Yom Kippur 2004
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A 2 GOAT GOD
A MESSAGE OF YOM KIPPUR
The center of the ancient Atonement ritual at Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) surrounded two goats, How about those two goats?
The more I prepared this message the more diverse the story, tradition, or truths got!
Let's just set the table, there are several views, understandings of the two goats, from Jewish understanding and Gentile understanding; there is no universal consensus on goat 2!
I my message titled “Coming clean with God”, I spoke extensively, about goat one. The one for Adonai, the SIN Offering, the blood atonement, and there is general agreement about this goat.
The plethora of theological observations and opinions come with goat 2, so let's talk. Leviticus chapter 16 describes it like this:
We do not know the outcome of this the goat , some say it lived some say it died, we just don't know, and when men don't know , we come up with ideas of our own, thus the reason for so many informed authoritative opinions, conjecture and explanations and of course they are all right!
In Jewish thought , there are two main reasons given for the scapegoat, mainly because they, we , cannot really comprehend what the Lord does here, lets face it, take a goat, lay hands send it out, poof, we are free of Sin, that takes a great deal of faith, because understanding is just not possible, it a miracle!
• The ritual inspires and encourages Jews to repent, to get rid of sin
• The two goats represent having to make a choice between good and evil
A choice between holiness and spiritual destruction
This second goat is commonly referred to as the Az'azel (scapegoat). The popular English Translation for "scapegoat" unfortunately does not convey the true meaning of the original Hebrew word "Az'azel."
We know the every day definition of Scapegoat; one that takes the wrap, the abuse, punishment for a deed one did not commit, paying a price for something you were not involved in. In fact the word is a combination of 2 Hebrew root words meaning "goat" and "disappear." Hence, the term itself means "The Goat that Disappears."
In the Hebrew Masoretic text, Az'azel is known as "The Goat That Disappears" . In Jewish understanding the name of the goat was not Az'azel, it was sent to Az'azel, understood as a place that represented ha-Satan and his minions. The sin was being sent back to where it came from the Rabbi's were very clear that the goat was in no sense a gift to Azazel. It was not a sacrifice since it was not slaughtered. It was SENT AWAY BY GOD'S COMMAND.
This is an important point, the Az'azel is not a sin offing the goat for Adonai was the blood atonement, remember? God chooses the goat that is sent away to Azazel. Plainly and simply God himself is providing a means of ridding Israel of its sin. Az'azel was a symbol of A HOME OF ALL EVIL THINGS . . . Az'azel probably was expressed as the personification of all that is 'great and terrible' there."
The desert, figuratively, is a type of the abode of the devil and his demons, or fallen angels (Isaiah 13:22 ). Isaiah 34:14 describes the desert, "But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there . . . doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses. Yeshua said, "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through ARID PLACES SEEKING REST and does not find it" (Matthew 12:43 ). Later in the 11th century Jewish commentator Rashi understood AZAZEL to refer to the place to which the goat was sent. It means, “jagged rocks”. The view of most of the rabbinic exegetes today, denotes the place to which the animal was dispatched. . . . 'azaz,' 'a rugged cliff.'
Hebrew understanding and teachings have changed over the centuries regarding the story of Az'azel. As the Rabbi wrote down the traditions, things changed. By rabbinic times (late 1 st Century AD), The scapegoat was no longer the lucky goat that escapes an untimely death. It too was deliberately killed. ( Talmud, Chullin 11a, Mishnah, (Yoma vi, 8).
In the second temple period, The priests led the sin-burdened goat out through 'Solomon's Porch,' and, as tradition has it, through the eastern gate, which opened upon the Mount of Olives, they brought the goat to the Mount of Olives, where one, especially appointed for the purpose, took him in charge. The Scriptures say that this goat is to be taken into the wilderness "by the hand of a fit man." At the edge of the wilderness. The goat was driven to a rocky terrace twelve miles east of Jerusalem and was driven over these jagged rocks to perish over the cliff, backwards!
So in the rabbinic version, both goats die, one sacrificed to God (and presumably happy with its fate), the other hurled off a cliff (because it has been unfairly saddled with Israelite sin).
