Scapegoats and Sacrificial Goats

In todays bible reading, I was struck by the use of 2 goats for the Day of Atonement (at-one-ment). One was used as the sacrificial goat (i.e. slaughtered by the priest) and the other was the scapegoat. Both were used as a means of cleansing the Jewish people from their sin. One dies the other lives.

This fascinates me. I have really been camping out in Hebrews for the past several years; trying to figure out some of the deep mysteries within this great letter. Hebrews talks about Jesus being our High Priest and about how the earthly tabernacle is a copy of the heavenly tabernacle. So my fascination is: How the two goats play into the Heavenly tabernacle, and this issue of atonement.

So here is my two cents: Both goats represent Christ. One goat's blood was shed (without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness). The other goat had the sins of the people placed upon its head and was lead out into the wilderness, this was the scapegoat. It is easy to see that the first goat ties in closely to the crucifixion. But the other goat takes a little to understand. My thought ties into the REAL penalty of our sin is that we will be separated from God because of our sin. We will all die right? So Christ simply dying was not paying for our penalty, but shedding his blood did satisfy the Law. The scapegoat was separated from the tabernacle (where Gods presence resided) and led out into the wilderness taking the sins with it. Christ fulfilled the Law for us completely 1) by shedding his blood; 2) by separating himself from God.

We know that Christ was separated form God because 1) on the cross he said "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" 2) he descended into hell and hell could not hold him (no sin=no guilt).

So you can know that your sin, no matter how great, has been completely wiped out. Today is the day of atonement for you. Accept Christ's forgiveness and sacrifice.