Leviticus 14:33 - 26:26
On the Day of Atonement, the nation of Israel was represented by two goats. Lots were cast and one goat was used as a sin offering and the other for the scapegoat.
The Hebrew Azazel literally means the "go away goat" or the "goat of departure"; which is where we get our word scapegoat. The word does not appear anywhere else except in relation to the day of atonement. This led to all types of theories about what the scapegoat represents. Many Jewish traditions translate that "azazel" was demon or Satan. Many Christian theologians have continued that thought concerning the scapegoat as a type of Satan, placing the guilt of sin back on its originator and leading it out to the desert.
Another thought finds its basis in Lev 16:10: "But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat"
This thought states that both goats are a foreshadow of Christ but in different aspects concerning the atonement. Both goats were without blemish which symbolizes perfection and without sin. Only Jesus could be considered without sin. The first goat was the sin offering where there had to be the shedding of blood for the remission of sins.
In verse 21 of the same passage the High Priest lays hands on the second goat, the scapegoat, and transfers the sins of the Israelites (guilty party) onto the spotless goat (the innocent party.) This is a direct picture of what happened on the cross.
1 John3:5 "But you know that He (Jesus) appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin."
Verse 21-22 also states that the goat was to be sent away to the desert (a literal translation meaning to separate to an uninhabitated place - to be cut off.) At the crucifixion, Jesus was cut off from the Father when the sins of the world were place on Him: "My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?"
Every year there was a Day of Atonement for Israel. For believers, the Day of Atonement took place over two thousand years ago where Jesus was not only our sin offering, but also our scapegoat.
