App
(Day of Atonement)
The true meaning of the Day of Atonement, and the mystery of the two goats!
Fred R. Coulter—October 5, 2022
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the Day of Atonement!
This is a fast day, as you know, and is one of the most important Feast days of God, because this takes place just before the Millennium begins.
So, we have the meaning of Atonement that is given here in Lev. 23 and Lev. 16, and we will cover that. However, just like all the Holy Days, all of them have prophetic meaning, which is not in display in Lev. 23 or Lev. 16.
We will see that the understanding of the main part of Lev. 16 is clear at the end. So, there are a lot of things that have to be put together.
Leviticus 23:26: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying."
Another thing that's always important: The Words of God are true! The words of God, as we speak them in teaching, have got to be according to what God has given. So, we need to keep this in mind as we go through the Day of Atonement.
Verse 27: "Also, on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a Holy convocation to you. And you shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD."
"…afflict your souls…" also means to fast!We will see that afflict, humble, fast and cleanse are all part of the Day of Atonement!
Verse 28: "And you shall do no work in that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, in order to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God."
Listen to the next verse very carefully, because this fasting applies to everyone individually, and to the whole congregation collectively. This we do together! God says that this is so important in fasting:
Verse 29: "For whoever is not afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people."
To be cut off means that God's blessings have been withdrawn!
Verse 30: "And whoever does any work in that same day, the same one will I destroy from among his people."
Those are some pretty strong words! We have no other place in the Bible that it comes on quite as strong as this in declaring it twice!
Verse 31: "You shall do no manner of work. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings." Everywhere!
That's going to apply to the whole world before the Millennium begins.
Verse 32: "It shall be to you a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at sunset, from sunset to sunset, you shall keep your Sabbath."
Of course, from sunset to sunset means every Sabbath is kept from sundown to sundown; sunset to sunset!
The Day of Atonement is particularly important! The timing is particularly important because God emphasizes it in the way that He does here so that everyone, all of Israel and for us—each of us individually and the whole Church combined—will be fasting together for God!
So, it becomes very important! He also said that you shall "…offer an offering made by fire to the LORD" (v 27).
Today, you know that we take up offerings instead!
(pause for the offering)
Thank you, brethren, for your offering, and your tithes and offerings in every instance that you send them. We use them to serve the brethren, to preach the Truth and to make God's Word clear and available to everyone.
Let's come to a detailed explanation of what was to happen on the Day of Atonement. We will see some very important things as we go along. Then we will also see a mystery and none of those are explained in Lev. 16.
This is really important, because this is the only day of the year that the high priest went into the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle or temple. He could not approach God until he offered a sin offering for himself and all the rest of the priests and a burnt offering, which shows complete dedication to God. So, God starts with the high priest and then goes down the line to all the rest of the children of Israel.
But you cannot cleanse the people until you cleanse first the high priest and all the Levites. So, the first part of Lev. 16 covers that.
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."
What did they offer? Strange fire! Here's a big lesson for us to learn: We must adhere to the words of God! There is no room for a substitute. There is no room for personal opinion! The Word of God must be preached in truth and honesty always!
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…'"
Think about that for a minute! What is the wages of sin? Death! If you come into the presence of God without doing it His way—especially on the Day of Atonement—it will be death instantly!
The priest had another practice: on the Day of Atonement the priest would also be bound around his waist with a rope, and the rope would extend out past the entrance of going into the Holy of Holies. They did this in case the priest did something wrong in the Holy of Holies and was killed by God for his sin.
That's one thing that's missing today! People do not take God for what He says; they want to have their own ideas, their own interpretations. Here on the Day of Atonement we must follow everything exactly and see what they did at the temple. Then we will see:
- how this applies to us
- how it applies to the Church
- how it applies to the world
- how it applies to the whole problem of sin
"…for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. Aaron shall come into the sanctuary this way… [he's not to come any other way] …with a young bull, for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 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" (vs 2-4).
We will see that this is for the forgiveness of sin for the priest and priesthood so that God could deal with them and that they could deal with the people.
