Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

The Day of Atonement Rituals and Their Meaning

by John D. Keyser

The rituals of the Day of Atonement picture Judgment very clearly. Not only will all of Israel be judged on this day after the Messiah's return, but even Satan and his demon hordes also will be judged. Notice the amazing picture as it is portrayed in the 16th chapter of the book of Leviticus.

What is the full symbolism of the Day of Atonement? To understand it in full, we must study the Day as it was observed anciently, while the Tabernacle of YEHOVAH God still stood. The Scriptural account giving the regulations for the nation of Israel during this day, and the Aaronic priesthood, is found in Leviticus 16. Notice!

"The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord [when they offered 'strange fire' which YEHOVAH God had not commanded]. The LORD said to Moses: 'Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

"'This is how Aaron is to enter the sanctuary area: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

"Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he 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 ["Azazel" goat]. 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 DESERT as a scapegoat [Azazel] " (Leviticus 16:1-10).

The First Goat

The second "sin offering" on the Day of Atonement consisted of a male goat, chosen by lot from TWO IDENTICAL animals. The High Priest was to "kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil [of the Holy of Holies], do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat" (Leviticus 16:15).

The daily transference of the atoned sins of Israel into the Holy of Holies resulted in the defilement of the Holy of Holies. The Day of Atonement was the annual day of CLEANSING of the sanctuary (Holy of Holies) from the sins of Israel that accumulated throughout the year. With this is mind it is important to realize that ALL the sacrifices for sins offered throughout the year were intended to atone for the individual -- NOT for the Holy of Holies! There is absolutely no mention of daily sacrifices offered to atone for the sanctuary. The atonement of the daily sacrifices is always for the individual, as indicated by the following verse found throughout the Book of Leviticus: "The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven" (Leviticus 4:31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13; 12:6-8).

Now, by contrast, the sacrifice and blood ritual of the first male goat offered on the Day of Atonement served to CLEANSE the sanctuary or Holy of Holies. The cleansing was accomplished by the High Priest sprinkling the blood seven times, first upon the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies and upon the altar of burnt offering in the court (Leviticus 16:16-19). This ritual cleansed the sanctuary with respect to the uncleanness of the Israelites that had been transferred to the sanctuary throughout the year during the daily services.

Albert Treiyer points out that "in the daily sacrificial rituals, the sins and impurities of individuals were atoned for and transferred to the sanctuary. The Day of Atonement now focuses upon the cleansing of that sanctuary." Summing it up we can say that the daily rituals transferred sins TO the sanctuary, while the yearly ritual of the Day of Atonement removed the accumulated sins AWAY from the sanctuary.

The Day of Atonement plays a vital role in the consummation of redemption because it typifies the final cleansing and complete disposition of sin to be accomplished by YEHOVAH God at His return. It also cleanses the Holy of Holies so that YEHOVAH God can return to His Sanctuary on the first high day of the Feast of Tabernacles!

"It is curious," ponders Leon Morris, "that there is no mention either of laying on of hands or confession of sins over the goat for sin-offering" ("Day of Atonement and the work of Christ," Reformed Theological Review 14 (1955) p. 14). Alberto R. Treiyer reasons that this was because "the LORD's goat did not serve as a transfer victim to bring sin into the sanctuary [Holy of Holies], but as a CLEANSING AGENT to remove sins from the sanctuary" (The Day of Atonement and the Heavenly Judgment, (Siloam Springs, AR, 1992), p. 190, note 9).

Notes Samuele Bacchiocchi --

"While the sacrifice of the LORD's goat served to remove from the sanctuary the sins accumulated during the year, there is no reason to doubt that the people were forgiven and cleansed also of those sins repented of on that day. This is implied by the offering of regular and additional sacrifices on the Day of Atonement and also by the command that all, including the stranger, were to 'afflict' themselves on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29). There would have been no point to expect all to humble themselves and repent on the Day of Atonement, if no forgiveness was granted on that day" (God's Festivals in Scripture and History, Part 2, p. 143).

