Azazel

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Are you reading the Bible through with me? Grab your pen and journal, and get ready to write your thoughts as you journey through the Bible.

Read Leviticus 16-18. Chapter 16 is where God establishes the annual Day of Atonement. The Jews call this Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is a day of fasting and prayer. It is the holiest day of the year in Judaism.

In the Old Testament, it was the day that the high priest offered a goat sacrifice to honor Yahweh God and ask for forgiveness of sin.

After offering the sacrifice to God for the cleansing of their sins, the high priest would lay his hands on the head of the Azazel, also called the scapegoat, while confessing the sins and rebelliousness of the people to God. When the confession was done, the goat was released into the wilderness to carry the guilt and sins away. It was a symbolic gesture of what was to come.

It is interesting that Azazel also means “scapegoat”. A scapegoat is an innocent person who is wrongfully blamed for a mistake or evil. That person is a victim, whipping boy or fall guy. In the Old Testament, the scapegoat is innocent of wrongdoing, but symbolically takes on the sins of everyone.

Now, check out 1 John 2:1-2. Have you figured out the symbolic comparison yet?

The Lord Jesus is our Azazel, or our atonement and appeasement for our sins. Jesus bore our sins on the cross that we might no longer be burdened with our guilt. He took on our sins so we could regain God’s favor and be made clean. Hallelujah! Tetelestai! It Is Finished!

Pray and ask God to reveal your sins to you. Next, in your journal, write those sins that you wish the Azazel, or Jesus, could take away into the wilderness and remove.

Ask for forgiveness for each sin you listed, then put a checkmark by it. Jesus has removed it. It is now gone.

In your journal, write “Hallelujah! Tetelestai! It Is Finished!”

Pray: El Rachum, God of mercy, I thank You for not giving me what I truly deserve. I deserve judgement and death. Yet, You gave Your only begotten Son so that I might receive forgiveness, cleansing, and eternal life. The Lord Jesus Himself is the Sacrifice for the forgiveness of my sins. He is also the Azazel, the one who carries my sin and guilt away. Though I still struggle with the sin nature, I know that when I fail, I need only to confess and repent and Jesus cleanses me from every sin. Today, I am truly grateful for this provision of mercy.