Monday, October 4: Who is the scapegoat?

Though many years have passed, one of my most vivid memories from childhood involved some fudge brownies that my father had purchased for a special occasion. He put them on top of the refrigerator for the next day, but when morning came, someone had eaten them. When questioned, my older sister told him that she had seen me do it. Her angelic face convinced my parents, though I insisted it was not me. In my opinion, a bad situation became worse as the punishment did not fit the crime. In addition to the physical pain of a spanking, I spent the next two weeks in my room, other than the time spent in school. My parents were not only punishing the crime of stealing the brownies, but the more serious crime of lying about it. Years later, my sister revealed to my mother that she had eaten the brownies and lied about me. It sure was difficult receiving the punishment for someone else’s crime.


Today, the word “scapegoat” applies to a person who is made to bear the blame of others. In the Bible, we have an Old Testament story of the scapegoat, along with its New Testament revelation. In order to understand the concept, we need to be familiar with Leviticus 16:


Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the LORD, and died; 2 and the LORD said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
3 “Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD’s lot fell, and offer it as 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 atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
11 “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. 12 Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. 16 So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. 28 Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; 33 then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 16:1-34


Who is the scapegoat? Different pastors seem to present this section in extremely different ways, as many call attention to Jesus being the sacrifice for sin, as His blood was spilled on Calvary for our sins. Additionally, as He was punished for our sins, and we “escaped,” many believe that we are the scapegoats, yet we are misunderstanding that term based on the modern-day usage of the word. Instead, in the Hebrew, the scapegoat is azazel, which is the root word of forgiveness; this is the goat of entire removal, though alive. By Biblical definition, a scapegoat did not take the blame, but instead, took away the sin to a separated place. When the high priest placed his hands upon the scapegoat, he transferred all of the sins of the people onto that goat before it was sent into the wilderness. At that time, the scapegoat took away the sins of the people.


The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29


John the Baptist helped us to understand the role of Jesus in the sin removal of Leviticus. Jesus was the scapegoat, who took away the sins of the world, yet at the same time, He was the sacrificial Lamb of God, whose blood was spilled upon the altar! The sacrificial system of the Old Testament taught us about the importance of blood, for life is in the blood. In Hebrews, we are reminded of that process:


And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Hebrews 9:22


Additionally, on Yom Kippur there was a goat sacrificed upon the altar, to cover the sins of the people. This first goat had to die, unlike the second goat. In the modern-day definition, this was the scapegoat, as he received the punishment deserved by others. Yet this is the sin offering. That blood must be sprinkled on the mercy seat, and the word for mercy seat is the same one we use for propitiation, which is the satisfaction of God’s wrath against sin. Notice that in Leviticus 16:17, the high priest made atonement for his own sins, as well as the sins of the people. The word used for atonement is the same word used in Genesis 6:14 when Noah “covered” the ark with pitch. While the blood sacrifice can cover our sins, it was not capable of taking away our sins. So as goats could not be resurrected, two were necessary to complete the tasks. Yet Jesus became both goats. His blood covered our sins when He died upon the cross, spilling His innocent blood for our redemption. Additionally, all of our sins were placed upon Him as our scapegoat, as He took away the sins of the world.


Yet, He had another role in this process for us! Jesus is also the High Priest doing the work of atonement, according to Hebrews:


where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:20


Unlike the high priests of the Old Testament, Jesus will be High Priest forever! Additionally, He is without sin, so He does not need to offer sacrifice for His own sins. Lastly, because Jesus lived as a perfect man, He does not need to offer a yearly sacrifice. His death was sufficient to cover our sins once and for all, and additionally, was sufficient to take away our sins once and for all!

Matthew 25:31-36 tells us about the judgment of the sheep and goats that occurs after Jesus returns. Sheep are the believers, who will be separated to the right hand of the Lord, while the goats, whose sin has not been taken away, will be placed on the left hand of Jesus. The Lamb of God became a goat for us!


For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21


Jesus did not just carry our sin. He became sin for us! If you are a believer, God has nothing against you! Jesus propitiated not only believer’s sins but the sins of the whole world. Only believers are redeemed but the whole world is propitiated. Did Christ die for the whole world? Yes, His death was sufficient to pay the price for every sin. But it is only efficient if you believe. “Redeemed” refers to believers. “Propitiation” refers to believers and unbelievers. The ceremony using these two goats is the root meaning of forgiveness in the New Testament. There is no reason to dig up your old sin. He has removed it! Rejoice, and quit dredging up your own sin. If He can let it go, why can’t we?


As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12