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Keys to not accepting the false doctrines of those who have an agenda
Fred R. Coulter—October 21, 2017
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Welcome, everyone, to Sabbath services! If you liked the Feast and how good it was, then look forward to the thousand years and how great that will be. That's going to be quite a wonderful thing, and we're the ones preparing for it. We have to prepare in the way that we need to, and grow, change and overcome every single day.
What this year is going to bring? Who knows? You look at the world and all the trouble going on, and like I said, you just start at the International Dateline and go west; everywhere there is trouble, difficulty and problems.
- the good news is Christ is going to straighten it out
- the bad news is that it's only going to get worse
- the good news is that if we stay close to God, we'll endure
- the bad news is that some won't
At several Feast sites it came up that different churches are questioning—not only questioning but changing—the doctrine of Lev. 16 concerning the two goats: one for the Lord and one for Azazel. These things come and cycle around, so here we go again.
What is the key to not accepting false doctrine? There are many keys, but here is the basic key:
1-Timothy 6:3: "If anyone teaches any different doctrine… [any doctrine] …and does not adhere to sound words, even those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine… [a teaching] …that is according to Godliness, he is proud and knows nothing. Rather, he has a morbid attraction to questions and disputes over words, from which come envy, arguments, blasphemy, wicked suspicions, vain reasonings of men who have been corrupted in their minds and are destitute of the Truth—men who believe that gain is Godliness. From such withdraw yourself" (vs 3-5).
What are the most important words of Christ that summarizes everything, Old Testament and New Testament? Many shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!
- What else do we need to do with doctrine?
- What did Paul say? Prove all things! (1-Thess.)
Put those together. The words of Christ are the most important: live by every word of God!
What do we have from the Old Testament? Two verses about understanding the end-times! One verse understanding at any time, the next verse understanding in the end-times.
Psalm 111:10: "…a good understanding have all those who do His commandments…." Every word of God!
Daniel—At the time of the end many will go to and fro and knowledge will increase; the wicked shall do wickedly, but the wise shall understand.
You put those all together and we find a very interesting combination that is also true. Isa. and Rev. tell you 'the testimony and the Law' both.
- What does it say about the saints? Here is the patience of the saints who have the faith of Jesus and keep the commandments of God!
- Who has the right to the Tree of Life? Those who keep the commandments!
- How many false prophets did Jesus say would come along? Many!
When the times get tougher and tougher, there are going to be more, and they're going to say, 'Christ is in the desert, Christ is the secret chamber.' Don't believe it! He's going to come like the burst of the sun!
Lots of times we think that the first century church was pristine.
- What was the first emergency with the 12 apostles? A false doctrine!
- Where was that? Samaria; Simon Magus!
- What happened to Paul in Asia? He wrote to Timothy that all the churches in Asia had forsaken him!
The Truth is hard to hold onto unless you exercise yourself to Truth all the time!
Right after the Feast, because we had so many services, we said, 'Sabbath we'll take some time off and not have Sabbath services.' Well, if you didn't have Sabbath services for a month, I guarantee that you will stop sneaking things in on the Sabbath and begin to break it. It will happen!
What happens when ministers do not study and reinforce the Truth continually? Something will come along that will sound blessedly true, but is not! Isn't that interesting how that happens?
What we're going to do first—before we get to Lev. 16—is examine some very major things in the Bible about Satan the devil. Is he a key, as we would say in the world today, player in the whole plan of God? Yes!
If—which is true—the Sabbath and Holy Days reveal the plan of God, and if it does not tell us what God is going to do with Satan, or we don't understand what God is going to do, or we misunderstand some teaching and not correct it, what then sets in? A little leaven leavens the whole lump! All of those things are true.
Let's talk about Satan and look at some of the things that he is called in the Bible. What is the chapter that tells us the magnitude of Lucifer's rebellion?
- Ezek. 28 tells us how it started: vanity, lust and infatuated with his own beauty.
- Isa. 14 is next, and because of that he said, 'I'll ascend to heaven and I will become like the Most High.'
What comes next?
- Rev. 12—the woman with the stars that pictures New Jerusalem and the final plan of God. It also pictures the Church and, in the person Mary, the mother of Christ. Three different interpretations within one chapter.
- How do we know that? Because you can't apply it to one in all three circumstances!
- How do we know that? By the rest of the Bible!
- What does Isa. 28 tell us about studying?
