The Scapegoat
"And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat" Leviticus 16:8 (KJV).
"And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness" Leviticus 16:20-22 (ESV).
The meaning behind the scapegoat:
Great Controversy (1888), p. 485, par. 3:
In the typical service the high priest, having made the atonement for Israel, came forth and blessed the congregation. So Christ, at the close of his work as a mediator, will appear, “without sin unto salvation,” [Hebrews 9:28.] to bless his waiting people with eternal life. As the priest, in removing the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the head of the scapegoat, so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin. The scape-goat, bearing the sins of Israel, was sent away “unto a land not inhabited;” [Leviticus 16:22.] so Satan, bearing the guilt of all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit, will be for a thousand years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate, without inhabitant, and he will at last suffer the full penalty of sin, in the fires that shall destroy all the wicked. Thus the great plan of redemption will reach its accomplishment in the final eradication of sin, and the deliverance of all who have been willing to renounce evil.
Thus,
SIN is transferred by the authority of the blood sacrifice of Jesus TO the Sanctuary. The SANCTUARY is cleansed by the blood of Jesus, and the SIN is transferred to SATAN (the antitypical scapegoat), by the authority of the blood of Jesus. SATAN is then transferred to HELL FIRE, where he is annihilated. The condemnation and sentencing was fully justified because Satan bears the guilt of the death of Jesus and the sins he caused God's people to commit.
Points
of fact:
- The scapegoat's role is outside. Neither the scapegoat nor his blood ever enters the holy place.
- The two goats in sequence. One goat represents Christ's sacrifice and the other represents Satan. Both bear the sins of Israel in sequence.
- The sinner pays for his own sin. That's the rule. (See "The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son." Ezekiel 18:20.) Yet there are exceptions. See next item.
- Someone can be guilty for another's sin. When someone fails to warn someone else about their sins, he becomes guilty of those same deeds, and must pay for them. See Ezekiel 33:8 and Leviticus 19:17. In human courts of law, others than the perpetrators of a crime are at times found guilty too, and are punished for deeds they knew about but never did. However, while such individuals must pay the price for the sin or crime of another, the price they pay does not make them a savior or substitute for the actual perpetrator.
- Jesus' death, resurrection, and coming in Spirit. The forgiveness and cleansing of the righteous is totally the work of Jesus on the cross and the giving of the Holy Spirit. The two feasts—Passover and Pentecost—are linked. Christ's blood not only forgives, but it cleanses.
- Satan to bear the sins of the righteous in the Judgment. When the Devil tempts us to sin, he sins. Satan originated sin. Therefore, Satan is the legitimate and legal choice to bear the sins of the righteous into the lake of fire. All the wicked will agree at the end on this point.
- The sins of the righteous cleansed. The sins which Jesus bears out of the sanctuary on the Day of Atonement are the sins that are confessed and repented of. They are the only ones that can be cleansed from the record books. Also, they are the sins of the righteous because only the righteous confess and repent and forsake their sins. Hence, the sins that Jesus bears out of the Sanctuary are those that the Sanctuary was cleansed of- namely the sins of the righteous.
- Sins of the wicked remain on record. Sins not confessed are borne by the guilty parties concerned and never enter into the Sanctuary service at all.
- Sanctuary is defiled by Sin. The Sanctuary is defiled by sin coming into it by virtue of the blood of the Sin Offering—that is, by virtue of the blood of Jesus.
- Purification in hell fire. The moving of the sins to hell fire has nothing to do with salvation but with purification—eradication of the sin itself and those clinging to it from the earth.
- Christ is "the only Sin-Bearer, the only Sin-Offering." See Signs of the Times, June 28, 1899. "How hard poor mortals strive to be sin-bearers for themselves and for others! but the only sin-bearer is Jesus Christ. He alone can be my substitute and sin-bearer. The forerunner of Christ exclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."—Review and Herald, June 9, 1896.
Ellen G. White quotes on the subject
Early Writings, p. 290, par. 3:
Then they [the saints] meted out to the wicked the portion which they must suffer, according to their works; and it was written against their names in the book of death. Satan also and his angels were judged by Jesus and the saints. Satan's punishment was to be far greater than that of those whom he had deceived. His suffering would so far exceed theirs as to bear no comparison with it. After all those whom he had deceived had perished, Satan was still to live and suffer on much longer.
