Day of Atonement: Part 2
Read the scapegoat ritual as found in Leviticus 16:20–22. What is taught by this ritual? Focus especially on the fate of that animal as compared to all the others used in the service.
The “scapegoat” (Heb. azazel) is not a means of atonement but a vehicle through which sin and impurity are carried to the wilderness. How do we know this?
First, the transfer of sin and impurity to this animal takes place after the high priest finished the work of atonement in the sanctuary. Second, the goat is not offered as a sacrifice; it is not slaughtered, and therefore no blood is available for atonement. Third, although it “carries/bears” the sins of the people, that does not mean that it carries them vicariously, as in the sense of a substitute, like Jesus. In this case the context shows that the verb means “to carry” to another place, i.e., “the wilderness” (Lev. 16:22, NASB). When the same verb is used to describe the work of the Servant of the Lord, it stands alone: “he bare the sins of many” (Isa. 53:12). He is not carrying them anywhere, but assuming responsibility for them Himself and, through that act, forgiving us. That is what atonement is, and that’s not what the scapegoat does.
Instead, the scapegoat ritual is an elimination rite; in other words, the scapegoat is a means of eliminating or removing from the camp of Israel something that should not be there—sin and impurity.
During the Day of Atonement there was a confrontation between the Lord and another power. The goat for the Lord represented God; the goat for azazel represented the opposing power, a demon, the ultimate source of sin and impurity. By sending the sins of the people to Azazel through the goat, this power was being named as the originator of sin. God had accepted the sin and impurity of His people in order to atone for them and to forgive their sins, but that did not mean that He was the originator of evil. The Day of Atonement announced in symbols the final victory of holiness and purity over the forces of sin, impurity, and evil. It anticipated the moment when the charges raised by Lucifer in heaven will be once and for all resolved, and Lucifer will have to assume responsibility for originating sin. Through this ritual God was instilling hope in His people by pointing to a future in which, through the power of Christ, a new creation will come into existence, one free from death and pain, free from the power of sin (Rev. 21:3, 4).
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