THE SCAPEGOAT

Leviticus 16:1-28

Introduction:

No one likes being a scapegoat. In human terms it refers to someone who takes the blame for the mistakes or crimes of others. Yet, our Lord Jesus Christ gladly assumed this role when He came to earth to live, suffer, and die for the sins of His people. 1 Peter 3:18- “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.”

The scapegoat in Scripture was the animal over which the High Priest confessed the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement, after which it was allowed to escape. However, in order for him to be sent away, another goat had to die, and its blood shed. In these two goats, we find a beautiful picture of the two-fold work of the Lord Jesus Christ in redeeming His people.

The Scapegoat was called azazel in the Hebrew language. The term literally means ‘entire removal.’ It was given to the goat, on which the lot fell, that was sent away, so called, because he escaped alive. As a type and picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, it speaks to His divinity as the living Savior, who, although put to death, rose again, having born away the sin of His people.
The Scapegoat had its significance only a paired against the other goat that was first put to death. First the other innocent victim had to suffer and die that atonement through the shedding of blood be accomplished. Then, this second was presented alive, that he might make reconciliation. Even as with the first innocent victim, the sins of the people were put to his account, so with the second, his escape involved the symbolic bearing away of the people in life. Even so as Christ died, so He rose again, and His people were in Him as their representative, and so they too benefit from the life giving work of Christ.
The Scapegoat was sent away into the wilderness, or uninhabited land, symbolic of an inaccessible place. This certainly typifies the removal of the believer’s sins through the work of Christ. So complete is His work, and so satisfactory to God the Father, that all of his/her sins are abolished before God’s face. Because of Christ, the sins of God’s people are never again brought before the Father to condemn them, nor are they in any sense imputed or charged against them, Psalm 103:12; Hebrews 10:17.
The confession of sins upon the first Goat, and the sending away of the Scapegoat were entirely the work of the High Priest. He was to put his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him ALL the iniquities of the children of Israel, Lev. 16:21. So the work of salvation is entirely that of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s great High Priest, Hebrews 9:11. It is not our confessing that brings salvation and peace, although the Lord’s people do confess their sins to God. It is our representative, speaking on our behalf before God that brings justification and pardon. God appointed two goats, that in the one slain, Christ’s death is proclaimed, and the second, His life and victory are exalted.