Scapegoat
Scapegoat
The Day of Atonement
I’m currently reading a book by Michael S. Heiser “The Unseen Realm”. The section that discusses the Atonement sacrifice really helped to explain to me this idea of one goat being sacrificed and one being released into the wilderness. So, I thought I’d share a small portion of the section that deals with the Atonement Sacrifice where we get our word “Scapegoat” from.
The relevant section of scripture is Lev 16:7-10
Then he (Aaron) is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat.[a] The meaning of the Hebrew word Azazel is uncertain!
Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering.
But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.
If you check your Bible, the footnote it’s likely to say that the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. However, the word that is translated as “scapegoat” or “the goat that goes away”, is the Hebrew word Azazel. So, Azazel is a name that means “the goat that goes away”. This is pretty standard in Hebrew, for example, Abraham means Father of Nations, Ariel means Lion of God and there are many, many more.
The idea of the scapegoat is that it symbolically carries the sins of the people away from the camp of Israel into the wilderness, a place where there is no life and where the scapegoat will die alone.
But notice in the Atonement sacrifice one goat is “for Yahweh,” while the other goat is “for Azazel.” Since Yahweh is a proper name and the goats are described in the same way, Hebrew parallelism tells us that Azazel is therefore a proper name.
So, who is Azazel?
Heiser tells us that Azazel is regarded as the name of a demon that is recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls and also in other ancient Jewish books.(17 In fact), In scroll “4Q 180, 1:8”, Azazel is described as the leader of the angels that sinned in Genesis 6:1–4
When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
The Old Testament itself does not state that Azazel was a demon. Scholars have, however, connected the name to Mot, the god of death! Back to the Atonement sacrifice, well what’s going on, the goat that was sacrificed to the Lord—purges the impurities caused by the people of Israel and purifies the sanctuary.
The goat for Azazel was sent away after the sins of the Israelites were symbolically placed on it.
The point of the goat for Azazel was not that something was owed to the demonic realm, as though a ransom was being paid. The goat for Azazel banished the sins of the Israelites to the realm outside Israel.
Why? Because the ground on which Yahweh had his dwelling was holy. Sin had to be “transported” to where evil belonged—the territory outside Israel, under the control of gods set over the pagan nations. The high priest was not sacrificing to Azazel. Rather, Azazel was getting what belonged to him, namely sin![1]
"The Unseen Realm" is a great read and one that I recommend as it explores what Paul tells us what we fight against. Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Have a great day, and God bless.
Trev.
[1]The Unseen Realm, Michael S. Heiser, P 176-177Lexham Press