A Tale of Two Goats
Yom Kippur is the ceremony for the Day of Atonement involving two goats.
The first goat is called “The goat for the Lord.” Leviticus 16 describes the ceremony this way: “The high priest shall take two male goats for a sin offering… He shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering and bring its blood inside the veil, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat… And he shall make atonement.”
In the sacrifice of the first goat, God was saying, “The wages of sin is death, but I will let this goat die instead of you!” This was a vivid picture of the horror of sin. As the High Priest killed the first goat the meaning was clear to every Israelite, “This goat is being killed to cover my sin.”
When the blood of this goat was placed on the Mercy Seat, atonement was made. It provided a covering for sin.
For centuries God gave His people visible proof of their atonement. It was the Jewish custom to tie a red sash to the door of the Temple each year on the Day of Atonement. When the sacrifice for atonement was accepted by God, the red sash turned white. This took place year after year.
According to the Jewish Talmud (Talmud Bavli, Yoma 39b) something alarming took placed forty years before the destruction of the temple. In the year A.D. 30, (40 years before the temple’s destruction in A.D. 70) the red sash stopped turning white. The sacrifice of atonement was no longer accepted by God!
Why did the sash stop turning white in A.D. 30? It’s because in that year, Jesus of Nazareth (Yeshua) was sacrificed in Jerusalem. The offering of God’s perfect sacrifice made the yearly sacrifice of a goat unnecessary. The temple rituals had found their fulfillment in Him!
Jesus is now the atoning sacrifice. He shed His blood to make atonement. Romans 3:24-25 tells us that redemption came by Christ Jesus! God presented Him as a “sacrifice of atonement.”
He put HIS blood on the Mercy Seat. As High Priest, He entered the most holy place by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12).
The “Goat for the Lord” pictures the sacrifice of Jesus! He died to pay your penalty. He covered all sin for all time in ONE sacrifice! God can say, “As far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed your sin from you!” He can pronounce, “Your sins and your lawless deeds I remember no more!”
Through the blood of Jesus atonement has been made! Your past is covered! God’s wrath has been turned away! God calls you into His presence again!
The first goat is called “The goat for the Lord.” Leviticus 16 describes the ceremony this way: “The high priest shall take two male goats for a sin offering… He shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering and bring its blood inside the veil, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat… And he shall make atonement.”
In the sacrifice of the first goat, God was saying, “The wages of sin is death, but I will let this goat die instead of you!” This was a vivid picture of the horror of sin. As the High Priest killed the first goat the meaning was clear to every Israelite, “This goat is being killed to cover my sin.”
When the blood of this goat was placed on the Mercy Seat, atonement was made. It provided a covering for sin.
For centuries God gave His people visible proof of their atonement. It was the Jewish custom to tie a red sash to the door of the Temple each year on the Day of Atonement. When the sacrifice for atonement was accepted by God, the red sash turned white. This took place year after year.
According to the Jewish Talmud (Talmud Bavli, Yoma 39b) something alarming took placed forty years before the destruction of the temple. In the year A.D. 30, (40 years before the temple’s destruction in A.D. 70) the red sash stopped turning white. The sacrifice of atonement was no longer accepted by God!
Why did the sash stop turning white in A.D. 30? It’s because in that year, Jesus of Nazareth (Yeshua) was sacrificed in Jerusalem. The offering of God’s perfect sacrifice made the yearly sacrifice of a goat unnecessary. The temple rituals had found their fulfillment in Him!
Jesus is now the atoning sacrifice. He shed His blood to make atonement. Romans 3:24-25 tells us that redemption came by Christ Jesus! God presented Him as a “sacrifice of atonement.”
He put HIS blood on the Mercy Seat. As High Priest, He entered the most holy place by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12).
The “Goat for the Lord” pictures the sacrifice of Jesus! He died to pay your penalty. He covered all sin for all time in ONE sacrifice! God can say, “As far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed your sin from you!” He can pronounce, “Your sins and your lawless deeds I remember no more!”
Through the blood of Jesus atonement has been made! Your past is covered! God’s wrath has been turned away! God calls you into His presence again!