The Lord Jesus Christ and the Scapegoat in the Wilderness

Deliverance from sin can never come by placing the blame for our failures on others. There is only one scapegoat that we can place our sins on - The Lord Jesus! Once we release our scapegoat, we are free to find mercy by coming to the Mercy Seat of God and receiving pardon. It's only a confession away.

 

Day Of Atonement Message, 2001

 

By Chris McDonald

Lev 16:5-10 - From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. "Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. 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 desert as a scapegoat.

Lev 16:20-34 - "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 desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.

 

 We have just marked the passing of the Jewish New Year and will soon be honoring two other of Israel’s fall festivals – Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles. The first part of this New Year celebration includes the Feast of Trumpets that heralds in the Jewish New Year and the other two feasts Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Yom Kippur (Atonement), and Tabernacles. These feasts have tremendous prophetic overtones for events soon to take place in the church and the world. Israel has always been God’s mirror for the church. Whatever God is doing with Israel, He is usually doing the same in His Church.

 

Rosh Hashanah (literally the "Head of the Year") is said to be the birthday of the mankind--the day on which humanity was created.  On the first night of Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to eat an apple dipped in honey, which symbolizes a wish for a good and sweet year. In Jewish synagogues, the "shofar" is sounded to proclaim the start of the New Year. The "shofar" is an instrument made from the horn of a ram.  Rosh Hashanah is the first of ten days of reflection, which end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. During this period, the nation asks for forgiveness of those whom they have hurt during the year. In these ten days, it is said that God writes in the "book of life", the fate of each and every person for the coming year. On Yom Kippur, the "book of life" is signed and sealed.  Yom Kippur celebrates the day when in the eyes of National Israel God forgives the sins of the nation for another year. The Day of Atonement was Israel’s recognition of man's inability to make any atonement for his sins. This act of forgiveness, both past and present, covered and also covers individual members of the nation. It has its roots in the days of the wilderness wanderings when God commanded Moses to set aside this day of national cleansing under the Old Covenant.  Interestingly the Day of Atonement is not mentioned in Exodus 23:14-17 and 34:18-23, nor in Deuteronomy 16:1-16, which mention three so-called pilgrimage festivals when the males of all Israel were to assemble before the Tabernacle. The Day of Atonement was not such a pilgrimage festival like Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. On the Day of Atonement, the ordinary Israelite stayed at home and the priests carried out the ritual. It was the only day of fasting enjoined on Israel – ‘you must deny yourselves’ which means “fast.” It was to be a special day or Sabbath of rest and solemnity. It was a time of special contrition, special sin offerings and atonement. It is kept to this day by the Jews and called Yom Kippur. Kippur is the Hebrew noun for the verb “to make atonement.” The biblical term is “Day of Atonements.”

 

 Under the Old Covenant, animals were sacrificed everyday for the sins of Israel. But once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) a special service was held. It was to be on the 10th day of Tishri, coming on different days of our calendar. (This year is falls on October 9) It came in the month of September to early October. The Day of Atonement was the only day of the year that the priest entered the holy of holies to make sin offerings for himself, his family, and the "assembly of Israel." After making these offerings, the nation’s sins were symbolically laid on a scapegoat and it was led out into the wilderness and released. The high priest who officiated on this day first sanctified himself by taking a ceremonial bath and putting on white garments <Lev. 16:4>. Then he had to make atonement for himself and other priests by sacrificing a bullock <Num. 29:8>. God dwelt on the MERCY SEAT in the Temple, but no person could approach it except through the mediation of the high priest, who offered the blood of sacrifice. After sacrificing a bullock, the high priest chose a goat for a sin offering and sacrificed it. Then he sprinkled its blood on and about the mercy seat <Lev. 16:12,14,15>. Finally the scapegoat bearing the sins of the people was sent into the wilderness <Lev. 16:20-22>. This scapegoat symbolized the pardon for sin brought through the sacrifice <Gal. 3:12; 2 Cor. 5:21>. It is this scapegoat we want to deal with in this journal because in the placing of guilt upon an innocent victim's head, we find the plight of all humanity today. Most of humanity cannot resolve the guilt each one carries concerning sin. Sin has a price. You cannot sin and get by. God did not create us that way. He put within us a heart, soul, body and spirit that reacts when sin is present or controls us.

