Satan Gets the Sewage
You may have heard of the major sewage spill into the Potomac River, just upstream from Washington, D.C.
Allow me to connect it to Leviticus….
One Day, Two Goats
There was one day of the year when the high priest would enter the holiest place (also known as the holy of holies) and make atonement for all the sins and moral pollution of the people over the previous year. It was called the Day of Atonement. (In modern Hebrew it’s called Yom Kippur.)
What’s interesting is that the Day of Atonement involved two goats, but only one was sacrificed:
7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering,10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. [Leviticus 16:7-10]
One goat is sacrificed as a purification or sin offering. It is a blameless representative whose blood covers over the sins of the people. (This is the kind of sacrifice we should be familiar with by now.)
But it’s what happened to the second goat that is fascinating.
The second goat is not sacrificed. On the contrary, it is sent away alive.
20 “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. 21 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. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. [16:20-22]
The first goat is a blameless representative, an innocent sacrifice.
The second goat is the one that bears the sins of the people, and rather than being sacrificed, it is sent out to wander in the wilderness and (eventually) die.
It’s like the second goat is carrying all the moral sewage of the people out into the desert.
Sending the Sewage Back to Satan
The goat is said to be sent to “Azazel.” This is a very mysterious Hebrew word that might mean something like “the powerful spiritual being.” Since Genesis 3 there has been an enemy lurking in God’s garden, trying to destroy it. That enemy is given various names throughout the Bible:
The Satan
The Devil
The Enemy
etc.
(We don’t have time in this post to talk about how that enemy came to exist.)
What’s amazing about the second goat on the Day of Atonement is that it is sent away from God’s presence into the wilderness, carrying the sins of the people. It is sent to “Azazel,” a demonic figure.
In other words, the sins of the people are sent right back to the enemy.
The moral sewage is sent right back to Satan!
How great is that?!
Today’s Old Testament reading from the One Year Bible:
