Proof that the Azazel goat truly represents Satan the devil

Fred R. Coulter—October 28, 2017

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services!

Before we start on the two goats, do you know of Pastor Jeffress, the main clergy with Trump? He is on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). He was giving a sermon on the resurrection, because he's written a book about heaven. I thought: How is he going to do this?

It just shows you that they can read the Scriptures, and not understand it. Or they can read the Scriptures and edit out what they don't want. He read Rev. 20, 'blessed and Holy is he that has part in the first resurrection, on such the second death has no power.'

Then he turned to 1-Cor. 15 and I thought, let's see where he goes with this. How is he going to reconcile going to heaven with the resurrection from the dead?

1-Corinthians 15:20: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He has become the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order…" (vs 20-23). He stopped right there!

Jeffers said, 'It doesn't happen all at one time. For some it's going to happen in the rapture, and the resurrection is when you receive a spiritual body. So, if your soul goes to heaven, that's what you're going to receive.'

Let's carry on where he left off; v 23: "But each in his own order…" That's where he stopped!

He's there with his Bible and he holds the Bible and walks around; he's got he shiniest shoes I've ever seen. He's got all of his notes in the middle of the Bible and never turns to any Scripture, because it's all written out there. With his half-hour program, all the Scriptures are posted up on the screen.

He left off after "…each in his own order…" He never said what the order was.

"…Christ the Firstfruit… [which explains it] …then those who are Christ's at His coming' (v 23). So, his statement that it doesn't happen all at once is a lie. His cutting it off right there—"…each in his own order…" is a twisting of the Scripture. But to look at him and hear him, he's a nice guy, he's friendly and he seems to be honest and upright; except when dealing with the Word of God compared to the doctrine that they believe.

There's a veil over the eyes of Israel when the Law of Moses is read (1-Cor. 3), and there's a veil over their eyes when they read the New Testament, because hey really don't believe what it says.

There's a perfect example of how you can read the Scriptures, sound like you're telling the truth—when you read them you are telling the truth—but you're using only part of it and you mislead them all. I thought that was something!

*****

In part one of The Two Goats of Leviticus, I said that God always holds the accomplice and the enablers guilty for not stopping sin when they know that open sin is sin.

Deuteronomy 29:21: "And the LORD shall separate him… [the sinner] …unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel…" How does God cut off someone without destroying or killing them, yet, remaining within the community of Israel? Their lives are given over to sin!

  • Do we have that today?
  • Do we have people who are law-abiding to a certain point?
  • Do we have people who are rebellious and against law, lawless?
  • Yes!

"…according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law; so that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say (when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the LORD has laid on it)" (vs 21-22). All the curses of Deut. 28.

If you read them all carefully, do we not have those all ongoing today? Every single one of them! In varying degrees and in various parts of where Israel is. Also, the whole world.

Verse 23—also a prophecy and a stating of a fact that has taken place: "The whole land shall be burned with brimstone and salt; it shall not be sown; nor shall it sprout; nor shall there be any grass in it. It shall be like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim… [those are the accomplice cities] …which the LORD overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath, even all nations shall say, 'Why has the LORD done this to this land?….'" (vs 23-24). That's what happened in the Middle East. Where is Sodom and Gomorrah is today it's exactly like this. Does this tell us that latter day Israel is going to suffer from atomic warfare? Think about 'little rocket man' over in North Korea. How close are we?

Verse 25: "Then men shall say, 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, for they went and served other gods and worshiped them…'" (vs 25-26). That's what the two goats are about. Which one is the real Christ, and which one is the false christ.

"…gods whom they did not know and that He  had not allotted to them. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book" (vs 26-27). Look at the history of the Middle East where Israel was.

  • Is God 'the same yesterday, today and forever'?
  • Does He say, 'I the Lord do not change'? Yes, indeed!
  • Are there still the descendants of Israel today? Yes, indeed!

Yes, we live in the land where we have freedom of speech and all of this, and the Gospel is preached. Just because we have those things, just because many of us have not suffered from the curses that are written here, we somehow think that it's not going to happen to us.