AND THOSE OF YOU WHO WONDER WHAT THE JEWISH MYSTIC WRITINGS SAY;
• In the Zohar (Kabbalah) It is the name of a demon inhabiting the desert. and is anticipated in Enoch, where Azazel appears as a RINGLEADER OF THE REBEL ANGELS, who seduces mankind
Church doctrines vary as well; some as with the Seventh Day Adventists believe that the Az'azel is related to ha-Satan. The scapegoat was not killed, just as the spirit Satan cannot be killed. Instead, all of the guilt of the people was symbolically placed on the head of the scapegoat, who was then taken out into the wilderness and released.
In other doctrines, this goat represents the condemnation of Satan for the Satan-inspired sins of all humanity, and his being put away in a spiritual wilderness (Revelation 20:3, 10). The sending of the scapegoat out into the wilderness by the high priest after he returned from inside The Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle is a “ceremonial preview” of Messiah sending Satan into the abyss which will be done after His Return from the Throne Room of God The Father. In the Koran, Azazel was an angel, cast out of heaven when he refused God's command that he worship Adam, saying "Why should the son of fire fall down before a son of clay?" Clearly related to ha-Satan
IN MY MESSAGE “COMING CLEAN WITH GOD”, I SPOKE ABOUT YESHUA BEING OUR HIGH PRIEST AND OUR SIN OFFRING, BUT SOME TEACH HE IS ALSO OUR SCAPEGOAT, IS HE? MAYBE, MAYBE NOT.
YESHUA HAS TAKEN OUR SIN; HE WAS SINLESS BUT TOOK OUR SIN, JUST AS THE HIGH PRIEST LAID HIS HAND ON THE HEAD OF THE AZ'AZEL, SO OUR SINS WERE LAID UPON HIM.
This leads to some doctrines that say Yeshua represents the “scapegoat” When we look at the goat for Adonai and the Az'azel it can be problematic as Messianic believers.
• Final atonement is from the Blood Yeshua's blood
• The scapegoat was abandoned into the desert, Yeshua in his ministry was never abandoned to the Wilderness, he went voluntarily , and came back!
• Yeshua does not need to pay a price twice for the sin, he took it when he shed his blood, no need to wander in the desert
• For many in Jewish thought, the scapegoat is equated with evil, the sin, in a sense they see sin being not only sent away, but being sent back to where it came from,
• In later ages some Jewish scholars decided not to leave anything to chance , and made sure the goat died, with a witness!
• Symbolically and spiritually making sure that the sin could not return
• Yeshua made sure that the sin was removed, He gave his life for it, just as the innocent goat did
• Is this not Messiah? Did he not die for our sins? Does that make him a scapegoat?
Some doctrines see the scapegoat as representing Satan, that cannot be, not only from Jewish thought, but from Who Yeshua is, he is not Satan! This goat was sinless unblemished, symbolic of Yeshua's sinless nature. The act of laying on of hands symbolizes the transference of sins from the guilty party (the children of Israel ) to the innocent (Az'azel).
Satan however cannot fulfill the type because he was never innocent. It will not satisfy the justice of God to transfer the sins of the guilty to another guilty party. Since lots were used to decide which goat was "for the Lord," it meant that both goats had to be unblemished. Can it be said that Satan is sinless and could be represented by an unblemished goat? NO! The scapegoat was to bear the iniquities of the children of Israel unto a land "not inhabited." Scripture teaches that Messiah is the only sin bearer. Therefore, he is the only person that fulfills the type of "Az'azel."
But how does Yeshua fulfill being sent to a land not inhabited and let go in the wilderness?
In the common definition of the word we have for scapegoat (being held unjustly accountable for someone else's error, sin). Yeshua was and is burdened with a sin not of his own!
So how can we reconcile Messiah as both goats, and not create having to deal with sin twice? I believe the revelation is that we have to view the Lord's goat and Az'azel as one atonement offering! Rather than two separate offerings.
Though we are separated from the ancient ritual by thousands of years, Yeshua is the perfect fulfillment of the typical atonement sacrifice, as if it was today fresh!
Hallelujah!
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