The purpose of the sacrifice and blood ritual of the LORD'S goat is clearly stated in Leviticus 16:16 -- notice!

"And he shall make atonement for the holy place [Holy of Holies], because of the uncleanesses of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins."

The blood ritual performed inside the Holy of Holies (Leviticus 16:17), and on the altar in the court (Leviticus 16:18-19; Exodus 30:10) had the express purpose of cleansing the uncleanness of the Israelites by removing their sins away from the sanctuary in a complete and permanent way.

The purification rites which cleansed the Holy of Holies and resulted in a cleansed Israelite people (Leviticus 16:30, 33) symbolically vindicated YEHOVAH God who in His infinite mercy had "assumed accountability for the sins of His penitent people." "In a real sense," comments Alberto Treiyer, "the sacrifice of the LORD's goat on the Day of Atonement was in favor of the sanctuary and was an act of vindication for it. In this manner, the Day of Atonement was an affirmation of innocence so far as the sanctuary itself was concerned, because the sanctuary was in reality a representation of the throne and government of God. The One who took on the responsibility of all the sins that were deposited therein by sacrifice was the God who lived in it, and now He was being vindicated" ("The Day of Atonement as Related to the Contamination and Purification of the Sanctuary," in The Seventy Weeks, Leviticus, and the Nature of Prophecy, ed. Frank B. Holbrook (Silver Spring, MD, 1988), p. 245).

As solemn as the services of the Day of Atonement were, the Old Testament worshippers would chiefly think with awe of the High Priest going into the Holy of Holies and the immediate presence of YEHOVAH God, finally coming out alive and securing for them, by the blood of the goat, the continuance of the Old Testament privileges of sacrifices and of access to YEHOVAH God through them.

The goat that was sacrificed represents Yeshua the Messiah, who offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins. As Paul wrote, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us [that is, our sin offering], so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21).

The apostle Peter wrote of the Messiah's offering for our sins: "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to Him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls" (I Peter 2:23-25).

The apostle Paul writes about the services of the Day of Atonement, saying:

"It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a manmade sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year [on Atonement] with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared ONCE FOR ALL at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those [of Israel] who are waiting for him" (Hebrews 9:23-28).

The offering of the goat "for the LORD" on the Day of Atonement, then, was a figure of the sacrifice of the Messiah for the sins of the people of Israel! The goat that was sacrificed for a sin offering of the people represented the Messiah, who shed his blood for us.

The Sin Offering

"He [Aaron] shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull's blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. No one is to be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel" (Leviticus 16:15-17).

The blood of this goat, representing the Messiah, not only atoned for the sins of the Israelite people, and their spiritual uncleanness and rebellion, but also cleansed all those physical things that came in contact with them -- the physical Tabernacle, Tent of Meeting, and the Holy Place itself! To use an analogy, it is as if sin is like "radiation." Whatever it touches also becomes "irradiated." If a man working in a nuclear facility comes in contact with radiating nuclear rods, and then goes outside, he would very likely be contaminated by radiation -- too much of a dose could even be lethal! A Geiger counter could detect the radiation emitting from his own body or clothing. He would have to be stripped, cleansed, bathed, and the clothing burned or properly disposed of, depending on its level of contamination.

Even so, since the Israelite man sins, everything he comes in contact with is contaminated by his sin, rebellion, evil thoughts and deeds. Therefore, EVERYTHING -- even the most holy things of the Sanctuary and Temple -- had to be "purified" and "cleansed" by the blood of the goat, symbolizing the blood of the Messiah. Sin contaminates like "radiation" -- but the blood of the Messiah can purify and cleanse ALL sin and spiritual contamination!

YEHOVAH God continued in His instructions to Moses: "Then he [Aaron, or the high priest descended from him] shall come out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood and put it on the horns of the altar. He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times [the number of "perfection" or "completion"] to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites" (Leviticus 16:18-19).

