The scapegoat: The sin bearer

"...Are you sure? I think you may have it backwards."

"No. The bull is sacrificed for the high priest. One goat is chosen to be sacrificed for us. The other becomes the scapegoat."

"But they don't sacrifice the scapegoat too?"

"No, someone takes it out into the wilderness. But before they do, Aaron puts his hands on the goat's head —like this— and confesses all our sins. That way, when the goat is taken out into the wilderness, it takes our sins with it."

"How does Aaron know all my sins, Father? Do you tell him? Do you have to keep a list?"

"That would be a pretty long list, wouldn't it? And mine would be even longer! The truth is that I don't know. I've never seen it happen. I am just thankful that God has provided a way for our sins to be removed..."

On the Day of Atonement, the roles of the two goats were chosen by lot. One was identified as the Lord's and sacrificed for the sins of the people. The other became the azazel, the scapegoat. As Aaron placed his hand on its head, and confessed the sins of the nation over it, the goat was symbolically loaded with those very sins. It was then entrusted to a man appointed to take the goat out of the camp and release it into the wilderness. Because the sins had been laid onto the goat, it carried those sins from the camp when it left. These sacrifices and ceremonies were repeated on an annual basis to make atonement for the sins of the Israelites.

The Lord Jesus is our scapegoat. The apostle Peter wrote that He "bore our sins in His body on the tree". At the end of that verse, Peter quotes from Isaiah 53. Three times in that passage (verses 6, 11, and 13) Isaiah speaks prophetically of the fact that that our sins and iniquities were laid on, and borne by, Him. Our sins have been removed. Taken away. Not just for the year, but for all time.

(Leviticus 16; Isaiah 53; 1 Peter 2:24)

Aaron: The sinless high priest

"Father, where are they taking those animals?"

"Do you remember how this morning I told you that today was a special day? Today is the Day of Atonement. It is a very serious day. Those animals are being taking to the tabernacle as part of some special sacrifices."

"Special? What makes them special?"

"What makes them special? Well, normally we bring animals to the tabernacle to offer them as sacrifices for our own sins. But once a year these special sacrifices are offered to cleanse the whole nation and the high priest. It is really important that they be done properly."

"Why does the high priest need two goats?"

"What do you mean?"

"The bull is so big so it must be the sacrifice for us. So why does the high priest need two goats?"

"No, the goats will be sacrificed for us. One will, anyway. The other will be the scapegoat. It is the bull that will be offered to cleanse the high priest."

"Are you sure? I think you may have it backwards."

The sacrifices of the Day of Atonement do indeed seem to be backwards. A bull is typically four to five times larger than a male goat. On a per capita basis, one would anticipate that the larger sacrifice (the bull) would be offered for the larger group of people (the nation). But instead the larger sacrifice is made for the high priest and his family, while the much smaller goat is offered for the nation.

This seeming contradiction emphasizes for us the importance of the high priest. As the intercessor for his people, as the one who approached God on their behalf, it was critical that the high priest be acceptable in God's sight. The bull was offered annually to atone for the high priest's sins in order that he might carry out his duties. He had to be holy.

The book of Hebrews explains that Jesus is our perfect high priest. He does not need to offer sacrifices for his own sins. He is holy, pure, blameless. He is perfect. Forever. Even better, he does not need to offer daily (or even annual sacrifices) for the people. Unlike any other high priest, he could offer himself as the sacrifice. His sacrifice is all that is needed.

(Lev. 16:1-34, Heb. 7:26-28)

Elisha's stick: The transformer of natures

"No,no,no,no,no,no,noooo!"

He had been attempting to fell the tree. It was going to be a beam in their new building. He had swung the axe back to prepare for the next blow when he felt it lighten unexpectedly. His head spun over his shoulder just in time to see the axe head splash into the depths of the river. Gone.

"What am I going to do?", he wondered. It was a borrowed axe. Borrowed because he lacked the funds to buy his own — or a replacement! He cried out again and struck the tree with the now-headless handle. He stopped and sighed. "Yeah, some prophet I am," he muttered to himself.

He knew Elisha was working nearby so he ran to him, crying out his name. Elisha paused in his own work to listen. After the situation was explained, Elisha simply asked: "Where did it fall in?"

The man lead him to his half-felled tree and pointed. He watched as Elisha took his own axe, sheared a branch from the tree, and threw it into the water where he had indicated. The axe head bobbed to the surface! He watched as it began to spin and float downstream.

He felt Elisha prod him gently in the ribs with the butt of an axe handle. "Go lift it out", Elisha told him before returning work.

Elisha's life is relayed to us in episodes or vignettes rather than a longer, continuous narrative. In this particular passage, the prophets are undertaking a building program. Elisha is enlisted to join a work party on the banks of the Jordan hewing beams for the new structure. When the loss of a borrowed axe head causes quite a bit of commotion for one of the young prophets, Elisha calmly retrieves it for him from the bottom of the river.

