What Are The Two Goats?

In Leviticus 16, YHWH gives instructions to Aaron, the first high priest, regarding what is to be done on Yom Kippurim (the Day of Atonement). This is an extremely interesting passage describing how two goats were to be used in a ceremony which symbolically showed how sin is to be dealt with.

One goat is designated as the goat for YHWH, to be used as a sin offering to YHWH.  This sin offering is specifically for the people. The high priest brings the blood of the sin offering inside the holy of holies and sprinkles it on the ark of the covenant, as well as around the tent of meeting and the altar.  Thus, the blood from the sin offering of the goat for YHWH cleanses the entire area from the sins of the people of Israel.

We see in this a picture of how Messiah became a sin offering for the sins of man.  Only through the atonement provided in the blood of His sacrifice can we enter the presence of YHWH without incurring our death.

But what happened to those sins that were atoned for?  This is seen symbolically in the second goat, designated as the goat for Azazel. Much controversy exists over the name “Azazel” and the symbolism of this goat, but what is most important is what actually happens to the goat.  First the high priest lays his hands on the head of the goat and confesses over it all the sins of the people.  The goat, now bearing all the sins of the people, is then taken out the camp “by a man in readiness” and released in a remote part of the desert.  Presumably the goat, now bearing all the sins of the people, is left to die in the desert. Thus, the goat for Azazel symbolically shows how our sins are permanently eliminated.  They are removed from both our presence and God’s presence, never to return.

Is the goat for Azazel another picture of the Messiah, or is it actually picture of Satan?  This is a question around which there has been much discussion.  It is often suggested that both of these goats represent the Messiah, since the Messiah atoned for our sins once and for all time with his blood (like the goat for YHWH used as a sin offering), and He also bore our sins on the cross when he was crucified (like the goat for Azazel).  This is certainly true.  Messiah did bear our sins upon himself, and was effectively banished from the presence of the Father during those three days of death in the tomb.  But the Messiah was not banished forever. Unlike the goat for Azazel, He did not remain outside the camp to die and never return.

Others have suggested that the goat for Azazel represents Satan, who is forced to take back all the sins of mankind that truly originated with him.  He is ultimately banished, forever to remain outside the presence of God.  One of the factors supporting this argument comes from the word Azazel.  The Hebrew word Azazel, although translated as “scapegoat” is some English Bibles, was actually a name used to refer to a demon, if not to Satan himself.  With this in mind, it would seem strange that a goat bearing the name of a demon would be used primarily as a symbol for the Messiah.

While there is evidence that Azazel was also used as the name of a demon in Arabic mythology as well as in other middle-eastern cultures, what is most important to understanding Scripture is what of the view of ancient Judaism was during Biblical times. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Book of Enoch are two important ancient sources which shed light on this.

One of the Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts offers a description of events that seem to be related to the following passage in Genesis:

Genesis 6:1–2.  When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.

The Dead Sea Scroll manuscript 4Q180 Frag 1 links “Azazel” to these “sons of God” that took “daughters of man” as their wives,  and further states that Azazel will “inherit evil for all the age”:

Interpretation concerning the ages which God has made: An age to conclude [all that there is] and all that will be. Before creating them he determined [their] operations [according to the precise sequence of the ages,] one age after another age. And this is engraved on the [heavenly] tablets [for the sons of men,] [for] /[a]ll/ the ages of their dominion. This is the sequence of the son[s of Noah, from Shem to Abraham,] [unt]il he sired Isaac; the ten [generations …] […] Blank […]  [And] interpretation concerning ‘Azaz’el and the angels wh[o came to the daughters of man] [and s]ired themselves giants. And concerning ‘Azaz’el[is written …] [to love] injustice and to let him inherit evil for all [his] ag[e …] […] (of the) judgments and the judgment of the council of […]    DSS Study Edition 4Q180 Frag 1.

