Two Goats and The Cross

Two Goats And The Cross 

The Old Testament sacrificial system is a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:1). The daily Temple practices were quite elaborate, but on the Day of Atonement, Aaron had to perform an extra duty: From the Israelite community, he was to take two identical, male goats, and casting lots determined which one would be a sin offering to the Lord and which would be the scapegoat, known as Azazel (Leviticus 16:7-22). On non-holiday Temple practices, the blood of the sacrificial animal, presented before the Lord, constituted a sin offering for the forgiveness of sins. On the Day of Atonement, that alone was not sufficient. The sins had to be separated from the people. The second goat, Azazel—the scapegoat—served the purpose. The high priest was to put both his hands on the head of the goat and evoke all the sins of Israel, transferring them to the Azazel goat. The goat is then taken to the desert to die, thus separating the sin from the people forever. This is an act of removing defilement among the people of Israel, and only with the banishment of the goat the atonement is considered final. The psalmist recorded this spiritual mystery. 

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)

In chapter ten, the author of the Hebrews discusses these practices at length, weighing them against the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.

Those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away the sins. … Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. (Hebrews 10:3,11)

He further contrasts the sacrifice of Jesus, who, through His death on the cross, “made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:14). The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross satisfied the purpose of the two goats on the Day of Atonement. The cross of Jesus serves the double functions of the two goats: 

1) Atonement for sins through the blood of Jesus spilled on the cross; 

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. (Romans 3:25)

In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God’s grace. (Ephesians 1:7) 

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. (Revelation 1:5)

Now we can enter, without fear, the Most holy Place by the blood of Jesus. (Hebrews 10:19) 

2) Separation from sins through nailing them on the cross and declaring them dead.  Similarly, like the Azazel goat, all the sins of the world were placed on Jesus as He suffered on the cross.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14)

So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

The cross of Jesus is the substitute for the Azazel goat. God has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). On the cross, Jesus bore all the sins of the world, every sin of every sinner ever committed. 

God made him to be sin who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Forgiveness starts with confession and ends with repentance. Healing requires total separation from the sins.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

There is no other way to separate from our sins but the way of the cross of Jesus. The contemporaries of Jesus could not understand when He said,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

     Today, we are privileged to know the deep things of God. It will be ignorance if we do not apply 1) the blood for forgiveness and cleansing and 2) the cross for removal of sin and sanctification. The healing from traumatic events requires the practice of both. This is a spiritual transaction. Unlike the ancient Israelites, we don’t need the continuous spilling of the blood of sacrificial animals. The claim of the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus spilled on the cross evokes its purifying power. Similarly, we nail our sins on the cross and claim the power of the cross to separate us from our inequity for Eternity (see detailed description and prayers in Session six). Once claimed, the matter is done on Earth as it is in Heaven.