Scapegoat

[Pneuma3]

Leviticus 16:5-10
5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. 7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Leviticus 16:15-22
15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. 18 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. 19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
20 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Lets take a look at the two goats and who they represent.

Take note of what it says in verse 5 two kids of the goats for a sin offering. The two goats constituted ONE sin offering. Therefore the two goats represent ONE man , JESUS CHRIST.

So lets look at how both goats represent Jesus Christ.

. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
10But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

The first goat shows us that Jesus Christ died for our sins, the scapegoat shows us that Jesus Christ made atonement for us and now we stand without sin before God in Christ. The scapegoat shows us that we are resurrected with Christ. The reason that two goats were used was because the one goat was killed (Jesus Christ dying on the cross) and one goat (the scapegoat) represents the resurrected Lord, for Jesus Christ must both die and be resurrected in order for our atonement.

Nu.29:11 speaks of this.

Numbers 29:11
11ONE kid of the goats for a SIN OFFERING; beside the SIN OFFERING of ATONEMENT, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering of it, and their drink offerings.



Heb.9:15-28 brings this out very well, lets look at it.

Hebrews 9:15-28
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. 18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away SIN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Note that there is only ONE sacrifice mentioned here , not two, the two goats represent Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 3:18
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:



1 John 2:2
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The word PROPITIATION means ATONEMENT , and the goat killed and the scapegoat was for the ATONEMENT of the world. This show us that the two goats are a representation of Jesus Christ.

John 1:29
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which TAKETH AWAY the sin of the world.

This clearly show that the two goats in reference to Jesus Christ, and as the scapegoat took the sins of all upon its head, even as our head (Jesus Christ) took the sins of all upon himself.

You cannot separate the two goats, they must represent the same person or you make someone other than Jesus Christ our ATONEMENT.

Leviticus 16:30

For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

 

[Pneuma3]

Now that it is clear that the two goats are a representation of Jesus Christ and that the atonement cleanse the world from sins before God let’s look at how that cleansing takes place.




The first goat speaks of the cleansing of the temple, the second goat or scapegoat speaks of the method of that cleaning.


The first goat was for a sin offering for the temple and mankind is that temple. 1Co. 3:16. Thus all of humanities sins are covered by the blood of Christ, and just as the blood of the first goat was efficacious for all Israel so too is the blood of Christ efficacious for the sins of the WORLD. 1JN.2:2


We can see that law of cleansing principle here



Leviticus 16:15-16
15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.


Leviticus 16:20

20 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:


Now that we have seen the cleansing principle in the goat that died, let’s look at the method of how that cleansing takes place.


The second goat or the scapegoat is for the atonement or the method of how mankind becomes at one with God, for being one with God is the meaning of atonement.



Leviticus 16:10

But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.



Leviticus 16:21-22

21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.



The word for scapegoat is the Hebrew word azazel, and it is only used concerning the day of atonement and is not found anywhere else in scripture except here in Leviticus 16.


As it is of uncertain usage, some believe it is in reference to a fallen angel, Satan or a demon.


However I believe it is a Hebrew idiom speaking of all that is evil and sins in humanity.


So what do we know of this scapegoat? Well as we have seen it is in reference to Jesus Christ, he who was made sin for us who knew no sin. In other words Jesus became humanities azazel.


Why? Because upon azazel was conferred all the sins of humanity for the purpose of taking the sins (according to 1 Jn.2:2 the sins of the WORLD) away into the wilderness, which is another Hebrew idiom meaning to destroy them or take them away from humanity.


Thus the method of cleansing is Christ taking away humanities sins from the temple, which temple we are.


Thus we are reconcile by His death, but saved by His life.


The two goats are a representation of ONE sacrifice and this is ALL His doing, we can add NOTHING to this atonement, no can we take anything away from this atonement as on the day of atonement NO WORK is to be done.


The atonement, the two goats, death and life are ALL OF GOD.


If those people who believe in the annihilation of man would only turn that annihilation inward they would see it is not the man that is annihilated but the old man nature, that man of sin that is destroyed or taken away into the wilderness, and humanity is made clean before God.


Praise God that not only is Jesus Christ death efficacious for ALL, but so too is His cleansing unto LIFE, for the two goats are a representation of ONE sacrifice.

 

[Hammster]

Good breakdown. The problem is that neither of the goats were for all of humanity. They were for God’s chosen people.

 

[~Zao~]

I read that the scapegoat was released after the high priest came out of the Holiest Place. Would that make it a future event?

