[In the Old Testament, The Day of Atonement featured two goats - one to be sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the mercy seat (the golden cover of the Ark of the Covenant) inside the Most Holy Place, and the other to be sent out into the wilderness to function as a living scapegoat.]
The First Goat
Put yourself in the shoes of a devout Jew on the Day of Atonement.
He sees the High Priest slay the first goat as a propitiatory sacrifice. He watches as the priest disappears into the Tent of Meeting, knowing he is going into the Most Holy Place to sprinkle the blood of the slain goat on and before the mercy seat.
He knows that only the High Priest is allowed to enter that room, and even then only once a year, and only with the blood of the sacrificial animal.
Very conscious that atonement for his sins is conditioned on God's acceptance of the High Priest's ministry, he waits with some anxiety for the High Priest to return.
The Second Goat
Finally, after sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat, the High Priest comes out and, in view of all the people, lays his hand on the live goat's head and confesses over it all the sins of the people. (In this act he symbolically transfers their sins to the goat.)
All Israel hears his voice as he solemnly confesses, perhaps with weeping, all their wickedness and rebellion--all their sins.
Then those devout Jews watch as the goat is led away into the desert bearing their sins.
Two things were necessary for the scapegoat ritual to be meaningful to an individual Jew.
First, he must identify with the sins the High Priest is confessing. He must acknowledge them as his own personal sins, not just the sins of the nation as a whole.
Then he must by faith believe that the goat did indeed carry away those sins he acknowledged. He probably did not understand how a goat could carry away his sins, but he believed that God had ordained this rite, and that somehow his sins had been removed from the presence of God and were no longer counted against him.
His faith was not in the goat but in God, who had ordained the ritual of the goat....
From The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges
The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ not only took away the guilt of our sin, but also removed our sins from us, as the Scriptures tell us:
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or give us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:10-12
(Note: The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is celebrated in the fall of the year - The 10th day of the 7th month, as described in the Old Testament -- see Numbers Chapter 29 for more information.)
No comments:
Post a Comment