The Scapegoat

Leviticus 16:7, “And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”

This was the great Day of Atonement — the most important day to Israel every year. This was the day when their sins would be taken care of for another year. On this day, the high priest was privileged to go into the most Holy Place with the blood for the sins of all Israel. You will note in studying this chapter that the high priest went into the Holy of Holies more than just one time on this day.

The first part of the service was to take care of the high priest and his sins and those of his family. Then the latter part was for the sins of the people. It was during this part of the service that the use of the two goats comes into focus. And it was before the people that this service was conducted as it involved their sins. The people thus gathered on the eastern part of the tabernacle and before them were brought the two goats. The goats stood with their backs to the people and facing the tabernacle.

This must have been a very solemn moment for the many thousands of Israel.

A Type

With the goats thus standing with their backs to the people, the high priest then cast lots for the two goats. “And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell and offer him for a sin-offering” (Leviticus 16:8,9).

The high priest would remove the two lots from a container and with both hands place one on the head of each goat, thus designating one for the sacrifice and the other for the scapegoat. After finding the goat that would be the scapegoat, he would then turn the goat to face the people. The high priest would tie a scarlet cloth upon the horn of this goat, and he would stand thus while the other goat was taken and offered as a sin offering.

In this scapegoat standing before the people we can see without great imagination on our part, the type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The goat stands, waiting as it were, until their sins should be laid upon him, and he would carry them forth into a land not inhabited. What a picture this gives us of our blessed Lord who stood in Pilate’s judgment hall before the people, as He was about to be led forth bearing the iniquity of the people up on his back.

Upon sacrificing the one goat the priest would return and in the presence of the people, place his hands upon the head of the goat and pray. “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness.” Praying thus he symbolically placed the sins of the people upon the goat, which was then taken from them into a wild and uninhabited place.

The symbolical representation of this was by the goat that, laden with the confessed sins of the people, carried them away “into the wilderness” to “a land not inhabited.” It would seem that the meaning here is that though the confessed sins of the people were removed from the people to the head of the goat as a symbolic substitute, yet as the goat was not killed but only sent away into a “land not inhabited” so, under the Old Covenant, sin was not really blotted out but merely put away from the people and put aside until Christ came. He came not only to take upon Himself the burden of transgression, but also to blot it out and to purge it away.

Limited Benefits

Thus the service tells us that though all the sins of the people were placed upon the head of this live goat and for the time being rendered the people acceptable before God, still it pointed out the weakness of the law. It pointed out as the writer said, “the law made nothing perfect, but was the bringing in of a better hope.” While their sins were removed from the site, they were continually aware of the fact that they were never completely removed. They were out there somewhere in the wilderness on the goat. Only when Jesus came would there ever be the feeling that sin would be done away with once and for all. The live goat thus “let go” was every year a remover of sins that were never really removed in the sense of being forever blotted out; they were only deposited until He came whom God hath set forth to be the propitiation for our sins. “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 which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15).

In placing the sins of the people upon the head of the goat, Aaron thus assured the people of the mercy of God. While he had already been before the Lord with the blood of the other goat for the sins of the people, this was an act they could share in.

They could not witness, as it were, the blood being taken into the Holy of Holies. So, with great feeling Aaron would come near and pray over the live goat, confessing the sins of Israel for all the people to hear and take note. Now these confessed sins rest upon the head of the live goat. Now he stood laden with their sins and the curse of their sins. Israel may now feel clear in the presence of God.

The “fit man” then takes the goat far off into some uninhabited area away from the tabernacle. His returning then assures the people that his mission is accomplished, and their sins have been carried away for another year. One historian tells us that there were stations along the route which the man would take with the goat; and after he had passed the last station and turned the goat loose in the wilderness the messengers at the last station would signal by means of flags back to the next station who would in turn signal the message to the next, until the message was received back at the place of sacrifice where it was then whispered from ear to ear. This would bring rejoicing to the people who could then sing, “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The Path Of The Scapegoat

Follow the scapegoat and see his doom. Is there not here a criminal led along? There is something here that speaks of the “Man of Sorrows” made sin for us. Is there not a criminal led away to unknown woe? There speaks something of the one “made a curse for us.” Why is he left alone, defenseless and trembling amid the wilderness? There is enough here to remind us of Jesus left to suffer without sympathy. “He looked on his right hand, and there was none; refuge failed him; no man cared for his soul.”

Paul spoke of his death on this wise; “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14). Thus, in His sacrificial death, in His substitutional death, Jesus took our sins away. They were not pushed ahead for another year, they were not just carried off into some “uninhabited land,” they were removed forever from our life and record.

The prophet Isaiah said, “and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

The apostle Paul wrote, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus wonderfully filled both types — the sacrificed goat as well as the scapegoat. His precious blood was shed to redeem us from our sins, and as the scapegoat He stood alone with the burden of our sins upon His own body which He nailed to the cross thus bringing about our forgiveness from sin.

As the scapegoat Jesus stood in the loneliness of the wilderness. He stood in the loneliness of judgment, the loneliness of Gethsemane, the loneliness of Calvary, carrying the load of our sins upon His own body to the cross for us.

There, however, the comparison stops for Jesus came back from the wilderness of loneliness with victory over death and the grave. He returned to give us hope that we too may know the victory over sin that He accomplished for us on Calvary. He is not off in some far uninhabited place with our sins on His head.

Thank God they are gone!

During the forty years that Israel wandered in the wilderness and during the years that they observed this day after receiving the law concerning it, think of all the goats that were turned loose in that uninhabited land! And then all the years that they observed this day after getting to the promise land. This service must have been continued until after the days when Jesus was here and up until 70 A.D. when they were scattered. All the years in which they were home and permitted to observe this law they turned a scapegoat loose on this day each year. The number of such goats would number into the hundreds. How long they lived in the wilderness is anyone’s guess, but they were turned loose there carrying, symbolically, the sins of the people.

This adds to the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ, in His mercy and love for us, carried our sins, once and for all eternity, to the cross and there they were taken care of forever. One sacrifice — only one lamb slain — only one Savior. Now we can sing: “Praise God my sins are gone.”