Jesus Christ our Scapegoat In Leviticus 16:22 concerning the scapegoat released on the Day of Atonement, The Lord said, And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat into in the wilderness. The Hebrew word that sums up the meaning of iniquities or sins is avon. Perhaps the closest equivalent in English would be rebellion, not against man but against God. No one English word, however, whether it is sin or iniquity or rebellion, conveys the the full meaning of avon. In its biblical use avon describes not only iniquity but also the punishment, or evil consequences that iniquity brings. In Genesis 4:13 for instance, after God pronounced judgement on Cain for the murder of his brother Abel, Cain said, My punishment is greater than I can bear! The word translated here punishment is avon. It covered not only Cains iniquity, but also the punishment brought on him. In this symbolism the goat bore not only the iniquities of the Israelites, but all the consequences of their iniquities. In Lamentations 6:6 the single word avon is translated by a complete phrase, the punishment of iniquity. In other words, avon means not simply iniquity but all the evil consequences that Gods judgement brings on iniquity. This applies to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus Himself was not guilty of any sin (Isaiah 53:9). In (Isaiah 53:6) ...The Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. Not only was Jesus identified with our iniquity, but He endured all the evil consequences of that iniquity. Like the scapegoat that prefigured Him, He carried them away so that they might never return to us. Here is the true meaning and the purpose of the cross. On the cross a divinely ordained exchange took place. First Jesus endured in our place all the evil consequences that were due by divine justice to our iniquity. Now, in exchange, God offers us all the good that was due to the sinless obedience of Jesus. More simply stated, the evil due to us came on Jesus, that in return the good to Jesus might be offered to us. God is able to offer this to us without compromising His own eternal justice because Jesus has already endured on our behalf all the just punishment due to us on account of our iniquities. None of us can ever or have ever done anything to deserve this, it comes from The Grace of God. Credit to the many notes from several authors during my incarceration and of course my Scape Goat, Jesus Christ.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 13:55:56 +0000
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