  • Is the Word of God true? Yes, it is true!
  • Will one word of God fail? No!
  • What did God do?

Verse 28: "And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger and wrath…"

  • Did He do that to the ten tribes?
  • Did He do that to the Jews?
  • Did He give them every chance in the world to repent?

For the ten northern tribes:

  • Don't you think that 232 years is long enough? Add onto that another hundred years for the Jews in Judea!
  • Don't you think that additional time was long enough for them?
  • Don't you think they should have repented when God destroyed the Assyrian army of 180,000? In one night they all died!

Then Hezekiah was so stupid that when the ambassadors from Babylon came over to find out about this wonder that happened, Hezekiah said, 'Look at all the treasure we have here; look at this, that and the other thing.' That was after God gave him an extra 15 years.

What did God say? All that treasure that you have that you showed to the ambassadors from Babylon, it's going to go there! But not in your day. So, Hezekiah said, 'That's good.' So, what happened? Who followed? Amon followed, but was killed very shortly.

  • Who took his place? Manasseh!
  • How long did he reign? 55 years!
  • Do you think a four-year term with a President today is agony when he sins?
  • Eight years with the illustrious Obama?
  • How about if you take 55 years?
  • Did they not get involved in all kinds of sin? (2-Chron. 33).

They even turned the house of God into pagan worship. They put idols in there, put up homosexual booths all around, 'because we're good, understanding people, and since sex is good, any sex is good, therefore, it doesn't matter if it's man/woman, woman/woman, man/man or with animals, whatever. We're a broad and understanding people.'

What did God do? He had one last shot! One last reprieve with Josiah!' Josiah started putting the evil away, even though he started at eight-years-old. Then the last 12 years of his life there was a reformation, devotion to God. When Josiah died, because of his vanity, Jeremiah gave the lamentation, because he knew what was going to happen to Israel.

Why do I bring this up? So we can see what's going to happen here in America! Remember that if you stay with God in Truth, love and dedication, it doesn't matter about other people! Keep that in mind! Today, too many brethren have an idol of brethren and fellowship, so they

  • tolerate false doctrine
  • they tolerate laxness
  • they tolerate compromise

to the point that with the Apostle Paul wrote Timothy—2-Tim. 1—when he was in Rome in prison the second time: All that in Asia have forsaken me! That's why Truth and doctrine are important.

How did the Church get to the point that that happened? It started right where we did, with the resurrection from the dead! Paul said that there were some who say there's no resurrection, it's already past.

What comes next? The Passover! Now we're dealing with the Day of Atonement with this. Probably in between, since they removed the fact hat Satan will not be destroyed but suffer in the blackest darkness forever, that God will destroy Satan. Has that been another doctrine that has come around? Yes, indeed! This is important what we are covering.

Here's where to start, 1-Pet. 2. They say that when the priest put his hands on the goat for Azazel, to take all of our sins away, there are two explanations:

  • this is Christ taking them for us
  • He's taking them to heaven

We will see that the Bible does not teach that. Nowhere does it say that when Christ went to heaven that He presented all the sins of mankind to God the Father. Where were the sins left? On the earth! When they read, 'Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world,' they say that's the goat carrying them away.

  • Did that goat go to heaven? No!
  • Is there any place where it shows that sin is forgiven without the shedding of blood? No!

1-Peter 2:21: "For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in His footsteps; Who committed no sin… [very important] …neither was guile found in His mouth; Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when suffering, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him Who judges righteously; Who Himself bore our sins within His own body on the tree… [How did He do that?] …so that we, being dead to sins, may live unto righteousness; by Whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls" (vs 21-25).

  • How did God and Christ do that?
  • If they're within His body, why would the goat have to have those confessed over, all on him?

This is why the Passover is so very important.

Let's look at how the means by which sin is forgiven and removed. Christ did not carry all the sins to heaven. They were condemned on the earth when He shed His blood. That's the Passover!

Atonement is an entirely different matter. It does show the sacrifice of Christ in the one goat for the Lord, true. But that does not apply to the Church. We will see that. Nor does that apply to individuals.

Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; but are being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; Whom God has openly manifested to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, in respect to the remission of sins that are past" (vs 23-25).

That's how sin is forgiven. When it's forgiven, those same sins are removed upon repentance. But there is an accomplice to sin.

  • beginning in the Garden of Eden
  • at Jesus' last Passover
  • with Ananias and Sapphira

Satan is the 'prince of the power of the air'

  • working in all the children of disobedience today
  • Satan cannot die because he's a spirit being
  • Satan has no blood that he can shed

How did Christ do it?

This is very important for us to understand and realize how absolutely magnificent, awesome and great that the sacrifice of Christ was and is, and what He did was fair righteous judgment for all mankind! But they have to come and repent and accept Christ!

You have heard it said, 'You never knew what it was like.' What did God do with the sin of Adam and Eve that was passed down to all human beings?

Romans 5:12: "Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and by means of sin came death…" That one man was Adam; 'as in Adam we all die.' We all have the law of sin and death within us. Adam could have stopped the whole thing if would have said, 'Eve, put it down.' But he didn't!

"…and in this way death passed into… [Greek: 'eis'] …all mankind…" (v 12). That means that by conception every human being inherits, automatically, 'the law of sin and death.'

People are going to say, 'God, You gave us a sinful human nature; You don't know what it's like. You're righteous and are up there in heaven and You don't have to worry about temptation. You don't have to worry about the pulls of the flesh.' That would be true IF Christ didn't come in the flesh. He came in the flesh and He inherited from his mother human nature, which had to be 'the law of sin and death.'

How do we know? This is why you have to know the Word of God, and why we have to understand doctrine.

Hebrews 5:7—referring to Christ Who is going to be a priest after Melchisedec: "Who, in the days of His flesh… ['sarkos'—same flesh as all human beings] …offered up both prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because He feared God. Although He was a Son, yet, He learned obedience from the things that He suffered; and having been perfected…" (vs 7-9).

How could He be perfected? If He was perfect, with no sin, but it does say that 'He carried our sins within Him' (1-Pet. 2). How could He do that?

"…He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him" (v 9).

Hebrews 4:14: "Having, therefore, a great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith. For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot empathize with our weaknesses, but One Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations; yet, He was without sin" (vs 14-15).

  • What did Jesus have to do?
  • How could He carry within His own body the sin of the world?
  • What was the sin of the world? That which He gave to Adam, the 'law of sin and death'!

if God could

  • come in the flesh, which He did
  • take on human nature, which He did
  • carry 'the law of sin and death,' which He did
  • overcome Satan the devil, which He did

By the way, He started on the Day of Atonement, 26A.D.; keep that in mind when we get back to Lev. 26.

Why is only His blood and nothing else? We all know about Satan, he's the accomplice. He's the one who causes people to sin; yet, people sin automatically with their own sins. But when Satan gets involved it intensifies.

Hebrews 5:7: "…offered up both prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death…"

Didn't He come to die? Yes! Die without personal sin Himself!But He carried 'the law of sin and death' within Him, and yet, not sin! How was He able to not sin? With the Holy Spirit and always doing the things that God wanted Him to do!

  • He loved God
  • He obeyed the Truth
  • He taught the Truth

He's the Creator of all mankind, so no one can say, 'Jesus, You're wonderful, but You don't understand.'

As we covered going through Rom. 7, fighting 'the law of sin and death,' we do that—don't we? We fight it! Compared to God Who is perfectly righteous, Holy and true.

  • What are our thoughts during any one day?
  • How many of those thoughts are actually evil before God?

Maybe some of those thoughts we think are pretty good, but are evil before God. I don't think we've really grasped the understanding of what it says:

Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" That is 'the law of sin and death,' automatic! Then when you reinforce that with sin, sin and sin… Look at the world today.

I was watching the news and they were talking about that they finally got the city of Raqqa, finally got ISIS out of there. You ought to see the city, it's blown apart! Destroyed buildings! All because of human nature!

That's why God is calling the few. Protestants and Catholics don't understand that. Protestants are partially blinded; Catholics are totally satanic! And all the other 'religions' of the world are totally satanic! They all eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They do some things that are good.

