329 Scapegoat

This message has a special meaning.
We will talk about how GOD told Moses and Aaron to once a year perform a blood sacrifice.
They were to use 2 goats.
The first goat was killed and the blood poured on the mercy seat of the arc of the covenant.
This was a blood sacrifice that would be for the atonement of all the sins of the chosen people.
The High Priest would then lay both hands on the other goats head and place all the sins of the chosen people upon the goat.
That goat would be sent out into the wilderness, carrying away the sins into forgetfulness.
This act would have to be done every year.
Once Jesus came and died for out sins he only had to do it once.
All of our sins are gone into the sea of forgetfulness.

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Transcript

Scapegoat has a fascinating history. 

 Today the word is used to refer to one who is wrongly blamed for something, but it originated with an actual goat.

 A scapegoat is a person or group you place blame on.

 In the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, God ordained a particular day during which the entire nation of Israel would set aside work, and during which the priests would atone for the sin of the whole nation. 

Among the rituals prescribed was the scapegoat:

In the Book of Leviticus chapter 16, GOD instructed Moses and Aaron to select two goats every year for an offering.

 One was to be used as a sin offering to atone for the sins and transgressions of the people.

Once killed, it’s blood was sprinkled on GOD’s mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant.

There GOD would view the blood of the sin offering and have Mercy on the people and forgive their sins.

 The high priest would then lay hands on the second goat which was allowed to live, and he would confess the sins of the people putting them on the head of the goat.

The goat would then bear the blame for all the transgressions of the people and would be set free into the wilderness, where GOD would remember their sins no more.

 The goat became known as the SCAPEGOAT.

 The scapegoat carried the sin of the people away with it, thereby cleansing Israel for another year.

The rite of the scapegoat was not intended to affect the physical sins but rather the act of sins of the people.

It was intended to arouse us, to catch our attention, to motivate us to repent and put our sins behind us.

To allow us to start out with a new beginning with all that sin forgotten and throw as it were in the “sea of forgetfulness.”

 Jewish history records that it was common practice to tie a red strip of cloth to the scapegoat.

 The red stripe represented the sin of the people which was atoned for the red blood on the mercy seat.

 According to the Jewish Talmuds this red stripe would eventually turn white, signaling GOD’s acceptance of the offering.

 Jesus was the final sin offering (the perfect lamp) and the scapegoat bearing the sins for all mankind.

The use of a scapegoat can be seen as a metaphysical process thru which sin is carried away.

The act needed to be repeated yearly.

The process of Jesus as our scapegoat just required him to do it once and will never have to be repeated.

The timeless message of the scapegoat ritual is that to truly achieve atonement or Kappa rah.

It shows two aspects, the payment of a price and a cleansing of our sins.

That is why there are two goats in the scapegoat ritual.

One that is sacrificed to GOD as a sin offering.

And one that is sent to the wilderness bearing the sins of the people.

The first goat is sacrificed as a sin offering to convey that, in principle, we must pay a price for our sins.

Sacrifice, however, served as a kopher, a ransom or substitute for us.

The second goat in the scapegoat ritual is sent to the wilderness bearing the sins of the people, to remind us that we must remove our sins from our ways and in our lives.

The high priest placed both of his hands on the head of the live goat and confessed over it all of the sins of Israel.

He thus symbolically placed the sins on the head of the goat and sent it off to the wilderness, never to return.

This is the ultimate image of catharsis (a complete confession and removal of our sins so that they are no longer part of our being or our space.

This second aspect of Kappa rah (a cleansing of our very selves) can be achieved only thru reflection, confession and a resolved to cast away our sins.

The idea that to truly atone for our transgressions we must both pay a price and confess in intuitive.

As a psychological matter, a human being who knows he or she has done something wrong, will not feel a sense of personal resolution and closure unless they have confessed and owned up to misdeed on the one hand and made amends or paid up to the extent possible on the other.

Appropriately, the requirements of both payment and confession are the conceptual prerequisites for atonement in Jewish law.

It is well know that you cannot achieve Kappa rah without the confession and repentance of sins.

By the same logic, it is not enough to apologize to our fellow human beings for wrongs that we may have done towards them.

Rather, it is up to each of us to “make things right” to the best of our abilities.

We need to know that Jesus became our scapegoat.

With confession and repentance of our sins we have a home in Heaven.