Two Goats on Yom Kippur

Q. What is the significance of the two goats on Yom Kippur?

A. This ceremony is found in Lev. 16 and it is very symbolic of the Second Coming of Messiah. One goat symbolizes the Messiah. It’s designated “to the Lord” (L’Adonai) and the blood from this goat is taken and it is used for cleansing. The second goat is designated “L’Azazel” in Hebrew and it means “to the wilderness.” The name is seen as another name for Satan and the False Messiah. Look up the term in the Gesenius Hebrew Lexicon and do some research on it and you will find that as early as 100 years before the birth of the Messiah Azazel was seen as the False Messiah. There is a teaching that says this goat symbolizes the Messiah but he doesn’t. This goat was led to the wilderness. The wilderness is seen in Scripture as the abode of demons and Satan. This goat is killed, not sacrificed to the Lord. These two are symbolic of the choices we make in our lives. Are we going to follow the Lord or choose Satan and the False Messiah.

This choice is symbolized at the trial of Yeshua before Pilate. On one side there was Yeshua, the Son of the Father, designated to take His blood into the Holy of Holies on behalf of the people. On the other side you had Barabbas, a murderer. So on one side there was Yeshua, the Son of the Father (Lord) and on the other side you had Yeshua, the son of the father (Satan). According to history his name was also Yeshua. Barabbas also means “son of the father” but it’s not our Father in heaven, but the father of lies who was a murderer from the beginning (Jn.8. 44). The people had a choice and they chose the wrong man, they chose Azazel instead of the one “to the Lord”. So Barabbas was sent “into the wilderness” (released) into the world and died. Even at Passover, the Lord was playing out a Yom Kippur scenario. Do you know how important it is to follow the biblical festivals of God? But the people “followed the wrong goat” and didn’t see the things that God is playing out right before their eyes.

And because they didn’t see it, their lives and the lives of their children were destroyed by 70 AD. But, it didn’t stop then. People today still follow the wrong goat, or “son of the father” or Barabbas if you will. They follow a replacement theology that says that the commandments of God have been done away with. They have replaced the goat designated “to the Lord” with the goat designated “to the wilderness” which is the spirit of the False Messiah. This Yom Kippur ceremony with the goats also tells us that Yeshua will return to Jerusalem on Yom Kippur of the 7th year of the Tribulation (Mt. 24. 29-31). He will take the goat Azazel (False Messiah) to the wilderness and he will be destroyed (Rev 19). There is much more to the significance of these two goats but I hope this helps.