What the Bible says about Azazel Separated from Fellowship
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Leviticus 16:20-22 Though the text does not state it directly, what happened to the live goat indicates that it was cursed. The azazel became cursed, not only through having sins laid on it, but also though being sent away from the Holy Place. Being sent outside the camp symbolized divine rejection. Symbolically, one was separated from fellowship with the Source of life and all good, which is definitely a curse. Sin entered the world through Adam (Romans 5:12), and he was sent away from the Garden of Eden, away from God's holy presence (Genesis 3:17, 23). Notice that Paul says this is precisely what happened with Jesus Christ: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”). (Galatians 3:13) Paul bases his statement on Deuteronomy 21:23, which says, “. . . he who is hanged is accursed of God.” Those instructions concern the requirement to bury a hanged man on the same day as his execution because he has been cursed by God. To leave an accursed thing hanging would defile the land. Paul applies this to Jesus Christ, recognizing that because Jesus was hanged on a tree, He was cursed. Think about Him crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He knew why: He had become a curse, not because of something He had done, but because of what we have done. This refers to Christ on the tree, which is when and where He bore our sins (I Peter 2:24). The Father laid on Christ “the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6), just as the high priest laid Israel's iniquities on the azazel. Paul testifies Jesus became a curse. He does not say that Jesus is accursed in the present because the curse of the law was fulfilled when Christ died. He was then raised up, and the next time He appears, it will be “apart from sin” (Hebrews 9:28)—apart from what He took on and became. In the present, He is blessed (Romans 1:25; 9:5; I Timothy 6:15). Yet Paul declares that Christ became a curse for us. He fulfilled the awful, shameful role of the azazel, as only He could. David C. Grabbe Azazel: Beginnings Related Topics: Azazel -goat of "Complete Removal" | Azazel Bearing Sins | Azazel Beginnings | Azazel Separated from Fellowship | Azazel Symbolizes Divine Rejection | Azazel-Complete Removal | Jesus Cursed by Hanging on a Tree | Who Fulfills the Azazel Goat?

Hebrews 13:12 The instructions for the regular sin offering specify that the animals had to be killed at the Tabernacle (Leviticus 4:4, 14, 24, 29). Their carcasses were burned outside the camp (Leviticus 4:11-12, 21), but their deaths took place at the Tabernacle (or later Temple). The exception was the azazel of the Day of Atonement ceremony in Leviticus 16. That the priest left the azazel alive does not preclude it from being a sin offering. The life of the azazel was most certainly dedicated and consumed by its role of becoming sin (II Corinthians 5:21), becoming cursed (Galatians 3:13), and acting as a purification from sin. All that fits within the meaning of chatta'ah, the word for "sin offering," which has a wide variety of uses. So, the life of the azazel did not end at the Tabernacle. Instead, it was sent or led outside the camp, away from God's presence, while bearing the nation's sins (Leviticus 16:20-22). Where did Christ bear our sins? Hebrews 13:12 says that He “suffered outside the gate.” The standard sin offerings were killed at the Tabernacle or Temple, but Jesus suffered outside the gate. The most likely place for Christ's crucifixion was across the Kidron Valley, on a slope of the Mount of Olives. Christ's crucifixion was at a place where the centurion could see that the Temple veil, which faced east, was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 7:51-54; Mark 15:38-39). To be able to see that required the centurion have a specific angle and a minimum elevation to see over the Temple wall. Jesus did not suffer at the Temple, where the sin offerings had to be killed. The gospels record He was led away and sent from the Temple, from the symbolic presence of God—just like the azazel (Matthew 27:31; Mark 15:20; Luke 23:26; John 19:16). The Second Adam was led and sent away to fulfill the curse on the first Adam, so that we can now come back into God's presence. That was part of the curse He took on our behalf. Like the second goat, Christ's sacrifice was not an immediate death. He was alive while He “bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (I Peter 2:24). Christ's bearing of our sins took hours, and He felt every second. He became sin and a curse as He hung there, bearing our transgressions, outside the gate. David C. Grabbe Azazel: Beginnings Related Topics: Azazel Bearing Sins | Azazel Beginnings | Azazel Separated from Fellowship | Azazel Symbolizes Divine Rejection | Chatta-ah | Jesus Cursed by Hanging on a Tree | Sin Offering | Who Fulfills the Azazel Goat?

 

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