Life is a terminal condition. The only hope to live forever is to avoid rebellion against the Source of all life, to repent when we do rebel against the God of Israel and to put oneself in the hands of the LORD’s Messiah always.
The Torah reading אחרי מות Acharei Mot (“after the death,” Leviticus 16–18) centers on Yom haKippurim, (“Day of Coverings,” or Day of Atonement). We learn from Isaiah 53 and Hebrews 10 that we can’t accept the offering of Yeshua (Jesus) for our sins, transgressions and iniquities and for our salvation without acknowledging that we had a hand in the death of the Christ.
Debunking blood libel
The heinous “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” taught that Jewish people would slaughter a gentile child to use it to make matzah but anyone who has ever read the Torah at all would quickly discover the absurdity of this kind of teaching. In Judaism, the blood of any animal or human who died had to be buried quickly. There is no legitimate use for animal blood except to offer it as sacrifice or bury it, and the only legitimate use for human blood is to bury it.
Who are the real “Christ killers”? The real Christ killers are those who benefited from His death. I will submit to you that you can’t accept Yeshua’s offering for your sins and your salvation without accepting the fact that you killed Yeshua (Jesus). If you consider yourself “saved” and consider yourself a devoted follower of Messiah Yeshua, you are a Christ killer. If you don’t acknowledge that He died for your sins, you can’t receive His offer of salvation either.
Passover lamb vs. Atonement goats
The Passover lamb and the goats sacrificed and sent away at Day of Atonement do not perform the same function. The blood of the
Passover lamb covered over our sins and the punishment for those unintentional sins and our “almost but not quite right” efforts to follow God’s law. If one is trying to do right but fail, that is not iniquity or a transgression. The death angel passes over us because of the death of the lamb instead.
The blood of the Passover lamb does not cover over iniquity or transgressions, which are purposeful acts of wrongdoing.
Once a year on Yom haKippurim, the Day of Atonement(s), all the sins (failings), transgressions (disobedience) and iniquities (wanton rebellion) are confessed out loud over the goats. One is killed and the other sent away with the blood of the first one, to carry the sins, transgressions and iniquities away.
The bull atones for the priest and his family.
““When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.” (Leviticus 16:20–22 NASB)
The two unblemished, perfect goats are offered up in different ways:
- The goat for HaShem is offered up as a burnt offering. This goat is not the offering that removes intentional sins.
- The goat for Azazel (“removal,” scapegoat) is the one that is left alive and sent away. The goat of Azazel is the goat that the sins, transgressions and iniquities are confessed over.
Azazel is a place, not a person or a deity. The Torah does not tell us to push this goat off a cliff or kill it. It’s supposed to wander in an uninhabited place, such as a desert. The live goat is the goat that actually atones.
The bull and Azazael atone for the sanctuary, tent of meeting and altar. The bull also covers over the priest and his family. The goat for HaShem also covers over unintentional sins.
Doing right and failing vs. doing wrong and succeeding
Sin offerings can’t cover over sins we did on purpose. If we offer a sin offering for an intentional sin, it may make a good show of piety for those around us, but it would all be a lie. We are adding to our sin, transgression and iniquity rather than taking it away.
The only thing that takes that away is to verbalize out loud every sin and mistake you made on the head of an innocent animal before it is killed for us.
Shame is the strongest, most powerful emotion that I know. We avoid it will all our strength. It’s a stronger emotion than love or hate. But the only way to take away the shame is to admit the sin that is causing the shame. Only at that point, can it be fixed.
“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
“All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.” (Isaiah 53:4–6 NASB)
The goat that died took away the unintentional sins and mistakes. There is only sacrifice that one can place one’s transgressions and iniquities upon and that is the Azazel.
Only Messiah Yeshua can both live and die at the same time. He did what both goats did, and every year when we remember Atonement, we recall what we did in the past year.
“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
“By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
“His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7–9 NASB)
We know that the Messiah died because He was buried in a tomb, but we also know that He was resurrected and lives.
“But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.” (Isaiah 53:10 NASB)
The Messiah Yeshua was the only One Who could fulfill the task of both goats in one person.
What is our part? How do we walk in the future?
The entire letter of Hebrews focuses on Leviticus 16, but we will jump into Hebrews 10, specifically Heb. 10:19–29.
God will not slaughter the Messiah for you every year. It was once and for all. I know I will make mistakes, even though I do my best to do what is right. But I do not ever want to return to a pattern of rebelliousness. I make things worse for myself if I rebel against God and then pretend otherwise. We need to pay attention to our inner thoughts to avoid rebellion. Our sins are fun for a time but they will come out. We have knowledge of our sin, but we also have hope because of the perfect Messiah.
Summary: Tammy