So Azazel was viewed as being one of, if not the head of, these fallen angels who interfered with YHWH’s earthly creation.  Therefore it seems that the judgment that will befall him is that he will “inherit evil for all his age.”   This agrees with Scripture that the goat for Azazel will bear the sins of man and be exiled away from of God’s presence.

The Book of Enoch also provides some insights into ancient Judaism’s understanding of who Azazel was:

Enoch 9:6. Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were preserved in heaven, which men were striving to learn.

Enoch 10:4. And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein.’

Enoch 13:1. And Enoch went and said: ‘Azazel, thou shalt have no peace: a severe sentence has gone forth against thee to put thee in bonds.’

Enoch 54:5. And he said unto me: ‘These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel, so that they may take them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded.

Enoch 55:4. Ye mighty kings who dwell on the earth, ye shall have to behold Mine Elect One, how he sits on the throne of glory and judges Azazel, and all his associates, and all his hosts in the name of the Lord of Spirits.

So in the Book of Enoch it is said that Azazel “taught all unrighteousness on earth” and that he would be bound and cast into the desert.  Furthermore Azazel, along with all his hosts and associates, will be judged by YHWH.  Again we see remarkable agreement here with the events of the goat for Azazel in Leviticus 16.

In view of the above, it also interesting to consider the timing of these symbolic events.  Yom Kippurim takes place just before Sukkot, which celebrates the Messiah’s earthly reign for 1000 years (the Millennium).  What happens just before that Millennial reign?  Satan is bound for 1000 years:

Revelation 20:1–3.  Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Just prior to Sukkot, Satan is bound and sent into exile.  This is consistent with the symbolism of the Azazel goat at Yom Kippurim. It seems that part of the symbolism of Yom Kippurim foreshadows the binding of Satan and his exile into the bottomless pit.

Although Azazel seems to have been used as the name of Satan, it is really not correct to say that the “goat for Azazel” symbolized Satan. I suggest that the “goat for Azazel” neither represented Satan nor the Messiah.  Rather, the “goat for Azazel” was a personification of the sins of the people.  The goat was not named Azazel; the goat was FOR Azazel.  The sins of the people, as personified by the goat, were to be sent to Azazel, the originator of sin and rebellion against God.  A very similar picture of how the Father deals with sin is seen in the prophesy of Zechariah 5:5-11.

Zechariah 5:5–11. Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

The land of Shinar is another name for Babylon, the place which represented the origin of evil. So in this Zechariah passage the sins of Israel are personified as a woman who is locked in a basket and then taken to Babylon, the seat of evil.  In Zechariah 5 as well as Leviticus 16, the sins of man are personified (in one by a goat and in the other by a woman), bound and sent away to the point of origin, never to return.

In summary, the two goats of Yom Kippurim show how God deals with the sins of His people.  The goat for YHWH seems to represent the Messiah whose blood was a sin offering providing complete atonement for the sins of those who believe in Him.  The Father completely wipes away (atones for) those sins. What happens when they get wiped away?  Through the work of the Messiah, these sins are banished from God’ presence, sent out to fall upon the evil one,  the originator of all sin and rebellion, who is to be bound in exile and total separation from the Father. The sins of the people are personified by the goat for Azazel.  This goat symbolically bears the sins of the people, and is taken is into the desert to await final destruction.

All this happens on Yom Kippurim, representing the day we enter into the presence of the Father, to stand before Him as the high priest was allowed to do only on this special day.  After the Messiah returns at the last trumpet to gather His people for battle against the evil one (as foreshadowed by Yom Teruah), we then stand before the Father, either to receive His judgment or to be welcomed into His presence. As we stand before Him on that day, we can only avoid death because our sins are both atoned for and eliminated.  Our sins are atoned for by the blood of the Messiah, as symbolized by the goat for YHWH.  Furthermore, these sins, personified by the goat for Azazel, are completely removed from the Father’s presence and sent back to the evil one, from whom sin itself originated.