Sermon Manuscript

Leviticus 16 ~ 20161002 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

10/02 Leviticus 16; Day of Atonement (2); Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20161002_leviticus-16.mp3

Last week we began to look at Yom Kippur, the great Day of Atonement. We saw the danger of approaching God, illustrated graphically in chapter 10 by the death of the two sons of Aaron who approached God in a way that he did not command. Aaron the high priest is warned not to come into the Holy place any time, but only at the proscribed time in the proscribed way. Aaron was to bring his own sacrifices, a bull for a sin offering for himself and a ram for a burnt offering for himself. Aaron was to take off his usual elaborate high priestly garments, bathe, and put on simple linen garments, taking the posture of a humble servant. The congregation was to present their offerings, two male goats for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. Aaron was to cast lots to determine between the two goats, one for YHWH, and the other for Azazel. Then Aaron was to sacrifice first his bull as a sin offering for himself, and bring its blood with a cloud of smoke from incense inside the veil and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat 7 times. Then he was to go out, kill the goat for the people's sin offering for YHWH, take its blood inside the veil, sprinkle its blood on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat, then sprinkle blood in the holy place outside the veil, where the altar of incense, the lamp stand, and the table of bread were. Then he went out to the bronze altar of burnt offering in the courtyard of the tabernacle and smeared the blood of both sin offerings on the horns of the altar and sprinkled the blood 7 times on the altar.

After this is completed, the other goat from the congregation is presented before the LORD.

Leviticus 16:20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

What is this other goat? We passed over this other goat last week so that we could come back to it today.

The congregation was to bring two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. The destiny of each of the two goats was determined by lot. One goat was to be sacrificed on the altar and its blood presented in the most holy place; the other will be sent away bearing the sins of the congregation out into the wilderness. These are two parts to the picture of atonement, the one securing forgiveness through blood sacrifice, the other bearing away the burden of guilt never to be seen again.

Let's go back to verses 5-10 to see what we can learn about this second goat.

Leviticus 16:5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. ...7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

There were two male goats brought by the people for a sin offering. These two goats were distinguished by lot, and we know that 'the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD' (Prov.16:33). So we could say that the LORD chose between these two goats, one for himself and one for Azazel.

The one for the LORD was offered as a normal sin offering, following the procedures from chapters 4-5. But in chapters 4-5, different animals were offered for people with differing roles in society. A bull was to be offered for the sin of the priest, a ram for a sin of the whole congregation, a male goat for the sin of a leader of the people, a female goat or lamb for the sin of an individual, and allowance was made for two turtledoves or pigeons for the poor, or even a grain offering for the very poor. And the blood was handled differently. For the sin of the priest or the whole congregation, the blood was to be sprinkled on the curtain separating the holy place from the most holy place, and applied to the horns of the altar of incense. For the sin of a leader or a common person, the blood was put on the horns of the altar of burnt offering in the courtyard. The sin offering of the priest on the day of atonement was a bull as specified, but its blood was brought behind the veil and sprinkled directly on the mercy seat. The sacrifice for the whole congregation was to be a male goat rather than a ram, and its blood was also brought behind the veil and sprinkled directly on the mercy seat, as well as in the holy place and on the altar of burnt offerings. This was the goat of the people chosen by lot to be their sin offering to the LORD.

The Live Goat for Azazel

Leviticus 16:10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

We don't know exactly what the Hebrew word 'Azazel' means, so the ESV and other versions leave it untranslated. Leviticus 16 is the only place in all of Scripture where this word appears, so it is difficult to determine exactly what it means. Older versions attempt to translate the word, something like 'the goat that is driven out' or 'scapegoat', pointing to its function, that it is sent away. It is possible that Azazel is a proper name, either a personal name, or a place name. In the tradition of second temple Judaism the goat was led to a specific rocky precipice in the Judean wilderness and pushed backward off the cliff. But there would have been no one place in the wilderness wanderings where this goat was taken. It could be a personal name, the name of a demon, where the sins of the people are figuratively returned to their source. The very next chapter (17:7) warns against the people making sacrifices to goat demons in the wilderness. In Deuteronomy 32, Moses recounts:

Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.

