The Day of Atonement - part 2
- the scapegoat - az-aw-zale' (Hebrew)
Leviticus 16:7 Aaron shall take the two goats, and set them before Jehovah at the door of the Tabernacle . 8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats ; one lot for Jehovah , and the other lot for Azazel {interpreted "scapegoat" in the KJV} . 9 And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for Jehovah, and offer him for a sin-offering{representing Jesus}. 10 But the goat upon which the lot fell for Azazel shall be set alive before Jehovah, to make atonement with it, to send it away as Azazel into the wilderness.
Who Does Azazel Represent? By His blood sacrifice on the cross, Jesus certainly did make atonement for us, as represented by the "sin-offerings" in the temple of old. See "Why Animal Sacrifices Were Needed" in a previous study. When He died, our sins(blood) were transferred from Jesus(the sin-offering) to the Sanctuary(temple), sprinkled on the mercy seat. This made atonement for our forgiven sins. But, but our blood remains in the Sanctuary until the end when it is transferred, by our High Priest, to Azazel, the scapegoat. And what happens to Azazel who holds our sins? He is led away to an uninhabited land{wilderness} to eventually die.
Remember that just as Jesus is the lamb of God(Jn1:29,36;1Pet1:18-19;Rev5:6;7:17;13:8) and the Passover Lamb(Is53:7;1Cor5:7), so is Jesus Jehovah's he-goat of Leviticus 16:5,7-9,15-19,27 .
Compare this with Revelation 20:1-2 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
Compare this with "to send it away as Azazel into the wilderness"(Lev16:10 above).
Yes, I believe that azazel is another name for satan! As we continue our study of azazel, we will see if this theory becomes more clear...
Let's continue now in Lev 16, where we left off in part 1 of this study.
Leviticus 16:20 When Aaron{High Priest} has finished atoning for{or, cleansing} the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle...
Now, I stopped in the middle of the verse, because I want to make sure we don't miss the fact that Aaron just finished cleansing the Tabernacle/Sanctuary with the blood of Jehovah's goat, representing Jesus and His blood. For Aaron, this was a once per year cleansing. But, in the end, our High Priest(Hebrews2:17-18;4:14-15;5:6;9:12-14) will cleanse the sanctuary in Heaven just once... and the Bible tells us when. Check this out from one of Daniel's visions, where an angel told Daniel, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed"( Dan8:14 ). I'm hoping to have a future study about this prophesy... Now, back to Lev16:20 and the scapegoat...
Leviticus 16:20-21 When Aaron{the High Priest} has finished atoning for 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 children of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat....
Notice that, just like the High Priest(originally Aaron) of old transferred the sins of the people onto azazel, in reality, our High Priest, Jesus will transfer all the sins of the saved onto satan - just one time, just before He comes again, for all the saved.
Leviticus 16:21-22 ... Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat{azazel} 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.
Revelation 20:1-3,7-10 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years,and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him{similar to the goat in the wilderness}, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time... 7 And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone..." {satan eventually dies, just as azazel , the goat, alone in the wilderness, eventually dies}
Connection between the Earthly and Heaven's Sanctuary
The Bible makes strong connections between the earthly sanctuary system (with its priests, sacrifices, and Day of Atonement) and a real, heavenly sanctuary where Jesus ministers on our behalf. The clearest and most direct link is in the book of Hebrews, but there are additional references throughout Scripture. Here are key Bible texts that show this connection:
Hebrews 8:1-10 ... We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. 2 There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands. 3 And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. 4 If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law. 5 They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.” 6 But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. 7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8 But when God found fault with the people, he said: “The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 9 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors... They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord. 10 But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord : I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people...
-
The earthly tabernacle was a shadow, a type, or a model of a real sanctuary in heaven.
-
Jesus is the High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.
Hebrews 9:11-14 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. 13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
- 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
-
Christ ministers in the heavenly tabernacle, not the earthly one.
-
His sacrifice (His blood) replaces the animal sacrifices.
-
The blood of Christ purifies us so we can worship the "only true God", His Father( Jn17:1-3 ).
- Jesus is not just the sacrifice; He is our ongoing intercessor:
Hebrews 7:25 Therefore {Jesus} is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
- "through him"? That's why "Jesus told him, ... No one can come to the Father except through me.( Jn14:6 )
Hebrews 10:19-25 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Revelation 11:19 ... in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple...
Desiring to live by every word that comes from the mouth of Jehovah ( Deut8:3; Matt4:4 )
-Sid Nash: 05/31/2025. Latest version: http://sidnash.org/docs/Atonement-scapegoat.html