Scapegoat Azazel
In Leviticus 16 we read the following:
8 “And Aharon shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for YHWH and the other lot for Azazel.
9 “And Aharon shall bring the goat on which the lot for YHWH fell, and shall prepare it as a sin offering.
10 “But the goat on which the lot for Azazel fell is caused to stand alive before YHWH, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness to Azazel.
22 “And the goat shall bear on itself all their crookednesses, to a land cut off. Thus he shall send the goat away into the wilderness.
In some circles it is known that Azazel IS the Scapegoat, perhaps depending how some Bibles are translated. But that is actually incorrect, Azazel is a PLACE. So from the verses above, one can see that Azazel is kept or sent to Azazel. Azazel is Hebrew is H5799 – ʿăzā’zēl, which really means to be removed. From the root word AZAL it means to “be gone”, departure, used up, evaporated, disappear, free.
In English we use the word Scapegoat, for a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others. The word scapegoat originates from this Scripture. Except the “SCAPE” is short for “ESCAPE“. It is the goat that gets to escape, into the wilderness.
From Leviticus 16 start to finish, it is clear that the purpose of these goats are for atonement as a result of the state of uncleanless of Israel (“because of the sins“), not for something in the future (instead of “for the sins”).
Set-Apart for YHWH
In Leviticus 18 we read:
3 ‘Do not do as they do in the land of Mitsrayim, where you dwelt. And do not do as they do in the land of Kenaan, where I am bringing you, and do not walk in their laws.
24 ‘Do not defile yourselves with all these, for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am driving out before you.
26 ‘But you, you shall guard My laws and My right-rulings, and not do any of these abominations, the native nor stranger who sojourns among you,
27 because the men of the land who were before you have done all these abominations, and thus the land became defiled,
28 ‘So let not the land vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.
29 ‘For whoever does any of these abominations, those beings who do them shall be cut off from among their people.
30 ‘And you shall guard My Charge, so as not to do any of these abominable practices which were done before you, so as not to defile yourselves by them. I am YHWH your Elohim.’ ”
Lev 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, and say to them, ‘Be set-apart, for I YHWH your Elohim am set-apart.
YHWH wants His Children to live and look different than the world. They shouldn’t act and behave like where they came from, or where they are going to be among other nations. This is very difficult for most people. People want to fit in with the world. This is not to say we cannot enjoy most things. These laws are not hard to do – they are laws for living a righteous life. But at the end of the day, you will seem weird and be criticized for not eating pork, or taking a Saturday off. You will just … “look” different. Remember that YHWH knows the consequences of living a non-righteous life.. Lev 18:27 He says that is why the land itself became defiled.. everything becomes corrupt. And we can see that in the world today, it is like a cancer spreading. Everything and everybody is corrupt. At which point do we stop, turn around and try to get rid of the sin and at least try to live a righteous life?
I am YHWH your Elohim.
From the beginning in Leviticus 19, until the end, almost after every command – YHWH reminds us “I am YHWH your Elohim”, “I am YHWH”, “fear your Elohim. I am YHWH”… It is as if to imply, that one might think you can skip or ignore this command, but YHWH reminds you HE IS ELOHIM. Verse 14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling-block before the blind, but fear your Elohim. I am YHWH.” One might not fear the person weaker than himself, but if he feared YHWH, he would know that he is doing wrong.
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Lev 19:18 And you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am YHWH.
Yeshua confirmed this command in Matthew 22:37 You shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great command. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commands hang all the Torah and the Prophets.”
Lie or Deny
Leviticus 19:11 “Do not steal, do not lie, do not deceive one another.” The word LIE here is a bit different or unique, as its’ Hebrew word is KAHAS H3584 – kāḥaš, which means also to DENY the truth. Apart from Leviticus, the first and only time this word has appeared so far is in Genesis 18:15 where Sarah laughed and was questioned about it “Then Sarah denied, H3584 saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.”
There are many different ways of lying or denying or deceiving. Even staying quiet about a truth is addressed in Leviticus – YHWH really sees the heart and He is trying to teach and address it. But ultimately, we need to search our own hearts too, and question our own motives. Remember John 4:24 “Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth“