- Where do we find doctrine?
- New beginners coming into the Church and telling us about new doctrine? NO!
They have to be 'drawn from the breast' (Isa. 28). In other words, they have to have firm the fundamentals, then they may begin to teach what is doctrine.
- How is it taught? Precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, line upon line, and so forth!
- What did Paul tell Timothy to do in 2-Timothy 2:15? Diligently study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of the Truth."
Look at all of those things that are necessary to fight against those who would bring in different doctrines. Satan is called the god of this world! or this age!
- Does he want to be worshipped?
- Who did he ask to worship him? Jesus!
- What would be the reward? All the kingdoms of the world!
That gives us a key! How do we know who really worships Satan directly? All of the rich of the world! And we could add today, they all go to Davos, Switzerland, every year. What else is Satan called? An angel of light! He is:
- rebellious
- vain
- 'a liar from the beginning'
Remember what they said about Bill Clinton? Slick Willy! He's nothing compared to Satan!
- false christ
- antichrist
- deceiver
- prince of the power of the air who has spiritual power
Since we've already seen that Satan said that if Christ would worship him, 'he would give Him all the kingdoms of the world.' If you're praying to a false christ, and Satan is behind the false christ, and if you're in his church with false ministers… They may be sincere, but remember that sincerity is no test of Truth. Truth is truth.
How many people are conned out of their money? Watch CNBC; people are taken for hundreds of thousands, even millions and billions of dollars, and they believe the person because he was sincere and nice. That's not the key.
We're going to ask a question concerning Satan, and we need to realize that, yes, he can do it.
Ephesians 2:1: "Now, you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you walked in times past according to the course of this world…" (vs 1-2)—just living in the society at any time in history, and you're in the world knowing nothing about God.
- you may be sincere
- you may be good
- you may be evil
- you may be a barbarian
- you may be highly intellectual
- you may be a philosopher
But you're in the world, of the world!
"…according to the prince of the power of the air…" (v 2). Who keeps the world deceived all the time? Satan! Today, he has many helpers; most of them technological and digital.
"…the spirit that is now working within… [Greek means inner working] …the children of disobedience" (v 2). He has an effect.
Are some possessed of demons? A lot of them! What kind of demons do you have?
- religious demons
- murderous demons
- sex demons
- intellectual demons
And you have false Christians!
Satan also has those who work for him, direct agents of Satan the devil. Now we have statues to Satan in various cities, and churches of Satan. Never heard of a hundred years ago, but look at the moral decline that we have had for the last hundred years.
- Is Satan able to influence people?
- Is Satan able to make people do what he wants?
- Yes, indeed!
If people are praying to a false god or idol, and there's a demon spirit behind it, and their prayer comes to pass, the questions become:
- Is Satan able to answer prayer? Yes!
- Does he control the whole world? Yes!
- Is it all deceived? Yes!
- Who are the only ones who are not completely deceived?
There are some people who are partially deceived, but partial deception is good enough to keep you from God! They're good and sincere people—thousands and thousands across the world—wanting to do right, upright and honest, and would help do a lot of things for you, but lo and behold and here comes Halloween and they're all in. Christmas and they're all in. Easter and New Years, and all of that, also.
So, all of the 'Christian' churches today that have part of the Truth, and who are all in on all of the holidays of Satan… One of the satanist wrote concerning Halloween and kids going out 'trick or treating,' said, 'I'm happy to see those who are Christians in the world let their children celebrate our high sabbath of Halloween.'
Ephesians 2:1: "Now, you were dead in trespasses and sins." What does Halloween celebrate, and the day after? Death! You start with death! So, Satan is much more powerful than people have made out. He is 'the prince of the power of the air,' the seducer.
One of the arguments for Lev. 16 is that God would never have a goat that represented Satan come to His temple. The people questioning said, 'the Holy of Holies.' That is wrong, because the goat never went into the Holy of Holies.
- Was Satan at the last Passover of Jesus? Yes, he was!
- Possessing who? Judas Iscariot!
That's as close to the Holy of Holies as you can get!
Did Peter have an attitude of Satan the devil? Yes, he did! Shortly after Jesus asked: 'Who do you say the Son of man is?' Some of the apostles answered: some say a prophet, some Jeremiah… 'But who do you say I am?' Peter said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!' Jesus said, 'That's a great thought, Peter. I'm glad you had that; you've got a good brain.' NO! Jesus said, 'Blessed are you Simon, the son of Bar Jonah, because the Father has revealed that to you.'