 

[Dave-W]

Good breakdown. The problem is that neither of the goats were for all of humanity. They were for God’s chosen people.

Correct. And it was not for people individually.

It was specifically for the sins of the NATION Israel for the previous year.

 

[Dave-W]

I read that the scapegoat was released after the high priest came out of the Holiest Place. Would that make it a future event?

Azazel was taken out and driven into the wilderness where it met its death either by wild carnivore or (in later years) being driven over a cliff to its death.

 

[Ken Rank]

Good breakdown. The problem is that neither of the goats were for all of humanity. They were for God’s chosen people.

Azazel was taken out and driven into the wilderness where it met its death either by wild carnivore or (in later years) being driven over a cliff to its death.

Agreed on both... and I would suggest that Azazel, where the sin of Israel is symbolically heaped, is a picture of satan rather than messiah. The idea being that the sin goes back to where it came and then is driven away for good.

 

[Pneuma3]

Good breakdown. The problem is that neither of the goats were for all of humanity. They were for God’s chosen people.

Correct. And it was not for people individually.

It was specifically for the sins of the NATION Israel for the previous year.

In the scripture below you can see the atonement was not just for the elect/Israel ONLY, but for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD.

1 Jn.2:2 And he is the propitiation/atonement for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The blood of Christ is a BETTER sacrifice then the blood of goats.

 

[Pneuma3]

Azazel was taken out and driven into the wilderness where it met its death either by wild carnivore or (in later years) being driven over a cliff to its death.

pure unfounded speculation.

 

[Hammster]

In the scripture below you can see the atonement was not just for the elect/Israel ONLY, but for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD.

1 Jn.2:2 And he is the propitiation/atonement for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The blood of Christ is a BETTER sacrifice then the blood of goats.

You should probably do a study on “world” and the various ways John uses the word.

 

[~Zao~]

In the scripture below you can see the atonement was not just for the elect/Israel ONLY, but for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD.

1 Jn.2:2 And he is the propitiation/atonement for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The blood of Christ is a BETTER sacrifice then the blood of goats.

There is no propitiation/atonement until the offering is accepted, which takes it to the wave offering of the first fruit’s acceptance. That wasn’t accepted until after acsention as spoken to Mary at the tomb.

Btw that does make it 2 lambs offered during the time of Israel. Out of Egypt and wave offering in the good land.

 

[Pneuma3]

Agreed on both... and I would suggest that Azazel, where the sin of Israel is symbolically heaped, is a picture of satan rather than messiah. The idea being that the sin goes back to where it came and then is driven away for good.

so according to you then Satan is the second goat and is our atonement.

As ONE goat could not be a representation of both life and death two goats were use to represent ONE sacrifice.

 

[Dave-W]

In the scripture below you can see the atonement was not just for the elect/Israel ONLY, but for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD.

1 Jn.2:2 And he is the propitiation/atonement for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

That does NOT refer to the Yom Kippur sacrifice. It refers to the blood of Messiah.

 

[Dave-W]

pure unfounded speculation.

Read all about it in the Talmuds.

Why does everyone say when I state something recorded in Jewish history it is just "speculation?"

 

[Pneuma3]

You should probably do a study on “world” and the various ways John uses the word.

Yes I know some, mostly Calvinist, believe the world is only in conjection with the elect. However the elect are mentioned in that scripture and not only are their sins Atoned for but the sins of the WHOLE WORLD.

 

[Pneuma3]

There is no propitiation/atonement until the offering is accepted, which takes it to the wave offering of the first fruit’s acceptance. That wasn’t accepted until after acsention as spoken to Mary at the tomb.

Btw that does make it 2 lambs offered during the time of Israel. Out of Egypt and wave offering in the good land.

Nonsense, the Israelite's did not have to believe the two goats took away their sins, it was a fact for them that they did.

 

[Pneuma3]

That does NOT refer to the Yom Kippur sacrifice. It refers to the blood of Messiah.

You need to do a study on the atonement then if you do not believe it is in reference to yom kipper.

 

[~Zao~]

Read all about it in the Talmuds.

Why does everyone say when I state something recorded in Jewish history it is just "speculation?"

Vatican papers are equally suspect.

 

[Pneuma3]

Read all about it in the Talmuds.

Why does everyone say when I state something recorded in Jewish history it is just "speculation?"

yes and they speculate that was what was done, there is NOTHING in scripture that says that.

 

[~Zao~]

Nonsense, the Israelite's did not have to believe the two goats took away their sins, it was a fact for them that they did.

To be in God’s favour for another year, but Christ did it once for all.