So many goats, so little time...

My natural course of reading through the Bible again  led me last week to consideration of Leviticus 16, which makes reference to The Day of Atonement, which we now refer to as Yom Kippur, which is in September usually along with New Year, i.e. Rosh Hoshanah.  However like so many things in the Jewish religion, the present celebrations rather pale in intensity and in seriousness compared to the original; which were rather more for a nomadic people in the wilderness, definitely an embarrassment to the point of being a stigma when one considers the urban/e nature of almost all modern Judaism. The Jews have not been a rural or nomadic people in spite of numerous diasporas, since Solomon built the first Temple-- and ever since the rallying cry has been, "Next year in Jerusalem!"  There is the "wandering Jew" concept; but Hebrews do not settle, Kibbutzes notwithstanding, in a non-urbanized  cultural setting, even when farming.  I speak here of the vast majority; who have become really more of another branch of secularism, with some interesting roots.

But in examining those roots, as I have done virtually every other day for the last 20-25 years, I always find surprises; and  most of these would be a scandal to most Jews alive today. 

Take the matter of animal sacrifices. These were in fact ended;by Christ spiritually then phyisically when the last Temple--of Herod, ironically; how low can you go and still have any temple at all?--was razed to the ground in 70 AD, give or take a year or two. 

But in the desert, animals were essential to survival.  So the sacrifice of a goat or a lamb was to trust God for not only provision but for survival itself.  Not quite the same as putting a dollar in the plate, eh?
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But Yom Kippur in its inception would be almost unrecognizable to Gentiles and most Jews today.  Yet it has given rise to a very important word in our language, namely, "scapegoat."  So what does this really imply?

In many ways it means the opposite of what it means now. Charlie Brown is famous for lamenting, "Why do I always have to be the goat?"  While it may not be all that great to be a goat, the animal, in the wilderness-- when all they has was the Tabernacle and Tent City, the scapegoat was the blessed one!  While Charlie had hopelessness as his perpetual lot, dwelling amongst his persecutors who were the majority of the other characters; the real ancient scapegoat got to go free and to be utterly free of  future human persecution.


See, "scapegoat"  means "Escaped Goat,"  who indeed always escaped to become a wild goat.
There were two goats chosen by the priests, and by lots one was chosen to be let go--and the other stayed to be "fired up" after being stabbed and having its blood drained out on the dry ground. See Lev.16:1-23 for all the gory details. 

But it occurred to me that this, too, is a prefiguration of the two sides of the Resurrection. Christ was certainly sacrificed for the sins of the people, that we know. (Well, some of us do)

But He also escaped!  Death could not hold Him in His Essence; His Spirit made sure of that. And although the majority voted to send Jesus away permanently, they did not realize that this goat could not be killed but would only put forth the opportunity to manufacture by human means the appearance of death while the escaped part, though banned from human society like the lepers of old, came right back, rather in a blink of the Cosmic Eye; and true Christians are  likewise to die to themselves and to the world, but also to remain in the world, just not belong to its systems. So it is we are escaped, and captive--to Messiah the shepherd; and free as well.  None of this of course in strictly human terms, even though it will play out in those terms.

Our Atonement has come; and gone; and back again; He never left, actually. But "for the sake of righteousness" on a human level, all these things have been done; exactly as was told to Moses and the prophets. Justice and Truth and Grace however all do require another visit; no one would agree that justice, truth, and mercy are growing like wildfire, the world over, or right here in this house in Mendota Ill.

I rest my case. (for the moment.)