Now, here's the thing that has caused a lot of problems: the two goats! Let's read about them and read what it says according to God's instruction and find out how they were to approach God. This is very unusual, so let's read on:
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. 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" (vs 5-7).
This is the first door. You don't go into the Holy place, which is next or into the Holy of Holies, which is the inner part.
Verse 8: "And Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats; one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel." That's where the mystery comes!
- What is Azazel?
- Who is Azazel?
Since many people believe that both of these goats represent Jesus in the prophetic and literal fulfillment:
- Why is there a casting of lots?
If they both represented symbolically Jesus Christ, and what He would do:
- Why cast lots?
We will get to Azazel in a little bit! It's not only a name of a high-ranking demon, it's probably a name of Satan the devil and Azazel means the one to depart! There's a special reason why it has it that way, and we will see. The answer we find in the rest of the Bible.
Verse 9: And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer it for a sin offering." All offerings for sin are sacrificed! But notice this:
Verse 10: "But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD…"
- Why alive?
- What is the meaning of that?
"…to make an atonement upon it and sent away into the wilderness for Azazel" (v 10).
When it was removed, it was removed away from all people. We will see the significance of that a little later. After he makes atonement for himself and for his household:
Verse 15: "Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil…."
That's the only time that the sin offering for the people is brought is brought inside the Holy of Holies.
"…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…" (vs 15-16).
Listen carefully! Let's understand what happens with this offering of the goat as a sin offering and the sprinkling of the blood.
Verse 16: "And he shall make an atonement for the sanctuary… [everything at the temple area] …because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel… [for all of their sins] …and because of their transgressions in all their sins…."
IF the sin offering is offered and the blood is sprinkled in the Holy of Holies for the remission of these sins—or covering these sins—and all their transgressions…
We're going to see that this goat with the sacrifice is a type of Christ. When we have our sins forgiven before God the Father in heaven above through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, our sins have been forgiven!
"…And so he shall do for the tabernacle of the congregation, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goes in to make an atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel" (vs 16-17).
Clean sweep of all sin! All laid upon the goat that was slain!
Now we come to the other goat. How do we answer that?
- we need to understand about sin, so we will examine about sin
- we need to understand about Satan the devil
- we need to understand how even today we're confronted with things that are sin
Though we're not directly participating in them, we are affected by them!
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."
The only place where a live goat is brought to have sins confessed over it!
Since all the sins have already been forgiven to the priesthood, the high priest, the Levites and the people, covered by the blood of the goat that was slain and the blood was sprinkled in the Holy of Holies, directly to God!
- Why the live goat. This is the mystery!
Some people say that it's Jesus who takes our sins away. Well, if our sins have been forgiven, they've already been removed!
- Why lay upon the live goat—and not kill it for a sin offering—for all the sins of the people, too?
- Are there sins that we do that Satan interferes in our life and we sin? He's the author of sin we will find out, and yes there are!
Here's what Aaron was to do with the live goat:
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, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away by the hand of a chosen man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities to a land in which no one lives. And he shall let the goat go in the wilderness" (vs 21-22).
Let's talk about sin for a little bit. Where does sin come from? Sin is the transgression of the Law! Sin is also not obeying the voice of God! So, it has to do with whatever He says, as well. If God speaks, it is!
Let's go back to Adam and Eve in the Garden. How long Adam and Eve were taught by God before the serpent was let loose, we don't know! But God had to have instructed them completely so they could make a choice. You can't make a choice unless you know the facts. So, we're not told how long.
Satan becomes the author of all sin!
Genesis 3:1: "Now, the serpent was more cunning than any creature of the field, 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"?'" Isn't that the way it always comes along?
- people question God
- don't believe God
- reject God
- then blame Him for everything else
The woman answered correctly:
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). The wages of sin is death! IF God has said it:
- that's the voice of God
- that's the Law of God
- that's the commandment of God
Verse 4: "And the serpent said to the woman, 'In dying, you shall not surely die!'" Contradicting God!
When you sin, do you die immediately? No, you don't! So, Satan is lying in saying that you shall not surely die! It doesn't matter how long you live, when you come to a certain point where you die, you die! So, God set no time parameters on this.
Verse 5: "For God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like God, deciding good and evil."