Early Writings, p. 294, par. 1:
Satan rushes into the midst of his followers and tries to stir up the multitude to action. But fire from God out of heaven is rained upon them, and the great men, and mighty men, the noble, the poor and miserable, are all consumed together. I saw that some were quickly destroyed, while others suffered longer. They were punished according to the deeds done in the body. Some were many days consuming, and just as long as there was a portion of them unconsumed, all the sense of suffering remained. Said the angel, "The worm of life shall not die; their fire shall not be quenched as long as there is the least particle for it to prey upon."
Ibid., par. 2:
Satan and his angels suffered long. Satan bore not only the weight and punishment of his own sins, but also of the sins of the redeemed host, which had been placed upon him; and he must also suffer for the ruin of souls which he had caused. Then I saw that Satan and all the wicked host were consumed, and the justice of God was satisfied; and all the angelic host, and all the redeemed saints, with a loud voice said, "Amen!"
Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 357, par. 5:
The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement; so in the type the blood of the sin offering removed the sin from the penitent, but it rested in the sanctuary until the Day of Atonement.
Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 358, par. 2:
Since Satan is the originator of sin, the direct instigator of all the sins that caused the death of the Son of God, justice demands that Satan shall suffer the final punishment. Christ's work for the redemption of men and the purification of the universe from sin will be closed by the removal of sin from the heavenly sanctuary and the placing of these sins upon Satan, who will bear the final penalty. So in the typical service, the yearly round of ministration closed with the purification of the sanctuary, and the confessing of the sins on the head of the scapegoat.
Hell fire
2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 (ESV)
Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from [Or destruction that comes from] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
Psalm 11:6 (ESV)
Let
him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
Christ on the cross
Desire of Ages, p. 753, par. 1:
Upon Christ as our substitute and surety was laid the iniquity of us all. He was counted a transgressor, that He might redeem us from the condemnation of the law. The guilt of every descendant of Adam was pressing upon His heart. The wrath of God against sin, the terrible manifestation of His displeasure because of iniquity, filled the soul of His Son with consternation. All His life Christ had been publishing to a fallen world the good news of the Father's mercy and pardoning love. Salvation for the chief of sinners was His theme. But now with the terrible weight of guilt He bears, He cannot see the Father's reconciling face. The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Saviour in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man. So great was this agony that His physical pain was hardly felt.
Ibid., par. 2:
Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father's wrath upon Him as man's substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God.
What did Jesus bear?
If the sins of the saved are ultimately transferred to Satan and he receives the punishment, then what was Jesus' suffering all about? Here are some points to consider (taken from The Theology of Ellen G. White - Christ):
- The sin (or guilt of sin) of the world was imputed to Christ. "In dying upon the cross, He [God] transferred the guilt from the person of the transgressor to that of the divine Substitute, through faith in Him as his personal Redeemer. The sins of a guilty world, which in figure are represented as 'red as crimson,' were imputed to the divine Surety." --Manuscript 84a, 1897. {7ABC 462.3} "The holy Son of God has no sins or griefs of His own to bear: He was bearing the griefs of others; for on Him was laid the iniquity of us all." --Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, Aug. 1, 1892. {7ABC 462.4}
- Christ was counted as a sinner in the divine estimation. See Desire of Ages, p. 753.
- Since He was counted a sinner, justice required that Christ be treated as a sinner. "Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. 'With His stripes we are healed.'" --Desire of Ages, p. 25.
- Justice demanded that Christ be punished. Expressions such as penalty, punishment, suffer, satisfy, retribution, retributive justice, payment, sword of justice, etc., are used in Ellen G. White's writings repeatedly. For example, "To save the race from eternal death, the Son of God volunteered to bear the punishment of disobedience. Only by the humiliation of the Prince of heaven could the dishonor be removed, justice be satisfied, and man be restored to that which he had forfeited by disobedience." --Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 308.2.
God accepted the sacrifice of Christ only on condition that men would believe on Him. It is the guilt of believers that was transferred to Christ upon the cross. The whole race is in Christ by "His covenant of promise, but only believers are 'in Him by living faith." In the final analysis, therefore, Christ died for believers.
The atonement of Christ sealed forever the everlasting covenant of grace. It was the fulfilling of every condition upon which God suspended the free communication of grace to the human family. Every barrier was then broken down which intercepted the freest fulness of the exercise of grace, mercy, peace and love to the most guilty of Adam's race. {MS 92, 1899 {7BC 933.6}
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