Writes Edersheim concerning this ritual --

"The he [the high priest] killed the goat set apart for Jehovah, and, entering the Most Holy Place a third time, sprinkled as before, once upwards and seven times downwards, and again deposited the bowl with the blood of the goat on a second golden stand before the veil...

"By these expiatory sprinklings the high priest had CLEANSED the sanctuary in all its parts from the defilement of the priesthood and the worshippers. The Most Holy Place, the veil, the Holy Place, the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt-offering were now clean alike, so far as the priesthood and as the people were concerned; and in their relationship to the sanctuary both priests and worshippers were atoned for.

"So far as the law could give it, there was now again FREE ACCESS for all; or, to put it otherwise, the continuance of typical sacrificial communion with God was once more restored and secured. Had it not been for these services, it would have become impossible for priests and people to offer sacrifices, and so to obtain the forgiveness of sins, or to have fellowship with God. But the consciences were not yet free from a sense of personal guilt and sin. That remained to be done through the 'scape-goat'" (The Temple, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., (Grand Rapids, MI, 1987) pp. 315-316).

What, then, does this second goat -- or the "scape-goat" -- represent? Notice!

The "Azazel" Goat

"When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the LIVE GOAT. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites -- all their sins -- and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a SOLITARY PLACE; and the man shall release it in the desert" (Leviticus 16:20-22).

What does this "live goat" represent? We have already seen that the sacrificed goat represented the Messiah himself. But this goat was NOT "sacrificed." Yet the "sins" of the people were confessed over it, and put on its head. That is, it was made to be RESPONSIBLE for the people's sins -- it was to carry the BLAME! What person, or individual, does this goat represent, who is made to bear responsibility for the sins of the people?

The KEY to answering this question is found in Leviticus 16:5, which says: "And he [Aaron] shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for A [singular] sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering." In other words, the TWO goats made up a single offering -- not two different offerings!

Another factor is mentioned by Alfred Edersheim in his book on the Temple --

"The two goats, however, must be altogether alike in look, size, and VALUE; indeed, so earnestly was it sought to carry out the idea that these two formed parts of one and the SAME sacrifice, that it was arranged they should, if possible, even be purchased at the same time" (The Temple, p. 312).

An example of this can be found in the purification of lepers -- see Leviticus 14. According to the Mishnah, two birds offered for the leper were to be PRECISELY the same color, size and value, and, if possible, bought on the same day -- to mark the fact that the two formed integral parts of ONE AND THE SAME SERVICE. Edersheim makes the observation that "the rites [for lepers] are, in fact, twofold -- the first [analogous to the goat sacrificed on the Day of Atonement], to restore him [the leper] to fellowship with the congregation; the other [analogous to the scape goat] to introduce him [the leper] anew to communion with God. In both respects he [the leper] had been dead, and was alive again; and the new life, so consecrated, was ONE HIGHER than the old could ever have been"! (ibid., p. 358).

This agrees amazingly with the rites of the Day of Atonement if we accept the fact that BOTH GOATS REPRESENT THE MESSIAH!

The identifications of the two goats with the Messiah can be traced back to early Christianity. In his dissertation on The Symbolism of the Azazel Goat, Ralph Levy takes a look at the interpretation of Azazel in both ancient Jewish and early Christian literature. He found that in many early Christian writings the two goats BOTH REPRESENT YESHUA THE MESSIAH! We find a clear example of this in the General Epistle of Barnabas written, according to some experts, before the Epistle of Jude and the writings of John. Some of the early Church Fathers believed that this epistle was written for the benefit of the Ebionites "who were tenacious of rites and ceremonies." Notice what Barnabas says:

"Take, says he, two goats, fair and alike, and offer them, and let the high priest take one of them for a burnt offering. And what must be done with the other? Let it say he be accursed. CONSIDER HOW EXACTLY THIS APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A TYPE OF JESUS. And let all the congregation spit upon it, and prick it; and put the scarlet wool about its head, and thus let it be carried forth into the wilderness. And this being done, he that was appointed to convey the goat, led it into the wilderness, and took away the scarlet wool, and put it upon a thorn bush..."

