Monday, December 15, 2014

The Scapegoat

I'm sure you've heard the word 'scapegoat' used many times.  A scapegoat is someone who bears the blame for others.  Here's an example from Merriam-Webster's online dictionary:  "The CEO was made the scapegoat for the company's failures."

While you may be familiar with the word and how we use it today, did you know that the word scapegoat comes to us from the Bible?  We find it in the book of Leviticus, chapter 16.

In Leviticus 16, God is giving Moses instruction concerning the day of atonement.  Part of those instructions involve a scapegoat.  Here are the relevant verses.

"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...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... 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. 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." (Leviticus 16:5, 7-10, 20-22)

The scapegoat was to symbolically bear the sins of the people of Israel and be released into the wilderness.  In the New Testament we find that Jesus Christ could be considered our scapegoat.  Jesus Christ was without sin, and yet He bore our sins on the cross.  Read 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18.  Both of these verses clearly show that Jesus Christ took our sins and paid the penalty for them so that we could be saved from the penalty of our sins.  

So the next time you hear someone use the word 'scapegoat', think of what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross.  Give thanks to Him and maybe use it as an opportunity to share the gospel!



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