In the Holy Bible, is Azazel a spiritual being? Why is an animal given to him, which bears people’s sins, instead of being given to God? I’m confused. <\/p>\n
Thanks.<\/p>\n\t
“Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for 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. … 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. … The one who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. 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<\/em>” (Leviticus 16:6-10, 20-22, 26-27).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Azazel<\/em>\u00a0is the Hebrew word for “scapegoat.” Its literal meaning is “goat gone away.” Just as the one goat selected for sacrifice was a physical goat, so was the other goat given the name\u00a0Azazel<\/em>. The goat selected for sacrifice became a sin offering to God. The live goat was released into the wilderness to symbolize the carrying away of Israel’s sins. The name Azazel cannot be the name of a demon because “the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD<\/em>.” The living goat is dedicated to God, not a demon.<\/p>\n
Many see the two goats as a type of Christ. “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities<\/strong>; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him<\/strong>. … But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering<\/strong>, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities<\/strong>.<\/em>” (Isaiah 53:5-6, 10-11).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: In the Holy Bible, is Azazel a spiritual being? Why is an animal given to him, which bears people’s sins, instead of being given to God? I’m confused. Thanks. Answer: “Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[297,268],"class_list":["post-83447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-atonement","tag-old-testament"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28462,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-moses-accept-aarons-excuse-for-not-eating-the-sacrifice\/","url_meta":{"origin":83447,"position":0},"title":"Why did Moses accept Aaron’s excuse for not eating the sacrifice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Leviticus 10:16-20, I understand that Moses was upset with Eleazar and Ithamar because they didn't eat the sin offering as they were instructed to.\u00a0 However, I don't see why Moses was satisfied when Aaron told him that they did burnt offering and sin offering on the same day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19481,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-was-the-significance-of-anointing-aaron-as-high-priest\/","url_meta":{"origin":83447,"position":1},"title":"What was the significance of anointing Aaron as high priest?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What was the significance of anointing Aaron as high priest? Answer: Anointing was a representation of setting something or someone apart for a special purpose. Thus, the altar was anointed before offerings were placed on them to God. \"And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49699,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-priests-have-a-rope-tied-to-their-ankles-when-entering-the-tabernacle\/","url_meta":{"origin":83447,"position":2},"title":"Did the priests have a rope tied to their ankles when entering the tabernacle?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have heard all my life that priests in the Old Testament when entering the tabernacle had a rope tied to their leg in case they were killed because of some sin in their life, they could be pulled out since no one else could enter the Tabernacle. Thank\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51791,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-all-sin-premeditated\/","url_meta":{"origin":83447,"position":3},"title":"Is all sin premeditated?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is all sin premeditated? Answer: I was intrigued by your question. I am not sure what you exactly mean by premeditated and what boundaries to go by, but in the Bible, there are sins mentioned that people don't realize what they are doing. There are also other sins where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52423,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-is-not-going-to-give-our-sins-back-to-us-once-they-are-taken-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":83447,"position":4},"title":"Jesus is not going to give our sins back to us once they are taken away","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good works are not part of the Gospel (Ephesians 2:8-9), they're not requirements for salvation, rather they're the fruits of salvation. Paul calls the Philippians to work out their salvation in Philippians 2:12. However, this is not a call to do works in order to be saved, rather it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2120,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-you-explain-exodus-3230-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":83447,"position":5},"title":"Will you explain Exodus 32:30 to me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will you explain\u00a0Exodus 32:30\u00a0to me? Answer: \"On the next day Moses said to the people, \"You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the LORD, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin\"\" (Exodus 32:30). Israel had broken the first two commandments God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}