How does the Catholic Church hide a lot of their sins? They got orphanages! That's for the nun's illegal children, plus others. 'We have hospitals and charities and we do good.' But you lie the lies off Satan the devil!

It's just like people calling Pres. Trump a liar. No he's not! He's negotiating! How do you negotiate in the world? You state a position! Some will say, 'We can't have that!' Bar all Muslims! 'Can't have that!' Trump knew that couldn't be, but it was a negotiating point.

Someone says, 'I'll sell this for $100,000, but it's only work $35,000.' So, you negotiate down. Lots of times when there are negotiations there are statements waiting to be confirmed with which one you want. That's out in the world; that's how they operate.

On the other hand, you look at Hillary and all the Democrats and they're so totally devoted to lies that they couldn't tell you the truth in any way.

How is God going to cover the sin of the whole world, unless He became flesh and took upon Himself human nature. If He didn't have human nature, do you think he could be tempted? A lot of people say that Christ was 100% God and 100% human. Impossibility! Total deception. They say that is was impossible for Christ to sin. 'Why then did He cry out with strong cryings and tears to Who was able to save Him'? What did He need to be saved from? From bearing the sins of the whole world! How did He do that?

Romans 8:1: Consequently, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus… [if you have the Spirit of God, you're in Chris Jesus] …who are not walking according to the flesh… [meaning]: …but according to the Spirit." That means loving God and keeping His commandments. even in times of distress and trouble!

Verse 2: "Because the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus…" What is that? That is the working of the Law of Christ within us:

  • to cleanse our mind
  • to lead us to repentance
  • to convict us of sin within
  • to stand for the Truth

"…has delivered me from the law of sin and death" (v 2). This shows that we must use the Spirit of God and the Truth of God to walk according to the Spirit!

  • Are there times when it's easy to do? Yes!
  • Are there times when is difficult to do? Yes!
  • Are there times when you have to fight tooth and nail against evil? Yes!
  • Did Christ have to?
  • Did the apostles have to?
  • Do other brethren have to?
  • How many were killed and slaughtered for Christ?

We sit here and think about it intellectually. But to be in the line of martyrs and watch them go up get their heads lopped off… those who were beheaded for the witness of Christ (Rev. 20). It's one thing to say you love the Lord and believe in Him. Are you going to stand in line to have your head removed? 'Oh, you're being nasty and morbid! How many people are dying today because of all kinds of sin? Is that nasty and morbid?

"…delivered me from the law of sin and death" (v 2). We must have our active part in doing it. That means to:

  • love God
  • keep His commandments
  • to do what is right
  • to fight off the evil
  • to overcome Satan the devil
  • to overcome false doctrine

All of those things combined! When we're first baptized, we don't understand that, so God gradually leads us into it.

Verse 3: "For what was impossible for the Law to do…" I've covered this many times. The Law cannot make you do anything! The Law defined Truth and error. You must decide what you're going to do.

  • How many people know about the Sabbath?
  • How many people keep the Sabbath?
  • There's your answer, right there!

"…in that it was weak through the flesh…" We're going to cover a little bit about the sin of innocence. That means that it was not malicious and rejecting God to do it! It doesn't mean that you're not guilty.

  • What about sin with total deliberation with no repentance? The unpardonable sin!
  • Does God know this?
  • Does God know everything?
  • Yes, He does!

"…God having sent His own Son in the likeness… ['homoiomati'—the exact sameness] …of sinful flesh…" How is flesh sinful? Through the law of sin and death! That's how it's sinful! Were Adam and Eve sinful when they were created? No!

God didn't send Him in the likeness of the original creation of Adam without sin. He sent Him "…in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (v 3).

Whose flesh is sin condemned in? Christ's! All of mankind's! When they come to the knowledge of the Truth and God lifts the veil of Satan's deception and their own blindness, they're going to have to repent. That's why we have the second resurrection. God has blinded them. The perfect example is Pastor Jeffress. A well-intentioned good man. He'd probably tell you the truth in certain matters, but he's blinded so that he believes the doctrine of the soul going to heaven and receiving a spiritual body as the resurrection, and it happens anytime you die.