Continues Barnabas --

"And to what end was this ceremony? Consider; one was offered upon the altar, the other was accursed. And why was that which was accursed crowned? Because they shall see Christ in that day having a scarlet garment about his body; and shall say: Is not this he whom we crucified; having despised him, pierced him, mocked him?....

"But what then signifies this. That the wool was to be put into the midst of the thorns? THIS IS ALSO A FIGURE OF JESUS, sent out to the church. For he who would take away the scarlet wool must undergo many difficulties, because that thorn was very sharp, and with difficulty get it: So they, says Christ, that will see me, and come to my kingdom, must through many afflictions and troubles attain unto me" (6:6-9; 10-11; 14-15).

The origin of the two goats themselves may very well be found in the famous episode when Jacob is persuaded by his mother to dress up like his brother. Rebecca instructs him, in Genesis 27:9, to "go now to the herd and bring me two good goats..." The Mishnah expands on this, saying:

"How do we know that it was in the merit of Jacob [that we take the two goats]? These are the goats that his mother referred to "Go now to the herd and bring me two good goats..." Why are they called "good"?

"Rabbi Brechia said in the name of Rabbi Chelbo: 'They are good for you and good for your children. They are good for you when you enter, and take the blessings from your father, and they are good for your children, when they soil themselves in sin all year round. Then they will bring these two goats, and offer them and be cleansed'" (Pesikta Rabbati 47).

Jacob's entrance into his father's presence may be paralleled with the once-yearly entrance of the High Priest into the Holy of Holies. Jacob prepared for this appearance with THE TWO GOATS, as his descendants would in the future.

The most important point concerning the scapegoat is found in Leviticus 16:10, which says -- "But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make ATONEMENT upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness." If we choose to believe that "azazel" represents Satan -- as many in the churches do -- this raises the question of whether or not Satan can make an atonement for YEHOVAH's people Israel! Nowhere in the Bible is there a reference to Satan having any part in the atonement process! Instead, we read in Romans 5:11, "And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation [atonement]."

Also, in Hebrews 1:3 --

"Who being the brightness of His [YEHOVAH's] glory and the express image of His [YEHOVAH's] person, and upholding all things by the word of His [YEHOVAH's] power, when he [the Messiah] had BY HIMSELF PURGED OUR SINS, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty [YEHOVAH God] on high..."

Notice, now, Hebrews 9:25-26:

"Further, he [the Messiah] did not enter heaven to offer himself over and over again, like the high priest who enters the Holiest Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he [the Messiah] would have had to suffer death many times -- from the foundation of the universe on. But as it is [in reality] he has appeared once at the end of the ages in order to do away with sin through the sacrifice of himself" (Jewish New Testament).

The Bible clearly states that the Messiah made the atonement for us BY HIMSELF! In spite of this, it is suggested by many that the first goat represented the atoning work of Yeshua while the second goat represented Satan. It is argued that, since Satan was "the original cause" of all sin, "justice demands that God place right back on the head of the devil his guilt -- not our guilt, but his own guilt -- for leading us into sin" (Pagan Holidays or God's Holy Days -- Which? Herbert W. Armstrong, Worldwide Church of God, 1974, p. 46).

Armstrong goes on to say that the "driving away of the second live goat shows the final atonement, by placing the sins on their author where they belong, and the complete removal of the sins and their author from the presence of God and His people -- and thus the complete deliverance of the people from the power of Satan" (page 47).

If this scenario is true -- where in the Bible is the fulfillment of Leviticus 16:21, where the High Priest lays his hands on the azazel goat? The antitypical High Priest (Yeshua the Messiah) is -- according to Armstrong's interpretation -- to lay hands on Satan's head and confess the sins of Israel upon him. Where in the Bible is this even remotely mentioned? It could be said that the angel of Revelation 20:1 represents the "fit man" that sends the goat (Satan, in this interpretation) into the wilderness (represented by the "bottomless pit"), but without the fulfillment of the actual laying on of hands -- or any other references to Satan making an atonement for us -- it becomes nothing but total assumption, a mere unprovable theory.