Neither the brevity of the story nor Elisha's casual manner should take away from the miracle of what transpired. A deep and fundamental transformation was accomplished: iron was made to float. This is, of course, un-natural. The nature of a metal axe head is such that it should sink to the bottom of the river as a valuable item irrecoverably lost. Yet, by joining the axe head in the water, Elisha's stick imparts it's wooden nature to the iron. The axe head is transformed. It floats. It is recovered and restored.

A similar transformation happens in the life of a believer. We are being pulled down by a force that we are powerless to counteract. Left unaided, we will be something of value that will be irrecoverably lost. Yet, by joining us in our sin and our death, Jesus too can effect a great transformation. We receive His nature and His standing before a holy God, and we no longer need to fear the inevitable outcome of our fallen natures. We are raised up and lifted out.

(2 Kings 6:1-7; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Samson: The sacrificial deliverer

He felt the servant take his hand and then grab him just above the elbow. He began to be lead... somewhere. No doubt the plan was to take him back to prison. Though he could barely make himself heard over the crowd noise, he managed to get the servant's attention. "Not yet. Take me to the central pillars. I need to lean against them."

The servant had not needed much convincing. Samson was out of breath from the humiliating performance he had just completed. He was also shaking, partly from exhaustion, but mostly from fury. The crowd shouting taunts had once only spoken his name in whispers. He had been powerful. He had been a fearsome enemy. Now he was reduced to a helpless, blind performer who had to be lead around by the hand. Now he was the entertainment. "Just wait for my final act," he thought to himself.

He could not say for certain, but based on the noise and the heat, he guessed there were a few thousand people at this temple celebration. He stretched out his arms and placed his hands flat on the pillars, fingers pointed upward. He shifted his feet slowly, bending his knees to widen his stance.

Then he hung his head. "O Sovereign Lord," he prayed --something wet hit his chest, eliciting a few cheers from the crowd-- "Remember me. Strengthen me once more. Let me take revenge for my two eyes."

He filled his lungs with air for the final time. Then he pushed with all his might and shouted: "Let me die with the Philistines!"

Samson's ministry was one of death and destruction. The book of Judges concludes his story by stating that he killed more in his death than he did during his life. Although his life had begun under auspicious circumstances --divine announcement, miraculous conception-- Samson never really lived up the promise of those early days. So it is that we see him at the end, humiliated in the presence of his enemies. His final words are a call to God for vengeance. His final act is to sacrifice himself to bring about the death of his enemies.

Samson serves as powerful counterpoint to the Lord Jesus. Jesus' birth was also divine in conception and foretold with angelic proclamation. Yet where Samson's life is characterized by unfulfilled potential, the Son performed all that the Father gave him to do.

It is, however, at the moment of their deaths when the starkest contrasts appear. Certainly there are still similarities: as they die, both men are surrounded by their enemies; they are being taunted and humiliated. But Samson's final thoughts are of death and of vengeance, whereas Christ's final moments are concerned with others. "Father, forgive them," He cried. Samson gave his life so that his enemies might die. Jesus sacrificed Himself so that His enemies might live.

(Judges 16:23-31)

Moses: The incomplete deliverer

He was breathing rather heavily by the time he reached the summit, but not as heavily as he had expected. "Not bad for an old man," he thought to himself.

He stood for a moment to take in the view. Off to the west he could see the Jordan river, the natural border to the land of promise. It was a land that he had heard of, dreamed of, and worked toward for so many years. But it was a land he would never enter himself. He would not have the joy of leading his people into their long-awaited inheritance. That task would fall to his successor.

His eye sight was still excellent, but in these his final moments he wished he could see the land more clearly. And then he felt he was... flying? He wasn't sure. But the distant land seemed to be speeding toward him.

He flew north over Gilead, and then zoomed along the banks of the Jordan. He saw the northern sea and its forests, then he began to move south. He passed over the hill country and into the mountains. Soon the western sea was hurtling toward him. He traveled further south to the Negev, the spot where the spies had entered Canaan almost 40 years earlier. It took him a moment to recognize, for he had never seen it from this perspective. Finally he felt himself returning to his body, past the city of Jericho and then... back. On Mount Nebo.

He was breathing more rapidly now. But not from exertion. It was incredible. What a beautiful land! He had heard the reports of the spies but... What a blessing awaited his people!

Then the Lord spoke to him for what Moses knew would be the final time of his earthly life. "This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I promised to give it their descendants. And I shall. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over."

There is no one afforded more respect among the Jewish people that Moses. And rightfully so. Moses was the prophet of God, the law giver, the deliverer of the people.

But while he was able to deliver them out of the land of oppression, Moses never succeeded in delivering those people into the land of promise. Moses, despite his many great abilities, was human. He was disobedient. And his disobedience kept him from finishing the work that God had entrusted to him. His deliverance was incomplete.

