THE GOAT.
Dear children:—It is with real pleasure that I write to you about the goat because it is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I love to think of Him and write of Him. I do long for all the dear readers of this paper to know and love Him, too.
The goat is a clean animal; that is, one which God allowed His people, (the Jews) to use for food and for offerings. Besides using its flesh and milk for food, they also used its hair for clothing, and some of the curtains of the Tabernacle were made of goat’s hair.
But what I wish to write to you about now, is the Great Day of Atonement. You will find it in Leviticus 16 and it is blessed to see that everything done on that day was by the word of the Lord (Jehovah.) verse 2. He first gave full directions as to how Aaron, the High Priest, should come with an offering for himself, before he could enter the Holy of Holies where God dwelt. (For Aaron, though a type of Christ as to his office of High Priest, was a sinner, but Jesus we know was sinless, perfect and holy, and needed not the blood of bulls and goats, “but by His own blood entered in.” Hebrews 9:1212Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12).)
Then the Lord directed Aaron to take two goats and cast lots upon them. One lot for the Lord, the other for the scape goat. (vs. 8) Then he killed the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell and sprinkled its blood before, and on the mercy seat, (vs. 15) and he made an atonement. Then Aaron took the live goat and laid both his hands on the goat’s head and confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and then sent him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness—into a land not inhabited. Now we see two goats here because we find two aspects of the death of Christ. They both refer to Christ, the One perfect offering. You see the goat on which the Lord’s (Jehovah’s) lot fell, is killed and its blood carried into the Holiest. This shows us the work of the Lord Jesus Godward. As another has said “Atonement or propitiation was made according to the requirements of the nature and majesty of the throne of God.” Man had sinned against God, He must be satisfied, before man could come joyfully into His presence. The second goat is a type of Jesus as the bearer of our sins, Isaiah 53, “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (vs. 6.) “And He bare the sin of many.” (vs. 12.)
Just as Aaron laid his hands on the goat’s head and confessed over it all the sins of the people; so God laid our sins on His beloved Son when He hung on the cross. But the live goat was sent bearing the peoples’ sins to a land not inhabited, that is, where no one could find them, to bring them up against the people. So God says “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more,” Heb. 10:1717And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17). Dear children, isn’t it a blessed thing to know that on account of the perfect offering of Christ once for all, God can blot out all your transgressions, remember your sins no more! God is satisfied with Jesus and His work. Are you satisfied? This great salvation is for you if you will accept it. But if you neglect it,—
Oh, that each dear one who reads this may be able to sing from the heart—
“Our sins were borne by Jesus The Holy Lamb of God: He took them all and freed us From that condemning load. Our guilt was borne by Jesus Who washed the crimson stains White in His blood most precious, Till not a spot remains.”
E. G. B.
ML 11/19/1899