Some even go so far as to suggest that the angel is in fact the Messiah, portrayed in revelation 19:11-14 as coming down from heaven to earth to smite the nations. However, the trouble with this scenario is that Revelation 19:11-14 DOES NOT portray the return of the Messiah but the RETURN OF YEHOVAH GOD! For more information on this read our article The Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah! Even if this passage did indeed portray the return of the Messiah, the personage in Revelation 20:1 is NOT THE SAME and comes down from heaven -- at a later date -- to bind Satan. This ANGEL is the ONLY ONE who lays hands on Satan -- NOT TO CONFESS SINS ON HIS HEAD -- but to cast him into the bottomless pit!!

On the other hand, the Bible paints a beautiful picture of the fulfillment of Yeshua the Messiah as the goat that was sent away bearing the sins of Israel. Notice Leviticus 16:22 -- "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he [the "fit man"] shall release the goat in the wilderness." Now consider the following passages:

ISAIAH 53:6 -- "And the LORD [YEHOVAH God] has laid on him [the Messiah] the iniquity of us all." The sins of Israel were laid on the Messiah. They were placed on him, and him ALONE.

ISAIAH 53:11 -- "For he [the "righteous Servant" -- the Messiah] shall bear their iniquities."

ISAIAH 53:12 -- "And he [the Messiah] bore the sin of many..." Yeshua the Messiah is the ONE who bore our sins. He carried them away upon his own head -- which is what the Hebrew "cabal" (bare) means.

ISAIAH 53:4 -- "Surely he [the Messiah] has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;" The Messiah is the sin-bearer -- NOT Satan!

HEBREWS 9:28 -- "So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many."

I PETER 2:24 -- "...who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree..." There is NO OTHER sin-bearer!

JOHN 1:29 -- "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

I JOHN 3:5 -- "And you know that he [the Messiah] was manifested to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin.

Yeshua the Messiah is the goat that carried away the sins of Israel. He took them upon himself and "was made to be sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21). He therefore fulfills the antitypical "azazel" goat. There is no need for Satan to bear anyone's sins -- he has his own sins to bear and they will prove to be unbearable!

Now the act of laying on of hands (Leviticus 16:21; also Leviticus 1:4; 3:2; 4:4, 15, 29 33) symbolizes the TRANSFERENCE OF SINS from the guilty party (the children of Israel) to the INNOCENT party -- the azazel goat. The INNOCENT then becomes the sin-bearer. Undeniably, Yeshua the Messiah fulfills the type -- see Isaiah 53:4, 6, 11, and 12.

Satan, however, CANNOT fulfill the type because he is not innocent! It simply will not satisfy YEHOVAH God's justice to transfer the sins of the guilty to another guilty party. Since lots were used to decide which goat was "for YEHOVAH," it meant that BOTH GOATS had to be unblemished and identical. The antitype of an unblemished goat was the sinlessness of Yeshua the Messiah. Can it be said that Satan is sinless and was to be represented by an unblemished goat? NEVER!!

The azazel goat was to bear the iniquities of the children of Israel into a land "not inhabited." We have just read passages from the Bible that undeniably teach that the Messiah is the ONLY sin-bearer. Therefore, he can be the ONLY person that fulfills the type of "azazel." With that in mind, HOW does the Messiah fulfill being sent to a land not inhabited and let go into the wilderness?

