“But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat,
shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to
let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” Leviticus 16:10
Someone placed a magazine on my car once and the cover
article was titled: “Who is your scapegoat?” Well some of you may have read all
of Leviticus 16 and may have this same question. In the Day of Atonement
service two goats were chosen for the service. One was the Lord’s goat and the
other is the scapegoat. The Lord’s goat was sacrificed as a sin offering
(Leviticus 16:9). The sins removed from the temple, at the end of the service, were
placed on the head of the scapegoat (Leviticus 16:10; GC 420.1). The scapegoat
was then lead into the wilderness by a strong man and left there (Leviticus 16:26).
We know Who was represented by the Lord’s goat because we’ve
seen that event occur. The Messiah, Jesus Christ, came to the Earth as a man,
took on our sins and died the death we should die for our sins (Daniel 9:26;
Isaiah 53:6; Luke 23:46). As a result of this sacrifice, our sincere confession
and repentance from our sins will result in an atonement (Hebrews 4:14-16; GC
419.1, 2). However, these records still exist. So, now that we are in the day
of atonement and the audit is underway what will happen to all those sins
atoned for by Jesus’ blood. Like in the sanctuary service they will be placed
on a live goat that will not be sacrificed, this scapegoat will be left in a
barren place with these crimes on his head.
Revelation 20:1-3 tells us who will be left in a barren
place to carry the weight of all the crimes committed against Heaven, on the
Earth. The devil himself. He is the originator of sin; he is the one who
deceives and tempts and therefore he is the one that will bear all the sins of
the saved for 1000 years (John 8:44). This passage in Revelation 20 describes
the earth as a bottomless pit meaning the Earth will return to the state it was
in, in Genesis 1 – “without form and void” (Genesis 1:2). In this condition
Satan will be confined, with no one to tempt and only the thoughts of his
imminent demise to contemplate (Revelation 20:4, 5).
“I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you,
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore
choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the
Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave
unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell
in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:19, 20 (Hebrews 11:8-10).
What’s your choice?
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