 

It was sin that separated man and God to begin with. Adam listened to Eve who had listened to the serpent. They both took the forbidden fruit and partook, disobeying God and bringing a horrible curse upon the earth, mankind and the universe. Yom Kippur is a sacred occasion that gets it meaning from the word “atonement,” which is the act by which God restores a relationship of harmony and unity between Himself and human beings. The word can be broken into three parts that express this great truth in simple but profound terms: "at-one-ment." Through God's atoning grace and forgiveness, we are reinstated to a relationship of at-one-ment with God, in spite of our sin. The word atonement comes from the Hebrew word: kaphar, which means "to cover; expiate; placate; cancel; appease; cleanse; disannul; forgive; be merciful; pacify; pardon; reconcile; make atonement and to purge."  The first use of kaphar (HSN-3722) is when Noah was commanded to pitch the ark inside and outside (Genesis 6:14). This gives the essential meaning as a "covering" for the ark that made it safe from leaks to preserve life  (Genesis 6:14). Kaphar (HSN-3722) and kippur (HSN-3725) are the only Hebrew words translated "atonement." In the New Testament "atonement" is found only once  (note, Romans 5:11).  Kaphar (HSN-3722) is translated "cleansed" (Numbers 35:3) Another word, kapporeth (HSN-3727), from the root word kaphar (HSN-3722), is translated "mercy seat" 27 times, referring to the lid to the Ark of the Covenant.

 

Jesus Christ, Our Atonement Or Covering From the Judgment of God

 

Romans 5:11  - And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

 

Because of Adam's sin <Rom. 5:18; 1 Cor. 15:22> and our own personal sins <Col. 1:21>, no person is worthy of relationship with a Holy God <Eccl. 7:20; Rom. 3:23>. Since we are helpless to correct this situation <Prov. 20:9> and can do nothing to hide our sin from God <Heb. 4:13>, we all stand condemned by sin <Rom. 3:19>. It is human nature (our sinfulness) and God's nature (His holy wrath against sin) that makes us "enemies" <Rom. 5:10>. God's gracious response to the helplessness of His chosen people, the nation of Israel, was to give them a means of RECONCILIATION through Old Testament covenant Law. This came in the sacrificial system where the death, or "blood" of the animal was accepted by God as a substitute for the death <Ezek. 18:20> which the sinner deserved: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls" <Lev. 17:11>

  • Romans 3:23-25  - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [24] Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: [25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

  • Ezekiel 18:20  - The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

  • Leviticus 17:11  - For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

The Law required that the sacrificial victims must be free from defect, and buying them always involved some cost to the sinner. But an animal's death did not automatically make people right with God in some simple, mechanical way. The hostility between God and man because of sin is a personal matter. God for His part personally gave the means of atonement in the sacrificial system; men and women for their part personally are expected to recognize the seriousness of their sin <Lev. 16:29-30; Mic. 6:6-8>. They must also identify themselves personally with the victim that dies. This is the law of the burnt offering, which was one-half of what the priest did on the Day of Atonement. 

  • Offer a burnt offering (a RAM)

  • Take two goats, cast lots, one for the Lord, one for the people; kill the one for the Lord, send the one for the people into the wilderness

The Burnt Offering is a Type of Christ

 

Leviticus 1:1-4  - And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, [2] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. [3] If his offering were a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. [4] And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

 

In the Old Testament, God Himself brought about atonement by graciously providing the appointed sacrifices. The priests represented Him in the atonement ritual, and the sinner received the benefits of being reconciled to God in forgiveness and harmony. Although Old Testament believers were truly forgiven and received genuine atonement through animal sacrifice, the New Testament clearly states that during the Old Testament period God's justice was not served:

 

"For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins" <Heb. 10:4>.

 

Atonement was possible "because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed" <Rom. 3:25>. However, God's justice was served in the death of Jesus Christ as a substitute who "not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" <Heb. 9:12>. "And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant" <Heb. 9:15>.

