The return of the king or, return of the goat

Return of the king

The return of the king or return of the goat

Leviticus 16:5 - 10

And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel..

Leviticus 16:20 - 21

And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.

Leviticus 16:26

And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp

One goat for Yahweh and one goat for Azazel:

One goat for Yahweh and the scapegoat for Azazel.

The goat for Yahweh was a sin offering for the people, it was in Israel in the Temple (holy ground).

So, what do we do with this term/word found only (3) times in the Old Testament?

While some translations just call it wilderness, the Hebrew is Azazel and it was one of four things: the name of a demon/fallen angel, a location, an abstract noun or a compound word.

1)   Demon/fallen angel: Azazel, the priest was not offering a sacrifice to Azazel, but Azazel was the name of the chief divine being/angel that rebelled against God in Genesis 6:1 -4, so he was getting what was his: sin.(his name is found in other writing that Jews of this era were aware of and studied). The high priest was not sacrificing to Azazel, but Azazel was receiving what was his; sin.

2)   Location: Azazel could refer to a place such as a cliff from which the goat would be thrown. The later Jewish practice of killing the sin-offering goat by pushing it off a cliff supports this (m. Yoma 6:6; compare Pinker, “Goat,” 9–10; Kiuchi, “Living,” 258–59; Tawil, “Azazel,” 44–45[1]

3)   Abstract noun: Azazel could mean “destruction” or “entire removal[2]

4)   Compound word (combined word): Azazel might be a word created by combining “goat” (עֵל, el) with “to go away” (אָזַל, azal) to produce the meaning “goat that goes away.[3]

Either way whatever it means, this goat that carried all the iniquities of Israel was not supposed to come back

Paul tells us something about the price that was paid at Calvary:

I Timothy 2: 5 - 6

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Some theologians point to this and a few other passages that the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was a ransom paid to Satan/Azazel and that Jesus’ life was the final ransom.

I.)           The return of the King (scapegoat) – from the east

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

humble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” Matthew 21:1-11

When the goat was taken out, it was taken out of the Eastern Gate or the Golden Gate as it is called today.

Why? Well, this goes back to the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve were punished and cast out of the garden, they were cast out to the east, so if punishment was found towards the east, then redemption comes from the east.

II.)        The Mount of Olives – Dominus Flevit

Luke 22:41 - 43 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

·     This place, the Garden of Gethsemane was also to the east of the Golden Gate

·     A bridge over your troubled valley

·     The entrance prophesied by Ezekiel

·     Muslims try to prevent the Messiah by putting a graveyard at the entrance, thinking that since the forerunner being Elijah (not understanding that he would come in the spirit of Elijah, a type of Elijah was John the Baptist), they thought that the High-priest wouldn’t walk through this area, because it would make him unclean.  

III.)     The ribbon turned white, stop living in the past

The scape goat had a ribbon of red out around it and a piece of it was cut and tied to the door handle of the Temple, it would eventually turn white signaling the acceptance of the sacrifice by the Lord.

The last letter in the Hebrew alphabet in ancient times was a type of mark, similar to two crossed sticks. This letter had a meaning of mark, sign, signal, monument.

CONCLUSION – He will come back one day

Acts 1:11

Revelation 1:7

Zechariah 14:1 -5

Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. Zechariah 14:1-5

He is coming back one day, are you looking forward to it?