The Bizarre ACOG Day of Atonement
Lonnie Hendrix
On this Day of Atonement, most of the ACOG’s will offer sermons which place Satan at the center of the day! They will emphatically declare that the Azazel goat represents Satan the Devil, and that the “laying on of hands” is symbolic of placing the fault for our sins on the head of the entity who is responsible for them! Jesus Christ, as usual, will be portrayed as fulfilling a secondary or supportive role in the ceremony. Moreover, they will say that the Azazel being led into the wilderness by the hand of a fit man represents the angel of Revelation casting Satan into the Abyss! And they will say all of this with great solemnity and reverence, but they will be very wrong!
In relation to the Old Testament ceremony prescribed for the Day of Atonement outlined in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus, it is clear to me that the High Priest was regarded as a type of Jesus Christ by early Christians. What is the evidence that supports this conclusion? The book of Hebrews!
“For there was a tabernacle made, the first…which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all…Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. BUT INTO THE SECOND WENT THE HIGH PRIEST ALONE ONCE EVERY YEAR (ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT), not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience…But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” –Hebrews 9:2-12
Clearly, Aaron was symbolic of Jesus Christ in this ceremony. Nevertheless, the symbolism was not perfect. For obvious reasons, Aaron was unable to offer his own blood to sprinkle on the altar to make atonement for the people. He had to use the blood of a goat. Moreover, Aaron was also obviously unable to actually remove the people’s sins. He needed another goat to portray that!
“And he shall take the two goats, and present THEM before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.” –Leviticus 16:7 Notice that these goats are paired in the ceremony, and BOTH of them are presented before the Lord. Hence, it is obvious that these goats are RELATED to each other. “And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot FOR the Lord, and the other lot FOR the scapegoat.” –Leviticus 16:8 In context, it is clear that one of the goats was chosen to be presented to God as a sacrifice/offering (Leviticus 16:9), and Aaron (who was the type of Christ) was to use that goat’s blood to sprinkle on the altar to make atonement for the people. (Leviticus 16:15) Likewise, the other goat was to be used for the scapegoat, or goat of removal. “But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” (Leviticus 16:10)
Once again, it is clear that Aaron (THE TYPE OF CHRIST) needed blood to complete the symbolism of the ceremony. Continuing in Hebrews, we read: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. IT WAS THEREFORE NECESSARY THAT THE PATTERNS OF THINGS IN THE HEAVENS SHOULD BE PURIFIED WITH THESE; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. FOR CHRIST IS NOT ENTERED INTO THE HOLY PLACES MADE WITH HANDS, WHICH ARE THE FIGURES OF THE TRUE; BUT INTO HEAVEN ITSELF, NOW TO APPEAR IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD FOR US: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year WITH BLOOD OF OTHERS; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared TO PUT AWAY SIN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF.” –Hebrews 9:22-26
Clearly, Aaron was symbolically playing the role of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament ceremony. In that ceremony, there were two goats which were presented before the Lord. One of those goats was designated to be used as a sacrifice/offering to God, and Aaron used the blood of that goat (since he could not use his own) to take before the mercy seat of God and symbolically make an atonement for the sins of the people. The other goat was designated to bear the sins of the people into the wilderness. “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.” (Leviticus 16:21-22)
Hence, NEITHER GOAT WAS DESIGNATED TO REPRESENT GOD OR JESUS CHRIST IN THIS CEREMONY!!!!!!! Remember, Aaron represented Christ. The Holy of Holies represented heaven. The mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant represented Almighty God’s presence. One of the goats was used to represent Christ’s blood, and the other goat was used to represent the removal of the people’s sins from the camp and from the presence of Almighty God! The very thing that Christ’s shed blood accomplished! “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” –Hebrews 9:28
Now some of you will be thinking: “How could they get this so wrong?” A natural question - especially since the passages referenced from the book of Hebrews clearly lay out the Christian perspective on the day! Moreover, their troubling insertion of Satan into the starring role relative to the symbolism of this day presents serious problems for one of their primary justifications for observing this day and the other festivals of Torah. They claim that these days help them to understand God’s plan and serves to remind them of these principles on a yearly basis. How can that happen when their understanding is so obviously flawed? Did the Devil make you do it? OR Are you responsible for the sins which you have committed? Does Jesus Christ take away the sin of the world or does Satan the Devil? Does Christ remove our sins from us - as far as the East is from the West? OR Is that accomplished by some other means? What do you think?
17 comments:
Well reasoned exegesis. I have a few observations.
