sermonette: Sins Borne Away

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Given 16-Sep-21; Sermon #1617s; 10 minutes

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Among the churches of God, Church of the great God has a reputation for tweaking doctrines, you might have noticed. Some, I'm sure, consider us heretics of the first order, because we have to them left the faith once delivered to Herbert Armstrong, which again, to them is unforgivable. However, we do not follow the faith of Herbert Armstrong, but the faith of Jesus Christ, delivered in God's word. We find that our traditional practices do not match what the Bible says, we are willing to change our position to be in line with God. We do, we do not do this easily, nor should we. But after careful study and prayer, we will institute a change if that is necessary. Many a good member has left us over the years after doing this. But we are not trying to gain in numbers, but to stay true to God's Revelation. That is where our bread is buttered, if you will. God will sort out the sheep in his own good way, because the sheep are his. They're not ours. And that too has been a foundational principle of this little church. Now one of those tweaks concerns this holy day, the Day of Atonement. We know it well because we've spoken and written about it a great deal over the past few years, particularly David Gray, who is the one challenged on the subject. His research has been deep and focused, and at least to me incontrovertible. The biggest change surrounds the Azazle goat and its symbolism. We've come to believe that the old understanding. That it typifies Satan is completely wrong. Satan, get this, the enemy. has nothing to do with our redemption. Only Jesus Christ. And pay for and bear away sin. The two goats then pictured different aspects of the sacrifice he made to make atonement for us, and I think that's very clear. Now, I do not want to belabor the doctrinal details today. If you want that, it's available in great quantity, quantity on our website. My goal today is to help us realize how much God or I I misread that, how much Christ bearing away our sins means to us. Ours cannot be only a theological intellectual understanding, but it must be a deeply personal one full of gratitude and commitment to the one who's made it possible, our Savior, our master, our high priest, and soon coming king. If you will, please turn to Leviticus 16. We'll start in verse 5 and we are going to go through uh. A good part of this chapter, we will not be reading every verse, but I just want to give you an understanding. Of the the process of the ritual of the day. So Leviticus 16:5, we will go down through verse 10 and then we will pick up in verse 20. Leviticus 165. And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering. Aaron, Aaron. offer the bull as a sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon it and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. Now I want to stop here before we go on to verse 20 because I want to focus on this second goat for a few minutes, the Azazel. A lot of translations Translate that as scapegoat, but it's not a scapegoat at all, but The word in Hebrew actually implies goat of departure, or better, goat of complete removal. So it's not a name of Satan or a name of some desert demon, but it is the word Azazel is a description of its function. To remove our sins, to make them go away or to disappear. So God provides two goats to tell the atonement story. And we will get into that in verse 20 here now. And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat, and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities. To an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. Just go down to verse 30, we will read 30 and 31. For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. So As I mentioned, God provides two goats to tell the atonement story, one to pay for or cover sin by blood, that was the first goat that was slain, and another to remove sin completely. That's the live goat that we saw there in verses 20 through 22. God provides total cleansing. He doesn't stop at just payment for sin, but he also takes the extra added more beneficial step. Of removal of what defiles us. Now consider the ritual from the point of view of an Israelite in the camp of Israel. David Gray has mentioned this in the past and it bears repeating. Imagine watching the full ritual take place. High priest slaying the bull, taking its blood, and a sensor of incense into the holy place. And then the first goat taking its blood into the sanctuary. When he comes out, he places his hands on the live goat, Azazel, so a goat of departure, and in a loud voice, he proclaims the sins of all Israel over it, putting them on the head of the goat. When he was done, he signals the man chosen to lead the goat outside the camp. He puts it on a leash and walks it out of the tabernacle or temple precinct. And Through the cloud through the crowds lining the way. Now think about this, as an Israelite. Seeing all this happening, are you cheering? Rejoicing that there that our sins are being borne away. Or are you solemn? Realizing your sins had caused the death of the first goat, that their sins had to be covered by blood. The Israelites of the time probably did not realize that the ritual was only a type of God coming as a human to pay for and bear away sins, but they at least recognized that it signified that they were clean again. And ultimately that ritual. Signifies that all Israel will be fully redeemed through the same process, something that will happen as the millennium begins. Certainly, it was a relief. Because now they were free of sin. Surely they felt gratitude and hope. The pious among them probably felt renewed love and affection for God, who had provided an agency for clearing the guilty. It may have spurred them to greater faith and diligence in obeying God. Perhaps it motivates them to do good works, but how does it affect us? That's the question. Do we stop to think about God's agency and clearing us of sin? Not just the blood sacrifice that pays for sin, but the bearing of sin out of all remembrance. Remember that Psalm 103 12 tells us. That he removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. They can't be more, you know, farther removed than that. Isaiah 53:12 says, Jesus receives the highest rewards because he poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many made intercession for the transgressors. And as high priest, he continues to remove our sins. From us through his sanctifying work of transforming us into the image. Of himself. So the sanctifying work of getting rid of sin in us is an ongoing process as well as he works with us as our high priest. So what kind of value? Do we place on that.