Tuesday: Azazel
Read Leviticus 16:20-22. What happened to the live goat?
The ritual with the live goat was not an offering. After the lot decided which of the two goats was to be for Yahweh and which one was for Azazel (often translated as “scapegoat”), only the goat for Yahweh is referred to as a purification offering (Lev. 16:9, Lev. 16:15).
Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com
By contrast, the goat for Azazel is called the “live goat.” It was never slain, probably to avoid any idea that the ritual constituted a sacrifice. The live goat came into play only after the high priest had finished the atonement of the entire sanctuary ( Lev. 16:20). This point cannot be overemphasized: the ensuing ritual with the live goat had nothing to do with the actual cleansing of the sanctuary or of the people. They already had been cleansed.
Who or what is Azazel? Early Jewish interpreters identified Azazel as the original angelic sinner and the primary author of evil, even as the leader of evil angels. We know him, of course, as a symbol of Lucifer himself.
The ritual with the live goat was a rite of elimination that accomplished the final disposal of sin. Sin would be brought upon the one responsible for it in the first place and then carried away from the people forever. “Atonement” was made upon it in a punitive sense (Lev. 16:10), as the goat carried the ultimate responsibility for sin.
Does Satan then play a role in our salvation, as some falsely charge we teach? Of course not. Satan never, in any way, bears sin for us as a substitute. Jesus alone has done that, and it is blasphemy to think that Satan had any part in our redemption.
The ritual with the live goat finds a parallel in the law of the malicious witness (Deut. 19:16-21). The accuser and the accused stand before the Lord, represented by the priests and judges; an investigation is held; and, if the accuser is found to be a malicious witness, he shall receive the punishment he intended for the innocent (for example, vicious Haman who put up gallows for loyal Mordecai).
Thank God again for His merciful forgiveness and the fact that He will remember our sin no more (Jer. 31:34). How can we learn not to remember our sins once they are forgiven? Why is it so important for us to do this?
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How is Lev. 16:10 Punitive?
"It was never slain, probably to avoid any idea that the ritual constituted a sacrifice." It was not killed because it represented God not killing anyone in the end. Right? Larry
Larry, Please allow me to share a post from SSNET about a year ago, that may shed some light on this lesson and your timely question: The Scapegoat and the Sanctuary
We should never entertain the thought, that we can pay for our sins without Jesus's help, by dying. Especially after gaining the true knowledge of God's Redemption Plan. If i choose to die to pay for my sins as the Law requires, it is a total impossibility. You see, we are all born in sin and shapened with iniquity and so our death or sacrifice is like an unclean animal on the alter filthy an worthy on nothing. We must refrain from this idea that we can die to pay the penalty for our sins. This is satan's thought when entertain by man will lead us away from the Saviour's Love. Cheers!!!
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This is entirely my interpretation. It could be right it may not. I just call for more Biblical grounded response to it.
I assume the two goats to represent the sinner and the devil. The devil being the accuser. Thus, Christ would be the lamb that was slain to take away the sin of the accused, in which case He can not be represented by a 'goat'. (This to me make more sense than saying that one Goat represent Christ and the other Satan).
AT THE JUDGMENT SEAT
(Long after the death of Christ on the cross to save the sinner, Satan still accused the saved, forgiven for their past sins). Christ the high priest has the authority to atone for the our sins both as a sacrificial lamb and as a priest will present both goats. Of Yahweh and of Azazel. To finally eliminate and reveal the malice of the accuser of sinners.
In which case,
For Yahweh
• God’s creation but fallen at some point (goat/wanderer) wandered away from obedience and love of God.
• Old sacrificed self of a repented sinner (Not him, dead to sin by committing all sins to the saviour by faith, to the one who washed it away at the cross) through the high priest (Aaron in earthly sanctuary/ Christ through death on the cross).
• Awaiting punishment if found guilty
• Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. Leviticus 16: 9
For Azazel (symbol of Lucifer)
• God’s creation but fallen at some point (goat/wanderer) wondered and still wonders away from obedience and love of God.
• Real unrepented sinner (himself therefore ‘live goat’ alive with sin) representing malice against the repented sinner.
• Awaiting punishment is obviously guilty
• But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat. Leviticus: 16.20
Milka, you say that it doesn't make sense to you that the "Lord's goat" represents Christ.
But the blood of the Lord's goat is used to cleanse the sanctuary from sin. Is there any other blood that can cleanse from sin? (Surely a sinner's blood cannot cleanse from sin.)
When my memory takes me back to sins I have committed and mistakes I have made in the past, I can direct my focus to Jesus and His love and forgiveness. Once I have turned to Him and confessed and forsaken my sins, I can be so thankful and grateful for His mercy. I can pray for anyone I have hurt in the past, and I can ask God to help me concentrate on what God can do, His promises for me and His grace and love over my life. I am His child and I can serve others freely today because I am freely forgiven and blessed.