But the very next part of the verse says no; only those who are Christ's at His coming!

  • Is God responsible for all of that? Yes, He is!
  • Has He provided a way out of it? Yes, He has!
  • Has He given it to all mankind, yet? No, He hasn't!
  • Who does He give it to? Those who answer the call, repent, baptize and receive the Spirit of God!

We'll go through Lev. 16 with a 'fine-toothed comb,' and I think that you will understand, when we go through it, that there is absolutely no way that the second goat, which remained alive, can be for the Lord.

(go to the next track)

I want to bring out two very important points concerning:

  • the one goat for the Lord, that was the sacrificial goat, the shed blood
  •    the one goat for Azazel came before he Lord

Whereas, the one for the Lord, the blood was taken into the Holy of Holies.

We'll just project forward a little bit so that you will understand. The goat for Azazel came before the Lord and in part one we covered how Satan came before the Lord in the book of Job. He didn't go into the Holy of Holies! Same way here, he came to the door, but not into, and presented to God.

What's the only thing that brings forgiveness? Shed blood! In the Old Testament there are commands, the commanded sacrifices, and there 1,367 more or less for when you have leap years with an extra month and so forth.

  • 127 bulls
  • 53 rams
  • 1,175 lambs
  • 12 goats

All of these are sacrificed. The Azazel goat is the 13th goat, but not sacrificed. Thirteen is the number of rebellion! Who was rebellious? Satan and all the demons with him! Think on that!

I'm going to read from The Schocken Bible: The Five Books of Moses by Everett Fox; Leviticus 16:7 (SB): "He is to take the two hairy (goats) and is to stand them before the presence of YHWH… [the LORD] …at the entrance tho the Tent of Appointment. Aharon is to place upon the two hairy (goat) lots…" (vs 7-8).

A little historical thing that Josephus brought out: From the time of Christ to the destruction of the temple, the lot for Azazel always came up in the left hand of the priest; for 40 years!

"…one for YHWH and one for Azazel. Aharon is to bring near the hairy-one for which the lot for YHWH came up, and is to designate it as hattat-offering" (vs 8-9)—sin offering.

That means, as we'll see later, that he was to kill the goat, take the blood, take it inside the Holy of Holies.

Verse 10: "And the hairy-one for which the lot of Azazel came up is to be left standing alive, before the presence of YHWH…"

  • What do you have here? They're identical!

Let's look at from the world today.

  • Do they have a Christ? Yes, they do!
  • Do they know the true Christ? No, they don't!

So, we have in the world true Christ, false christ.

  • Who does the false christ represent?
  • Who is the 'god of this world'?
  • Isn't that what Jesus said, that there will false christs and false prophets? Yes, indeed!

"…standing alive, before the presence of YHWH, to effect  atonement upon it" (v 10). That's very interesting, he's not effecting atonement with it, but upon it!

Footnote (SB) of who Azazel is: The identification of this name has been a subject of debate for centuries. Proposals include ezazal, meaning "a goat that escapes" (hence English "scapegoat"), and another reading signifying "a fierce region." Many recent commentators, however, agree in seeing Azazel as the name of a wilderness demon…

Where did Christ meet Satan? In the wilderness!

…and hence the rise is taken as a vestige of an old pagan practice….

Maybe not necessarily so, maybe there were some who did, we don't know!

…Appropriately, in modern Hebrew lekh la-azazel is equivalent of English "go to hell"…

What is hell? Lake of Fire!
Where is Satan put? Lake of Fire!

…or "get lost." Regardless of the precise meaning of Azazel, that is, in fact, what the community wants to happen to its sins.

Take it away!

  • Was there blood shed for Azazel?
  • If sins are put on him, was blood shed? No!

Leviticus 16:15 (FV): "Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering… [the one for the Lord] …that is for the people…"—not for an individual; separate sacrifices were required for people when they brought the sacrifice.

  • Do you suppose that everyone who sinned came to the temple to offer sin offerings? No!
  • Weren't there a lot of people living in sin who paid no attention to it? Yes, indeed!