The Hebrew word for "not inhabited" is gezerah -- meaning "a desert (as separated)." It comes from the root word gazar, meaning "to cut down or off." The Messiah was certainly cut off and separated from not only the land of the living, but also from his Father YEHOVAH God. When Yeshua cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34) it was because at that moment he was separated from YEHOVAH -- having taken upon himself the sins of all Israel. Sin always causes a separation from YEHOVAH, as Isaiah wrote: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His [YEHOVAH's] face from you, so that He [YEHOVAH] will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). The Messiah's disciples also separated themselves from him by forsaking him and denying him.

Yeshua was even separated because he "suffered outside the gate" and "outside the camp" (Hebrews 13:11-13). Notice what Alfred Edersheim says about the "azazel" goat ritual --

"Then a strange scene would be witnessed. The priests led the sin-burdened goat out through 'Solomon's Porch,' and, as tradition has it, through the eastern gate, which opened upon the Mount of Olives. Here an arched bridge spanned the intervening valley, and over it they brought the goat to the Mount of Olives, where one, specially appointed for the purpose, took him in charge. Tradition enjoins that he should be a stranger, a non-Israelite, as if to make still more striking the type of him [the Messiah] who was delivered over by Israel unto the Gentiles [Temple Guard, to be crucified]!

"Scripture tells us no more of the destiny of the goat that bore upon him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, than that they 'shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness'" (The Temple, p. 318).

Ernest Martin, in his book Secrets of Golgotha, elaborates on this theme by saying,

"Let us look at the sin offerings associated with the Day of Atonement. Since it was necessary for those sin offerings on that most holy day to be taken eastwards from the Temple, out the eastern gate, over the two-tiered arched bridge crossing the Valley of the Kidron, and then up to the summit of the Mount of Olives to be burnt to ashes, SO JESUS WAS ALSO TAKEN from the same Temple, out the eastern gate (Heb. 13:10-13), also over the two-tiered bridge, and up to the summit of Olivet just south of the Miphkad Altar and there crucified (and stoned to death). The SIMILARITY must have struck early Christians as highly significant. Even the ashes of all the animals sacrificed and burnt to ashes in the Temple had to be taken out the same eastern gate, over the two-tiered bridge, and up to the summit of Olivet to be poured out at the base of the Miphkad Altar."

Continues Martin --

"This means that Christ Jesus, with the events that happened to him on the day of his trial and crucifixion, FOLLOWED THE SAME PATH of all the animal sacrifices (or their ashes) in the ritualistic ceremonies of the Temple. With an understanding of these geographical and ritualistic indications associated with the passion of Christ, we are provided with even more symbolic and theological teaching that Jesus Christ did in fact FULFILL THE ROLE OF THE SIN-BEARER, and that he was the prophesied one to offer a pure and complete sacrifice to God for all people [of Israel] in the world" (ASK Publications (Alhambra, CA, 1988) pages 246-247).

Yeshua the Messiah was the sin-bearer -- NOT Satan the Devil! Yeshua was sent into the wilderness of total separation as he bore our sins away.

Now, what about the "fit man" that escorted the goat to the edge of the wilderness? If the angel of Revelation 20:1 is not the fulfillment -- then who is? Clearly, the "fit man" that the priests handed the azazel goat over to was fulfilled by the officer in charge of the Temple police or guard, that carried out the crucifixion of the Messiah. While I consider this fulfillment of the "fit man" to be the correct one, these is another possible antitype.

The word "fit" comes from the Hebrew "timely, opportune, at hand." Some translations render it, "a timely man," "a man of opportunity," or "an appointed man." The Bible reveals there was a man who was "at hand" at the right time, "appointed" by YEHOVAH God to lead the Messiah to his "wilderness" separation. That man could, in all likelihood, have been Judas. Acts 1:16 states that Judas "became a guide to those who arrested Jesus." It also says, in Matthew 26:24, "The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." Yeshua was "going" to the wilderness bearing our sins upon him. Judas could have been the man appointed to lead and guide Yeshua on that journey into the wilderness of total separation.

