"He is to cast lots for the two goats-- one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat....The scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness...." (Leviticus 16:8 & 10, NIV)
Jesus went, "into the wilderness"-------------- so that you and I do not have to.
Yes, there are other "thoughts on our text, but let me offer this one: "One lot for," our acceptance in the Godhead, "and one for the scapegoat," viz., "as far as the East is from the West," and, "You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea," or, "into the wilderness." I join the hymn writer, "Praise Him, Praise Him, Jesus our Blessed Redeemer."
I write my devotionals with not only Followers of Jesus in mind, but also those who are not; the condition of the latter disturbs me most thoroughly. Someone once described man as, "a lonely creature in the universe, doubting his mastery even of his own environment. Our fear of physical death has been transcended by that of even a greater fear, that of total meaninglessness." It was for such humanity that our Lord Jesus Christ was slain.
We are told in Leviticus 16 that blood is central to our Redemption. Indeed, "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." The word, "blood," is mentioned at least 50 times in the first 16 chapters of Leviticus. At one point the Holy Spirit tells us, "He is to take some of the bull's blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover." This also describes the first goat. It's blood was shed immediately.
And then, there is, "the scapegoat," a most heart-wrenching part of "Redemption's Story." Taken into the wilderness, far from the camp, far from his "family," with no hope of return, it had no hope of being saved/rescued from what was to be a most horrible death, most likely torn apart by vicious beasts. None of this, however, can describe Calvary, of which Leviticus 16 is a foreshadow.
Some words of a popular song of the fifties are, "Though it makes Him sad to see the way we live, He'll always say, 'I forgive'"? Those words are true, but only when, "as many as received Jesus, to them Jesus gave the authority to become the children of God." It is a prayer of mine today, and I pray you join me, that those who are not Followers of Jesus will become so, will see in our Most Beloved, "Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," our Most Beloved, "Scapegoat," the One Who bore our sin, sicknesses, pains, griefs and sorrows so that we would not have to.
Father, in Jesus' Name, "What language will I borrow to thank You, Dearest Friend?" Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