It's for the people, and here it says that it's for the entire congregation of Israel. That's all the people. This is special so that God can continue, through the temple, to work with the children of Israel.

Verse 16: "And he shall make an atonement for the sanctuary because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins…." So, you have all of the sin offering with all of the bull and things for Aaron and his household. Now you have, for the people, the congregation of Israel. That was so God could continue dealing with the people through the temple.

If there is shed blood for "…all their sins…" that forgives the sins. If they are forgiven, you can't take them and put them on somebody else, unless they are complicit in their sins. That's why we have the live goat.

"…And so he shall do for the tabernacle of the congregation, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleanness" (v 16).

So, in spite of the fact that there are a lot of people out there sinning who never came to have their sins forgiven, never offered a sacrifice, but lived out there in sin. As long as God has His name there at the temple, He had to have the area of the temple cleansed, and He had to have those sins set aside so that He could continue with the children of Israel.

He forgave their sins, because the sacrifice and shed blood was "…because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins…." (v 16).

They were forgiven at the temple, not in heaven! There's a difference. There is forgiveness if they bring their sacrifice and confess their sins to God. Read the sin offerings in Lev. 1-7. Also, a burnt offering makes an atonement. That atonement is different from a propitiation. That is a special dedication for at-one-ment with God; totally dedication to God. No sin forgiven there, there's no sin with it. It's a voluntary free-will offering, a whole burnt offering.

{Note book: The Law of the Offerings by Andrew Jukes}

Verse 15: "Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil…. [in before God] … And he shall do with that blood as he did with the blood of the young bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement for the sanctuary because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins. And so he shall do for the tabernacle of the congregation, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleanness" (vs 15-16). This was for the whole nation.

Verse 17: "And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goes in to make an atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel"—whether they came to the temple to offering anything for sacrifices for sin or not. Have to be. They didn't all come!

Verse 18: "And he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make an atonement for it. And he shall take of the blood of the young bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around."

Here's the altar of burnt offerings. They had on the four corners the posts holding it up and those are called horns. There's one on each corner. They put the blood on the altar to sanctify that altar.

Verse 19: "And he shall sprinkle of the blood on it with his finger seven times and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he has made an end of reconciling the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat" (vs 19-20)—before the Lord, but not into the Holy of Holies!

For people to say that this goat pictures Christ carrying our sins up to heaven is completely false for several reasons:

  • when Christ was resurrected from the dead, He didn't carry any sin
  • sin was forgiven for His shed blood
  • Where was the blood? On the ground!
  • What was the altar? The cross!

He shall bring the live goat, v 21: "And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat…"

Remember the accomplice. Is Satan responsible for every sin for every one on the earth? Of course! God was One Who put into all human being 'the law of sin and death.' God took care of His atonement of that through Christ dying and shedding His blood, and then giving the Holy Spirit to those who repent. That's why there are so few called today.

"…and confess over him all the sins of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away by the hand of a chosen man into the wilderness" (v 21).

If you put the sins on the goat that is alive and there is no shed blood:

  • Are those sins forgiven? No! They're put upon Satan who is responsible!
  • Does he bear his own sin? Yes!
  • Does he bear the sin of all people that he has brought into sin? Yes!
  • Has he ever repented? No!

Therefore, all the sins on the goat of the unrepented unpardonable sins of Satan the devil, not Christ! He's sent away into this place—I like it—"go to hell" out to a place that is not inhabited. Doesn't that sound like isolation in the darkest blackness forever? How are you going to do that in the ceremony to at least get a picture of it?

  • fire—cast into the Lake of Fire
  • put into outer darkness

Since when is heaven called a wilderness? Where God is it's called paradise! Does it say that the goat is released to go to paradise? If it said that, and that was true, perhaps you could say that it might picture Christ. But this pictures Satan and one who is responsible for sin!

How about those two innocent cities that were destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah? They weren't innocent, they were enablers! Even Lot's wife couldn't stand leaving Sodom. She had to look back, and was turned into a pillar of salt. It's interesting that Josephus says that pillar of salt 'is there to this day.' Isn't that amazing?