A few verses later, Jesus is telling them that 'we're all going up to Jerusalem and he high priest and the Pharisees and the elders are all going to have Me arrested and kill Me, but I will be raised the third day.'
- What did Peter do? He went over to Jesus and took Him by the arm and said, 'Lord, that won't happen; God will be good to You.'
- What did Jesus say? Get behind Me, Satan!
- Can Satan cause thoughts to come into people's heads? Yes!
- Can demons do that? Yes!
- Can they reinforce it with all of our modern technological things of music, entertainment and computers? Yes!
So, the enemy out there is real! In the plan of God, is God going to overlook that? No!
When Satan is 'accusing us day and night,' where do those accusations go? Before the throne of God! He has access to God!
Job 1 tells about Job and how righteous he was. He had his possessions and so forth, and the days of the feasting with his sons.
Job 1:5: "And when the days of feasting were concluded, Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job continually did so."
You might say, 'That's a wonderful thing to do.' That may be true, but who is responsible for their sins? They are! Job thought that he was going to save them because of what he was doing.
Verse 6: "Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. And Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' Then Satan answered the LORD and said, 'From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it'" (vs 6-7).
- Doing what?
- What's he looking for?
- Anyone he can devour (1-Peter 5)!
Verse 8: "And the LORD said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil?' And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'Does Job fear God for nothing?'" (vs 8-9). In other words, Job is only doing it for the benefit!
Verse 10: "Have You not made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land."
Look at all of that! Wouldn't anyone be upright and perfect in circumstances like that? God knew Job's heart! Job thought that he was as good as God. Satan couldn't detect that. So, what did God do.
Verse 11—Satan continued saying: "'But put forth Your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.' And the LORD said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only do not lay your hand upon him.' And Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD" (vs 11-12).
Even all the evil that is done, Satan has to have permission to do it. What happened? Job lost his sons and daughters, fire came down out of heaven! That was not from God.
Where do you suppose fire is going to come down from heaven in Rev. 13? From Satan! But people will look at that and say that that is 'just like Elijah in his day. The pope must be right!' Can you imagine how people would flock to the pope if he could do miracles and call fire down from heaven? They would be ecstatic! Then Job's servants came and saw that he had lost everything. Here's what Job did:
Verse 20: "And Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there…. [back to the grave] …The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.'" (vs 20-21).
Job 2:3—again, Satan comes around and God says: " And the LORD said unto Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil? And still he is holding fast to his integrity…'"
Verse 4: "And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has he will give for his life. But indeed put forth Your hand now…'" (vs 4-5). Isn't it interesting that Satan said that permission from God is as good as God doing it.
"'…and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse You to Your face.' And the LORD said to Satan, 'Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life'" (vs 5-6).
How many times does this occur with how many things down through the history of time? We don't know, but God uses it for correction and trial so that God knows how deeply we really believe!
Look what happened when there was trouble in the Church. All the glad-handlers left! Those who stuck with the Truth have survived. What did Jesus say in Matt. 24? This is where we are today. We see all of these things, but remember the first thing Jesus said: beware of false prophets! He also said that in Matt. 7—beware of the false prophet that come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves, because they have another agenda. Sometimes they won't tell you what that agenda is for years, until they get the person they want in the right position to take them down. That's why the most important thing in our lives every day is prayer and study.
Matthew 24:7: "For nation shall rise against nation…"—'ethnos' against 'ethnos'; race against race. These things have come in cycles, that's true without a doubt, but there's going to be the last cycle and we will probably be in the last cycle.
"…and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places" (v 7). This sounds like today's news!
Verse 8: "Now, all these things are the beginning of sorrows." Hang on, He says that it's going to get worse.
Verse 9: "Then shall they deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all nations for My name's sake." I think that if Hillary would have become president, this would have been coming along real quick.
Verse 10: "And then shall many be led into sin…" I want to stop right here and ask: If people are led into sin, how many people are sinning? Two! One is doing the leading and the one who is sinning.
Let's apply that to Satan. If he tempts people and they sin, they're responsible for their sin, but who is responsible for the temptation? Satan!
We'll jump ahead just a little bit. Even in criminal law they have the primary suspect and the accomplice. The primary suspect gets the stiffer sentence. The accomplice—depending on their attitude—gets a lesser sentence, probation or allowed to go free, provided that they don't get in trouble.
