Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 866 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
There's a Devil in the Details - Wisdom Wednesday


Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 866 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. The past several months on Wednesday we have been focusing on interpreting current events through a Biblical worldview.

To establish a Biblical worldview, it is important that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of God’s word, we are investing the next several months on Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser which he has compiled into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. There is an old idiom which says, “The devil is in the details,” which means “The details of a plan, while seeming insignificant, may contain hidden problems that threaten its overall feasibility.” In today’s essay, we want to look at an Old Testament Jewish Holy Day where literally…
There’s a Devil in the Details


Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement described in Leviticus 16, is a central element of the Jewish faith, even though it is not practiced today as it was in ancient times. Although many Christians have heard of the day, most would be startled to learn that a sinister figure lurks in the shadows of Leviticus 16.

The Day of Atonement ritual required a ram, a bull, and two goats. The ram was for a burnt offering intended to please God. The bull was taken “from the herd and served as a sin offering for Aaron, the high priest, and his family.” In this case, the sin offering restored the priest to ritual purity, allowing him to occupy sacred space and be near God's presence, which we reviewed last week.

Curiously though, two goats taken “from the congregation” were needed for the single sin offering for the people. Listen as I read Leviticus 16:3-5, “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.  He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.” Elsewhere the sin offering involved only one animal (e.g., Lev 4:1-12). So why two goats?

The high priest would cast lots over the two goats, with one chosen as a sacrifice “for the Lord.” The blood of that goat would purify the people. The second goat was not sacrificed or designated “for the Lord.” On the contrary, this goat, the one that symbolically carried the sins away from the camp of Israel into the wilderness, was “for Azazel.”

Leviticus 16:8-10 reads, "He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel.  Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord.  The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord."

The Hebrew term Azazel occurs four times in Leviticus 16 but nowhere else in the Bible.