The Jews will be
observing the Day of Atonement on 14 September this year. The last time this
day came so early in September was in 1899, 114 years ago. This year the Day of
Atonement will therefore be one of those once in a blue moon events.
If you do not know
what the Day of Atonement is, please read Leviticus 16 before you proceed with
this article. In brief, the Day of Atonement is the one day in a Jewish
Calendar that the High Priest was allowed to enter the so called Holy of Holies
in the temple. Before he entered the Holy of Holies, the High Priest needed to
perform some rituals.
In brief, the
following are the main rituals that happened on the Day:
"Then he is to
take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent
of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the
other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord
and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 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. “When Aaron has
finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the
altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is 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. He shall send
the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the
task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the
man shall release it in the wilderness." (Leviticus 16:7-10, 20-22
NIV)
The High Priest was to
take two goats and cast lots on them. One lot was for the Lord, and the other
for the scapegoat. The Hebrew word for scapegoat
is Azazel. This is a strange name that has confounded many biblical
scholars over the centuries. It's clear meaning is not known, but is thought to
mean "who God strengthens" or "the strong one against/for
God". Some have said Azazel is a name of a demon. What is Azazel, and what
was it about?
Firstly, to understand
what Azazel means, we do not need to go anywhere else except the very passage
where it is found. This word is only found here in Leviticus 16 in the whole
Bible. The first clue about what Azazel represents is in Leviticus 16:10: "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 16:10 NIV)
As you see this goat
was presented alive before the LORD to be
used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness. If Azazel is a
name of a demon it means that a demon is being used for making atonement. That
can't be! Jesus is the one who makes atonement for our sins, not a demon or the
devil. See what John says: "He
is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but
also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2 NIV). Whatever
Azazel means it cannot refer to a demon or the devil.
Secondly, we have
further clues about Azazel in other verses in Leviticus 16: "“When Aaron has finished making
atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall
bring forward the live goat. He is 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. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the
care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all
their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the
wilderness." (Leviticus 16:20-22 NIV)
See that the sins are
confessed over the Azazel goat so that the goat can carry their sins into the
wilderness. In Leviticus, when sacrifices were made, the sinner confessed their
sin over the lamb or the goat so that the sacrifice carries the penalty of
death on behalf of the sinner. The one who carries the sins of humanity is
Jesus Christ. John the Baptist said Jesus is the lamb of God "who
takes away the sin of the world! (John1:29 NIV). The Orthodox Jewish
Bible says that Jesus is the Azazel who takes away the sins if the world.
"On the next
day, Yochanan sees Yehoshua coming to him, and Yochanan says, Hinei! The Seh
HaElohim (Gn 22:8; Ex 12:5-13; Isa 53:7), the one carrying away the
avonot HaOlam Hazeh (sins of this world i.e., as the sa'ir l'Azazel kapporah, Isa 53:6 7,12; Lv
16:22). (Yochanan 1:29 OJB)
"As the soldiers led him away, they
seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the
cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. (Luke 23:26 NIV) Jesus was
led away to the wilderness Golgotha by the Roman soldiers with the sins of the
world on his head, just as the Azazel goat symbolized by being led away into
the wilderness.
"After they
had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then
they led him away to crucify him." (Matthew 27:31 NIV). The live
Azazel goat represented the leading of Jesus to Golgotha to be crucified. The
goat that was killed represented the death of Christ on the cross. Therefore,
the Day of Atonement represented events that took place at the crucifixion of
Jesus, not a future event. Both the two goats represented the atonement work of
Christ, both in his life and death.
Azazel points to
Jesus' atonement work. It means "the one who God strengthened"' or
"the strong one for God". Jesus is the one who God strengthened as he
was led away to Golgotha carrying that heavy cross. He is the Azazel! He is the
scapegoat for our sins. Amen!