The Azazel goat seems to be in the process to represent the forgetting of humankind's sins. The sins are symbolically banished through the Azazel into the wilderness never to be seen again. The sins are not accumulated in a ledger somewhere and have a continued existence and influence. I believe we will always know that we were once sinners and Jesus the Annointed had to die for us. But I do not think the details of these sins will be carried forward into eternity. God created the Cosmos ex nihilo. The Cosmos must in the eschaton reflect God's perfection. There is then no place in this ultimate perfect condition for the perpetuation our sins.
It is interesting in the Book of Hebrews that the author states that the greater tabernacle, the perfect tabernacle is "not made with hands". Yet, Armstrongists believe God has a body and fabricates spirit substance into varous spirit artifacts. Hands represent the capability to fabricate. And Armstrongists believe that God has hands as a part of his essence. Yet God seems to have made the perfect tabernacles by fiat with no dependence on his hands. One might ask, if God can create by fiat, why does he have hands? Aren't they just useless appendages? The answer is that God does not have a body, he is spirit, and he does not make things with hands as almost everybody who reads the Bible seems to know but Armstrongists.
Scout
Lonnie, you are living proof of one lesson from Lev.16, that man on his own can't tell the difference between Jesus Christ and Satan.
NEITHER GOAT WAS DESIGNATED TO REPRESENT.... JESUS CHRIST IN THIS CEREMONY.... One of the goats was used to represent Christ’s blood.....
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These two statements appear to conflict. Confusing.
Aaron represented Christ. One goat provided the blood (Christ provided his own blood), the other goat pictured the people's sins being placed on Christ and their removal. Obviously, Aaron couldn't offer his own blood or be driven into the wilderness. In other words, the two goats pictured aspects of what Christ did that the Levitical High Priest could not physically do.
This post is accurate per the Bible, but for those who have been convinced Jesus did not obtain COMPLETE victory on the cross, they just aren’t going to accept that the azazel goat represents Christ taking way the sins of the world. If Jesus Christ didn’t win, then it makes more sense why all of “mainstream” Christians are deceived.
If the victory was overwhelming on the cross (as it was) then they can’t cling to their special place as the only few with special knowledge.
The ignorance on here is staggering. Day of Atonement is not in competition to Jesus Christ's Sovereignty as Saviour. It is a 'day' event to be fulfilled in future.
But if course NO2HWA you mock prophesy.
Anonymous 10:55 says that "The ignorance on here is staggering." Then he/she goes on to use the verb "prophesy" - when they clearly wanted the noun "prophecy." Moreover, it's the ACOG INTERPRETATION of the symbolism of DOA which diminishes our Savior and turns the day into a future event instead of fulfilled prophecy, NOT this blog!
The dynamics of “purging of the flesh,” from which the symbolism of purging the conscious is derived, is also overlooked, especially in its role in maintaining the divine presence.
1 Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (NASB).
The word “forgive” does not appear in Leviticus 16, presumably as this day concerns the second phase of atonement - cleansing of the Temple and the people.
Lev 16:30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
Lev 16:33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
"... the New Testament does not limit the application of Christ's blood to cleansing the person, it also affirms that the sanctuary has been purified by the blood of Christ so that we have access to the heavenly court" (Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord, p.136).
The forgiveness of sin is incomplete until God’s dwelling place is purified. When the Temple is cleansed then the cleansing of the people is complete for the year.
When certain sins are committed they automatically contaminate the tabernacle; shedding of blood is to cleanse the sinner and the sancta - sin generates impurities that contaminate God’s dwelling place. These impurities are not ritual impurities [though not accepted by some]. Ritual impurities also generate impunities that contaminate the outer altar and need to be cleansed but it is argued that the day of Atonement does not deal with the impurities generated by ritual impurities. Unatoned ritual impurities turn into sin.
Eze 8:6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
Why was the Temple required to cleansed once a year?
"... YHWH's sanctuary, the sphere of holiness, survives an incursion of human defilement that accumulates throughout the year... YHWH's holiness cannot tolerate an excessive accumulation of defilement. Once per year his sanctuary must be made totally clean..." (Roy Gane, Cult and Character, pp.177-79).
The Temple has to ‘cleansed’ once a year to maintain God’s presence in it.
Eze 43:4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.
Eze 43:7a And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever,
In the Messianic Age God will have a dwelling presence in the Millennial Temple just as He did in the Mosaic Tabernacle and Solomonic Temple - that is God, first cause, Christ second cause.
But in the Messianic Age there has been a rearrangement:
Lev 23:27a The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.
Lev 16:33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community.
Eze 45:18a This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In the first month on the first day
Eze 45:20a You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month
Eze 45:20b so you are to make atonement for the temple. (NIV).
Instead of the annual cleansing taking place in the seventh month over one day preceding Tabernacles, under the NC it will take place in the first month over two days, preceding Passover.
