Roy E. Gane
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel [scapegoat, NASB, KJV, NIV]. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD, and offer it as a sin offering; 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 16:8-10; RSV.
Seventh-day Adventists have been accused of making Satan their vicarious sin-bearer and savior because they believe that the scapegoat in Leviticus 16 represents Satan. By contrast, many Christians hold that the scapegoat represents Christ as truly as does the slain goat.
The Leviticus 16 ritual – In Leviticus 16, the Israelite community is to provide two male goats, each of which is to function in a ritual of purification on the Day of Atonement (v. 5). To determine which goat is used for each ritual, the high priest uses lots, implying that the Lord makes the selection. Then the lots are placed on the two goats as labels for distinguishing between them (v. 8). The goat receiving the lot “belonging to the Lord” is the Lord’s goat, which is to be sacrificed as a purification offering (the so-called “sin offering,” v. 9) for purging physical ritual impurities and sins from the sanctuary (cf. vv. 15-19, 25). The other goat, which receives the lot “belonging to Azazel” (cAza’zel), is to be presented before the Lord. But instead of being sacrificed to the Lord, this live goat is to be sent away from the Lord to Azazel in the wilderness (v. 10). “Atonement” is made on the live goat (v. 10) in the sense that it bears the moral faults of the Israelites away from their camp after the high priest has transferred these evils to the goat through confession while pressing both his hands on its head (vv. 20-22).
Different views concerning Azazel – The main question is: Who is Azazel, and what does his goat represent? Numerous attempts to explain the meaning of the name “Azazel” on the basis of etymology have failed. The common translation of Azazel as “scapegoat”—the goat that goes away or escapes (cez-’azel)—is certainly incorrect and should be abandoned because it makes no sense in Leviticus 16:10. There the goat belonging to Azazel is sent to Azazel, but if you read “scapegoat” for Azazel, the goat belonging to the goat is sent to the goat.
Various scholars have interpreted “Azazel” as a desolate place, as an idea of “removal,” or as a deity. A prominent Jewish view is to regard Azazel as a demon (e.g., 1 Enoch 9:6; 10:4, 5, 8, Apocalypse of Abraham; for association of wild goats, goat-demons, and demons with uninhabited regions, compare Lev 17:7; Isa 13:21; 34:14; Luke 11:24; Rev 18:2). In harmony with the concept that Azazel is a demon, some Christians (including Seventh-day Adventists) see in the live goat a representation of Satan, the chief demon and arch-enemy of God. But other Christians object that such an approach makes Satan our sin-bearer and prefer to interpret the so-called “scapegoat” as a symbol of Christ, who bore human sins and suffered outside the city (Heb 13:12, 13—but v. 11 shows that this passage does not concern the “scapegoat”).
“The Lord’s goat belonged to the Lord and was offered to the Lord, but it also represented the one who died for human sin: Christ (Heb. 13:11-13), who is the Lord (John 8:58; 10:30). If there is this tight a connection between the Lord and his goat, we must consider the possibility that the goat belonging to Azazel and sent to him also represents him” (Roy Gane, Leviticus, The NIV Application Commentary [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004], 290).
The goat for Azazel is not sacrificed – The key to the identification of “Azazel” is found in Leviticus 16:8-10 in which one goat belongs to the Lord and the other belongs to Azazel. Azazel is clearly the proper name of a personal being, other than the Lord, who is capable of owning a goat. However, the live goat is not a sacrifice to Azazel. Rather, this “tote-goat” serves as a “garbage truck” in a non-sacrificial purification ritual of elimination (see v. 5, but not to be translated “sin offering” in this case) to send Israelite sins away to Azazel’s territory in the wilderness. Dumping such a load of toxic waste in someone’s “yard” is a singularly unfriendly gesture. So the Lord, who commanded this ritual, must view Azazel as the originator of the sins of Israel; these sins are, therefore, returned to their source. This would make sense if Azazel is Satan, who originated sin and tempts people (Gen 3; Rev 12:9), and then maliciously accuses them even when they are for given (Rev 12:10; compare Deut 19:16-21 where the accuser receives the punishment).
Christ alone is our sin-bearer – The goat that belongs to the Lord is sacrificed to Him. But on a higher level of symbolism (or “typology”) that points beyond the Israelite ritual system, this goat represents the Lord, i.e., Christ, who died for human sin (John 1:29; Heb 13:11-13). So on this higher level, it would make sense that the live goat, banished to Azazel’s wilderness territory, also represents Azazel, i.e., Satan as the one who bears his part in the sins of God’s people and who ends up with responsibility as the mastermind behind their offenses. Sin comes back on the one who causes it, and he is sent to where he belongs. This accomplishes a kind of atonement (Lev. 16:10) for God’s people in the basic sense of reconciling them to God by purging from their midst the sinner (Satan) who has obstructed their divine-human relationship (compare Num 25:7, 8, 13). There is no substitution in this atonement in contrast to the atonement that Christ provides by taking our place: bearing all of our blame when we accept His sacrifice on our behalf. Satan will die for his own part in our sins; Christ alone is our vicarious sin-bearer.
Satan is not our sin-bearer, Christ is.
Conclusion – On the Day of Atonement, Azazel’s live goat bore sins of the Israelites away from their camp in order to purify their community by returning these evils to their demonic source. Similarly, God’s people will ultimately be freed from temptation and malicious false testimony (compare Rev 20:1-3) when Satan will receive his blame and punishment for using these strategies against them.1
1 For further reading, see Roy Gane, Leviticus, Numbers, NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004), 273-277, 288-291; Roy Gane, Altar Call (Berrien Springs, MI: Diadem, 1999), 247-255.