Jesus Pictured by the Scapegoat

And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat

And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness

Leviticus 16: 7, 15 and 21

I absolutely love this Old Testament picture of my Saviour Jesus Christ.  The Israelites were told to sacrifice two goats.  One would be killed as a sacrifice on the altar, his blood shed for the sins of the people.  The other would be a living sacrifice, sent into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people away, never again to be seen or remembered.

Think of the picture this provides of the Saviour.  Both of these animals represent our Lord.  He died on the cross and His blood was shed for us.  He is the sacrifice Who was killed for our sins.  And, at the same time, He is a living sacrifice.  He rose from the dead, and He is seated at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for us.  He helps us with our day to day struggles and He forgives us when we come to Him confessing our sins.  The Bible tells us in Hebrews that He makes intercession for us.  It says in I John that He is our advocate with God the Father.

He bled and died for our sins like the goat in Leviticus.  He then rose from the dead and took our sins into the wilderness, where they are “remembered no more forever.”  He has removed them, according to the Psalms, “as far as the east is from the west.”

What a marvelous picture of the Saviour these two goats provide.  I am reminded of the hymn that says “what a wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord.”  May we never cease to stand in awe of our Saviour and may we never become unthankful for all that He has done for us!