“…And the LORD spake…saying…also on the tenth day
of this seventh month there shall be a day of
Atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you;
and ye shall afflict your souls (fast)…Ye shall do
no manner of work: it shall be a statute forever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
It shall be a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict
your soul: in the ninth day of the month at even,
from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.”
The Day of Atonement pictures a wonderful and great
event, to take place after the second coming of
Christ, which the world has entirely lost sight of
because it has failed to see the true significance
of these annual Sabbaths holy unto the Lord. It has
failed to keep them as a constant reminder of God’s
master Plan of Salvation!
The symbolism is expressed in the account of events
of the Day of Atonement, as carried out before the
crucifixion, in the 16
th
chapter of Leviticus.
Verse 5: “And he (Aaron, or the high priest) shall
take of the Congregation of the children of Israel
two kids of the goats for a sin offering”
Verse 6: The high priest offered a sin offering for
himself and his house
Verses 7 and 8: “And he shall take the two goats, and
present them before the Lord at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast
lots upon the two goats; the one lot for the LORD,
and the other lot for the scapegoat (margin, Hebrew,
AZAZEL).”
The key to the whole explanation lies in a correct
understanding of the meaning of AZAZEL. This word
does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament. The
Comprehensive Commentary
has: ”the word ‘scapegoat’ signifies the goat which
went away.” The
One Volume Commentary
says: “The word ‘scapegoat’ in the A.V. is not a
translation. It is merely an interpretation of the
supposed meaning by the translators."
The English word “scapegoat” signifies “one who bears
blame or guilt for others.” But “scapegoat” is an
English word, and is not a translation of the Hebrew
word AZAZEL. The word “scapegoat,” and the meaning
attached to this English word, is not a translation
of the Hebrew word AZAZEL, and therefore it is not
the word inspired originally. Continues the
One Volume Commentary
:“AZAZEL is understood to be the name of one of those
malignant demons.”
These two goats were types. Notice, it was necessary
to be decided by lot, which one was qualified to
represent Christ, and which Azazel. A lot is a solemn
appeal to God to decide a doubtful matter. It is a
sacred religious ceremony. It includes a supernatural
act of God.
Men were unable to decide which goat was qualified
to represent Christ. This involved an appeal to God
to decide! “One lot for the Eternal, and the other
lot for AZAZEL.” Now one lot was for the Lord — this
goat typified Christ—but the other lot was not for
the Lord, did not typify Christ, but AZAZEL -- Satan.
The goat which God selected, through lot, to
represent Christ, was slain — as Christ, its
antitype was slain. The other goat selected by God
to represent Azazel was not slain, but was driven,
alive, into an uninhabited wilderness. It was not a
resurrected goat, symbolizing the resurrected Christ,
for it never died. The uninhabited wilderness, to
which this goat was driven, cannot represent heaven,
where Christ went. Heaven is neither uninhabited,
nor a wilderness.
After God designated which goat represented Christ,
and which represented Azazel, the high priest (verse
11) killed the bullock for a sin offering for
himself, then took the burning coals of fire and
the sweet incense into the Holy of Holies, also
sprinkling the blood of the bullock before the
mercy seat, typical of the throne of God, covering
the tables of testimony (the law). This, the high
priest was required to do in order to purify
himself to officiate, and to represent Christ as high
priest. In the antitype, this was not done, for
Christ, our High Priest, had no need of this
purification as the typical substitutionary priests
did.
The Levitical high priest is ready to go out and
officiate. Next, the goat which God selected by lot
to represent Christ, as the sin offering of the
people, was killed. Thus the sins of the people
were borne by this goat, even as Christ, finally,
once for all bore our sins on the stake. But Christ
rose again form the dead, and ascended to the throne
of God in heaven.
Who, or what, from this point on in the Levitical
ceremony, typified the resurrected Christ, who went
to heaven?
The risen Christ, now at the right hand of the
throne of God in heaven (I Pet. 3:22) is called —
what? Our High Priest! What was the earthly type of
God’s Throne?
The earthly type of God’s throne was the mercy seat
in the Holy of Holies. After Christ died, He went
to the heavenly mercy seat interceding for us, as
our High Priest, “…entering into what is within the
veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even
Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order
of Melchizedek” (Heb. 6:19-20).
