Yom Kippur: The Peculiar Case of a Mysterious Scapegoat
Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement is perhaps the most mysterious of all holy days given to Israel to keep. It is widely taught by Christian leadership that this day is a foreshadowing of Messiah's atonement on the cross for believers, yet the foreshadowing of this event is much more applicable to another day which Israel was to keep in remembrance, namely Passover.
The bondage with which Israel served in Egypt is not unlike the bondage of the whole of humanity under Satan and his power. The angel of death which was sent to smite the first born in Egypt is obviously counterpart to the fact that the wages of sin is death. The lamb's blood which is applied to the doorposts is a direct foreshadowing of the covering of the blood of Yahushua which causes the angel of death to "pass over" the believer. Eating the lamb is mirrored in the words Yahushua spoke at the last supper, which itself was a Passover meal..."this is my body.."
The purpose of Yom Kippur, then, would reasonably stand for a different set of circumstances relating to atonement and cleansing. Here is the description of the instructions to Israel which were to be performed for the Day of Atonement:
{3} 'Aharown shall come into the Sacred Place with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering and of a ram as a burnt offering.
{4} He shall put the sacred linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body. He shall be girded with a linen sash and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are sacred garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water and put them on.
{5} And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Yisra'el two kids of the goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.
{6} 'Aharown shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house.
{7} He shall take the two goats and present them before Yahuwah at the door of the tent of meeting.
{8} Then 'Aharown shall cast lots for the two goats. One lot for Yahuwah and the other lot for the scapegoat.
{9} And 'Aharown shall bring the goat on which Yahuwah's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering.
{10} But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before Yahuwah to make atonement upon it and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
{11} And 'Aharown shall bring the bull of the sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house and shall kill the bull as the sin offering that is for himself.
{12} Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before Yahuwah, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil.
{13} And he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahuwah that the cloud of incense may cover the cover that is on the testimony lest he die.
{14} He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the cover on the east side and before the cover he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
{15} Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the cover and before the cover.
{16} So he shall make atonement for the Sacred Place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Yisra'el and because of their transgressions, for all their sins, and so he shall do for the tent of meeting that remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
{17} There shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Sacred Place until he comes out that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Yisra'el.
{18} And he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahuwah 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} Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the sons of Yisra'el.
{20} And when he has made an end of atoning for the Sacred Place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.
{21} 'Aharown shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Yisra'el, and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
{22} The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
{23} Then 'Aharown shall come into the tent of meeting, shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Sacred Place, and shall leave them there.
{24} And he shall wash his body with water in a sacred place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.
{25} The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.
{26} And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward he may come into the camp.
{27} The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Sacred Place shall be carried outside the camp and they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal.
{28} Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward he may come into the camp.
{29} This shall be a statute forever for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. - Leviticus 16:3-29
The first action which is to be performed involves a bull. The bull is offered as a sacrifice for Aaron and for his own family personally. The second action involves casting lots for two goat kids. Here is where, upon close examination, the ritual becomes very strange. Lots are cast and one goat is selected randomly to be a slain sacrifice "for YHWH" to atone for the "uncleanness" of the children of Israel. The second goat is then designated as "for the scapegoat" according to KJV and most other English translations. This goat is to be let go alive into the wilderness after receiving upon its head all the "iniquities" of Israel.
The notion that both of these goats are sacrifices for moral transgression does not make a lot of sense. One is slain, the other released, but if the slain goat is sacrificed to atone for moral transgression, what then is the point of also loading those same sins onto a live goat which will depart into the wilderness? The first of these goats makes an atonement Because of the uncleanness of Israel, but the atonement is For the "holy place". ("So he shall make atonement for the Sacred Place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Yisra'el")
As the first goat is randomly selected by lot for a personal being, the Creator - YHWH, it follows, naturally that the second goat is also selected for a Person rather than the way it reads in English "for the scapegoat" as if the lot is selected for the goat. If the second goat is not designated as belonging to an individual we would expect the first to be described in like manner, such as " One lot for the goat to be slain to YHWH, and the other lot for the scapegoat". The incongruity of the English translation suggests that a name has been omitted here.