Let's go back to the days of Abraham (Gen. 19). God and the two angels were going down to see if the cry of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was as desperate as was coming up to God. It shows that God doesn't do anything unless He checks it out first.
Abraham knew that his nephew was there—Lot, his wife, daughters and sons—living in Sodom. Abraham is thinking, 'Lord, 50?' I won't do it! 45? Won't do it! And Lot is figuring in his mind ten. 35? No! 30? No! 25? No! 20? No! 10? No! So, the two angels came to check out what was happening in Sodom. All the men of Sodom thought 'new men, let's get them.' So they went to beat down the door of Lot's house where he had taken them in. The angels caused the men to be blind so that nothing happened.
There were only four who left: Lot, his wife and two daughters. Who was killed when the fire came down? Just the homosexuals and those who weren't homosexuals? No! Sodom and Gomorrah and two other towns—four towns altogether.
- Why did God destroy all four when the major ones were in Sodom?
- Why not just Sodom?
- Why exterminate the other three?
Gomorrah was probably not strictly homosexual. But everything else that was going on. The other two towns:
- Were they standing up for God?
- Were they enforcing the Truth?
- No!
They were enablers! They were guilty and sinners because they didn't stop it! What happened to them? When there is sin and there are enablers, you have two who are guilty led into sin.
"…and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another; and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many" (vs 10-11). That's where we are! They are everywhere!
Verse 12: "And because lawlessness shall be multiplied, the love of many shall grow cold." Do we have that right now? Lawlessness everywhere! They're now just finding out how absolutely lawless that the whole Democrat Party, the whole Obama presidency and every one of the elite are. It could only take one man like Donald Trump who has been isolated his whole life from all of that elite thing to know what's going on, and he's attempting to take care of it.
If God gives Trump the strength to do it, it will clear the mess up for a while. But instead of just draining the swamp, it's like, instead of a cesspool, a dam that has behind it all the flushings, toilets, dead bodies and everything behind it. You've got to clean it out! The only way you clean it out is to blow it up.
If anyone thinks the Democrats are blameless… Is Trump an angel? No! But at least he's admitted his sins and repented of them! That's more than any of them. We can be thankful that he is there. If it gives us a little peace for preaching the Gospel for a while, that's good, because of what's said here that's going to happen.
Verse 13 is our responsibility and no one else is going to do it for us; you can't come in on the coattails of anyone else. You can't say that the preacher told you. You can't say that you read it in a commentary. You can't say you were tempted. Maybe you were. But your responsible for the action, and God will take care of the tempter, regardless of what it is.
Verse 13: "But the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved."
Reverse that; if you don't endure to the end, you will not be saved. Jesus said, 'The one who sets his hand to the plow is not to look back.'
I'm going through these things so that we can understand that this is a major thing that has happened in some of the Churches of God to change the doctrine concerning the two goats. The reason that they have—though they may be appearing to be doing quite well—is that they haven't studied to the point where they know how to refute those kinds of things. That becomes their sin!
So, whenever something comes along, prove it! Rightly divide it! You look at the whole Bible from Gen. to Rev.
(go to the next track)
Psalm 92:7: "When the wicked spring forth as the grass… [everywhere] …and when all the workers of iniquity blossom, it is that they shall be destroyed forever."
Matthew 24:13: "But the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved…. [here's what needs to be done]: …And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come" (vs 13-14).
- What is the final witness? The two witnesses in Jerusalem!
- What is the final witness to all nations? The first angel of the three angels of Rev. 14! They proclaim it from the heavens!
The return of Christ is the biggest thing in all the Bible. It's going to be a fantastic thing. Stop and think about this:
Does God hold people responsible if they have a Bible? If they read it or not, they're still responsible! Think about all the Bibles that there are in the world; now nearly 2-billion digital Bibles. Why that one book? Unless that is a warning, because what is the Bible? The Gospel! It also has to be preached, so God is going to give many, many, many warnings.
Let's take another look at Adam and Eve, and the serpent. We are not told how long. We can make guesses as to how long it was—a week, a year, three years; we don't know. Remember, the serpent—Satan the devil—is the liar. Many lies sound blessedly true, because when they're given to you, it comes with a benefit.