Verse 22: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities to a land in which no one lives…." Who live sin heaven? God the Father, Jesus Christ, 24 elders and untold numbers of angels!

"…And he shall let the goat go in the wilderness" (v 22). That's the best that you can describe, through this ritual, of what we find in Rev. 20.

The goat Satan is taken and locked up; he's given no forgiveness. There's no shed blood for him. All the demons are with him, because where Satan is that's where the demons are. Then Satan is let loose at the end of the Millennium for a short period of time, so that those unrepentant sinners at the end of the Millennium can be gathered together by Satan to come against Jerusalem, and they all die their death in 'the fire that comes down from God out of heaven' to consume them.

Verse 23: "And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall strip off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the sanctuary, and shall leave them there. 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. And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. And he that let go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp. And the young bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy place, shall they carry forth outside the camp…." (vs 23-27).

That's important. Heb. 13 tells us that Christ was crucified outside the camp, because that's where sin offerings were taken.

"…And they shall burn their skins in the fire, and their flesh and their dung" (v 27). All the sins burned up! So, atonement is not made until that happens.

You have go through all of it and follow it down verse-by-verse. Every word of God is important! There it is!

Verse 28: "And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. And it shall be a statute forever to you: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or a stranger who is living among you, for on that day an atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you, so that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD" (vs 28-30). Not forgiven unto salvation! There's a difference.

Example: Someone does something to you and they come to you and say, 'Will you forgive me?' Yeah, I forgive you. That's what that's like; they are forgiven. Here God says, 'You're My people, I chose you, I gave you the land and I'm a God of love, mercy., kindness and understanding, and because you have sinned I'm not going to expunge you, but if you keep going the way you are going, sooner or later you're going o have to come out of the land.' He warned and warned them.

Verse 31: "It shall be a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls, by a statute forever. 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, the Holy garments. 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" (vs 31-33). That's wiping the slate clean every year!

Verse 34: "And this shall be an everlasting statute to you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses."

Leviticus 17:6: "And the priest shall sprinkle the blood against the side of the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor to the LORD."

Verse 7 is the same word as the hairy goat—one for Azazel and one for the LORD. Verse 7: "And they shall no more offer their sacrifices to goat demons…" That's why there is the live goat, because spirit created beings do not die.

"…after whom they have gone whoring. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations" (v 7).

Let's see why we have false doctrines come along, and what we are to do about them. Are we to say, 'Oh well, that's just them'? No! What's the principle? A little leaven leavens the whole lump!

Let's watch and see: Do they repent of false doctrine? If they don't repent, what's the next thing that is going to come? Is it that Satan can be destroyed? That's a prominent doctrine! So, if the goat that's supposed to be for Azazel is not Satan, and if it's supposed to represent Christ, then if you misread certain Scriptures, it looks like God is going to destroy Satan. What are you going to do with Jude 11 where there are wandering stars and the darkest blackness forever? The final judgment! What are you going to do with that?

Why do we have false doctrine come along? There were plenty in the first century. By the time the apostles died half the Church or more was completely upside down and backward. Let's look at the principle here:

Deuteronomy 13:1: "If a prophet rises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder… [or gives you a doctrinal paper] …and the sign or the wonder, which he foretold to you comes to pass, saying, 'Let us go after other gods…"" (vs 1-2). Is Satan able to give a sign or wonder and make it come to pass? Yes!

"'…which you have not known, and let us serve them'" (v 2). If you believe a doctrine that comes from Satan the devil, are you going after other gods? Yes, indeed! Sure you are! Why? Because you're believing that false doctrine and not believing God! Remember how we've covered idols in the mind, etc.

Verse 3: "You shall not hearken to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you…" Do we really believe God? What is the first thing we are to pray for (Matt. 6)? Your will be done! God's will! 'Our Father, Who is in heaven, Holy is Your name. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' That says a lot! That means:

  • all the prophecies
  • all the nations
  • the people of God
  • all the sinners

What we need to do is become—not self-willed to bring in false doctrine or teaching—God-willed to follow the Truth and love of God. Tie that together with Psa. 1, 'Blessed is the man who doesn't go astray; who meditates on the Law of God day and night.'