Jesus too has provided deliverance from bondage and oppression. His salvation, however, is complete. The author of Hebrews refers to him as the author and finisher of our faith. The former term refers to a leader or a pioneer who provides an example, while the latter refers to one who fulfills or completes. Paul uses similar language when writing to the church in Philippi: "He who began a good work in you will complete it."

Jesus has already entered the blessing into which He will lead his people. The deliverance that Jesus Christ provides is full. It is complete. It is finished.

(Deuteronomy 34:1-8)

Aaron: The name bearer

By unspoken agreement, they had saved these two particular stones to the end. Bezalel looked down at the turquoise before him and began the task of engraving his name. He completed a letter and paused to look over at Oholiab, who was fully absorbed in his work. Bezalel's eyes caught a flash of blue when Oholiab re-positioned the stone. Back to my work, he thought, and returned to his own stone and his own name.

It was not, of course, his name. No more that it was his stone. The name he was engraving was the name of his tribe: Judah. The stone would be placed in the second row of the breastplate they were creating for the Aaron the high priest. The stone for Dan —the sapphire Oholiab was completing— would be its neighbour.

It struck Bezalel as appropriate that their two tribes should be forever set beside one another on the high priestly garments considering how much time they had spent together. Moses had told them that the Lord himself had chosen them to oversee the craftsmen charged with creating the tent of meeting, its furnishings, and all the sacred garments the priests would wear. After so many weeks of construction and administration that work would soon be completed. And then most of it they would never see again...

Perhaps that was why they had saved their tribe-stones for themselves. Once everything was prepared, it would be Aaron's responsibility go directly into the presence of God. He and Oholiab could never dare do the same; they were not Levites and they were not the high priest. But when Aaron did so, it would be like they were entering with him. He would bear their names on his shoulders and carry them over his heart. And there he would offer sacrifices to God for the people. And for them.

The high priest's garments included, on his shoulders, two onyx stones upon which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. On his breastplate were twelve stones. Each bore the name of one of the tribes. Exodus tells us that whenever Aaron entered the Holy Place he was to bear those names as a memorial. They were to be a reminder of the people he represented collectively and of the people he was to care for individually.

We see these two roles outlined at the start of Hebrews 5. The high priest is represent the people to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices on their behalf. He is also to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray. The shoulders and the heart. The collective and the individual.

Jesus is also a name bearer. He is our representative to God. He has offered himself as a sacrifice on our behalf. Yet he also deals gently with each of us in our unique blends of ignorance and wandering. He is our high priest. And he is my high priest.

(Exodus 28, 39; Hebrew 5:1-5)

The scarlet cord: The hope of salvation

She secured one end of the rope and then, as silently as possible, lowered the other out her window. She turned to the fugitives and whispered: "Go! Hide in the mountains for three days until the search parties have returned. Then you may return to your people." The two Israelite spies double checked the rope and prepared to lower themselves over the wall. They remembered the oaths that they had given Rahab up on her rooftop in exchange for their safety.

One saw a scarlet cord lying on the table and smiled. It is fitting, he thought, with Passover so near. He grabbed the cord and placed it in her hand. Whispering, he explained: "When we come into the land, place this scarlet cord in this window. Bring your father and mother and all your family here. No one will lay a hand on anyone in this house."

"So be it," she replied as he hoisted himself out the window. She soon felt the tug that indicated both men had made it safely to the ground.

As she pulled the rope back in through the window, she peered intently into the darkness below. She could barely make out their silhouettes as they crept away from the base of the city walls, but they seemed to heed her advice. They were heading toward the mountains and away from the Jordan.

She tied the scarlet cord to her window sill and hung the loose end so that it would be visible to those outside. Like a small trickle of blood high up on the wall. "So be it," she said aloud again before heading off to bed.

Rahab confessed to the two spies that the whole city of Jericho was terrified. True, the Israelites seemed trapped on the other side of the flooding Jordan. But the people of Jericho had heard of all the great works the Lord has accomplished for his people —the crossing of the Red Sea, the defeat of the Amorite kings— and they recognized that the swollen river and their impenetrable walls offered no defense against the God of heaven and earth.

Yet Rahab, after aiding and abetting the Israelite spies, secured from them a promise of protection. This deliverance took the form of a scarlet cord she was to hang in her window. The Hebrew word for cord in Joshua 2 (tiqvah) is most frequently translated elsewhere as hope or expectation. In a very real sense, that scarlet cord was Rahab's hope. It was all that separated her and her family from certain judgement. That cord would get her safely out of the city. It would allow her to live at peace among her former enemies.

In writing to Timothy, Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ as our hope. It is His blood that protects us from judgement. It is His blood that offers salvation. Only His blood can gives us peace with God.

(Joshua 2:1-24; 1 Timothy 1:1)