The word for scapegoat, given in Hebrew is "azazel"...the definition for which is given "goat of departure, scapegoat".. The claim of this definition is supposedly resting on the root words - "ez", a word which is used for a she-goat in the singular and "azal" - to disappear or depart. There is no question that the given root of the word azazel is flawed, and flawed in such a way that it's almost impossible to imagine it being an honest error. The word "ez" is not itself a root definition, but goes back to the word "az" which means, strong, powerful and fierce. The use of the word for a goat came from the goat's exhibiting of these traits. Furthermore, the word "azaz" which also derived from "az" and is clearly nearer the mark in reference to "azazel" means to harden oneself impudently or to be strong in opposition against. The suffix "el" is very common in Hebrew and is a word which literally means "Mighty One" and can both refer to YHWH Elohim or to an angel. Azazel, then, correctly translated to - One Who Is impudently hardened against YHWH.
Azazel is a being...one who has his fist scriptural mention in a book outside of canon:1 Enoch, and so it begins to make some sense as to why pains would be taken to eliminate a canonical reference to a name which only appears elsewhere in books rejected from canon.
"Moreover Azazel taught men to make swords, knives, shields, breastplates, the fabrication of mirrors, and the workmanship of bracelets and ornaments, the use of paint, the beautifying of the eyebrows, the use of stones of every valuable and select kind, and all sorts of dyes, so that the world became altered.Impiety increased; fornication multiplied; and they transgressed and corrupted all their ways." - 1 Enoch 8:1,2
Back to the first goat which was to be slain...the indication of the fact that the atonement took away some uncleanness from the children of Israel in order that they might not be an affront to YHWH in His holy place brings up the question what manner of uncleanness might this be that is different from the iniquities which are placed upon the goat to be sent away. Uncleanness here is the word "Tamah" which is to be contaminated or defiled. This word appears as used in numerous places to describe physical characteristics of uncleanliness. A Woman in her menstrual cycle for instance or someone who has a contagious disease in defined as "tamah". When it is understood that Yom Kippur, is in part, related to a fallen angel named Azazel who numbered among rebels which physically polluted the human gene pool, it is more clear what a physical uncleanness might be which needs some amendment, at least spiritually, before the congregation can come before the Holy Place.
The nation of Israel was meant to preserve a pure human stock which was not to me mingled with the hybrid multitudes of other nations. It still can not be expected that the congregation of Israel was Completely pure of intermingling..indeed we are told several times throughout scripture of the seed of Abraham taking to themselves wives from other nations. Yom Kippur is also a commandment to foreigners who live with Israel...in other words, that uncleanness which is assumed to be in some small part contaminating some of Israel is surely to be expected in a foreigner.
An offering "for Azazel" might strike believers as very, very unseemly business for the people of YHWH to be commanded to do. The implication that this goat is a sacrifice to a fallen angel has kept most believers from coming to terms with the meaning of Yom Kippur as it is stated in scripture. This is a misunderstanding though...the released goat is not meant as a gesture of worship or a sacrifice to the fallen angel..rather it is meant as a means to convey the penalty of the sin which is upon Israel to the fallen angel. In fact, the word which was used in English to replace Azazel's name - scapegoat, has, to this day preserved the true meaning of the ritual which was ironically hidden by the same word. Scapegoat now means to impart blame on a party other than the one who actually committed the transgression.
The very reason that such a ritual should exist goes back to a single, little known sentence which was spoken by YHWH to Enoch.
"All the earth has been corrupted by the effects of the teaching of Azazel. To him therefore write: All Sin.".- 1 Enoch 10:12
It was this curse placed upon Azazel which became the foundational reason for conveying the iniquities of Israel to him. Azazel was cursed to pay the penalty for all the sin of His people. Azazel, of course does not represent the atonement for which Messiah came. Azazel merely became the temporary object of YHWH's wrath for all that was done wrong by His people so that He could, instead of cursing them, bless them, until the Messiah came and forever removed the necessity for a "scapegoat".
It is further made evident that Azazel is the focus of the second selected goat on Yom Kippur in that the goat was taken out into the desert to be set free. The goat would not survive...it would surely die. We might assume it would die of thirst or starvation but Israel so feared that the animal would return to them and therefor bring back with it their iniquities that they often threw it into a canyon to ensure its death. It is told in 1 Enoch that the place they released the goat is also the place where YHWH sentenced Azazel to imprisonment beneath the Earth.
"Again the Lord said to Raphael, Bind Azazel hand and foot; cast him into darkness; and opening the desert which is in Dudael, cast him in there.
Throw upon him hurled and pointed stones, covering him with darkness;" - 1 Enoch 10:6,7
The blood of bulls and goats of course could never set sinners free eternally from the bonds of their sin...neither could visiting those sins on a fallen angel. Perfect Justice is not served in either way, as the life of animals does not equate to the life of a human being nor can a wicked angel be forced to carry the burden to any ultimate effect..himself having been a sinner who could not pay his own price. For sin to be Eradicated..it required nothing less than Yahushua, perfect and Almighty to be our Passover lamb.