It's like this one man who heard a voice that said, 'You want to make some money?' Yeah, I want to make some money. 'Okay, bet on a horse at this racetrack.' He won! Odds were terrific and he made a lot of money. Then he said, 'Bet on this baseball game.' He won! 'Bet on this football game.' He won! He was thinking that this was really good, 'I like this.'
Wouldn't you, with all that money coming in? You would think that this is good. But remember, there's always a string attached. So, the voice again said, 'Bet on this event over here, this 500 mile Indianapolis race.' So, he bet it on it. Took all of his money and figured that he was really going to cash in. He lost! He asked the voice, 'Where are you?' I'm here! 'What happened?' Well, you can' win them all! Isn't that the way it is with Satan? Exactly!
So, we don't know how long Adam and Eve were in the garden with God. The Garden of Eden was a wonderful place, couldn't be any better. God created it and everything was great. But He told them that this one tree in the middle of the garden you cannot eat: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil! You eat thereof, in dying you're surely going to die.
- How long were they there?
- How many times did they walk past it and look at it?
- It was a very beautiful tree!
- It had fruit on it!
- How long did they walk past it and wonder?
- 'I wonder why God said not to eat of that tree. But He did say that we could eat of every other tree. Why not this tree? Look at how good it looks. I wonder what that fruit tastes like.'
I wonder if Adam and Eve talked about it! I wonder how many times they passed by that and wondered. Wouldn't you? So, now comes Satan. God had to know which way they would go, so He used Satan—the liar, the rebel, the destroyer—to come and see if they would really love God and keep His commandments.
That's the whole thing that applies to us. We'll have many different trials down through our lives. Will we obey God or not?
Genesis 3:1: "Now, the serpent was more cunning than any creature of the field…" We will see that this doctrine of the two goats is very clever the way it's presented. So, this is a trial over the two goats:
- Do you really love the Truth of God or not?
- Are you willing to prove and re-prove things or not?
"…which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Is it true that God has said, "You shall not eat of any tree of the garden"?'" (v 1)—the bait! So, if you have someone tell you something wrong, or a lie, you've got to correct them!
Verse 2: "And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may freely eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has indeed said, "You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die."'" (vs 2-3).
A lot of people like to say, 'Well, she added to what God said.' NO! Maybe that was later instruction!
- How many times did God instruct them?
- How long were they there?
Verse 4: "And the serpent said to the woman, 'In dying, you shall not surely die! For God knows…'" God is the One Who is the problem; I'm here to help you solve the problem. Sounds like Washington, D.C. 'We're here to help you solve the problem.' Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't!
"…that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like God, deciding good and evil" (v 4).
- Don't you want that?
- Don't you want to really increase your intelligence?
- What is one thing that appeals to a lot of people?
Remember what they had for years: make your child smart; even when they're little babies hold up the alphabet and flash it before them and they'll be smarter!
- How many people want to be smarter? Better have the right smarts!
Satan says, 'God is a villain; He's not telling you everything.' Isn't that what the Protestants say? God is a villain because 'the Law is a curse and you don't have to keep it.' But Jesus said that 'the way is difficult and the way is hard.'
You might ask the Protestants: Why does it say in 1-Peter 4 that it is with great difficult that the righteous shall be saved'? Why is that? Because:
- living in an evil world is difficult
- fighting human nature is difficult
- fighting Satan the devil is difficult
That's why the Church of the Firstborn is always going to be at a level above everybody else. The patriarchs and those who came before us will be in a level above us.
The devil probably also said, 'Look, you can decide for yourself.' Isn't that the thing that most people are told?
Verse 6: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise…" Aren't those all good benefits? Yes!
- Do you want to be stupid? No!
- Do you want to be blind? No!
- Do you want to be like God? Yes!
'We'll make up our own minds; God won't tell us anything to do.'
"…she took of its fruit and ate…. [apparently, Adam was right there with her] …She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
We find that the husband has the right to annul the vow of his wife or daughter when he hears of it. So, if we take that principle and apply it here, when Adam was watching her, he could have told her, 'Don't get near the tree.' When she was reaching up to pick it, he could have said, 'Eve, throw that down!' But he was sitting there watching, and I wonder if is he was thinking: Is anything going to happen to her? They didn't know what death was! Nothing happened to her. She took a bite and she didn't fall down unconscious. She said, 'Here, Adam, this tastes pretty good.' Up to that point, Adam could have stopped the whole thing, but he didn't. They both ate!
