Scapegoat
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (April 24, 2022)
“But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” (Leviticus 16:10
King James Version [KJV]).
Greetings in the Holy Name of Jesus Yahshuah,
My brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus the need and the use of a scapegoat goes back to The Third Book Of Moses, Called Leviticus (King James Version) when we find God’s instructions to His people. The problem is there are folks who are practicing the use of people as a scapegoat as well as there are folks who are using family pets as scapegoats. Those users of scapegoats do not care that the person is blessed by God and the family pet is blessed by God, to live and not for their use as a scapegoat in the purpose of forgiveness of sins. Let us look at the instructions of God going back to Leviticus:
“And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died;
2 And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.
5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
11 And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:
12 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:
13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
18 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.
19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
20 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:
24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.
25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.
26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.
27 And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.” [chapter 16, KJV].
What is a scapegoat? “The scapegoat was a goat that was designated (Hebrew: ???????????) la-'aza'zeyl; "for absolute removal" (for symbolic removal of the people's sins with the literal removal of the goat), and outcast in the desert as part of the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement, that began during the Exodus with the original Tabernacle ...” [en.m.Wikipedia.org]
“The scapegoat was sent into the wilderness for Azazel, possibly for the purpose of placating that evil spirit, while a separate goat was slain as an offering to God. By extension, a scapegoat has come to mean any group or individual that innocently bears the blame of others.” Related Topics: sacrifice.[
https://www.britannica.com › topic]
Have you ever felt that someone was using you to carry the sins of man or to carry their personal sins, to reconcile them with God? How can this be an action of a member of the one body? God spoke to Moses of scapegoats to speak to his brother, Aaron about not entering the holy place at all times within the vail where the mercy seat is on the ark where God is providing relief from sins via the mercy seat but only each year on the 10th day of the seventh month. God is present in the cloud upon the mercy seat [verse 2]. God is in the midst in the cloud upon the mercy seat [verse 2].
Thus saith the Lord, it is written that God wants the priest to dress in holy linen garments: wear the holy linen coat, holy linen breeches, holy linen girdle and holy linen mitre; those are the holy garments [verse 4]). God wants the priest, he to make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation [verse 33]. Thus saith the Lord God the priest shall reconcile with God for himself, and thus saith the Lord God the priest shall reconcile his house [the priest’s house] with God. Thus saith the Lord, the priest shall reconcile the congregation and the priests with God and thus saith the Lord God the priest shall reconcile the tabernacle with God. Thus saith the Lord God the priest shall reconcile the holy place with God and thus saith the Lord the priest shall reconcile the altar of the tabernacle with God [verses 33, 34].
The once-a-year reconciliation with God over the priest, the house of the priest, the congregation, the priests, the people, the children of Israel, the tabernacle, the holy place where the mercy seat is on the ark, and the altar reconciliation cleansing is required on the 10th day of the seventh month. Therefore, once-a-year, the priest is reconciled with God, the house of the priest is reconciled with God, the people in the congregation are reconciled with God, the priests are reconciled with God, the children of Israel are reconciled with God, the tabernacle is reconciled with God, the holy place is reconciled with God and the altar in the tabernacle is reconciled with God and the tabernacle is reconciled with God.
Let us hear what God wants from us to reconcile our sins; from the priest God wants a bullock for the sin offering and a ram for the burnt offering [shall come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering [verse 3]. from our congregation God wants Aaron, the priest, he, to take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering [verse 5], for Aaron, he, to take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation [verse 7], then, Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat [verse 8], afterward, Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. [verse 9], But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.[verse 10],
Now, God wants the priest to reconcile himself with God and to reconcile the house of the priest with God. God wants the priest to enter the tabernacle alone with no one else [verse 17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.], to enter alone in the holy place for reconciliation with God: to come with a young bullock for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering [verse 3]; Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house [verse 6]; then Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself[verse 11]; Now, God wants the priest to reconcile the holy place. The priest will use the blood of his bullock for his reconciliation with God and the blood of the goat of the congregation for the reconciliation of the congregation, the people of the congregation, the priests, the children of Israel. The priest must firstly, take with him in addition to the blood of the bullock for his reconciliation and the blood of the goat for the reconciliation of the people, the priest must take coals from the altar of the tabernacle and sweet incense [And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:]; the priest, he will burn the incense so that the incense makes a cloud above the mercy seat that was sprinkled with the blood of the bullock for the reconciliation of himself and his house eastward seven times with the finger of the priest and sprinkled with the blood of the goat for the people the congregation eastward seven times with the finger of the priest.];
and the priest shall reconcile the altar with God cleansing the altar by sprinkling the blood of the bullock from the priest himself and his house eastward seven times round about the horns of the altar and the sprinkling the blood of the goat for the people the congregation the priests the children of Israel eastward seven times round about the horns of the altar [verses 18-19 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.