The bondage with which Israel served in Egypt is not unlike the bondage of the whole of humanity under Satan and his power. The angel of death which was sent to smite the first born in Egypt is obviously counterpart to the fact that the wages of sin is death. The lamb's blood which is applied to the doorposts is a direct foreshadowing of the covering of the blood of Yahushua which causes the angel of death to "pass over" the believer. Eating the lamb is mirrored in the words Yahushua spoke at the last supper, which itself was a Passover meal..."this is my body.."
The purpose of Yom Kippur, then, would reasonably stand for a different set of circumstances relating to atonement and cleansing. Here is the description of the instructions to Israel which were to be performed for the Day of Atonement:
{3} 'Aharown shall come into the Sacred Place with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering and of a ram as a burnt offering.
{4} He shall put the sacred linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body. He shall be girded with a linen sash and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are sacred garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water and put them on.
{5} And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Yisra'el two kids of the goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.
{6} 'Aharown shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house.
{7} He shall take the two goats and present them before Yahuwah at the door of the tent of meeting.
{8} Then 'Aharown shall cast lots for the two goats. One lot for Yahuwah and the other lot for the scapegoat.
{9} And 'Aharown shall bring the goat on which Yahuwah's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering.
{10} But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before Yahuwah to make atonement upon it and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
{11} And 'Aharown shall bring the bull of the sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house and shall kill the bull as the sin offering that is for himself.
{12} Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before Yahuwah, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil.
{13} And he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahuwah that the cloud of incense may cover the cover that is on the testimony lest he die.
{14} He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the cover on the east side and before the cover he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
{15} Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the cover and before the cover.
{16} So he shall make atonement for the Sacred Place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Yisra'el and because of their transgressions, for all their sins, and so he shall do for the tent of meeting that remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
{17} There shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Sacred Place until he comes out that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Yisra'el.
{18} And he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahuwah 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} Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the sons of Yisra'el.
{20} And when he has made an end of atoning for the Sacred Place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.
{21} 'Aharown shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Yisra'el, and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
{22} The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
{23} Then 'Aharown shall come into the tent of meeting, shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Sacred Place, and shall leave them there.
{24} And he shall wash his body with water in a sacred place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.
{25} The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.
{26} And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward he may come into the camp.
{27} The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Sacred Place shall be carried outside the camp and they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal.
{28} Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward he may come into the camp.
{29} This shall be a statute forever for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. - Leviticus 16:3-29
The first action which is to be performed involves a bull. The bull is offered as a sacrifice for Aaron and for his own family personally. The second action involves casting lots for two goat kids. Here is where, upon close examination, the ritual becomes very strange. Lots are cast and one goat is selected randomly to be a slain sacrifice "for YHWH" to atone for the "uncleanness" of the children of Israel. The second goat is then designated as "for the scapegoat" according to KJV and most other English translations. This goat is to be let go alive into the wilderness after receiving upon its head all the "iniquities" of Israel.
The notion that both of these goats are sacrifices for moral transgression does not make a lot of sense. One is slain, the other released, but if the slain goat is sacrificed to atone for moral transgression, what then is the point of also loading those same sins onto a live goat which will depart into the wilderness? The first of these goats makes an atonement Because of the uncleanness of Israel, but the atonement is For the "holy place". ("So he shall make atonement for the Sacred Place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Yisra'el")
As the first goat is randomly selected by lot for a personal being, the Creator - YHWH, it follows, naturally that the second goat is also selected for a Person rather than the way it reads in English "for the scapegoat" as if the lot is selected for the goat. If the second goat is not designated as belonging to an individual we would expect the first to be described in like manner, such as " One lot for the goat to be slain to YHWH, and the other lot for the scapegoat". The incongruity of the English translation suggests that a name has been omitted here.
The word for scapegoat, given in Hebrew is "azazel"...the definition for which is given "goat of departure, scapegoat".. The claim of this definition is supposedly resting on the root words - "ez", a word which is used for a she-goat in the singular and "azal" - to disappear or depart. There is no question that the given root of the word azazel is flawed, and flawed in such a way that it's almost impossible to imagine it being an honest error. The word "ez" is not itself a root definition, but goes back to the word "az" which means, strong, powerful and fierce. The use of the word for a goat came from the goat's exhibiting of these traits. Furthermore, the word "azaz" which also derived from "az" and is clearly nearer the mark in reference to "azazel" means to harden oneself impudently or to be strong in opposition against. The suffix "el" is very common in Hebrew and is a word which literally means "Mighty One" and can both refer to YHWH Elohim or to an angel. Azazel, then, correctly translated to - One Who Is impudently hardened against YHWH.