 

Hebrews 9:12-15  - Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. [13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh: [14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [15] And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they that are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

 

Romans 3:23-25  - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [24] Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: [25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

 

The Lord Jesus fulfills the DAY OF ATONEMENT for the believer. He is our ATONEMENT, or covering between God and us. He came according to God's will <Acts 2:23; 1 Pet. 1:20> "to give His life a ransom for many" <Mark 10:45>, or "for all" <1 Tim. 2:6>. Though God "laid on Him the iniquity of us all" <Is. 53:6>; (also <2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13>), yet Christ "has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God" <Eph. 5:2>, so that those who believe in Him <Rom. 3:22> might receive atonement and "be saved from [God's] wrath" <Rom. 5:9> through "the precious blood of Christ" <1 Pet. 1:19>.

 

Isaiah 53:1-7 - Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? [2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath neither form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. [3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.   [4] Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

Sin Has A Power That Only The Blood of the Burnt Offering Can Break

 

I wonder sometimes if we as believers truly understand the holiness of God, the awesomeness of His wrath and terrible hopelessness that comes when we try to save ourselves. We little understand the power of sin. We little understand the fact that sin is more than just an isolated act or a wrong action; its source comes from the fallen nature of man. That power controls all of humanity. All of man’s efforts to save him from this power usually fail because there is only one remedy for sin. The church seems to think that we can do all sorts of things to make people better and more faithful. We offer them incentives now to come to church and wonder why when they come are ready to leave 15 minutes after they sit down.  All of humanity was born under this curse. All of humanity carries this curse in their minds, their souls, and their bodies. Man dies because of this curse. Man gets sick because of this curse. The creation GROANS out in earnest waiting for the redemption from this curse. The whole earth shakes at times wanting to rid itself of this unwelcome guest that came that day in eternity when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. The power of sin goes deeper than just the skin. It is more than just a race issue or a money issue or an education issue. It takes a human being over and it seeks nothing less but to STEAL, to KILL and to DESTROY. It’s more than a single act, it’s a nature and power that reaches to the very core of man’s soul. The only remedy for it is blood – life-giving blood, saving blood, blood full of power that can set man free from himself.

 

Sin’s power is always progressive in nature as well. A person cannot just “sin a little,” and get by usually. Ask most drug addicts how they got started and at some point in time they started with one puff of a joint or one sniff of cocaine. Ask any alcoholic how he got started drinking and he’ll probably tell you it all started one innocent night at a bar when he took one sip of that brew and it tasted so good he had to go back for the second. Ask any thief about stealing and he’ll tell you that after he stole $1 it became easier for him to steal two. The list could go on – a person bound by lust and illicit sexual desires usually had a moment of weakness in their life when they took a innocent glance at a magazine and the power of that look turned into a power than leaves mankind frustrated, depressed, suicidal, deluded and bound.

 

Look at the condition of the world. Our government makes decisions a three-year old could look at and see something’s wrong with. All of our institutions reek of the smell of corruption and dishonesty. It’s not just the world; it’s the church as well. We’ve never entered a time of history when more people in our own BODY are battling spirits of depression, delusion, self-righteousness, arrogance, unfaithfulness, bigotry, racial prejudice, division, unthankfulness, and serious issues of guilt, repressed anger, and in some extreme cases demonic oppression to the point of nightmares and uncontrollable shaking and fear. When sin is not dealt with both corporately and individually we pay a price. I’m not even remotely calling for a witch-hunt mentality nor am I calling for an attitude where we are looking to find a demon under every pew. But we must deal with sin. We must repent. We must confess. We must look at the Old Covenant economy that was actually an economy that the New Covenant mirrored in essence but not in practice. The only difference is that sin in the Old Covenant was “pushed back,” by the sacrifices of animals. Sin under the New Covenant is not pushed back anymore – they are carried away!!!! GLORY TO GOD. And that is the lesson of the Lord Jesus Christ and the scapegoat in the wilderness.

