Leviticus 16:21, commentary and pictures

On the Day of Atonement, after the Lord's goat had been slain and its blood brought within the veil to make satisfaction for the law, Aaron laid both his hands on the head of the live goat and confessed over him all the iniquities, transgressions and sins of Israel, putting them upon him, and sent him away by a fit man into an uninhabited wilderness never to return to the camp. The sin-offering points to Christ as sacrifice and the high priest represents Christ as mediator, while the live goat typifies Satan, the author, originator and instigator of sin. By His own blood Christ at the close of His ministration removes the sins of the truly penitent from the heavenly sanctuary and places them upon Satan, who must bear the final penalty not only for his own rebellion but for all the sins he caused God's people to commit. Those who held the differing position taught that Christ alone, not Satan, is the scapegoat borne into the wilderness, as the Sin-bearer and Substitute who alone could bear the sins laid upon Him. The yearly service points to the great antitypical Day of Atonement now going on in the most holy place above, which is the Judgment concerning every individual, so sins must be confessed and put away beforehand, while Satan's banishment to the desolate earth for a thousand years and his final blotting from existence marks the forever separation of guilt from God's people and the purification of the universe from sin.

Ritual Words and Setting

On the Day of Atonement Aaron lays both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confesses over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them symbolically upon the head of the goat. The goat is then sent away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. This confessing and putting of the sins upon the goat belongs to the great day of atonement and its sanctuary service for cleansing the sanctuary.

This sending is the final act of the yearly round of ministration for cleansing the sanctuary. It is done only after lots are cast over two goats and the Lord's goat has been slain as a sin-offering and its blood brought within the veil. That blood is sprinkled upon and before the mercy-seat directly over the law and upon the altar of incense to make satisfaction for the claims of the law and to remove the sins of Israel from the sanctuary.

The goat then bears all the iniquities to a land not inhabited, an uninhabited wilderness, into a land of forgetfulness. He comes no more into the camp of Israel. The man who led him away must wash himself and his clothing with water before returning.

The cleansing described belongs to the earthly sanctuary made in the desert of Sinai that God might dwell among His people. Its vessels were afterward transferred to Solomon's temple with its holy and most holy place, the dwelling-place of God's glory upon the earth. The holy places of that earthly sanctuary were patterns of things in the heavens — not the earth itself, not Canaan or Palestine, and not the church. That earthly service was an example and shadow of ministry in the heavenly sanctuary.

The chapter belongs to the high-priestly attire and atonement work that is completed in the heavenly Holy of Holies before the priestly role is laid aside and the appearing as King. In the yearly service the high priest entered the most holy place after careful and solemn preparation and stood before the mercy-seat. While he stood there the people waited in silence and prayer for God's blessing. When he came out he blessed them.

Lessons Taught by Ceremony

The rite declares that God is holy and abhors sin, and that any contact with sin pollutes and brings defilement. While the work of atonement went forward, every person was to afflict his soul, lay aside all business, and spend the day in solemn humiliation before God with prayer, fasting, and deep searching of heart.

The laying of hands upon the victim signifies the transfer of guilt, with the sin confessed over it placed upon it. In his character of mediator, the high priest takes the sins upon himself and bears them from the sanctuary after satisfaction for the claims of the law has been made by blood sprinkled upon the mercy-seat directly over the law. By laying both hands upon the head of the live goat and confessing over him all the sins, he in figure transfers them from himself to the goat. The victim's suffering points to One who gives Himself as a sacrifice for sin.

The people regarded themselves as freed from the burden of their sins only after the goat had been sent away. The goat's bearing all the iniquities away into the wilderness to an uninhabited place pictured guilt as forever separated from them, never to return to the camp. So borne away, the sins are carried into a land of forgetfulness.

Identity of the Scapegoat

The sin offering points to Christ as sacrifice and the high priest represents Christ as mediator, while the live goat typifies Satan, the author, originator, and instigator of sin. As the high priest by the blood of the sin offering removed sins from the sanctuary and placed them upon the scapegoat, so Christ by His own blood will remove the sins of the truly penitent from the heavenly sanctuary at the close of His ministration and place them upon Satan, who in the execution of the judgment must bear the final penalty. After Jesus finishes His mediation in the most holy place, the sins confessed during His ministry there are placed back upon Satan, their originator, who must suffer their punishment. The goat bore the confessed iniquities away so they were regarded as forever separated from the people, and so Satan is forever banished from God and His people and blotted from existence in the final destruction of sin and sinners.

The confessing and putting of iniquities upon the goat means Satan is made to bear guilt not only for his own rebellion but for all the sins he caused God's people to commit and for responsibility for souls he ruined. His punishment is therefore far greater than that of those he deceived. After all who fell by his deceptions have perished he still lives and suffers on before being destroyed as the root with his followers as branches, so the full penalty of the law is visited and the demands of justice are met. The sins of those redeemed through Christ and victorious over sin, of all who come to Jesus and accept Christ, will finally be laid back upon Satan and his angels. Those who reject salvation and continue in transgression are left out of this transfer and must bear the penalty of their own sins.