Azazel is a being...one who has his fist scriptural mention in a book outside of canon:1 Enoch, and so it begins to make some sense as to why pains would be taken to eliminate a canonical reference to a name which only appears elsewhere in books rejected from canon.
"Moreover Azazel taught men to make swords, knives, shields, breastplates, the fabrication of mirrors, and the workmanship of bracelets and ornaments, the use of paint, the beautifying of the eyebrows, the use of stones of every valuable and select kind, and all sorts of dyes, so that the world became altered.Impiety increased; fornication multiplied; and they transgressed and corrupted all their ways." - 1 Enoch 8:1,2
Back to the first goat which was to be slain...the indication of the fact that the atonement took away some uncleanness from the children of Israel in order that they might not be an affront to YHWH in His holy place brings up the question what manner of uncleanness might this be that is different from the iniquities which are placed upon the goat to be sent away. Uncleanness here is the word "Tamah" which is to be contaminated or defiled. This word appears as used in numerous places to describe physical characteristics of uncleanliness. A Woman in her menstrual cycle for instance or someone who has a contagious disease in defined as "tamah". When it is understood that Yom Kippur, is in part, related to a fallen angel named Azazel who numbered among rebels which physically polluted the human gene pool, it is more clear what a physical uncleanness might be which needs some amendment, at least spiritually, before the congregation can come before the Holy Place.
The nation of Israel was meant to preserve a pure human stock which was not to me mingled with the hybrid multitudes of other nations. It still can not be expected that the congregation of Israel was Completely pure of intermingling..indeed we are told several times throughout scripture of the seed of Abraham taking to themselves wives from other nations. Yom Kippur is also a commandment to foreigners who live with Israel...in other words, that uncleanness which is assumed to be in some small part contaminating some of Israel is surely to be expected in a foreigner.
An offering "for Azazel" might strike believers as very, very unseemly business for the people of YHWH to be commanded to do. The implication that this goat is a sacrifice to a fallen angel has kept most believers from coming to terms with the meaning of Yom Kippur as it is stated in scripture. This is a misunderstanding though...the released goat is not meant as a gesture of worship or a sacrifice to the fallen angel..rather it is meant as a means to convey the penalty of the sin which is upon Israel to the fallen angel. In fact, the word which was used in English to replace Azazel's name - scapegoat, has, to this day preserved the true meaning of the ritual which was ironically hidden by the same word. Scapegoat now means to impart blame on a party other than the one who actually committed the transgression.
The very reason that such a ritual should exist goes back to a single, little known sentence which was spoken by YHWH to Enoch.
"All the earth has been corrupted by the effects of the teaching of Azazel. To him therefore write: All Sin.".- 1 Enoch 10:12
It was this curse placed upon Azazel which became the foundational reason for conveying the iniquities of Israel to him. Azazel was cursed to pay the penalty for all the sin of His people. Azazel, of course does not represent the atonement for which Messiah came. Azazel merely became the temporary object of YHWH's wrath for all that was done wrong by His people so that He could, instead of cursing them, bless them, until the Messiah came and forever removed the necessity for a "scapegoat".
It is further made evident that Azazel is the focus of the second selected goat on Yom Kippur in that the goat was taken out into the desert to be set free. The goat would not survive...it would surely die. We might assume it would die of thirst or starvation but Israel so feared that the animal would return to them and therefor bring back with it their iniquities that they often threw it into a canyon to ensure its death. It is told in 1 Enoch that the place they released the goat is also the place where YHWH sentenced Azazel to imprisonment beneath the Earth.
"Again the Lord said to Raphael, Bind Azazel hand and foot; cast him into darkness; and opening the desert which is in Dudael, cast him in there.
Throw upon him hurled and pointed stones, covering him with darkness;" - 1 Enoch 10:6,7
The blood of bulls and goats of course could never set sinners free eternally from the bonds of their sin...neither could visiting those sins on a fallen angel. Perfect Justice is not served in either way, as the life of animals does not equate to the life of a human being nor can a wicked angel be forced to carry the burden to any ultimate effect..himself having been a sinner who could not pay his own price. For sin to be Eradicated..it required nothing less than Yahushua, perfect and Almighty to be our Passover lamb.
Views: 14
© 2024 Created by Cyprium.
Powered by
