Talmud, by our Jewish sages, with sorrow and solemnity. The Temple seemed to be giving warnings that God had departed and abandoned the temple sacrifice system and the Mosaic covenant with His Jewish people, from the year 30AD.

Josephus—The Jewish Historian Who Saw It Happen

Flavius Josephus, a priest, Pharisee, and general during the Jewish wars, recorded events leading up to the Temple’s destruction in his work The Jewish War. Though Josephus never became a Christian, he wrote:

“The eastern gate of the inner court of the Temple...was seen to open of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night... secured by iron bars and bolts, and needing twenty men to close it.”(Jewish War 6.5.3 §293–295)

Josephus also mentions:

• Heavenly armies appearing in the sky above Jerusalem.

• A voice from the Temple declaring, “Let us remove hence.”

• A sense of divine departure—before the Romans arrived.

These signs deeply troubled even the priests and military leaders. They believed they were seeing the fulfillment of prophecy. Again—these are not Christian sources. These are Jewish eyewitness accounts.

Tacitus—The Roman Who Confirmed It

Even Tacitus, the Roman senator and historian (and no friend to Jews or Christians), records similar signs:

“The doors of the inner sanctuary were suddenly thrown open... a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the gods were departing... and at the same moment a mighty stir as of departure was heard.”(Tacitus, Histories 5.13)

He also reports visions of celestial armies, and light radiating from the Temple, unexplained by any natural cause.

Tacitus wasn’t trying to prove a Christian point. He was simply recording what people claimed to have seen—and what seemed to confirm that the Temple was abandoned by its God.

The Sages Agreed—God Was Not Pleased

The Talmud doesn’t shy away from the implications. When the Temple doors started opening by themselves, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai quoted Zechariah:“Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars.”

Even the most devout rabbis sensed that the Presence of God was departing—and that judgment was coming.

Below is a useful summary table of these Temple Portents from 30–70 AD

Event / Sign	Primary Sources	Approx. Date	Jewish Interpretation	Christian Interpretation
Scarlet thread on Yom Kippur no longer turned white	Talmud, Yoma 39b	c. 30–70 AD	God ceased accepting Israel’s national atonement; a sign of divine displeasure and spiritual decay	Atonement through the Temple became obsolete after Jesus' sacrifice (~30 AD); the thread stayed red because the Old Covenant was fulfilled and closed
“For the Lord” lot never appeared in right hand	Talmud, Yoma 39b	c. 30–70 AD	Left-handed lot = divine disfavor; a bad omen for the efficacy of the Yom Kippur ritual	Evidence that God rejected the Temple priesthood and system after Christ became the true high priest
Menorah’s westernmost lamp would not stay lit	Talmud, Yoma 39b	c. 30–70 AD	The Shekhinah (divine presence) was no longer dwelling in the Temple	Christ as the “light of the world” replaced the symbolic light of the Temple; God's presence had moved to His people (cf. John 1:9, 8:12)
Temple doors opened on their own	Talmud, Yoma 39b; Josephus, Jewish War 6.5.3	Nighttime, c. 66–70 AD	Seen as a fulfillment of Zechariah 11:1 – the Temple was vulnerable to destruction	God no longer “guarded the house”; symbolic of the Temple being opened for judgment, or the end of the Old Covenant and access now opened to all through Christ

What Happened in 30 AD?

Let’s consider the timing.

Centuries before all this, God promised He would bring a New Covenant to replace the old (Mosaic) one. In Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36 God promises a new covenant where:

• He would write His law on hearts, not stone tablets.

• God's Spirit would dwell in His people (replacing the temple?)

• Because He would take away (cover, atone for) the sins from their heart.

When God acted to bring about His promised new covenant, we’d expect some sort of changes to the temple, sacrificial system, priesthood, and the Law which prescribes those things. We'd expect the Old Covenant to begin fading, and signs of that shift to appear.

Five centuries later, around 30 AD, a Galilean rabbi named Yeshua (Jesus) was executed under Roman authority and, according to thousands of Jewish eyewitnesses, rose from the dead. Just before that, He claimed He was going to be the sacrificial Lamb of God Who would die to take away the sins of God's people, that He was bringing a new covenant, and that the temple reality was changing - God was dwelling inside people!

Then, they killed Him, as He predicted. So... at the time He died, do we see God starting to relate to the temple and the sacrifices there in a different way?

• From 30 AD, the scarlet thread stopped turning white, and the “Lord’s lot” stopped appearing in the right hand.➤ God stopped accepting Yom Kippur sacrifices at the Jewish temple.

• From 30 AD, the light of the Menorah no longer burned perpetually.➤ God’s Presence withdrew from the temple. Where did He go?

• From 30 AD, the doors of the Temple opened by themselves.➤ God warned the Temple would be destroyed—and in 70 AD, it was.

All of this is recorded not in Christian texts, but in Jewish and Roman sources.

Something fundamental shifted around 30 AD. God abandoned the temple, the sacrificial system, and the covenant centered on that system. And He was clearly full of wrath towards a disobedient people (As Josephus records, the suffering and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD were horrifying beyond belief.) The evidence is clear, from Jewish and Roman sources.

Think about the massive significance of these events. Only once in all of history, since c. 586BC, has something like this taken place. God has not seen fit to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem ever since! And those events happened at the time Jesus died, on the exact day and time the Passover lambs were being sacrificed at the temple in Jerusalem, after claiming that His death would as the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 (the Lamb of God who was led to the slaughter to take away the sins of God's people) would inaugurate the New Covenant promised in the ancient prophetic writings?

The old system didn’t just fade. God replaced it with a better system. He no longer accepted its sacrifices. He allowed it to be destroyed.

What meaneth this?

Even ancient Rabbis and Romans acknowledged these signs were omens, divine testimony of God's action. God was doing something new - as He promised He would. The Temple system had served its purpose.

Yeshua/ Jesus clearly was the promised Lamb of God (Isaiah 53), the final atoning sacrifice, the fulfillment of Yom Kippur, the bringer of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36).

Even the Temple itself was declaring that God had moved on.

Don't you want to know where He went?

“You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.” —Jeremiah 29:13