 

Two Lots, Two Goats and the Guilt of Our Sin

 

Another aspect of the Day of Atonement was after the priest offered the burnt offering he would bring two goats before the Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle. As the priest stood before the door of the Tent of Meeting, he would cast lots upon both goats – one for the Lord Jehovah, one for the people. The goat for the Lord would be sacrificed on the brazen altar where the ram had just been offered. The other lot was placed upon a live goat over whose head AARON confessed all the sins and rebellion of the children of Israel. It typified the GUILT of Israel being placed on an innocent victim that would be lead away – signifying that one-day Christ would both take away our sins and remove the guilt of those sins through the Cross.

 

Leviticus 16:20-21 - "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.

 

Before the sacrifice of the two goats, the High Priest was required to make a sin offering for himself. (Lev 16:11 NIV) "Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his house and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering." After completing his sin offering the High Priest was to take two goats provided from the Israelite community and he is to cast lots for them. The term scapegoat, or Azazel, depending on the Bible translation you are using is found three times in Scripture in Leviticus 16.

 

  • (Lev 16:8,9,10 NIV) "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 desert as a scapegoat."

  • (Lev 16:20,21,22 NIV) ""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 desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert."

  • (Lev 16:26 NIV) "The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp."

 

The Azazel Controversy

 

The term Azazel has created a controversy among Bible translators as to what or who is Azazel. Some Bibles do not use the term Azazel while some use scapegoat or other terms as shown. This is a sample of different Bible translations and how they translated Azazel from Leviticus 16:8:

  • The Septuagint Bible: "one lot for the Lord and one lot for the escape."

  • NKJV: "one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat."

  • KJV: "one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat."

  • The New English Bible: "one to be for the Lord and the other for the Precipice."

  • RSV: "one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat."

  • Holy Scriptures, Jewish: uses Azazel.

  • The Hebrew term for scapegoat from Strongs is: 5799. 'aza'zel, az-aw-zale'; from H5795 and H235; goat of departure; the scapegoat:--scapegoat.

 

From the Hebrew definition of Azazel, the meaning is "goat of departure." Leviticus 16:8 should then read: "one lot for the LORD and the other for the goat of departure." Azazel in Jewish legends was a demon or evil spirit to whom, in the ancient rite of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), a scapegoat was sent bearing the sins of the Jewish people.  After the high priest symbolically transferred all the sins of the Jewish people to the scapegoat, the goat destined "for Azazel" was driven into the wilderness and cast over a precipice to its death. Azazel was the personification of uncleanness and in later rabbinic writings was sometimes described as a fallen angel.

 

Because the first goat called "a lot for the Lord," the translators wanted the Hebrew word Azazel, to be a representation of someone. Therefore some translators have concluded that Azazel must represent an evil spirit or Satan.  The goat for Jehovah was slain, and its blood sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat, thus making atonement: the goat for Azazel, that is for Satan, the Adversary, was sent out in the desert as the living one to challenge and put to silence that Accuser, and all accusers. It was a testimony that man was guilty under the law of God but the BLOOD HAD MADE HIM FREE from not only the power of sin but from the claim of sin! Get the picture! The accuser of the brethren must stop when we release our scapegoat. It’s only to the degree we hold onto our scapegoat that Satan has a claim in our life!

Laying Guilt on Our Scapegoat- The Modern Plight of the Church

 

            Sadly, what Aaron did to that scapegoat we do to others in the modern-day scheme of Christendom. You cannot get anyone to take responsibility any more for their actions or failures. Most pass off the guilt of their own sin to someone else. It is why most of us reading this journal have a problem with unresolved guilt. We are always looking for a scapegoat for our sin! We love to blame others for our problems and our sin.  It’s nothing new. Our first parents did too. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Satan, the serpent, has been blaming God forever. He instills that spirit in all humanity, EVEN CHRISTIANS.  We cannot blame God for our circumstances either. Usually when we have run out of all the people we think are to blame for our problems we either wind up blaming God or ourselves. Both lead us down a path of destruction:

  • James 1:13-15  - Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man: [14] But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. [15] Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

  • Numbers 20:3-5  - And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! [4] And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that our cattle and we should die there? [5] And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.