This tells us that Adam and Eve had to have enough knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong, of what to do and what not to do. They were free moral agents and could choose to follow God, believe God and keep His Word. If they chose to go their own way that's a different thing. Let's understand how this transpired, because this affects all of us today.
"…deciding good and evil"—you can make up your own mind what's good and evil, you don't have to listen to God!
How many people do that today? I don't believe in God, the Bible is full of lies! The reason it's full of lies is because you don't obey the God to have understanding! There are no lies in it! But they're lies to the ungodly because they don't believe it! They want to live their way, do their way and do their thing!
Now, looks can be deceiving! Things that sound good to start with may not end up being good in the long run!
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, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
At the point that she picked it, Adam could have said, 'Eve! Drop that fruit, don't touch it! Get away from it!' Then we would not have the penalty of Adam passed on to all his descendants! It says, 'By one man, sin entered into the world! So, Eve was deceived and she picked the fruit and ate. But Adam could have stopped it right at that point, because he was the head of his wife!
Verse 7: "And the eyes of both of them were opened…" Not opened to see good, but opened to see evil!
"…and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Then Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden" (vs 7-8). You can't hide from God anywhere!
Notice that God knew what happened! He understood what was going on.
Verse 9: "And the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, 'Where are you?' And he said, 'I heard You walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, and so I hid myself.' And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked?….'" (vs 9-11).
Isn't that something? Spiritually, that means no protection from sin!
"'…Have you eaten of the tree, which I commanded you that you should not eat?' And the man said…" (v 11-12).
Rather than repent; like everything else, blame someone else. So, in effect, Adam blamed God!
Verse 12: "And the man said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.' And the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' And the woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate'" (vs 12-13).
The moral of this whole lesson is that we are responsible when it comes to the words of God, the Laws of God, to do them properly!
Verse 14: "And the LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.'"
- Does God judge Satan? Yes!
- Was this sin inspired by Satan? Yes!
- Did Adam and Eve have the responsibility to make the right choice? Yes!
- Did they make the right choice? No!
- Who is involved in the sin? Satan, Eve and Adam!
That helps us to begin to unlock the mystery of the goat for Azazel!
Verse 15: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed… [a prophecy of Christ coming as the Sacrifice for the sins of the world] …He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."
Look at the world today! Is the world suffering from the penalty of sin because they're going their own way? We will see who is responsible for that!
Verse 16: "To the woman He said, 'I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception—in sorrow shall you bring forth children. Your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you.'"
Verse 17: "And to Adam He said, 'Because you have hearkened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree—of which I commanded you, saying, "You shall not eat of it!"—the ground is cursed for your sake. In sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life.'" Sorrow for both!
Verse 18: "It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and thus you shall eat the herbs of the field; in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (vs 18-19). That's the same that happens to all!
It says that 'in Adam' we all die! It also says that we're going to be judged! Let's begin to answer the question about the lies of Satan that affects humanity, and they sin. He sins in causing people to sin. When they choose to sin, they're responsible for their choices. Is Satan going to get off scot-free? No!
This is why we need the whole Bible, because not everything is contained in one place. The explanation of some of these things are very detailed, and some of them are not explained until you get to Rev. 20.
Listen! Satan—whether we know it or not—is involved in all human sin! If people don't repent and commit the unpardonable sin lose their life, what's going to happen to Satan who started it all?
1-John 3:8: "The one who practices sin is of the devil…"
The devil is involved! That's what we're going to see the live goat of Lev. 16 takes care of.
- It does represent Satan!
- It does have connection with sin!
Verse 8: "The one who practices sin is of the devil because the devil has beensinning from the beginning…."
What was the devil's first sin? To cause a third of the angels to rebel against God and follow him, who wanted to be like the Most High! We will find some other things about Satan here in just a minute.
"…For this purpose the Son of God appeared that He might destroy the works of the devil" (v 8).
What are the works of Satan?
- causing the angels to sin
- causing mankind to sin
1-John 5:17: "All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death." In other words, a sin that can be repented of!
Verse 18: "We know that anyone who is begotten by God does not practice sin…" Notice that it doesn't say does not sin!
