Day 27 – October 6, 2023: Leviticus 13-16 and Hebrews 7-8

Leviticus takes us throught once again a series of laws, but this time they are focused on leprosy, discharges, and finally, the all important day of atonement. We cannot overlook this important day in which the people of Israel were forgiven. This dayof atonement was basically the precursor of the sacrifice that Jesus made upon the cross. In Jesus’ death and resurrection his blood was the blood that made us clean once and for all. No longer was a goat needed in order to be sacrificed and then one let loose as the scapegoat which carried our sins in the wilderness. This is the connection between the Leviticus and the Hebrews Scripture. As Hebrews 8:13 says the old covenant has become obsolete and the new covenant is now in its place. This new covenant was the one that Christ has brought.

We find the term scapegoat used in Leviticus in the word Azazel which literally means scapegoat. It is upon this goat that the sins of the people are placed and then released in the wilderness. When we go to Israel and we see where the goat is released to wander in the wilderness, the fear was that the goat might wander back with all of its sins upon its back. So, you can see that the release point tends to be a cliff that would make it pretty much impossible for the goat to survive as it makes its way out of town down the cliff. That scapegoat was not coming back.