Page 79 - Pentateuch

The second part of the Day of Atonement
remains. The priest places his hands on the
head of the live goat, confessing over it “all the
wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites – all
their sins—and put them on the goat’s head
(16:21). The goat is then sent away into the
wilderness, a symbol of getting rid of sin. It is
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outside the camp, away from the people.
Both Aaron and the man who takes the goat
into the wilderness must wash and bathe.
Animal remains that cannot be used in the
sacrifice are taken outside the camp to be
burned (v. 27). This is a lasting ordinance for everyone in Israel. “It is a day of Sabbath rest,” and the nation
is supposed to fast. The sacrifice is for “all the sins of the Israelites (v. 34).”

Some eighteen times, the word “atonement” is used in this chapter alone. The purpose is to allow the tent
of meeting, the place of God’s presence, to continue with Israel “in the midst of their uncleanness” (16:16,
30). The Day of Atonement does not just take care of the types of uncleanness in the previous chapters
(16:16, 19, 30). It also deals with “transgressions” or “rebellions,” one of the strongest words for sin (16:16,
21). The generic word “sins” is all-inclusive (v. 34). By sacrificing a bull and a goat and by sending a goat out
into the wilderness, God is communicating in the strongest possible way about the grave danger of sin and
about the forgiveness of sin. “God in his mercy has set aside one day in the year when his people can
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unload all the junk and garbage in their lives.”

The Hebrew word for “atonement” implies some type of payment. In Genesis 32:20, the word is used by
Jacob in sending gifts to his brother Esau. He knew he had wronged Esau, so he said, “I will pacify [atone]
him with these gifts.” A similar sense can be found in 1 Samuel 12:3. Samuel insists on his own carefulness
in connection with money. “From whose hand have I accepted a bribe [atonement] to make me shut my
eyes?” When the word is used with sacrifices, it means to atone by offering a substitute. “The life of the
sacrificial animal specifically symbolized by its blood was required in exchange for the life of the
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worshipper.” Innocent life is given for guilty life.

Chapter seventeen is often taken with the next section of Leviticus. It has many connections, however, to
chapter sixteen. It discusses what must take place at the entrance to the tent of the meeting (vv. 4, 5, 6, 9).
The blood of a sacrifice is again the focus (v. 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14). Both atonement (v. 11) and cleanness (v.
15) are in the background.
The instructions make a significant change in the practices of Israel. They are not to kill a domesticated
animal outside the camp. All such animals must be brought to the tabernacle (vv. 3-6). The earlier practice
was too much associated with idolatry, so the temptation had to be broken (v. 7). The prohibition included
eating blood. Blood was reserved for making atonement (v. 11). Wild animals could be eaten in the field if
their blood was drained properly (vv. 13-14). Animals killed by wild animals could also be eaten if all the
proper instructions were followed (vv. 15-16). When Israel entered the land and spread out, this law was
changed. For their time in the wilderness, a different discipline was needed.

92 Some have suggested that the scapegoat is a gift to Satan. Yet in the very next chapter sacrificing to “goat idols” is
forbidden. It is better to see the act as banishing evil to the wilderness outside the camp.
93 Hamilton, Handbook, 276.
94 R. L. Harris, “Ransom,” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Harris et al eds, (Moody Press: Chicago: 1980),
1:453.
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