Leviticus 16:7-10 English Standard Version
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.
The title of the episode of a show was “I need a goat”. Seeing this prompted me to think about the use of a scapegoat in Leviticus 16. As I studied the subject much attention was paid to Azazel and the meaning which is not determined. Many suppositions were made to the meaning whether a place or a person. Parallels were drawn but in doing so the importance of the scapegoat was diminished.
Who cares about the scapegoat? The sins of the people were place upon that animal and it was sent to a fate unknown. It was just a goat, what do we care? Putting it out of the encampment was literally the same as putting it out of our minds. Those sins are gone, we do not know where nor do we care. We put it out of our minds. It is just a goat.
John 1:29 English Standard Version (ESV) The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Now we see God’s eternal plan to take away the sins of the world but it is not a simple goat that we can dismiss without consideration. This is the Son of God, God in the form of man, and not one that is so easily dismissed in sacrifice. Now we do not put our sins out of our minds because we now see them as the reason for His death on the Cross.
My death He died.