Acharei Mot–Kedoshim (Leviticus 16:1–20:27)

These chapters contain some of the most vital commands for the people of Israel. They include the liturgy for the holiest day on the Jewish calendar—Yom Kippur. A unique part of the ceremony involved two goats of similar size and appearance. One goat was for Yahweh, and the other was for Azazel. These animals represented two aspects of atonement. One paid the penalty and was sacrificed in the sanctuary. The other removed the sin from the community and was released into the wilderness. Which goat represented Jesus?

Transcript

This week we are reading Leviticus 16:1 to 20:27. The reading calendar combines two portions, so this week’s assigned reading is on the longer side. The first portion is titled Acharei Mot, which means “after the death,” because the narrative picks up right after the burial of Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu. The second portion is titled Kedoshim, which means “holy.” This title stems from the most significant command in all of Leviticus: “You shall be holy (Kedoshim), for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (19:2).

The first section covers the practices and priestly rituals surrounding Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur is the absolute holiest day on the Jewish calendar. When the tabernacle and later the temple still stood, it was on this day that three concentric spheres of holiness merged. The High Priest, who is the holiest individual, entered the inner sanctuary which is the holiest space only on Yom Kippur which is the holiest day. For this reason, Yom Kippur is often called the Sabbath of Sabbaths.

According to the laws of Leviticus, the priests were to perform fifteen animal sacrifices. Only then, could Israel’s unfaithfulness be forgiven. If the ceremony was not performed correctly, the people could not stand before God as clean slates. The liturgy had to be followed flawlessly. The stakes were too high to fail. The strict emphasis on ceremonial details is reflected in Jewish oral tradition: “Every act of Yom Kippur is done in order; an act done out of order is invalid” (Mishnah 5:7). 

The Ritual of Purity

First, Aaron the High Priest was to ritually bathe and dress in priestly linen garments. Before entering the sacred space, the High Priest had to transition from his usual ornate “golden garments” to simple white linen:

He shall put on a holy linen tunic and have linen undergarments on his body, and be girded with a linen sash and wear a linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. (Lev. 16:4)

The white linen clothes reflected the state of mind and level of purity that they priest needed to enter. Like his white garments, Yom Kippur provided a chance to bring full atonement. 

Even today, the Jewish community maintains the tradition of wearing white on Yom Kippur as a symbol of their cleansed hearts. In the streets of Israel, you look out and see families everywhere walking together in white garments.

The Two Goats

Next, the High Priest sacrificed a young bull as a sin offering for himself and his household. Aaron then brought two goats—similar in size and appearance—to the entrance of the Tabernacle. Lots were cast to determine the fate of each: one lot was inscribed “to Yahweh” and the other “to Azazel.” When the priest pronounced the hallowed name, nearby worshipers bowed to the ground and responded: “Blessed be the Name; the glory of His kingdom is forever and ever.”

The goat designated “to Yahweh” was slain, while the Azazel goat was escorted into the wilderness and released. On every other day of sacrifice, the priest confessed the sins of the people over the animal to be placed on the altar. On Yom Kippur, however, the goat designated for Yahweh was sacrificed without the confession ritual. Instead, Aaron laid both hands on the live goat’s head and declared the sins of the nation.

The typology of the two goats reveals a dual aspect of atonement that a single animal could not fully represent. The first goat sacrificed “to Yahweh” provided the legal satisfaction of justice through the shedding of blood, covering the guilt of the people. The second goat, the Azazel goat, represents propitiation or the “removal” of sin. By having the High Priest confess the nation’s iniquities over its head and sending it into the wilderness, the ritual provided a powerful visual of the total relocation of sin. 

The Mystery of Azazel

The difficult-to-interpret word Azazel is used only in this section of Leviticus and nowhere else in the Bible. Many Hebrew scholars suspect the word derives from the verb azal, meaning “to go away.” The rarity of the word led some traditions to interpret it as a proper name. For example, the Book of Enoch refers to a fallen angel named Azazel.

The Mishnah provides additional insight into the two goat ceremony in the Second Temple period. The goats were purchased on the same day for the same price. The lots described in Leviticus were pulled out of an urn. The high priest prepared the goat assigned to Yahweh to be ritually sacrificed on the Temple altar. He tied a piece of scarlet thread around the goat’s neck. The veil to the Holy of Holies was pulled back and the high priest entered the sanctuary alone. He carried a bowl of the goat’s blood and sprinkled it along the edge of the curtain and on the altar of incense. This was the only day of the year that the high priest was admitted into the Holy of Holies.

For the Azazel goat, the priest tied a scarlet thread around its horns. Leviticus 16:21 details how the nation’s sins were transferred:

And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel... and he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.

A person specially appointed for the task escorted the goat out of Jerusalem, through the Eastern Gate, and toward the Mount of Olives. Ten stations were set up along the way. Once the escort reached a high cliff in the Judean wilderness, a portion of the scarlet thread was removed and tied to a nearby rock. The sin-burdened goat was pushed off a cliff.

A series of waving flags telegraphed the completion of the task back to the temple. If the remaining thread turned white, it symbolized the forgiveness of sins. This miracle echoed the prophecy of Isaiah: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

According to the Talmud, for the last forty years of the temple’s existence, the thread remained scarlet. It never again turned white. Within the Talmudic tradition, some suggest it signaled a spiritual decline so severe that the ritual could no longer achieve its purpose. Jewish sages viewed this as a divine rebuke, signaling that the community’s internal strife and moral decay had made the ritual ineffective. 

For many Christians, the timing of this forty–year period is unmistakable. The four decades leading up to the destruction of the temple in 70 CE began around 30 CE. This date coincides with the death and resurrection of Jesus. In this view, the thread stayed red because the system of sacrifice had been fulfilled. The unchanging color of the thread was a divine sign that the era of temple atonement was ending. 

A Christian Reflection

As a Christian, I believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection provide the means for my atonement. Jesus suited the role of both goats: the one who died to pay the penalty and the one who “takes away” the sin of the world so that it is remembered no more.

The Azazel goat was a tool of annual intercession that allowed for the symbolic removal of sin—its complete removal from the community. I cannot help but picture Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion. The sinless Son of God was both the Passover lamb and the Azazel goat. He was the final atoning sacrifice. He was the person John the Baptist recognized when he declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Through his willingness to take the cup and bear the weight of sin and death, he fulfilled the promise of the psalmist: “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

That is the ultimate promise of Yom Kippur.