Part 2
As an aside:
Lev 16:11 And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:
Lev 16:15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people,
The sanctuary is cleansed by the blood of two purification offerings - bull for the priests and a goat for the people.
Eliminating sin and sin-generated impurities:
Lev 10:17 Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?
Sin and the sin-generated impurites that contaminate the outer altar are eliminated by the priests eating of the meat portions of the sin offering.
Sin and the sin-generated impurities that contaminate the inner altar are eliminated by burning of the meat portions of the sin offering; the priests cannot eat of their own sin offering - that is benefit by eating their own sin offering
On the Day of Atonement sin and the sin-generated impurities are eliminated by the sending the scapegoat into desert.
Cp. “And he shall cleanse [hitte’] the house with the blood of the bird... But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean [taher]” (Lev 14:52-53) - the birds are not expressly called a sin offering and are not presented at the sanctuary; though whenever hitte’ is used it is used to describe purgation; cp. Eze 43:22 (twice).
Jn 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
A male lamb or ram was never used for a sin offering; a male goat was always used for public sin offerings.
The COGs are wrong here. Just a couple of the absurdities associated with their doctrine on atonement:
1) "The Devil made me do it!" I remember many a sermon making fun of this expression, but by teaching that Satan represents the Azazel goat having all the sins of Israel placed on it puts the blame for sin on Satan rather than the individual. Thus, the COGs indeed teach "The Devil made me do it!" But, only Christ can atone for and carry our sins away from us.
2) In claiming that the Day of Atonement represents the binding of Satan in end-time events, the COGs completely ignore the sacrificed goat which the COGs teach represents Christ. You must account for the sacrificed goat in your end-time prophesy explanation; but of course, it doesn't fit. The teaching is that Christ's return is represented by the Day of Trumpets. Well, moving down the COG timeline of events, how does the Sacrificed Goat then fit in after Christ has returned in power? Sorry COGs, Christ's sacrifice was once and for all. The Sacrificed Goat is a glaring hole in your timeline of end-time events. But, you will ignore it or contrive an explanation that requires the Bible to be manipulated to fit Armstrong's teaching rather than vice versa.
To me, from a New Testament perspective, the Day of Atonement typifies Christ's final act of cleansing that will be accomplished at His coming when He will cleanse His people of their sins and place all accountability on Satan.
This cleansing then makes it possible to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles which foreshadows the rejoicing of the saints at the inauguration on a new life on the new earth.
After listening to Vance's sermon, another point about the obligation of Christians to observe the days becomes glaring. The book of Hebrews points out that Aaron went into the Holiest Place once each year, year after year. In other words, this was a yearly reminder of sins, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Our High Priest (Jesus), however, offered himself once for all - for all times. In other words, this happened once - it doesn't have to be repeated yearly! He ripped the veil in half - giving us permanent and continuous access to Almighty God!
Technical glitch - one of my comments didn't go through. Great comment 6:34. The reason this thread hasn't seen much response from the ACOG crowd is because most of their leadership either accepts the interpretation laid out in the epistle to the Hebrews, or they are aware that large segments of their colleagues do (and reject Herbert's explanation). Case-in-point, Vance Stinson's DOA sermon: https://www.cgi.org/media-app?sapurl=LytxNWdtL2xiL21pLytyOHNucHRzP2VtYmVkPXRydWUmcmVjZW50Um91dGU9YXBwLndlYi1hcHAubGlicmFyeS5saXN0JnJlY2VudFJvdXRlU2x1Zz0lMkJjYzg0czl0
Probably the most bizarre of the bizarre is Fred Coulter, who teaches that until Satan, as the accuser of the brethren, is bound, we have no atonement!
That probably applies to us, not him!
If one goat is designated for YHWH and the other for Azazel then who is this Azazel? And if both represent Christ’s work then why wouldn’t both be for YHWH?
One goat was for the Lord, because it would provide the blood to sprinkle before God. The other goat was designated to symbolize the removal of sin. Hence, it was not for the Lord.
Thanks MJ/LCH for your answer expounding your view. However, I simply ask the question (6:04AM) since I understand two interpretations of the ritual: 1) The traditional view that the Azazel goat represents the devil and its exile in the wilderness represents the future fulfillment of the prophecy that the devil will be bound in the abyss prior to the Millennial rule of Christ; and 2) The newer view that the Azazel goat represents another aspect of Christ's sacrifice and our sins being removed from God's sight. Personally I'm indifferent as to the symbolic meaning as both interpretations are fine with me and I've seen various evidence used to support both. Even your third interpretation is okay too. For me I'd probably be inclined to still agree with the traditional view, but whatever it means I trust that when Christ returns then we'll all know the true meaning of the holy day's ritual and we'll all finally see eye to eye.
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