No one goes and looks for the scapegoat once released. There is no sin in the camp at the moment he's chased away. My sins and even the sins of others, once removed no longer need to be a topic of thoughts or conversation. God's forgiveness has no strings attached.
It was three people on the Cross. Two were two thevies and the other was not.Christ died for" both" one feared God and ask to be with Him.He died that we might Live.We were bought with a price.He's call the Lamb of God.I thank Him for doing what I or no other person can or could do.And as for the Goats it was Symbolism pointing to Jesus and what he did for mankind. Those are my beliefs.The Blood of Jesus,cleanses and gives Life.He took our sin's.John3:16 Some call it HOLLYGOST POWER.
I have long wondered about the 'fit man' of Leviticus 16:21 ("shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness"). I have never heard or read of anyone who says anything about this 'fit man' who was chosen for this job of taking the goat out into the wilderness. In some way could this 'fit man', 'appointed man', 'chosen man' symbolize Christ sending Satan into the wilderness (destroyed earth) at the end of time? In some ways this 'fit man' seems mysterious, like Melchizedek - he has no history and seems to appear out of no where. Not sure if all this makes sense, but it is something I wonder if anyone else has thought about. Or if anyone has any scriptures to either refute this thought or validate it.
The Scape goat is required to be taken deep into the desert so it will not be able to find its way back to the camp. This task requires a man that is physically fit to go a distance and is able to survived the conditions of the desert. An aged man will not be fitting for this task.
We also need to remember that the Goat that was selected to be the Scape Goat is still an innocent animal and it has the right to continue life until its surroundings and predators overcome him. An unfitting man would probably slaughter the innocent Goat to shorten the task and to assured the animal will never make its way back to the camp.
As far as the Spirituality of the Fit man, is his honesty and the love for the innocent animal in the fullfillment of the task. Cheers!!!
Sandy, let's think about the context:
The sanctuary has been cleansed. The antitype is after probation has closed, right?
The "fit man" takes the goat with its load of sin (representing Satan) into the "wilderness," representing exile on this wasted planet.
In the context of the end of the pre-Advent judgment and the cleansing of the sanctuary, who do you suppose would be capable of banishing Satan from the minds of onlooking created beings? Who could demonstrate that God is fully righteous and Satan is fully evil? Certainly Christ has done and is doing that. But I don't think He does the job alone. He didn't preach the gospel alone.
You might find a clue in Revelation. Is there anyone or any group that follow Christ so closely that they demonstrates the character of God in their own lives?
Inge,
The "Scapegoat laden with sin" is an issue that I have difficulty with. Christ already took care of the sin, right? I truly believe that the letting go of the goat represents God letting go of the sinner in the end as explained in the latter part of Romans 1.
Larry
let us consider the time frame when the scapegoat was introduced and had his part in the scene. The scapegoat was made to carry all the sins of the people after the cleansing of the sanctuary (type), when the people and the temple were already made clean, AND AFTER THE HIGH PRIEST HAS COME OUT OF THE SANCTUARY.
In the antitype, when Jesus Christ, the High Priest comes out of the sanctuary, this means the probation for the people has already closed and the judgment is already finished (for Jesus will come with already the reward). It is in this time that all the sins of the people will be laid upon the originator of sin which is Satan for FINAL DISPOSAL. He will be sent away in the wilderness (in the bottomless pit, Rev. 20: 2,3) wandering and with no way to come back to the camp (we can never see in the story of the sanctuary that there was ever a scapegoat that has found his way back to the camp). This is because, when Satan will be bound for a thousand years, he has no way to mingle with the cleansed people because that time they are already in heaven.
Leviticus 16: 21 says that it was the High Priest that gave order to the "fit man" to throw the scape goat. In Revelation 20:1, the fit man is an angel sent to bind and throw the scape goat (Satan)into the abyss in the end of time.
The laying on of all the ashes from the year, and the relocation of the the scapegoat deep into the desert so it will never find its way back to the camp, simbolically represented what God will pronounced upon satan at the end of the 1000 years.
This is when the 2nd Resurrection takes place, of all the Wicked unsaved souls that were dead during the thousand years. For God will gather them all up to be with satan and his angels, and will rain down fire and brimstone that will burn them all up into ashes and all of them and SIN will never more exist anywhere in God's purified sinless universe.
God's hope for mankind, that none should perished, but all to come to repentence and have Everlasting Life. God have no joy in the death of the Wicked. He gave His life by dying the cruelest and shameful death on the cross so all who will love and obey Him, shall live eternally with Him in that New Heaven & the New Earth.
Cheers my friend!!'