- does not practice it
- does not live in it
"…for the one who has been begotten by God keeps himself by the power of God, and the wicked one does not touch him" (v 18).
Who is the wicked one? Satan the devil!
Brethren, this is why we pray every day! What do we say? Deliver us from the evil one!
Verse 19: "We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one."
- Is he responsible for all the sins in the world, everywhere in the world? Yes!
- Are all the people sinning and have their own responsibility in the sins that they sin, the choices that they make? Yes!
Let's read a verse that we have probably read many, many times over to show that Satan is the author of sin, and is involved in all the sins of everybody from the time of Adam and Eve clear down to the return of Jesus Christ. We need to understand that. God is righteous and judge, and all of those sins will be put on Satan the devil! That's what the goat of Azazel is all about, as we will see!
Revelation 12:9: "And the great dragon was cast out… [tie in with serpent in Gen. 3] …the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…"
That means the whole world at any one time, but the whole world down through time, as well.
- Do you think God is not going to judge for the sins of Satan?
- Do you not think that God is going to lay those on Satan the devil?
Some people say that the goat of Azazel has nothing to do with Satan! Well, the answer is comes from reading the prophecies and understanding. Here's part of it right here. Notice what God does:
"…he [Satan] was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a great voice in heaven say, 'Now has come the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ because the accuser of our brethren…
Satan accuses us! Satan has access to God! That's why the goat is brought to the door! He's not brought inside; he's is brought to the door, because he has access to God!
"…the accuser of our brethren has been cast down, who accuses them day and night before our God" (v 10)—think on that!
This is what Satan is actively doing all of the time! How many times do we go about our business and we don't understand the difficulties and problems of the things that are there. How many times that we come along and we do things that are not really right with God, because:
- it looks right
- sounds right
- appears right
But it's not right! We find out afterward that's sin and we have to repent!
(break@45:13)
We will see that Satan has access to God, and gets permission from God to do things.
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."
Let's understand that you cannot forgive someone else's sins! Even if you offer offerings for them, if there is no repentance by the person involved in confessing his own sins! When a sin offering is made the sinner had to make the offering and lay his hand on the goat that was the 'atonement goat' for his sins, and confess his sins!
Just like with us today. If we don't confess our sins, there's no forgiveness! Lot's of times we do things that are sins and really don't understand that they are sins until after we have done them. We still repent!
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).
Yes, Satan is going around seeing who he can get to sin!
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?'"
Why did God try him in the way that He did? Because Job was so righteous that he didn't give God the credit for righteousness! Job worshipped himself and his works, and thought that he was more righteous than God! This is why God did it.
But the point here is that God and Satan converse! What does it say in Rev. 9:10? Satan accuses us day and night before God! So, this is what Satan did here; you know the rest of the story. Now, let's see what else Satan does; Satan can do a lot of things!
Mark 4:14: "The sower sows the Word. Now the ones by the way, where the Word was sown, these are the ones who hear, but Satan comes at once and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts" (vs 14-15).
- Is that not a sin against those people?
- Is Satan not going to have bear His own sins?
It was a sin for the person to turn away from God, but Satan was the one who inspired it! Let's see what else Satan does that is his sin! And the people who follow along with it are sinning, because Satan has interfered in their life and caused them to sin.
2-Cor. 4 tells us a lot of what has to be with the ministry and what we do. I'm here to tell you brethren, and all of the elders altogether, we all have a responsibility to God to:
- uphold the Truth
- preach the Truth
- teach the Truth
Not our own ideas! That's why as I've shown you that I have a cowbell. Because if you think about something it may or may not be right!
When I preach and I think of something that I don't understand or whatever, I ring the cowbell to let people know that this is not the dogma of the Word of God! Here's what Paul says along that line:
2-Corinthians 4:1: "Therefore, having this ministry, according as we have received mercy, we are not fainthearted. For we have personally renounced the hidden things of dishonest gain…" (vs 1-2).
Where did dishonest gain come from? Satan the devil!
"…not walking in cunning craftiness… [that's from Satan the devil] …nor handling the Word of God deceitfully… [that comes from Satan the devil] …but by manifestation of the Truth…" (v 2).
