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What the Bible says about Azazel: Endings
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Leviticus 4:3-12

Leviticus 4 gives four slightly different sets of instructions for a sin offering, depending on who had committed the unintentional sin. Beginning in verse 3 are instructions for a sin offering for a priest. Verse 13 speaks of a sin offering for the whole congregation. Verse 22 covers a sin offering for a leader of the people, and then a sin offering for an individual is found in verse 27.

A significant point here is that there are instructions (in verse 13) for a sin offering for the whole congregation involving a young bull. However, what happened on the Day of Atonement, with its two goats as a sin offering, does not match those instructions. If a typical sin offering for the congregation would have sufficed, the instructions in verses 13-21 would have been used. But what happened on the Day of Atonement was not typical. God is showing a unique scenario altogether.

Regardless of who sinned, though, the same basic process was followed in a typical sin offering. First (verse 4), the guilty party—the priest, in this case—laid his hand on the head of the sacrificial animal. This symbolized the animal taking the place of the sinner. The substitute was identified through the laying on of a hand, and the sin was figuratively transferred to the animal. Second, the animal was killed. Third (verses 5-6), some of its blood was sprinkled in front of the veil of the Tabernacle. The blood did not go into the Holy of Holies, which further separates the typical sin offering from the compound sin offering on the Day of Atonement. Fourth (verse 7), some of the blood was put on the horns of the golden altar (or incense altar). The rest of the blood was poured at the base of the other, larger altar, the brazen altar. Fifth (verses 8-10), select parts of the animal were burned on the brazen altar. Finally (verses 11-12), the rest of the animal was burned outside the camp. The details vary slightly, but the same basic procedure is carried out in each of the four scenarios.

David C. Grabbe
Azazel: Endings

Leviticus 16:5

An intriguing picture emerges when we compare the regular sin offering to what happened with the two goats for the Day of Atonement sin offering. The procedure for each goat individually lacked a critical element found in the regular sin offering. The first goat was killed but had no sins symbolically transferred to it. The second goat had hands and sins laid on it, but it was not killed by the priest. Each was missing something found in the regular sin offering, but together, they comprised a sin offering by which something far greater was accomplished.

While the regular sin offering kept adding records of sins to the altar throughout the year, on the Day of Atonement, the record of sins was first cleansed with pure blood, and then all the sins were removed from the nation. One goat had to die for cleansing; the other goat had to remain alive for bearing the sins away, removing them from God's presence.

David C. Grabbe
Azazel: Endings

Leviticus 16:9

Notice there is no mention of the high priest laying hands on this first goat. Likewise, in verses 11-14, there is no mention of the priest laying his hand on the bull for himself, which was a requirement of the typical sin offering for the priest (Leviticus 4:4). All the other steps for a sin offering are shown, though, so the differences stand out.

If we take this as it is written and not infer any steps, the bull for the high priest and the first goat share two elements: First, there is no mention of hands being laid on either. Second, their blood was taken inside the Holy of Holies. Both are significant differences from a typical sin offering. Everything else for the bull for the high priest is the same—part is burned on the altar, and its carcass is burned outside the camp. But no transference is shown, and the blood is allowed inside the veil, into God's very presence.

These differences indicate the blood of these animals was pure, which is why it could be used to purge the horns of the altar. Only blood that did not represent sin was brought inside the veil. The blood from every other sin offering stopped at the veil.

So, the priest used the bull's and the first goat's blood to purify the various holy objects, beginning with God's throne—the Mercy Seat—and working outward. Notice, though, in the explanation about what the first goat's blood makes atonement for: to make atonement for the Holy Place, the Tabernacle of Meeting, and the altar. On account of the people—meaning because of their sinfulness—these things needed annual purging, but the stated purpose was for cleansing the things of the LORD. Atonement was made for the objects closest to the LORD since the people were sinful.

David C. Grabbe
Azazel: Endings

Leviticus 16:21-22

The Bible does not say that a demon is responsible for all sin, an idea that comes from the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Certainly, Satan will bear the penalty for his sins, but they are nowhere in view in Leviticus 16. What is in view are the nation's sins confessed onto the azazel—sins that the people committed, for which they are responsible.

Our sins are our responsibility, and we bear them unless a substitute is provided to bear them for us, which Jesus Christ did. Eve tried to blame Satan for her sin, yet God punished her because she disobeyed God. Similarly, God's curse on Satan in Eden comes because of his sin of deception—what he did (Genesis 3:14)—but not for Eve's sin.

Jesus teaches that our own faculties cause us to sin; the Son of God puts the genesis of sin in each individual's heart (Matthew 5:29-30; 12:34-35; 15:18-19; 18:8-9; Mark 7:20-23; 9:43-47). James says that temptation would be powerless against us if we were not drawn away by our own desires, which gives birth to sin (James 2:14-15). Satan sins when he amplifies those desires through his broadcast, but what we choose to do after listening to him is on us, not on him. God will judge Satan, not because God has ascribed all human sins to him, but because Satan has sinned.

The gospel of the Kingdom of God teaches that God's ultimate solution to sin does not hinge on anything involving Satan. His solution is to create sons and daughters in His image who will not sin—who will not be drawn away by their desires.

Certainly, Satan influences and deceives; these are his sins. We should downplay neither his power nor his guilt. But as part of God's plan, He has given mankind the responsibility to choose, which is why Scripture warns us so frequently about Satan's deceptions and wiles. We should take those warnings very seriously so we are not deceived. We are warned so we can consider our choices, such as what sources we use to interpret Scripture. But if Satan is responsible for our sins, then we are blameless before God without Christ's sacrifice. Jesus Christ and His incredible work get edged out of the picture, and Satan's power gets magnified.

David C. Grabbe
Azazel: Endings

Hebrews 9:7

Verse 7 says the priest offered (or brought) blood for himself and the people's sins, and verse 23 underscores that the part of the ceremony involving bringing blood into the Most Holy Place was for purification or cleansing of the objects. This idea is also found in verse 22: "according to the law almost all things are purified with blood.”

The Levitical priest used animal blood, but our High Priest entered the Holy of Holies in heaven with His own blood. His blood provides an entrance into the presence of the Supreme God. Verse 23 says the heavenly things had to be purified, as though simply being in the same universe as humanity meant they had to be cleansed. But Christ's blood provides a cleansing so complete that we now can “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16) His blood appeases the Father, so we can “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” (Hebrews 10:22).

David C. Grabbe
Azazel: Endings


 




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