In Leviticus 16, we see that two goats are used in the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) ceremony. One for YHVH, the other for Azazel. Now, Azazel is commonly referred to as the “scapegoat” but could there be a little more depth here?
Maybe it is as simple as having a goat taken to the desert as a symbolic gesture, or maybe there is an additional purpose.
We’ll consider a few apocryphal writings to help frame the narrative: The Book of Enoch and the Apocalypse of Abraham.
(note: I encourage you to read about these books before continuing on. I’m not planning to use these books to build doctrine but more for an alternative-ish view of this “scapegoat” entity. The end result here, however, is independent of these writings so you may find value in spite of your disagreement with their validity.)
6:1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.'
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8:1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all 2 coloring tinctures (a medicine made by dissolving a drug in alcohol). And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they 3 were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.
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(Speaking to Abba) 9:6 Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in heaven, which 7 men were striving to learn:
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10:1 Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, 2 and said to him: 'Go to Noah and tell him in my name "Hide thyself!" and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come 3 upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it. And now instruct him that he may escape 4 and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.' 4 And again the Lord said to Raphael: 'Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening 5 in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may 6,7 not see light. And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the 8 Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted 9 through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.'
Before looking at this text, let’s look at the Genesis account to get our bearings:
Genesis 15:1 Some time later the word of Adonai came to Avram in a vision: “Don’t be afraid, Avram. I am your protector; your reward will be very great.” 2 Avram replied, “Adonai, God, what good will your gifts be to me if I continue childless; and Eli‘ezer from Dammesek inherits my possessions? 3 You haven’t given me a child,” Avram continued, “so someone born in my house will be my heir.” 4 But the word of Adonai came to him: “This man will not be your heir. No, your heir will be a child from your own body.” 5 Then he brought him outside and said, “Look up at the sky, and count the stars — if you can count them! Your descendants will be that many!” 6 He believed in Adonai, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7 Then he said to him, “I am Adonai, who brought you out from Ur-Kasdim to give you this land as your possession.” 8 He replied, “Adonai, God, how am I to know that I will possess it?” 9 He answered him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove and a young pigeon.” 10 He brought him all these, cut the animals in two and placed the pieces opposite each other; but he didn’t cut the birds in half. 11 Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Avram drove them away.
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The Apocalypse of Abraham
Chapter 11. And the angel said to me, "Abraham!" And I said, "Here am I." And he said, "Slaughter all these animals, and divide them into halves, the one against the other, but do not sever the birds. And give these to the men whom I will show you, standing by you, for these are the altar upon the Mountain, to offer a sacrifice to the Eternal but the turtle dove and the pigeon give to me, for I will ascend upon the wings of the bird, so that you may be able to see in heaven, and upon earth, and in the sea, and in the abyss, and in the under-world, and in the Garden of Eden, and in its rivers, and in the fullness of the whole world and its circle - you shall gaze into them all."
Chapter 12. And I did everything according to the command of the angel, and gave the angels who had come to us, the divided animals, but the angel Jaoel took the birds. And I waited until the evening sacrifice. And there flew an unclean bird down upon the carcases, and I drove it away. And the unclean bird spoke to me and said, "Abraham, what are you doing upon these holy heights, where no man eats or drinks, nor is there upon them the food of man, but these heavenly beings consume everything with fire, and will burn you up. Forsake the man who is with you and flee, for if you ascend into the heights they will make an end of "
Chapter 13. And it came to pass, when I saw the bird speak, I said to the angel, "What is this, my lord?" And he said, "This is ungodliness; this is Azazel." And he said to it, "Disgrace upon you, Azazel! For Abraham's lot is in heaven, but yours is upon the earth. Because you have chosen and loved this for the dwelling place of your uncleanness. therefore the Eternal Mighty Lord made you to be a dweller upon the earth, and through you every evil spirit of lies, and through you wrath and trials for the generations of ungodly men; for God, the Eternal Mighty One, has not permitted that the bodies of the righteous should be in your hand, in order that thereby the life of the righteous and the destruction of the unclean may be assured. Hear this my friend, and begone with shame from me. For it has not been given to you to play the tempter in regard to all the righteous. Depart from this man! You cannot lead him astray. He is an enemy to you, and to those who follow you and love what you desire. For, behold, the vesture which in heaven was formerly yours has been set aside for him, and the mortality which was his has been transferred to you."
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Now, whether these stories are completely accurate isn’t as important as determining the point of the Azazel goat. If this goat is indeed “for” Azazel, it may be helpful to know a little of his backstory so we can know why this goat is for him.