  • Isaiah 8:21  - And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

  • 1 Samuel 30:6  - And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

 We cannot blame others for our sin; it’s only an excuse

 

            Whether it is the Israelites blaming Moses or the people blaming David, the Bible is full of examples of people who used others as a scapegoat for their own guilt and shame. When we do this we basically say “I’m looking for an excuse for my sin!” and excuses will never set us free from that sin nor will it bring reconciliation to broken relationships caused by the sin.

 

The wife who wants to leave her husband justifies her action by making the husband out to be the scapegoat for the problems in the marriage and vice versa. When a person is rebellious and wants to create havoc in a church the pastor is always the scapegoat for their personal rebellion. Some hold out tithes because they blame the pastor the ills of the church. The list goes on. The unproductive worker blames his work environment and boss for his poor work ethic. The rebellious child blames his parents for the reason he goes out and steals and kills and destroys things. The molester who inflicts untold misery on his victims always BLAMES an event on his life why he is like that. We blame our anger on our parents or family, “I’m just like my mother,” or “I’m just like my daddy.” NO ONE WANTS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS OR HER SIN! How many marriages would have been saved if we stopped looking for a scapegoat? How many church splits could be avoided if we stopped looking for a scapegoat? How many people would we reach if we stopped looking for a scapegoat?

 

            When the recent scandal of the White House became front-page news NO ONE IN WASHINGTON wanted to step forward and say, “I have sinned.” Everyone was looking for a scapegoat. President Clinton used Monica Lewinsky as his scapegoat. Hilary used the Republican Right as hers. Monica used Linda Tripp. Linda Tripp used Ken Starr. Poor Ken Starr, who was hired by our U.S. Justice Department to investigate this matter,  turned out to be the ultimate loser in a scandal which started with a lie and ended up with a scapegoat!

 

We have to take responsibility for what we do, we cannot blame others; EVEN OURSELVES

           

When we can’t find others to blame, we usually wind up blaming ourselves, which doesn’t cure us either. We cannot be our own scapegoat. Blaming others always leads to delusion and deception. Blaming ourselves leads us to depression. When we seek to find a scapegoat for the situation and conditions of our soul, we only endorse the claims of Satan against us. I remember a graphic illustration Francis Frangipane gave several years ago about the story of the judge and the debtor in Matthew 5. The judge, a type of God the Father, the adversary, a type of Satan, and the debtor, a type or picture of all of us standing before the judge without excuse and a claim against us by our adversary. Jesus told His disciples that when this situation occurred they were to AGREE with their adversary.

 

            Most people reading this will say, WHAT? AGREE WITH SATAN? NEVER! But this is where we lose or gain our victory over our sin. We have no excuse that merits favor with God. God knows what we are – both good and bad and sadly let’s face it – most of us have a great deal of BAD in us! All humanity is fallen. The only difference between the profligate sinner and us is we are redeemed creatures – redeemed from the curse of sin, but the fallen nature still exists in us. It’s a war inside us that will not cease till Jesus comes. No way around it. Not everything Satan accuses us of is truth, but SOME OF IT IS. The point is when we are accused, if we start looking for a scapegoat so we can walk away without penalty, we will always wind up in prison. This prison may never be physical bars or a cell, but a far worse state – a prison of resentment, anger, bitterness and unresolved GUILT. And that’s what is killing us today in the church – GUILT. Jesus said the truth will set us free and blaming others always keeps us from the TRUTH.

 

            It’s only when we agree with our adversary and throw ourselves on the MERCY SEAT of the judge do we find MERCY, not justice or judgment. Someone says, “you’re worthless because you never accomplish anything.” Instead of finding an excuse, say, “Father, I repent of my laziness, forgive me.” YOU WILL NOT FIND THE FATHER PASSING JUDGMENT ON YOU! WHY???? Because His son is your lawyer! Oh Glory to God!

 

The Scapegoat was a type of Christ – He took both our guilt and our sin into the wilderness, OUTSIDE THE CAMP

 

Hebrews 13:11-13  - For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. [12] Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. [13] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

 

Jesus bore our sins at Calvary.  Jesus died in our place the death we deserved to die.  Jesus’ death on the cross fulfilled the figure of the atonement of the two goats. Our sins were atoned by the shed blood of the Lord’s goat and removed from us completely by the Living Scapegoat, Jesus.  Jesus, in bearing the sins of God’s people makes our salvation a reality even though we are not worthy.