And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.].
Thus saith the Lord, It is written When the priest is finished in the holy place and the tabernacle
that Aaron the priest bring in the live goat to bear the sins of the people the congregation the priests the children of Israel. Aaron the priest shall lay both hands upon the goat’s head in prayer to confess all the iniquities of the people and all their transgressions in all
the sins of the people, congregation,priests, children of Israel, then, let a fit man take the now scapegoat to the wilderness and release him [verses 20, 21, 22, and 23 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
After the release of the scapegoat the priest returns to the holy place to undress himself; take off the holy linen garments, clean himself by washing himself with water and put on his clothes. In the holy place the priest shall offer an atonement with his burnt offering-the ram that the priest offered up for his burnt offering and the priest shall offer an atonement with the goat that the people offered for their burnt offering [verse 23, 24, And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:
24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.].
Now, in the Holy place, the fat that came from the bullock of the priest for his sin offering that the blood of that bullock was sprinkled on the mercy seat that is on the ark eastward seven times with finger of the priest and the fat from the goat of the people, congregation, priests, and children of Israel that was sprinkled on the mercy seat that is on the ark for their sin offering shall be burned on the altar in the tabernacle [verse 25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.].
Now, the fit man that let go the scapegoat in to the wilderness to release him must undress and wash his clothes and wash himself then return to the camp [verse 26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.].
Likewise, the skin, flesh, dung of the bullock from the priest and the goat from the people, congregation, priests, and children of Israel, that the priest used for the sin offering shall burn outside of the camp. The man that burns the skin, flesh, and dung of bullock and the bullock which the priest offered up for his sin offering and the people offered up for their sin offering shall wash his clothes and bathe himself then, return to the camp [verse 27 and 28, And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.].
The day of atonement is the 10th day of the seventh month each year (once-a-year), Now we know this a statute for us to remember the day of atonement, the day that we reconcile sins with God. The priest reconciled his sins. The priest reconciled the sins of his house. The priest reconciled the sins of the people, the congregation, the priests, and the children of Israel. The priest reconciled the sins of the holy place. The priest reconciled the sins of the tabernacle. The priest reconciled the sins of the altar. The
priest offered a bullock for his sin offering for himself and his house. The people, the congregation, the priests, the children of Israel offered up a goat for their sin offering. The priest used the bullock from the himself and the goat from the people offered up for the reconciliation of sins in the holy place, the tabernacle, and the altar. The priest offered up a ram for his burnt offering for himself and his house. The people offered up a goat for their burnt offering for the people, the congregation, the priests, and the children of Israel for their burnt offering. The ram, and the goat offered up for the burnt offering reconciled the priest, reconciled the people, reconciled the holy place, reconciled the tabernacle and reconciled the altar. The fat was burned on the altar and the skins, the flesh, and the dung was burned outside of the camp. The priest washed his clothes and washed himself and so will the next priest do the atonement that will reconcile the sins on the day of atonement once-a-year. The fit man washed his clothes and washed himself after he let the scapegoat go in the wilderness. Now, we know our Lord and Savior is our scapegoat for Jesus was borne to the wilderness that we know as our world; Jesus was the lamb. The blood of the lamb served to pay the price for the remission of sins. Jesus redeemed our sins with his blood. Let us go to the gospel 1 John 2: 2, KJV, “And he is the propitiation of our sins: and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” [Writing in the New Bible Dictionary, Morris states that "Propitiation is a reminder that God is implacably opposed to everything that is evil, that his opposition may properly be described as 'wrath', and that this wrath is put away only by the atoning work of Christ." …Book of Common Prayer
Common Prayer (1662), following the prayer of confession before reception of Holy Communion the priest is to offer "comfortable words" which consist of a series of four verses from the New Testament. The final text is from 1 John 2: 1-2 (KJV): "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins." The same text was used in the American editions of 1789 and 1928. However, in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal Church) in the Rite One form, "propitiation" was changed to read "perfect offering," and with the rest of verse 2 added: "and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world."[7]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki].
The Gospel According To St. John 1: 4, In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” In The Epistle Of Paul The Apostle To The Romans 16: 26, “But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:” In The First Epistle Of Paul The Apostle To Timothy 3: 16 KJV, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” The Gospel According To St. John 14: 6 KJV, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comets unto the Father, but by me.” …21: 24 KJV, “ This is the disciple which testified of these things: and we know that the testimony is true.”
Now, we know Jesus is the light. The Gospel According To St. John 1: 4 JKV, In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” …14: 6 JKV, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” In The First Epistle General Of John 5: 20 KJV, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” The Gospel According To St. John 1: 1 KJV, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word.”
[29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.” (chapter 16, KJV)].