  • What does that mean? He thinks with the Laws of God!
  • Where are the Laws of God going to be for us? Written in our heart and mind!
  • Are we to have lives and thoughts on those things? Yes!
  • What if we come up against some very difficult situations that are very hard to handle?
  • Do we give in to evil?

or

  • Do we stand for Truth?

That's why these things come along!

"…is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death…" (vs 3-5). We can't do that today but we can disfellowship them.

The principle is that if there is no repentance today, you remove them. In the Old Testament it was that if there was someone who wouldn't repent, you would bring them to the judge and the priest. If they wouldn't listen to the judge and the priest, you would put them to death, execute them!

Sidebar: I heard quite an interesting interview with a man who deals with murderers. The question was asked: Can these men really be rehabilitated? What do you suppose his answer was? No! You can never rehabilitate them! Why don't we follow what God says and execute them instead off putting them in prison forever? The Word of God is true!

If someone comes in with a false doctrine, and they are told the Truth and given two or three admonitions, what are we told to do in the New Testament? Remove them! Turn them over to God and God will take care of them! What do you in your own personal life when things come along that way? Same thing! You've got to do it! When you look back when we repented and stayed with God, leaving Worldwide:

  • Was that easy? No!
  • Did it bring great distress upon our family because of it? Yes!
  • Did we retain the Truth because of it? Yes!
  • Is the Truth more important than stress? Yes!
  • Is right understanding of the Word of God more important than being comfortable? Yes!

That's why Christ died! I don't know what's going to happen to these churches that believe in that, but people come up with all kinds of strange things and think they're a prophet from God! Nonsense! The best thing to do is say that the most you are is a teacher and minister, that's it! That's what every minister should say.

There's one minister who says that Herbert Armstrong was Elijah and 'I'm Elisha, and I am that prophet.' Another man says, 'I'm the chosen apostle for the 21st century and I will be over the two witnesses.' Ministers of God??? Yet, people flock to them, because they don't love the Truth! Their day is going to come. How is it going to be? I don't know! But all you have to do is look what happened in Pasadena (WCG) and you will see! God even told the Church at Ephesus that they 'lost their first love' and the first love is loving God, not the excitement of being baptized. If you don't repent, God is going to 'remove your candlestick.'

Doesn't that sound an awful lot like God saying to Jerusalem, 'Because of your sin, I'm going to scrape you like the top of a rock'? Yes, indeed! People get comfortable in their relationship with God, and they don't understand the severity of sin. They have a nice little social organization. What happened to the big social organization that was the biggest Church of God? Disintegrated! Scattered! For good purpose! God wants to know:

  • Do you love Me?
  • Are you going to serve Me in spite of everything?

That's why these things come along!

We can see conclusively that Azazel is the goat that represents Satan the devil, not Christ! On Satan are put all the sins that he caused for which he will never repent! That's why they're put on him, because there can be no true reconciliation in the plan of God until Satan is removed, all the sinners destined for the Lake of Fire have been burned up, and then we have New Jerusalem and God's plan forever!

We can never count on any false doctrine being put to bed and buried under the earth forever, so it will arise again!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version (except where noted)

Scriptural References:

  • 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
  • Deuteronomy 29:21-28
  • 1 Peter 2:21-25
  • Romans 3:23-25
  • Romans 5:12
  • Hebrews 5:7-9
  • Hebrews 4:14-15
  • Hebrews 5:7
  • Jeremiah 17:9
  • Romans 8:1-3
  • Leviticus 16:7-10, 15-34
  • Leviticus 17:6-7
  • Deuteronomy 13:1-5

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

  • Revelation 20
  • 1 Corinthians 3
  • Deuteronomy 28
  • 2 Chronicles 33
  • 2 Timothy 1
  • Leviticus 1-7
  • Hebrews 13
  • Jude 11
  • Matthew 6
  • Psalm 1

Also referenced: Books:

  • The Schocken Bible: The Five books of Moses by Everett Fox
  • Josephus
  • The Law of the Offerings by Andrew Jukes

FRC: bo
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