John 19:16 “Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified, so they took Jesus and led Him away”

 Introduction
The origins of the term “scapegoat” come from Leviticus 16 and the sacrifice at the heart of the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16:6-10 provides a summary of the offerings: bull for the high priest’s sin offering and then two goats – one for God and their sin offering and one for the picture we infer from the goat sent into the wilderness. It is interesting and noteworthy that atonement must first be made for Aaron. “No minister can lead people where he has not been. No person can speak of the forgiveness of sins whose own sins have not been forgiven…The Day of Atonement began with Aaron, not with the people.” (Of course, Christ had no such need. Compare Hebrews 5:1-3 and Hebrews 7:26-28).

 Meaning of Scapegoat
Scapegoat means one who bears blame unfairly or a person who is unfairly blamed for something that others have done – is derived from a ceremony recorded in Leviticus 16.  Since a goat was sent into the wilderness to bear the sins of the Israelites, many presume this scapegoat called azazel in Hebrew is Jesus Christ. Others say Satan wants us to view him as a scapegoat, someone unjustly blamed for sin by an unfair God. The ceremony where God personally identifies this goat delivers some of the most profound lessons we can learn about the Day of Atonement—and identifies the azazel for what he is.

 The Hebrew word for “scapegoat” here is azazel, and it means “the goat of departure” or the goat of escape. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, though, scapegoat means “one that bears the blame for others.” But notice, the original Hebrew word azazel has no implication of bearing blame; rather, the azazel is simply a goat of departure. Leviticus 16:8 says that one lot is for the Lord and the other is for the azazel – not for the Lord. The goat that the Lord’s lot fell on was to be slain, just as Jesus Christ was slain (verse 9). The azazel would not be slain, but driven alive into the wilderness (verse 10).

In Leviticus 16:20-22, the scapegoat’s role is presented in more detail. They were to “lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites – all their sins and put them on the goat’s head”. (This parallels the principle of substitutionary atonement seen throughout the sacrificial system but highlighted here for this one special day.) Then the goat was sent into the desert and verse 22 says that “the goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place”. (Interestingly, some people believe that Christ was baptized on Day of Atonement and then went to the desert.)

 Two Identical Goats
In ancient Israel, God commanded that a special ceremony take place on the Day of Atonement. In Leviticus 16:5, we read that the high priest was to take two kids of the goats as a sin offering. But first, Aaron, high priest at the time, was to offer a sin offering for himself (verse 6). Then we read about the instructions regarding these two goats: “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; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat” (verses 7-8).
Goat No. 1 symbolizes forgiveness and its blood price; goat No. 2, the scapegoat, symbolizes repentance, removal of sin and guilt. Of course, in Christian theology, the ordering of the two goats is important. One last thought: we improperly apply the concept of scapegoat ironically, by blame-shifting.

 After the azazel was sent into the wilderness, both the high priest and the fit man (before he returned to the camp) had to wash themselves and their clothes (Leviticus 16:23-26).

This “fit man” represented the angel in Revelation 20:1-3 who will lay hold of the dragon and seal him in the bottomless pit when this day is fulfilled.

 The commentaries are divided as to whether the azazel is Jesus Christ or Satan the devil – but the Bible makes the answer plain. This really shouldn’t be surprising because even the high priest could not tell which goat was which; God Himself would reveal which goat represented Christ and which represented Satan only after the high priest had solemnly appealed to Him through the casting of lots. If the azazel were simply another representation of Christ, there would be no real need to distinguish between the two goats—but there is a real need, and one that we face daily. The truth is, without God’s direct intervention, even we can’t tell Satan apart from Jesus Christ! Satan would like nothing better than for us to mistake him for our Savior and High Priest.

 Today, our sins have been forgiven by Jesus Christ’s sacrifice; when the Day of Atonement is fulfilled, the original blame for these sins will be put back where it belongs: on Satan the devil, who will be completely removed from the presence of God and suffer mental torment forever as justice demands (Revelation 20:10).

 The Reason for the Scapegoat
The scapegoat is a type or figure of Christ’s atonement to save mankind in the Old Testament Sanctuary service. When our first parents sinned in Eden, they would have died at that very instance if Jesus had not provided a way out to save them. Gen 3:15 (NIV) – “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

 To be continued.

 Dcn. Mike Ben