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In Defense of the Faith - Contents
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    The Scapegoat

    After the atonement was thus made for the sins of the people, the high priest passed out of the sanctuary, bearing the accumulated sins of the year out with him, and the live goat was brought. Placing his hands upon the head of the, goat, the high priest confessed over it “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat.” Leviticus 16:2 1. Thus there was a removal of sin from the sanctuary, a cleansing from spiritual defilement. The sins that had accumulated there were now all disposed of as they were placed upon the head of the goat, which was sent away into the wilderness to die.DOF 287.2

    Why was this second goat necessary? Did not the blood of the first goat atone for the sins of the people? Yes, it must be so. Verse 20 indicates that when the scapegoat was brought, the priest had already made an end of reconciling the sanctuary. “When he bath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.” What part, then, did Satan’s goat have in the removal of sin? Just this: Satan is the instigator of all sin. He is primarily responsible for the. sins of all men, and the death of Christ does not atone for his share of the responsibility and guilt. Therefore when our sins have been atoned for by the blood of Christ, Satan must yet answer for his part in those same sins. That is why they are eventually placed upon his head and he is made to suffer for them. He has no part in atoning for man’s guilt, but he must suffer for his own guilt in leading men into sin.DOF 287.3

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