We must be strong for the Truth; not our ideas, not our thoughts—none of those matter.
- Who are we to tell God what to do?
- Who is anyone to tell God what to do?
- Who is anyone to take the Word of God and make it into something that it isn't?
"…we are commending ourselves to every man's conscience before God. But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing" (vs 2-3).
How is it hidden? By the sin of Satan the devil in the lives of those who were doing that!
Verse 4: "In whom the god of this age…" Here Satan is called 'theos'; same word for God!
- that's why we have two identical goats
- that's why God makes the choice for His sacrifice for the sins of the people
He lays that upon the head of the goat for the sacrifice for sin, and that's a type of Christ Who… we will see that in a minute
Verse 4: "In whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe…"
If you don't believe the Word of God, and if you change the Word of God, and if you manufacture something out of the Word of God—which is not true—you are sinning! I don't care:
- who you are
- where you are
- what's your position is
It makes no difference!
"…lest the Light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we do not preach our own selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants…" (v 4-5).
There's how Satan works! He blinds and that's sinning!
Eph. 2 is important! Remember that it says that Satan has deceived the whole world, and that the whole world is in the power of the evil one: Satan the devil!
- How does he do that?
- How does that still affect our lives even today?
Think about it for a minute!
- How much do we have in our mind, especially today with all digital, visual and all of the things that we have today?
That's why Satan is called the prince of the power of the air!
- What is he busy doing?
- it says that the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one
- it says that the whole world is deceived by him
- How about us? He wants to come after us!
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, according to the prince of the power of the air… [Satan the devil] …the spirit… [a spiritual operation] …that is now working within the children of disobedience" (vs 1-2).
What is Satan doing? He's broadcasting things! He's appealing things! Look at what he has to work with:
- television
- internet
- face book
All of these things, and we have so much sin surrounding us, it's amazing that we can keep the commandments of God.
Verse 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh…" Oh, that's a good idea!
Just because you think of it doesn't mean that it's anything.
"…and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world" (v 3). That's how Satan works! That's what we are to be on guard against!
I want you to remember that in Rev. 2 & 3 that Satan is involved in coming after every single Church!
- that's why we have the Day of Atonement
- that's why we fast
- that's why the goat for Azazel is Satan
So, his final judgment will be upon him for all his sins!
Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord…"
That's what we need to do. What age do we have today. Oh we have the compromised Laodiceans. How many of them are really converted, only God knows.
"…be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (vs 10-11).
- Is he there trying to make us sin? Yes!
- Is the sacrifice of Christ going to cover the sins of Satan the devil? No!
Verse 12: "Because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickednessin high places." That's what's going on right now in the world, BIG TIME!
Verse 13: "Therefore, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having worked out all things, to stand." Don't be giving in!
Can Satan put it in people's hearts and minds to sin? Yes, that's what he does, and has a lot of helpers!
Acts 5—this is about Ananias and Sapphira. They lied to Peter! Let's notice what Peter said and then we'll look at some of the experiences of Peter. He experienced some of these things before the crucifixion and resurrection.
Acts 5:3: "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why did Satan fill your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit…?'"
Can Satan put things into your mind? Yes! That is his sin against you! Unless you resist and get rid of it then you will sin.
Let's see how he worked with Peter. This is quite interesting because of what occurred here:
Matthew 16:13: "…Jesus questioned His disciples, saying, 'Whom do men declare Me, the Son of man, to be?'" And they gave the various answers!
Verse 15: "He said to them, 'But you… [all of them there] …whom do you declare Me to be?' Then Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father, Who is in heaven'" (vs 15-17).
Here he is inspired of God the Father. Then Jesus said He was going to build His Church upon Himself, and the whole thing of binding and loosing is another subject, but not as the Catholics teach.
Now let's see what happened just a little bit later; v 21: "From that time Jesus began to explain to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem, and to suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised the third day."
Now notice that here's a good thought of Peter. He's going to defend Jesus! He probably thought that was a really good thought. But we're going to see where that thought came from. A lot of things that come to us that sound like good thoughts are not from God! Let's see what Jesus said.