Those who held the differing position taught that Christ alone, not Satan, is the scapegoat represented by the live goat borne into the wilderness. In that teaching Satan cannot bear even his own sins and cannot fulfill the solemn type, and Pilate washing his hands at the choosing of Barabbas cannot fulfill it either. Only He over whom death had no power was able to bear the sins laid upon Him. In that same differing position all the types point to Jesus Christ as the Sin-bearer and Substitute for the offender. The victim's suffering points to Christ giving Himself as a sacrifice for sin, with the sinner's laying of hands signifying the transfer of guilt. While Satan points to the defilement of God's people and accuses them as sinners and transgressors of the law, Christ Himself cannot be thus accused, and He takes away the sin of the repentant, believing transgressor.

Heavenly Fulfillment and Prophecy

The yearly service foreshadows a final work in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, where the great High Priest blots out the sins of His faithful people from Abel onward. What was placed on the scapegoat and carried into the wilderness, forever separated from the congregation, represents the final removal of the sins of the truly penitent from heaven's records and their lasting separation from God's people. That removal is completed when Christ's work of redemption is finished and the universe is purified from sin, with Satan as originator and instigator of sin bearing those sins and their final penalty.

The sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the prophetic days is in heaven, not the earth to be purified by fire at the second coming to punish its inhabitants for iniquity. This cleansing is accomplished by virtue of Christ's own blood when He entered the heavenly sanctuary on the great antitypical day of atonement, and the work began after the passing of the time in 1844. That directing of God's people to the sanctuary was joined to the going forth of the first angel's message with the binding claims of God's law, raising up a vast army to enter the dark places of the earth and bringing Satan's rule to an end, after which the sins of those who accept Christ are finally laid upon Satan and his angels.

When the ministration in the holy of holies has been completed and the sins of Israel have been removed from the sanctuary by the blood of the sin-offering, the live goat is presented alive before the Lord. In like manner, when the work of atonement in the heavenly sanctuary is completed, in the presence of God and the heavenly angels and the host of the redeemed the sins of God's people are placed upon Satan, and he is declared guilty of all the evil he caused them to commit. After Jesus finishes His mediation in the sanctuary He confesses Israel's sins upon the scapegoat before the plagues fall, placing back upon Satan as originator the sins confessed during His ministry in the most holy place, and Satan must suffer their punishment.

As the goat was sent away into a land not inhabited never to return, so Satan will be banished to the desolate earth as an uninhabited and dreary wilderness. That wilderness becomes the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years, where he is limited to the earth in chaos and darkness with no one left to tempt or annoy, and in that sense bound and wholly cut off from deception and ruin. The goat is led away to the land of forgetfulness and struggles to escape but is held fast, because if it escaped Israel would be destroyed.

The goat's banishment from Israel represents Satan's being forever banished from the presence of God and His people. By His own blood Christ removes the sins of His people from the heavenly sanctuary at the close of His ministration and places them upon Satan as author of sin, who in the execution of the judgment must bear the final penalty. He is then blotted from existence in the final destruction of sin and sinners, which marks the close of the yearly sanctuary service and points to the final events in the conflict between Christ and Satan and the purification of the universe from sin.

Present Call to Repentance

The laying of hands and confession over the live goat belongs to the great antitypical Day of Atonement now going on in the sanctuary above, which is the Judgment and concerns every individual as the great day of preparation. Each person must consider how his case will stand in the judgment and be cleansed from defilement by the blood of Jesus. The present time is the last great day of atonement before the books are opened and every person is judged for the deeds recorded there, when confession and the pardon made possible by Christ's death are decisive. Confession must be done early, before the awful time when every secret thing comes to light. This is a solemn time in which the church is to seek purification through repentance, humility, and deep heart-searching.

In the great antitypical Day of Atonement sins must be confessed and put away so they may go beforehand to judgment, just as Israel's sins had to be confessed at the sanctuary and placed upon the live goat. The work moves forward only after every sin is confessed. Christ can cleanse from every stain of sin and secure pardon for the repentant. Believers must pray much that their own sins may be so confessed upon the head of the scapegoat and borne away into the land of forgetfulness. This is accomplished through Jesus' work in the sanctuary, which in a little longer will be finished.

A proper appreciation of the heavenly work keeps it constantly before the mind and before the people and urges it upon conscience with earnestness and power, giving correct views of the importance of the work for this time. Business cares must not absorb the mind so that the work in heaven is lightly regarded, and such appreciation leads to greater energy and zeal to make the work a success, avoiding carelessness and blindness to the wants of the cause and the perils attending every soul, and seeking to be a channel of light, including in the publishing work. The verse also exposes a wrong human use of a scapegoat, putting one's own wrongs upon somebody or something else and making circumstances and providences bear the guilt for feeling and speaking in a manner unworthy of a Christian. Trying occasions only arouse and reveal defects of character already lying dormant and hidden, so instead of censuring others the person should simply censure self and confess an untransformed carnal nature.