Verse 7: "And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked…" The only thing that they could see was evil in things that are not necessarily evil, and see good in evil things that are not necessarily good. Sounds like the way we think!
You know the rest of the story, God found them and said, 'What have you done? Have you eaten the fruit of the tree?' Adam said, 'It's Your fault, You gave me this woman.' The woman said, 'Oh no! this serpent was so smooth-talking, I believed him.'
- Who did God correct?
- Adam alone?
- Eve alone?
- Satan alone?
All three!
- What is God going to do since Satan is involved from Genesis to Revelation?
- Does Satan have a part in the sin of mankind? Yes!
- Is Satan responsible for it? Yes!
Those who sin under the influence:
- Are they responsible for not resisting? Yes!
That becomes the whole core of answering Lev. 26. Not only is the sinner responsible for his sins, but the tempter is responsible for his sin of tempting.
It's just like with narcotics. If someone says, 'Here, take this.' You have a choice to say yes or no. if you take it, you have sinned and the one who gave it to you has sinned.
Let's look at this. There are some very interesting things with this that we need to understand. We will also have to understand why this is different from the Passover. They try and equate it to the Passover.
- Why is it different from the Passover?
- Who was spared during the Passover?
- Only the firstborn, the other people weren't affected!
Passover is for the individual. 'God gave His only begotten Son that whosoever—individual—believes on Him may no perish, but may have everlasting life'—individual! We're going to see that Deut. 16 is for the nation of Israel, a whole different set of circumstances.
Leviticus 16:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD and they died."
God intended that the fire would ever be burning and God is the One Who sent the fire from Himself, and it was to be ever-burning fire from God; they were to keep it burning all the time. But they let it go out and put strange fire and they died! So, it's important that things are done right!
Verse 2: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Speak to Aaron your brother, that he does not come at all times into the sanctuary within the veil before the mercy seat, which is on the ark, so that he does not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.'"
So, Aaron could only go in there once a year on the Day of Atonement. Now let's see what he was to do and what it was with the two goats.
Verse 3: "Aaron shall come into the sanctuary this way: with a young bull, for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering." He wasn't to bring the bull in, but the blood.
Verse 4: "He shall put on the Holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches on his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen miter he shall be dressed. These are Holy garments. And he shall wash his flesh in water and put them on."
Everett Fox The Schocken Bible: The Five Books of Moses says in v 5 that the two kid goats were 'two hairy goats.'
Verse 5: And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering." Notice that it doesn't say that these two goats were to be 'without blemish.' That's important. Everything else—all the other sacrifices—were to be without blemish. These were not special lambs, specially raised for like the daily offerings, or the Holy Day offerings.
He was to take two goats, nearly identical, from the children of Israel. We will see that neither of the goats came into the area of the temple, or the tabernacle where the Holy of Holies was. It was in front, and that becomes important.
Verse 6: "And Aaron shall offer his young bull of the sin offering which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself and for his house. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats; one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel" (vs 6-8).
Azazel means another name for Satan, and also means to the land of destruction. The wilderness is referred to as a very despicable place.
If they say that this goat carries our sins up to heaven, is heaven ever referred to as a wilderness or a despicable place? Never!
- Why would Aaron cast lots on the two goats?
- If both were for Christ, why cast lots?
- Where is the other place where we find casting lots? Acts 1! They chose two—Joseph and Mathias!
- Why did they cast lots?
- Why didn't they just appoint one or the other? They didn't have the authority to do so!
- Who chose the original apostles? Jesus Himself! That was a choice of God!
When you cast lots, you have a choice, and each choice is different. What was to happen to the one chosen for the Lord? That was to be offered as a sin offering!
Verse 9: "And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer it for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement upon it… [not with it] …and sent away into the wilderness for Azazel" (vs 9-10).
When Aaron brings the goat, v 15: "Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people… [the whole nation] …and bring its blood inside the veil. And he shall do with that blood as he did with the blood of the young bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement for the sanctuary because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins…." (vs 15-16). Remember about the accomplice.
- Who is the great accomplice in the world? Satan the devil!
- Can you exclude him?
- Doesn't something have to happen to him?
- What is the judgment going to be upon him?
This is the only offering that is brought before God, which is not slain but left alive. That can only involve one thing. Satan is a spirit being and he cannot die.