Verse 22: "But after taking Him aside, Peter personally began to rebuke Him, saying…" Rebuking the Son of God?!Telling Him that:
You shouldn't really think that, they're not going to do that to You!
"…'God will be favorable to You, Lord. In no way shall this happen to You'" (v 22).
Peter is going to try and make it not happen when every prophecy in the Bible is there saying that it will happen? Notice Jesus' response:
Verse: 23: "Then He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan!….'"—right there where the disciples were, Satan the devil inspiring a thought of how good it would be! I (Peter) will protect the Lord!
We'll see in another place where Peter had a problem with his own ego! God still used him after he was converted!
"…You are an offense to Me, because your thoughts are not in accord with the things of God…" (v 23).
Especially when it comes to preaching and teaching and to explaining the Word of God. It must be in accord with the Word of God! If it's not, it's going to lead to trouble.
"…because your thoughts are not in accord with the things of God, but the things of men" (v 23).
Luke 22 is very interesting; read it. This is why we need to really hold fast to the Word of God. This He told them on the Passover night. Let's see what happened:
Luke 22:31: "Then the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon, listen well. Satan has demanded to have all of you…'" Think about that!
Satan wanted the Apostle Peter! Wouldn't that be convenient to setup the false system in Rome? To have the real Peter? Whoa!
"…to sift as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and when you are converted, strengthen your brethren" (vs 31-32).
Notice how Peter responded; he's going to learn a real lesson here. When people do certain things, they may have to have certain lessons they need to learn, which are really difficult indeed, because they didn't follow what God wanted.
Verse 33: "And he [Peter] said to Him, 'Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death.'" True loyalty? NO!
Verse 34: But He [Christ] said, 'I tell you, Peter, the cock shall in no wise crow today… [in that very night] …before you have denied knowing Me three times.'" That's how Satan works! Right? Is that not true?
With all of that said, let's come back to Lev. 16 and then we will see the beginning of the fulfillment of the banishment of Azazel in Rev. 20.
Lev. 16—let's see what was to happen here. We've covered everything so that you know for sure, that you understand that your sins are not just yours alone. There was another power involved in it, and that power was Satan the devil! You and I and everybody else, when we repent our sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ.
To answer another question and you can read this in 1-Peter 2, the goat for Azazel does not represent Christ taking our sins away! Christ bore them to the cross! All sin of human activity comes to the cross and the sacrifice of Christ and His shed blood and scourged and mutilated body for the forgiveness of sin. When it's forgiven, it is removed as far as the East is from the West!
So, with the children of Israel and the goat of the sacrifice for their sins and all their transgressions, that forgave and covered those sins. But all sin has another source, and that is Satan the devil! That's why the goat of Azazel! Here is why that it happens this way.
Leviticus 16:20 "And when he has made an end of reconciling the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar…"
- they've all been sanctified
- they've all been forgiven
- they've all been cleansed
through the sin offerings that were given! Now then, here's what Aaron does to the live goat:
"…he shall bring the live goat. 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…" (vs 20-21).
- Why?
- Was it because they weren't forgiven with the blood that was sprinkled by the priest in the Holy of Holies?
they were forgiven at that point, but:
- What is the meaning of this to confess the sins of the children of Israel?
The only answer is that Satan the devil and his involvement in our lives and our sins!
"…and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away by the hand of a chosen man into the wilderness" (v 21).
Here's a key; v 22: "And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities…"—because he caused them!
When we repent they are forgiven, but Satan's part is upon him and since he will not die he must be disposed of in another way!
Verse 22: "And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities to a land in which no one lives…."
There's no way you can, at this point in the Word of God, show that Satan's going to be removed into the blackest darkness of nothing forever! But this is the closest you come to it. Satan is a spirit being, living, and caused all sin everywhere!
"…And he shall let the goat go in the wilderness. And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall strip off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the sanctuary, and shall leave them there. And he shall wash his flesh with water in the Holy place…" (vs 22-24)—because he had the sin of all Israel in his hands on the head of the goat!
"…and put on his garments, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself and for the people" (v 24).
Now all the sins are covered, Satan's part is removed and now we are there before God.
