Think about what you have been told about verses 1-3, and then look again at what is really in verses 1-3. They contain absolutely nothing that relates to Leviticus 16 at all. There is no mention of atonement, laying of iniquities, bearing, removing, or taking away of sins. This does not show mankind's sins being laid on Satan, nor Satan's sins being laid on Satan. There is no support for a gift, either nice or dirty, being sent to Satan. And there is still no clarification as to whether Azazel is a name for Satan or a lesser demon. And yet, verses 1-3 are almost universally pointed to as the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement.
In addition to the complete lack of mention of sins being laid on Satan, or his bearing sins, or any sort of atonement taking place, the actions here fail entirely to match what happens to the live goat. The angel binds Satan, casts him into the bottomless pit, shuts him up, and puts a seal on him. On the other hand, the live goat is not bound, cast, shut up, or sealed. Instead, it is led away.
Verse 3 tells us why Satan is bound: So he will not deceive the nations until after the Millennium. That is what these verses are about. God will restrain Satan and his deceptions, but then God has decreed that Satan must be released. In other words, nothing is truly settled here. Satan is only temporarily restrained. …[S]o that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. That is God's own explanation. This is about deception being prohibited, not sins being borne or removed by an innocent substitute. This does not show the reconciliation of God and man.
In view of all this, how can Revelation 20:1-3 possibly be seen as the fulfillment of what happens to the live goat? Notice in verse 10 that Satan is finally cast into the Lake of Fire, which is the last mention of him, and yet it is his binding that is focused on, which is odd. But there is a reason for that particular focus instead of his fate. I will read to you the verses that have caused Revelation 20 and the Day of Atonement to be linked:
With a handful of pseudo-scriptures in a Jewish myth, Leviticus 16 is crudely welded to Revelation 20. The idea is introduced that a being named Azazel is responsible for the sins of the world, and that his fate is to be bound. And this unnatural joining continues to today, even though the fictional source is not directly used by the church of God.
Some hold onto Revelation 20 as the fulfillment of the azazel because of the sequence of the annual holy days and what is prophesied to take place. That is, just as the Day of Atonement comes between the Feast of Trumpets and the Feast of Tabernacles, so also the binding of Satan seems to fall between Christ's return and His millennial rule.
In other words, an event is looked for that fits with the sequence, and then the binding of Satan is shoe-horned in. Yet we have no need to latch onto verses that don't fit the Day of Atonement. What has been overlooked are the numerous prophecies of Israel's atonement, of God taking away her sins and reconciling her to Him. This is a major part of God's plan, and it receives far more attention in Scripture than the binding of Satan. There are at least 10 prophecies that speak of this, and yet, like all the verses that show a Messianic fulfillment of the azazel, all this rich material has been largely ignored (see Zechariah 3:1-9; Daniel 8:14; 9:24; Isaiah 27:9; 44:22-23; Jeremiah 33:8; 50:19-20; Ezekiel 16:62-63; 36:33; 37:23; Micah 7:18-19; Romans 11:27).
Jesus Christ has fulfilled Leviticus 16. What remains is for that atonement to be applied to the rest of humanity, and especially to Israel. That future event genuinely and easily relates to the symbols and themes of Atonement, unlike the binding of Satan. God will make atonement for Israel in the same way that God has made atonement for the church: through the perfect work of the Savior.
We know this because the church of … . . .
