Your Scapegoat

Leviticus 16:1–34; 23:26-44 Numbers 29:12–40 – and others
 
Leviticus 16:20-22 “When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat. 21 He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. 22 As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.”
 
THE listed scriptures are a few of the many laws relating to sacrifice, repentance and worship. God commanded the three Festivals we might know as Passover, Pentecost and Harvest as a means for Israel to remember his saving work and to teach the next generation. They are to the orthodox Jew as Easter and Christmas are to the Christian – celebrations and teaching times of God’s work on earth.
   This reference to the goat going into the desert illustrates Jesus’ work on the cross. This is a final sacrifice on the one Day of Atonement each year to completely atone – pay for – Israel’s sins. Note the priest would first kill another goat, then use that goat’s blood to ceremonially purify the Holy of Holies, Tabernacle, altar and on himself. In effect, the priest would take on the nation’s sins.
   Then the priest placed both hands on a second goat. This is goat is called the scapegoat because scapegoat means “complete removal and destruction”. “Scapegoat” was also a term to define giving Satan’s sins back to him. A man took the scapegoat, which symbolically carried Israel’s sins, into the wilderness and killed it. The scapegoat’s death signified sin’s complete, final removal from Israel on the Day of Atonement.
   Do you see how this illustrates our Lord Jesus? He is your priest and your scapegoat: Hebrews 13:11 Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. 12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood.
   Yes, some reject reading the law, and some churches even refuse to consider the law. But certainly we can see God’s love in the law. We know God is eternal, constant and holy. After all, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16) It’s astonishing how anyone can say, “I believe in God.” Then say, “I don’t believe his Book!”
   The remembrances of the Feasts, the knowledge of the blood sacrifices and the commands to regularly present an offering to the LORD have not changed in their meaning. Yes, we worship with different “feasts” and methods. But we still must obey God’s commands to worship and to repent. Sin costs blood. When we know by faith Jesus has so violently died to remove our sins, surely we rejoice with a blessed assurance God the Father, Son and Spirit has done a remarkable love work to save us.
   How good it is to know the complete Good News story!