Leviticus 15-16

Daily Devotional from Leviticus 16--
Verses 21-22
And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

A “scapegoat” in the annual Yom Kippur ritual was a male goat symbolically burdened with the sins of the Jewish people. The scapegoat was sent into the wilderness, while a separate goat was slain as an offering to God.

The sacrifice of the second goat only covered up the sins of the people. They were still out there on the scapegoat waiting for the perfect one-time sacrifice (Jesus, the Lamb of God) to be offered.

Thanks to Jesus’s willingness to obey the Father, taking the responsibility of all of our sin upon His own shoulders, being judged guilty and dying on the cross (taking the penalty we deserve upon himself), believers are able to be cleansed from all unrighteousness and have family relationship with our creator restored. Good news indeed!

Rick Bolesta