Back to Leviticus:
Leviticus 16:5 “He is to take from the community of the people of Isra’el two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Aharon is to present the bull for the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and his household. 7 He is to take the two goats and place them before Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 Then Aharon is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Adonai and the other for ‘Az’azel. 9 Aharon is to present the goat whose lot fell to Adonai and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat whose lot fell to ‘Az’azel is to be presented alive to Adonai to be used for making atonement over it by sending it away into the desert for ‘Az’azel.
This goat is sent off into the desert for Azazel. In the Book of Enoch we read, “And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.'”
What are the works attributed to him?
Teaching men to make weapons and teaching women the art of beautification.
Really? These things are somehow the root cause of all sin?
This seems absurd but to know what’s going on with sin we’ll need to go back to the Garden and see if there is anything that may shed some light on this idea.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal which Adonai, God, had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You are neither to eat from it nor touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “It is not true that you will surely die; 5 because God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her; and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths.
From the initial incident, it appears the root of sin is man’s quest to be like God.
So do weapons and make-up make you like God?
Weapons make a man powerful. He has the ability to have his will go forth and his strength will be seen by all.
Is this to make him feel good about himself? Is it to have others see him as mighty in the earth? Will women see him as a protector?
The better your weapons, the more powerful you become.
The desire of the nations is upon him. The desire of women is upon him.
Weapons make a man like God. Respected and honored.
But it isn’t really respect, is it? It’s fear.
Beauty draws attention. Attention from men as an object of desire. Attention from women as an object of envy. You long for others to claim, “You have what I want!”
Is this to make her feel special? Is it to have others in the earth see her as loved in the earth? Will men see her as a target of affection?
The desire of the nations is upon her. The desire of men is upon her.
Beauty makes a woman like God. The object of love and intimacy.
But it isn’t real love, is it? It’s lust.
Pornography is the epitome of this perversion for men. The most advanced weapon in the earth today is the computer mouse. A man has power over a woman as an object for his desire. She will submit to his artificial authority over her, and she will be there whenever he needs it. No investment, just commanded pleasure.
Emotional attachment is the perversion for women. She can give herself to an imaginary hero that wants her for who she is, and this man will bring her into a place of deep intimacy. The hero lover in movies and books, that handsome guy at the gym, the man with promotion power -- all of them can bring you to a place of mystical fantasy. And you don’t have to put up with him not taking out the trash. Because this guy is perfect.
Does that mean all weapons are bad and all beauty is evil?
Of course not!
It’s the motivation that carries the evil. If you need a weapon to have power or you use your beauty to manipulate, that’s evil.
If you need to be like God, you will command fear and walk in lust because we’re stupid beings.
Why do men need to be fit and muscular? Why do men need positions of power? Why do men need money and fast cars?
To have authority over other men and be an object of desire to women.
Why do women need to be desired? Why do women need tools of beauty?
To be esteemed above other women and to be an object of desire to men.
Ephesians 5:25 As for husbands, love your wives, just as the Messiah loved the Messianic Community, indeed, gave himself up on its behalf, 26 in order to set it apart for God, making it clean through immersion in the mikveh, so to speak, 27 in order to present the Messianic Community to himself as a bride to be proud of, without a spot, wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without defect. 28 This is how husbands ought to love their wives — like their own bodies; for the man who loves his wife is loving himself. 29 Why, no one ever hated his own flesh! On the contrary, he feeds it well and takes care of it, just as the Messiah does the Messianic Community, 30 because we are parts of his Body. 31 “Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and remain with his wife, and the two will become one.” 32 There is profound truth hidden here, which I say concerns the Messiah and the Messianic Community. 33 However, the text also applies to each of you individually: let each man love his wife as he does himself, and see that the wife respects her husband.
A man that can live his life humbly, never needing power and money, and never needing to seduce women, will find himself living at peace with himself. And he will love his wife as himself.
Without the need to demand respect, a man is respected.
A woman that can find fulfillment in her husband’s love for her, will begin to fulfill Proverbs 31. And she will respect her husband.
Without the need to demand love, a woman is loved.
Let the perversion of the culture wander off into the desert to its original owner. Send it off to Azazel. This goat is sent off to him so he can see that a nation that recognizes Abba as their God does exist. All of the nation has turned their hearts toward Him. All of them.
There is no need to strive for power and intimacy from the world. There is no need to strive to be like God.
You are already like Him. You are his child. There is no need to have the world validate a false version of who you were created to be. Break the chains of iniquity and walk in His shadow. This is the place of true power and true intimacy.
Send that goat away to Azazel.