Verse 25: "And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar." That finishes the sin offering for the remission of sins, which God forgives!
Verse 26: "And he that let go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp."
What they did with all the sin offerings; v 27: "And the young bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy place, shall they carry forth outside the camp. And they shall burn their skins in the fire, and their flesh and their dung."
Where was Jesus crucified? Outside the camp! So, here all the sin, everything about all sin with human beings is covered by the sacrifice and blood of Jesus Christ outside the camp!
Verse 28: "And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. And it shall be a statute forever to you: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or a stranger who is living among you, for on that day an atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you, so that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It shall be a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls by a statute forever" (vs 28-31).
We need to answer one question: What does it mean to afflict your soul? Some people say that it doesn't mean to fast. Yes, it means to fast!
It means to fast and also yield yourself to God! This is why on the Day of Atonement we humble ourselves with fasting for forgiveness of sin, for cleansing of sin! Follow the way that this happens:
Your sins are forgiven, but you need to be cleansed of that sin, because there's a residual amount within you, in your mind, whatever. How does that cleansing come? With the washing of the water by the Word!
- that's how it comes
- that's how we overcome sin
- that's how we overcome Satan the devil
Psalm 35:13: "But when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled… [the Hebrew can also mean afflicted] …my soul with fasting…"
So, when it says that we are to afflict ourselves on the Day of Atonement, it means we are to fast!
"…and my prayer returned into my own bosom" (v 13).
- God will hear
- God will answer
Leviticus 16:32: "And the priest whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement and shall put on the linen clothes, the Holy garments. And he shall make an atonement for the Holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar; and he shall make an atonement for the priests and for all the people of the congregation" (vs 32-33).
Let's add one thing here: you cannot be at-one with God the way God wants us to be at-one with Him UNTIL Satan is put away!
We will see in Rev. 20 that Satan bears all of his own sins! All the sins that he committed against the people, that he inspired. Here we see the fulfillment of the goat taken to the place in the wilderness.
The first part before the Millennium can begin Satan must be removed! He's not going to be around there to inspire sin. Also, we read in Ezek. 36 that God is going to give the people a new heart and new mind. The penalty of Adam and Eve will be removed, which came from obeying Satan.
Revelation 20:1: "Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the key of the abyss…"
Where the abyss is and what it is, I don't know, I couldn't tell you.
"…and a great chain in his hand. And he took hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years" (vs 1-2). That's the first step of Satan's carrying his own sins; to be bound! We will have to wait until the end of the Feast of Tabernacles for the rest of the story.
Verse 3: "Then he cast him into the abyss, and locked him up, and sealed the abyss over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were fulfilled…"
So, God has one more mission for Satan! We will cover that when we come to the Last Great Day!
"…and after that it is ordained that he be loosed for a short time" (v 3).
The God Plan shows clearly in the unveiling of prophecy that:
- the Azazel goat is not Christ
- Christ bore all our sins to the cross
- Satan's sins must be removed
- there is no sacrifice for him
- no forgiveness for him
- he must be removed
We will see that after the Great White Throne Judgment that he's going to be removed to the blackest darkness forever, and all the demons with him!
That's the meaning of the Day of Atonement, and the mystery of the two goats! You see, as long as Satan is around mingling with people on the earth and deceiving them, there is no end of sin!
That's why the Azazel goat is led away and let go in the wilderness, a type of Satan being removed and put somewhere in the vastness of this universe, confined in the blackest darkness forever!
Scriptural References:
- Leviticus 23:26-32, 27
- Leviticus 16:1-10, 15-17, 20-22
- Genesis 3:1-19
- 1 John 3:8
- 1 John 5:17-19
- Revelation 12:9-10
- Job 1:5-8
- Mark 4:14-15
- 2 Corinthians 4:1-5
- Ephesians 2:1-3
- Ephesians 6:10-13
- Acts 5:3
- Matthew 16:13, 15-17, 21-23
- Luke 22:31-34
- Leviticus 16:20-31
- Psalm 35:13
- Leviticus 16:32-33
- Revelation 20:1-3
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Revelation 2; 3
- 2-Peter 1
- Ezekiel 36
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 9/2/22
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