Although the Messiah has fulfilled BOTH typical goats, there remains one major aspect of the Day of Atonement that remains unfulfilled. The antitypical JUBILEE TRUMPET marking the beginning of the Jubilee year (which was typically blown on the Day of Atonement when it came due) has yet to be blown. When Yeshua returns his verdicts towards the end of the Day of Atonement, the JUBILEE TRUMPET will sound to set the Israelite captives free from death and the Day of Atonement will see its total fulfillment.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is this: The Bible unequivocally declares Yeshua the Messiah to be the ONLY sin-bearer who not only died for the remission of sins, but also the only one to actually take those sins away. When we realize that YEHOVAH's goat and the azazel goat are ONE atonement offering -- rather than two separate offerings separated by thousands of years -- we can understand and appreciate the symbolic fulfillment more readily. Yeshua is the perfect fulfillment of the typical atonement sacrifice. As YEHOVAH's goat his blood CLEANSED the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 9:23) and the Israel of YEHOVAH God (Leviticus 16:17). As "azazel" he bore the sins of Israel and took them away forever!

The "live goat," who has the sins of the people of Israel put on his head, and who is then led into the desert, to a solitary place AWAY from all people, also represents Yeshua the Messiah!

According to Alfred Edersheim,

"the sins of the people were confessed NOT ON THE GOAT WHICH WAS KILLED, but on that which was 'let go in the wilderness,' and that it was this goat -- NOT the other -- which "bore upon him all the iniquities" of the people. So far as the CONSCIENCE was concerned, this goat was the real and the only sin-offering 'for all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins,' for upon it the high-priest laid the sins of the people, after he had by the blood of the bullock and of the other goat 'made an end of reconciling the Holy Place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar.'"

Continues Edersheim --

"The blood sprinkled had effected this; but it had done NO MORE, and it could do no more, for it "could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the CONSCIENCE. The symbolical representation of this perfecting was by the LIVE GOAT, which, laden with the confessed sins of the people, carried them away into 'the wilderness' to 'a land not inhabited.' The only meaning of which this seems really capable, is that though confessed guilt was removed from the people to the head of the goat, as the symbolical substitute, yet the goat was not killed, only sent far away, into 'a land not inhabited,' so, under the Old Covenant, sin was not really blotted out, only put away from the people, and put aside till Christ came, not only to take upon himself the burden of transgression, but to blot it out and to purge it away" (The Temple, pp. 320-321).

The blood of both the bullock and the first goat -- which the High Priest carried once a year into the Holy of Holies -- was offered only for himself (including the priesthood) and for the errors (more correctly, ignorances) of the people of Israel.

"But this live scape-goat," explains Edersheim, "'let go' in the wilderness, over which, in the exhaustive language of Lev. xvi.21, the high-priest had confessed and on which he had laid 'all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins,' MEANT SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT. It meant the inherent 'weakness and unprofitableness of the commandment;' it meant, that 'the law made nothing perfect, but was the bringing in of a better hope;' that in the covenant mercy of God guilt and sin were indeed removed from the people, that they were 'covered up,' and in that sense atoned for, or rather that they were both 'covered up' and removed, but that they were not really taken away and destroyed till Christ came; that they were only taken into a land not inhabited, till he [the Messiah] should blot it out by his own blood; that the provision which the Old Testament made was only preparatory and temporary, until the 'time of the reformation;' and that hence real and true forgiveness of sins, and with it the spirit of adoption, could only be finally obtained after the death and resurrection of 'the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world'" (The Temple, pp. 321-322).

The live (azazel) goat that was let go every year was a remover of sins which were never really removed in the sense of being blotted out -- only deposited, as it were, and reserved until the Messiah died for our sins on the tree.

Philo, a leading Jewish historian and writer of the first century, who was a friend of the apostle Peter, wrote of the Azazel goat, "The one goat is given to 'the fugitive creature,' and the lot which it received is named in the prophesy 'sent away,' because it is persecuted, expelled, and driven far away by wisdom" (Hastings Dictionary of the Bible, "Feasts and Fasts," p. 862). What a perfect picture of the Messiah!