If they have all their sins forgiven, "…he shall make an atonement for the sanctuary because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel… [all the Israelites] …and because of their transgressions in all their sins…"
Whatever each person, all the whole congregation is responsible for, all those sins are covered with this sin offering. If you have your sins forgiven, are they forgiven? Yes!
Here are two things that they bring up {in the papers mentioned at the beginning of this message}:
John 1:29: "…Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world."
Verse 36[transcriber's correction]: "…Behold the Lamb of God!" Was this—in Lev. 16—a lamb? or a goat? A goat!
They say it takes away the sins of the world. That means it's put on the other goat and carried into the wilderness! How is sin forgiven? They can't say that's removing them as far as the east is from the west, because the wilderness is due south!
What forgives sin?
Hebrews 9:7: "But the high priest enters alone into the second tabernacle once a year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins that the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit signifying this: that the way of the Holiest has not yet been made manifest, while the first tabernacle is still standing; which is a symbol for the present time, in which both gifts and sacrifices are being offered that are not able to perfect the one performing the service, as pertaining to the conscience" (vs 7-9)—then it lists all of them.
Verse 11: "But Christ Himself has become High Priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by human hands (that is, not of this present physical creation). Not by the blood of goats and calves, but by the means of His own blood…" (vs 11-12).
All the blood brought into the sanctuary by the high priest was a type of the blood of Christ.
"…He entered once for all into the Holiest, having by Himself secured everlasting redemption for us. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who aredefiled, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, to a far greater degree, the blood of Christ…" (vs 12-14). Only the blood brings forgiveness and remission; when sins are forgiven, they're forgiven!
"…Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, shall purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. And for this reason He is the Mediator of the New Covenant: in order that through His death, which took place for the release of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant…" (vs 14-15).
Remember, once a year all the sins were forgiven. They were forgiven to the temple or tabernacle, not in heaven above. That's why we have the second resurrection.
"…those who have been called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance" (v 15).
Verse 19: "…he took the blood of calves and goats…"—the first covenant.
Verse 20: "Saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant… [second covenant] …that God has ordained for you.' And in the same manner, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle, too, and all the vessels of service. Now, almost all things are purified with blood according to the priestly law, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins" (vs 20-22).
Animal sacrifice under the first covenant; the shed blood of Jesus Christ under the New Covenant! It is the blood that forgives.
- What about the sins through ignorance? They didn't have the Bible like we have today!
- Did the parents teach their children? No, they didn't! Most of them were ignorant of the Law most of the time!
- How come they got into false worship all the time?
Just like today:
- How many educated ignorant people do we have? Lots of them!
Since this was for all the people, the whole nation, it was in ignorance. "…without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins."
Verse 23: "Therefore, it was indeed obligatory for the patterns of the heavenly things to be purified with the blood of these animals, but the things in heaven themselves with superior sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered into the Holy places made by human hands, which are mere copies of the true; rather, He has entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself many times, even as the high priest enters into the Holy of Holies year by year with the blood of others; for then it would have been necessary for Him to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now, once and for all, in the consummation of the ages, He has been manifested for the purpose of removing sin through His sacrifice of Himself" (vs 23-26.
Leviticus 16:18: "And he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make an atonement for it. And he shall take of the blood of the young bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. And he shall sprinkle of the blood on it with his finger…" (vs 18-19).
Verse 20: "And when he has made an end of reconciling the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat"—right to where the altar is, not the inner part.
This live goat pictures Azazel; it does not picture Christ! Christ is never called 'Azazel.'
Verse 21: "And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the sins of the children of Israel…" They are already forgiven. Who is the accomplice? The unseen hand that does all of the tempting: Satan the devil! That's why the live goat pictures Satan!
Is he responsible for all human sin? Let's take it back to Adam and Eve. What is the sin of the world? It doesn't say that Jesus came to take away the sins of the world. I says, 'the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world.' Why is it singular and not plural? Because we all have the law of sin and death within us, which is the result of the sin of Adam! So, it goes all the way back to Adam.
- How do we get the law of sin and death? We're born with it!
- How did we get it? From our parents!
- Where did they get it from? From their parents!
When we sin and repent, God forgives us! But Satan has never repented, and he is responsible for all the sins that he has perpetrated on the world. What caused Adam and Eve to receive 'the law of sin and death'? Their sin by listening to Satan!
