Question:
What did the scapegoat represent in Leviticus 16?
Answer:
You will note in the fifth verse that Aaron was to take of the congregation of the children of Israel two he-goats. Lots were cast for these goats (verse 8), one for Jehovah and the other for Azazel, the “scapegoat” in our Common Version. Different authorities tell us that Azazel means “the strong one who revolted,” a type of Satan. The goat for Jehovah was a type of Christ. Upon one rested the Lord’s name; upon the other was placed Azazel’s name. Satan, or the devil, the one who revolted, the Azazel of the type, was the one who led God’s people into sin. Christ Jesus was the one who was to save them from their sins. The Lord’s goat was slain, his blood was taken into the sanctuary, and the sanctuary was cleansed from all its sins and uncleannesses of the children of Israel. The sins due to Satan, represented by the scapegoat, were laid upon his head, and he bore them away into a land of forgetfulness or oblivion. That is a type of Satan when upon him will rest the sins of which he is guilty, not only in his own life but those which he has induced others to commit. That time in Satan’s experience will come at the beginning of the thousand years of Revelation 20.