When the kingdom was divided after the death of Solomon, in 2 Chronicles 11:15 we read Jeroboam “appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made.” Isaiah refers to judgment on Babylon and the nations that will become wild places where wilderness animals will dwell and the satyrs or wild goats will dance and cry out (Is.13:21; 34:14). Revelation picks up on this imagery:

Revelation 18:2 And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

So it is possible that Azazel is the personal name of a demonic entity, but if so, the goat for Azazel would not be understood as a sacrifice to the Azazel, but rather a means of returning the sins of the people back to his doorstep.

However we understand this word, what is to be done with this goat is clear. It is presented alive before the Lord. Atonement is made over it, to send it away into the wilderness. This process is described in verses 20-22

Aaron is to place both his hands on the head of the live goat. For other sacrifices one hand was placed on the head of the animal, making identification between the worshiper and the animal, but this is the only animal where he is told to place both hands on its head. All the iniquities of all the people of Israel, all their transgressions, all their sins are placed on the head of this goat. Iniquity is a term for perversity or moral evil; transgression is a word for willful acts of rebellion; sin is an inclusive word for all sins in their totality. All these words are plural, indicating all sins of every kind, committed by all the people, even the priests, in all places, all are placed symbolically on the head of this animal, and it bears them away to a deserted place.

It is interesting to note that Aaron has made two trips into the holiest place with blood to make atonement, and has worked his way out through the holy place and back out into the courtyard. The language used in verses 16-19 is making atonement not only for the priests and the people, but also for the place to cleanse it.

Leviticus 16:16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. ...18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

Notice, also the direction of the cleansing. It begins with blood applied to the inner sanctuary, then out into the holy place, then into the courtyard. We could view this goat as a garbage truck. The house is swept clean, starting with the innermost sanctuary, out into the front room, then out into the yard, and all the filth is poured into the garbage truck that hauls it away to the garbage dump, never to be seen again.

This goat is not a sacrifice in the normal sense of the term. It is a living goat, and it is not killed. No blood is taken from this goat. The goat is presented before the LORD, but then it is banished from the presence of the LORD. Aaron goes into the holiest place, out through the holy place, out into the holy courtyard, where he transfers all the accumulated guilt to the head of this animal, and then this animal is led out of the courtyard, out through the camp of the holy priests immediately around the tabernacle, then out through the clean tribes who surround the tabernacle, then finally, out into an unclean place, outside where sickness and disease and death must go, far away from the presence of the LORD. This is where all the sin is carried by the live goat. The one who led the goat away and released it in the wilderness must wash his clothes and bathe before he is permitted to return to the camp.

Jesus the Sin Bearer

A strange ceremony about a goat for Azazel. How does this point us to Jesus? In John 1, John

John 1:29 ...saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus is the one who takes sin away.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,...

Jesus carried our sins away. Look to the suffering servant of Isaiah:

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

...6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

...8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

...11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Jesus is the one on whom all our transgressions were laid, He was taken away, cut off, he bore the sins of many.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus became sin for us. Jesus is the one who can make all these Old Testament statements a reality.

Psalm 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Isaiah 38:17 ... but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

Isaiah 43:25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Jeremiah 31:34 ...they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Jesus is the one who carries our sins out of sight, hidden behind his back, buried in the depths of the sea, removed from us as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered. What a treasure! He has carried all my sins away!

Our Part

Let me ask, what is our part in all of this? What is our position? Where are we? This text is very clear. We are outside! Our High Priest is inside, cleansing the sanctuary of all our sins, making confession for all our sins over the head of the substitute. He is to be alone in the tent. We, for whom he is making atonement, are outside! He transfers our guilt on to the substitute, all our iniquities, all our transgressions, all our sins. He sends the sin bearer away into the wilderness. The ones for whom he does this are outside. This is all done for them. They don't do anything! They are not even present! What is our part? Look at verse 29.

Leviticus 16:29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. 32 And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. 33 He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the LORD commanded Moses.

This concluding section gives the role of the congregation on the day. Notice, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you. The role of the people is to grieve over their sin and to do no work. To do nothing. To rest. Solemn rest. Serious rest. Rest in the work of another. On this day shall atonement be made for you. The high priest does all the work. The people are to do no work. Five animals, two sin offerings, confession of all the sins of all the people, two burnt offerings, two trips into the most holy place, burning incense, sprinkling blood, smearing blood, he does all the work. The people are to rest.

Jesus, our great High Priest, finished once for all the work of atonement. He carried all our sins away. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1Pet.2:24). He gives the gift of eternal life to all who will find their rest in him. Our part is to depend on the work of another. He does all the work. It is ours to rest in him.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org