Let's see something concerning Babylon the Great, which reaches back and reaches forward—both. Babylon the Great here pictures all the sins currently and all the sins going way back:
Revelation 18:24: "And in her the blood of prophets and saints was found, and the blood of all those who were slain on the earth." Who was the first one slain? Abel! That's Satan's system. The reason that judgment is this way is because it's Satan's system.
So, when Aaron confesses, Leviticus 16:21: "…and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat…"
What is happening is that God is putting upon Satan the sins of his responsibility in causing the children of Israel to sin.
Is this the only offering in which the sin is put on the animal? Yes! The shedding of Christ's blood was because He was the Perfect Sacrifice to cover all the sins. All other sacrifices, when the blood is shed and is brought into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement… Or in the case of severe sin it's not brought in there, but it is forgiven at the altar. This is the only one where sins are laid upon the animal but is not sacrificed.
Other ones, when you bring a voluntary offering, you're to lay your hand on it, or you're to lay your hand on the head of the animal for your sin, but then the animal is offered.
This one was not offered; why? Because the forgiveness of sin and all their transgressions has all ready been covered by the blood of the first goat! Here we have the one who is responsible, who cannot become a sacrifice, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ does not cover the sins of Satan. He has no forgiveness!
So, if the sins have already been forgiven through the sacrifice of the blood in the tabernacle of the Holy of Holies, then this has to be for the accomplice in our sins, the spiritual accomplice that cannot die!
"…and shall send it away by the hand of a chosen man into the wilderness" (v 21)—the place of loathing.
Nowhere does it ever say that Christ takes upon Him the sins of Satan! Why? Because there has never been one modicum of repentance! He bears his own sins and all the sins he is responsible for. That's why when Christ returns:
- What's the first thing to do for the whole world? Get rid of Satan!
- What's the best way to depict the abyss? A wilderness!
- How else can you do it?
And let go!
It says in the King James—Heb. 2—that God is going to destroy the devil. NO! That's a wrong translation. He's going to annul the works of the devil, not destroy him, which by the way, will be the second doctrine to follow this one up.
What happens to Satan? At the end of the Millennium he is cast into the Lake of Fire! It says that he is going to be tormented day and night forever. He's going to bear all the sins of everything:
- all the sins that he caused upon the angels that went with him
- all the sins of all mankind down through time
After the Lake of Fire has consumed the earth, then where is he sent to be tormented day and night forever? The blackest darkness (book of Jude)!
Why would God do that? People say that if God is a God of love why won't He exterminate Satan?
- Satan is a spirit being and lives forever
- God wants this to be in the blackest darkness of wherever it is in the universe forever, for all:
- the sons of God
- the daughters of God
- the nations of God
- the righteous angels
- never rebel
- never sin
That's why the goat is released and full of uncleanness, because the man who takes the goat out there, the strong man—a type of the angel (Rev. 20)—has to wash his clothes, bathe himself from head to toe.
This is not taking them to heaven. Jesus didn't bear our sins to heaven, they were forgiven on the earth. The acceptance was in heaven.
All sin offerings were taken out to the Miphkad Altar and burned outside the camp. This is another proof that the live goat was not Christ; could not be Christ!
Since the Bible has Satan in the beginning, in the middle and at the end, the Day of Atonement pictures when his judgment is coming and what it will be. It will not be his destruction, but it will be his everlasting torment!
I hope this answers the question, but generally speaking—through the cycles of heresies—it will arise once again!
Scriptural References:
- 1 Timothy 6:3-5
- Psalm 111:10
- 2 Timothy 2:15
- Ephesians 2:1-2
- Job 1:5-12, 20-21
- Job 2:3-6
- Mathew 24:7-13
- Psalm 92:7
- Matthew 24:13-14
- Genesis 3:1-7
- Leviticus 16:1-10, 15-16
- John 1:29, 36
- Hebrews 9:7-9, 11-15, 19-26
- Leviticus 16:18-21
- Revelation 18:24
- Leviticus 16:21
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Ezekiel 28
- Isaiah 14
- Revelation 12
- Isaiah 28
- 1 Peter 5
- Revelation 13
- Matthew 7
- Genesis 19
- Revelation 14
- 1 Peter 4
- Acts 1
- Hebrews 2
- Revelation 20
Also referenced: Book: The Schocken Bible: The Five Books of Moses by Everett Fox
FRC: bo
Transcribed: 10-29-17
Corrected: 11/2/17
Copyright 2017—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.