 

The scapegoat was a type of Christ – “who carried our sorrows, a man acquainted with grief.”  You may ask, “How can the scapegoat, which is an evil type, possibly be a type of Christ?” Because Christ willingly became a scapegoat for man’s guilt before God and we were ALL GUILTY. We were all condemned before the justice of God. We were all doomed to live life in eternity without God. We were all headed to hell without Him. Christ alone can take away the guilt and the penalty of sin, no one else. You cannot blame your sin on your husband, your wife, your pastor, your boss or even yourself. YOU MUST TAKE YOUR SIN and place it on our willing scapegoat – the Lord Jesus. How do you do that? By confessing and repenting: When you repent, you will in type be doing what the priest did after releasing the scapegoat – he ran to the mercy seat and offered the blood for atonement for Israel’s sins. Jesus is our atonement, mercy seat, propitiation, our covering, our grace, our mercy, our shelter, our peace, our guilt-remover, and our sin-bearer, our VICTORY:

1 John 1:7-9  - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. [8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

The Mercy Seat – The Place Where God Dwells

The place the High Priest wound up after the ceremony and after his final cleansing was the Mercy Seat inside the Holy of Holies. It represented the throne of God, the place where God sat between the Cherubims. It is where the blood of the sacrifices were sprinkled seven times in type showing that the blood of Jesus was COMPLETE in its power and efficacy to clear man’s guilt before God. Under the Old Covenant, that throne was usually a throne of judgment on sin and man was hindered from coming to God because of the sin that separated us. Only the High Priest could go in and do it and he could only go in once a year. You see, it’s either hold onto the scapegoat or head to the Mercy Seat. When we release our scapegoats that frees us to come to the Mercy Seat of God in Heaven. You cannot come to the Mercy Seat until you release the scapegoat. This is the crossroads between victory and defeat, light and darkness, delusion and truth and salvation and hell. Most people in this life will lose their souls because they have kept a scapegoat. The sad fact is that God is not waiting at the Mercy Seat with judgment; he’s waiting with mercy. Mercy triumphs over Judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

 

            Could it be the reason it is easier for us to hang on to our scapegoats and blame other people for our sins is because we don’t know how to embrace the mercy of God? And could it be that we don’t embrace the mercy of God because instead of giving mercy to others, we give judgment? A person who shows mercy, will receive mercy. A person who always gives out judgment and justice, will receive justice and judgment. And friend, there is one constant in this life – NONE OF US, and I mean NONE of us want to stand before God and receive JUSTICE because NONE of us are WORTHY to receive HIS JUSTICE without HIS GRACE and ATONEMENT or HIS MERCY.

   

James 2:13  - For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

 

Who is Your Scapegoat?

 

             As I close this journal, I want to ask you a serious question. Do you have a call of God on your life and you’re not fulfilling it because of a past failure? And are you hiding behind a “scapegoat” of some kind to not be doing what God called you to do. Has someone hurt you and you have not “released” them and have allowed them to become your scapegoat for harboring feelings of bitterness and unforgiveness and malice? Has an event so traumatized you that it has caused you to live a lifestyle that is not pleasing to the Lord but yet you have not found freedom from it because you have hung onto your “scapegoat” and allowed these destructive processes to continue? It’s time to let the scapegoat free into the solitary place and RUN to the MERCY seat! It’s time to run to the MERCY SEAT where Jesus is calling. He said His grace would COVER you! His blood flows freely, and it will provide your healing. He’s only waiting for you to acknowledge HIM and receive His healing today – in your body, in your soul, in your emotions and in your life. Watch the mercies of God bring about radical change in your home! Watch the mercies of God restore broken relationships.  Behold the mercy of the Lord in your life. It’s available to you today. Choose mercy, not judgment. Release the scapegoat. Throw your sins and failures onto the back of JESUS, He’s already carried your guilt away for you and now sits at the Father’s right hand interceding for you. Be blessed today in Jesus name! Shalom. 

 

Hit Counter