The Scapegoat as a Type of Christ

In my previous article, I have already explained how the Jewish high priest was a type of Christ. On the annual Day of Atonement, the high priest had to offer several sacrifices, including a bull for a sin offering, a ram for a burnt offering, and two male goats for a sin offering. While the sacrifice of the bull was to make atonement for himself and for his household, the two male goats were for the people. In this article, I want to focus on the two male goats.

The high priest had to cast lots for the goats. He would cast two lots, one for the Lord and one for the scapegoat. One lot would determine which goat was offered to the Lord, and the other lot would determine which goat became the scapegoat.

"Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat." (Lev 16:9-10).

The goat on which the Lord's lot fell would be slaughtered and offered to God as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell would be sent into the wilderness as a scapegoat. Both of these goats were types of Christ. As we know Christ has made atonement for us on the cross with His blood (Rom 3:25). The blood of the goat that was sacrificed was used to make atonement for the holy place, for the tent of meeting, and for the altar. But then watch what the high priest did with the other goat.

"When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness." (Lev 16:20-22)

Simply put, a scapegoat is a goat sent into the wilderness after the Jewish high priest had symbolically laid the sins of the people upon it by laying both his hands upon its head and confessing over it all the sins of Israel. I believe it was more than symbolic, but that an actual transfer happened in the spirit realm, as I describe in my article The Link Between Two Realms.

Then the goat was sent off to a lonely place in the wilderness, bearing their iniquities. This goat, too, was a type of Christ, who became our Scapegoat and bore all our sins in His body on the cross. Scripture says:

"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted." (Isa 53:4)

For Peter the apostle wrote: "And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." (1Pe 2:24).

Isn't that amazing that all our sins were transferred onto Him on the cross, even though He had no sin of His own? I proved The Sinlessness of Christ from Scripture in my article by that title. When that transfer happened, He actually took up our sins and carried them in His body. He literally carried the sins of the whole world in His body. As the Scripture says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5:21, NIV).

Not only were the two goats types of Christ, but even the bull that the high priest offered was a type. We know this because of the way the bodies of the animals were handled afterward. 

"But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire." (Lev 16:27)

The apostle explained that this was a type of Christ: "For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate." (Heb 13:11-12)

In saying this he was referring to the fact that Jesus was crucified outside of the city gate of Jerusalem. He is our ultimate Scapegoat who bore all our sins. He is also our sacrifice for sin who was put to death on our behalf, and whose blood has made atonement for us. Do you know the One who did all this for you? Jesus Christ loves you more than anyone else in the whole world, and He died for you. But in order to receive the benefits of that, you must repent of your sins, believe in Him, and accept His free gift of eternal life.

Closing Words

Each aspect of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) teaches us about Christ as the only One who can make atonement for our sins, and the One who bore all our sins in His body. It teaches us about our need to accept Him as our own Lord and Savior, applying His blood to our hearts by faith. I trust this has helped to accomplish that very goal in your life as you have read this article. I hope you will come back again later to enjoy more articles on the types in the Bible.

[a] 2 Corinthians 5:21 Or be a sin offering

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, copyright Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Other Scriptures where noted taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image may be subject to copyright, used per Fair Use Act for commentary and educational purposes only.

Author's note:  Also see The Passover Lamb as a Type of Christ, The High Priest as a Type of Christ, The Typology of the Tabernacle, Isaac as a Type of Christ, Noah's Ark a Type of Christ, and The Temple as a Type of Christ. You can access the Main Directory for Biblical Typology, or my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master. Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.