Why am I targeted by the Greenough Road hating group—-haters, with no pretense with what they do. I heard someone say, I do not know why haters: this person or you over there, down there, over here or that person is here wanting to head the church? Everyone knows that Christ Jesus heads the church. Possibly, they are afraid to face the realities of life and want to use other peoples other than themselves as scapegoats. In reflection no matter how long ago the memory serves you to think back on the scapegoat for the scapegoat is in the Holy Word since Leviticus 16: 8-10, “Leviticus 16:10, “But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” King James Version (KJV) makes us all feel unworthy to practice God’s love because modern times called them martyrs of history (but history is Jesus’ story, not the causes of the afflictions of the world but the purpose of the joy of the world. We know the scapegoat(an unblemished innocent lamb is a target for dying for the sins of man) and the scapegoat is burdened with dying for the sins of man. Abraham was spared the death of Isaac as a sacrifice with a ram in the bush. Jesus fulfilled the sacrifice for the sins of man. The problem is I am not doing anything contrary to everyday regiment of a routine life as a citizen of most importantly the kingdom of God and of course, the United States of America (USA). The unmitigated sentiment of haters is, “ She. cannot live a life of God’s love and she has got to get used to that. She cannot live a righteous life. She cannot live a holy life. She has to have sex with all of us.” (thoughtco.com, “The unmitigated gall!" ... "Oh. Bleeding hearts of the world unite.".; goodreads.com, “Dec 19, 2013 — Pamela Ann — 'Forgive me for being such an unmitigated coward, but I'm telling you now, my heart lives for you, Stella.”; Forbes.com, “The whole story of human and personal progress is an unmitigated tale of denials today-denials of rest, denials or repose and comfort and ease and ... “; screenrant.com, “Feb 24, 2021 — Pride and Prejudice has captivated hearts since the original publishing hundreds of years ago, but which lines do fans really remember? “; idle hearts.com, “I have the unmitigated gall to think that I could lead men - IdleHearts”; idlehearts.com,”Unmitigated seriousness is always out of place in human affairs. - IdleHearts “.). However, frankly speaking, this thinking pattern is not of God. This thinking is not of the Holy Word. This thinking is not of the law of this land or any of the lands of this earth. Traditional thinking is the practice of we have our ways, here, that we are accustomed to the lifestyle of practicing hate, as of the last 300 years or more. To say that the practice of hate could hold traditional value for you is the same as saying you are barking up the wrong tree because nothing is coming from that tree but hate. You sow hate, you reap hate. You cast bread of hate out on the waters. Folks, here, are sinning so much so that they will not ever have anyone think of their person as a sacrifice for sins because they frequently indulge themselves in the killing of animals that are family pets; not set aside as livestock and this killing has become an appetite of tasting hate and it is not even an atonement for forgiveness of sins ; it is, now a pastime of hate. Hate is coming back to you. What else could it do? The boomerang effect prevails to no avail, here, because nothing is coming out of nothing. God’s blessings are pouring out on you and you are getting blessed because of the one body of Christ Jesus and because other peoples are living righteously with the promised blessings pouring out so much even those hate practicing neighbors getting blessed and the blessings of rains are sent upon those nasty neighbors. The use of other peoples to live righteously so that your hatefulness will not be your downfall is a cruel and viciously wicked enterprise and those practicing hate see the practice of hate as an organized business. The truth remains that God is not going to give the blessings of the righteous and good faith workers to you. We know you want it all. You will never have enough is your measuring stick so you are about the business of going to take from others. What is enough? How is that measured? What is enough for one person may not be what God wants to bless another person with? Why is the truth of how God blessed a problem for you to accept and makes you take from everybody but you do not want everybody to touch all that you stole from someone else? Those stolen will never be yours even those things that are intangible. This is not saying you will never love again because it is written that you can love again in relationships but when you find you are going from one relationship to another continuously then it is not the relationship that is your downfall to not feeling true love again it is your sins that have you bound and you can not live again because you are weighted with unforgiven sins and obviously you have not forgiven yourself because you are the gatekeeper to your heart and mind. You know what you are letting inside of you—-possessing you with sins you feel you cannot overcome but God is still able to loose you, to forgive you, to free you but your sins are not letting you loose by convincing you to stay in sins, to stay in hate so you will not live your life as a sacrifice for all of mankind; it is a scary business, for you. Maybe you will not forget those memories of people, places, and things you adored so much. The sweetest fruit is still sweet and a rose is still a rose. I am afraid myself sometimes, at times but God says, “Fear not for I am with you.” This message, “Fear not for I am with you”, is written 365 times in the Holy Bible. The old saying was, Will you die for me? But, now it is, I do not want to die. Both, of those sayings are not new to the struggle of holding on to see what the end is going to be. This feeling of holding on sends most people through such traumatic series of feelings in doubt that anyone going through trauma easily become speechless, not wanting to abandon their lifestyles of accomplishments and favor yet God is able restore what you lost.Amen. Christ be with you.