Who, or what, in the Levitical ceremony of the Day
of Atonement, typified the risen Christ, our High
Priest, who went within the veil to God’s throne in
heaven? The one goat had been slain. It represented
the slain Christ. It can no longer represent the
risen Christ. The slain Christ was not our High
Priest as the Levitical priesthood, with its high
priest, did not end until Christ rose from the dead
and ascended to heaven as a High Priest after the
order of Melchizedek. But the risen Christ was High
Priest. Now, who took this part in the Levitical
ceremonies, temporarily reenacted year by year,
on this eternal Holy Day? It was the Levitical high
priest, not the goat representing Azazel!
As soon as the slain goat was dead, who went within
the veil, presenting the blood of this goat before
the typical throne of God?
Lev. 16:15-16: “Then shall he (the high priest) kill
the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people,
and (now the high priest himself typifying the work
of the risen Christ) bring his blood within the
veil…and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat: and he
shall make atonement for the holy place…”
And so it was the high priest taking the blood
within the veil, to the mercy seat, which typified
the risen Christ figuratively taking His blood, once
for all, within the veil to the very throne of God
in heaven, there to intercede for us as High Priest.
The slain goat represented the crucified Jesus. The
high priest, by taking the blood of this slain goat
into the veil to the mercy seat in the Holy of
Holies, a type of God’s throne, represented and did
the work of the risen Christ, who ascended to the
right hand of the Majesty on High, there interceding
as our High Priest.
The high priest going within the veil, into the Holy
of Holies, symbolized Christ’s return to heaven.
The work he did while in the Holy of Holies
symbolized Christ’s work these 2,000 years
interceding for us, presenting His shed blood
before the mercy seat in heaven. Now, returning,
symbolizing Christ’s return to earth, what did he do?
“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: 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: and the goat
shall bear upon him (Fenton:
shall carry upon itself
)
all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and
he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. And
Aaron shall…wash his flesh with water…and he that
let go the goat for the scapegoat (Azazel) shall
wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and
afterward come into the camp” (Lev. 16:20-26).
Is there justice with God? Is not God a God of
justice, as well as of compassion and mercy? Who is
the real author of our sins? The Devil is the author
of them, even as Christ is the author of our
salvation. Jesus took our guilt — our blame — our
sins — upon Himself as an innocent substitutionary
sacrifice. He was an innocent victim. He loved us,
and was willing to die for us. Our guilt — our sins,
were borne by Him, and Him alone — and God forgives
them when we repent and accept His sacrifice. And
yet — is this full justice?
The real cause — the actual author of those sins was
Satan the Devil. Is it justice for Christ to bear
guilt that is not His, while the Devil goes off
scot - free? Wouldn’t real justice be for God to
place the original blame and guilt where it belongs?
Notice this carefully. Christ bore our guilt. For we
have been guilty, even though the Devil was the
original cause of it all. But justice certainly
demands that God place right back on the head of
the Devil his guilt — not our guilt, but his own
guilt — for leading us into sin. We were guilty
too —a nd our guilt Christ bore — yet all our sins
belong right back on the Devil as his own guilt!
Here is another point to consider. The Azazel goat
carries away the sins of all the people already
forgiven. These sins already were fully paid for by
Christ’s substitute sacrifice, symbolized by the
killing of the innocent goat. Before, those same
sins were finally laid on the live goat which had
been previously paid for by the death of the slain
goat.
The Devil is the real author of all sin. Can we be
finally made at one with God, as long as this
instigator of sin is with us? He must first be
driven away. And there would not be justice with God
unless his own guilt in our sins were place right
back on his head? Is it justice for Christ to bear
the Devil’s guilt, as well as our own guilt, for our
sins? Christ has carried our sins, but must He
continue to carry them? Should they not be removed
entirely from us, and from the presence even of God?
Webster’s Dictionary says to “atone” means to “set
at one, to join in one — to form by uniting”. We
shall not be completely joined in one, and united
with God, until all expiated sins are removed from
the presence of God.
In Revelation 19, we have the prophecy of Christ’s
second coming. At the beginning of the 20
th
chapter, what does Christ do? Exactly what the 16
th
chapter of Leviticus shows. The Devil is sent away
— the symbol here used is the “bottomless pit”. The
symbol of an uninhabited desolate wilderness (Rev.
18:2) — and he is sent there by a fit man — an angel
from heaven. Now the devil is not killed. He does
not die. He is still alive a thousand years later —
after the millennium (Rev. 20:7).
We must observe this most special Holy Day year
after year on the tenth day of the seventh month.
Continued observance will ensure we do not forget.
We must keep this Feast forever!