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Find the answers to all those questions you were too embarrassed to ask in Sunday School. Welcome to Weird Stuff in the Bible, where we explore scripture passages that are bizarre, perplexing or just plain weird. Hosted by Luke Taylor.
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A Goat for Azazel | Enoch 10 & Leviticus 16
Leviticus 16
Introduction
The internet was set on fire this week by the tragic passing of Chuck Norris. And it included a revival of Chuck Norris jokes. One said, “When Chuck Norris arrived in heaven, he was the one who had to tell the angels, ‘Fear not.’”
Another said, “Chuck Norris didn’t die. Death has had a near-Chuck experience.”
Another one: “When Chuck Norris goes into a room, he doesn’t turn the lights on. He turns the dark off.”
And I found this great one that said, “Chuck Norris once read Leviticus…and liked it.”
Now, that’s a good one because Leviticus is no one’s favorite book of the Bible. Leviticus is the book about clean and unclean foods, about what to do if you find mold in your house, about how to treat infections- oh yeah, and sacrifices sacrifices sacrifices. There’s a lot of blood in this book, and a lot of details about sabbaths, feast days, and the sacrifices that the Israelites were supposed to do at these appointed times.
And chapter 16 is perhaps the most peculiar. This describes the Day of Atonement. It involves a strange ritual where there were two goats presented before the people. The High Priest would pick one goat to be used as a sacrifice; the other would be sent off into the desert.
Kinda weird, huh? But it gets weirder. Listen to this:
Leviticus 16:8
And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.
Wait a minute. Azazel may sound familiar, especially if you’ve been listening to the podcast this year. That’s because Azazel is one of the rebellious Watchers in the Book of Enoch, who came down to deceive humanity and teach them forbidden knowledge in the pre-flood world.
But what ever happened to Azazel? We’re going to explore Enoch’s 10th chapter to try and answer that question today as well, so that we can understand why Azazel gets a cameo here in the often-skipped book of Leviticus.
You know, maybe Chuck Norris died, maybe he didn’t. Personally, I’m not gonna believe it until we hear it from Chuck Norris himself.
But I do want to take a closer look at Leviticus 16 and see if I can enjoy it as much as Chuck Norris reportedly did.
Because I find this goat ritual to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.
Turn to Leviticus 16, and let’s get weird.
[theme music]
The Scapegoat
Welcome to Weird Stuff in the Bible, where we explore scripture passages that are bizarre, perplexing or just plain weird. This is Luke Taylor, and today we’re going to be continuing our series on the Book of Enoch, as well as understanding this ritual of the Day of Atonement.
This practice was one of the seven feasts of Israel, and it was perhaps the most significant other than Passover. On the Day of Atonement, this is the day that the Great High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. He had to go through a whole cleansing process before. And then in the midst of all that, he presented two goats before the people. One was given up as a sacrifice, and the other one was sent off into the desert. Before sending it off into the desert, the priest would lay his hands on the goat’s head and confess the iniquities of the people. And then he would quote-unquote “send them off,” never to be seen again.
If you read Leviticus 16 in the King James, it’s gonna call the desert goat the “scapegoat.” And this is a phrase we use for when we place the blame on someone else for something we did. So either the word scapegoat came from this verse, or maybe the verse used this word because of the idea of what a scapegoat is. But in other translations and also in the original Hebrew, it doesn’t say scapegoat; it says “Azazel.”
Leviticus 16:7-10 in the ESV says
7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
This word Azazel only shows up right here in the Bible, four times in this chapter. And frankly, this is one of those times that the King James gets it wrong. The King James says one lot is for the scapegoat. But the goat is not the object of the preposition. The goat is not being given to itself. Azazel is a proper name; just as one lot was for “the Lord,” the other lot is for Azazel.
Unfortunately, there is not another passage in scripture that you can look to to get a definition of this word “Azazel.” But that doesn’t mean the word’s meaning was a mystery to the original audience. So to understand it, we’ll need to enter the worldview of the original audience, the meaning of this word to the ancient Israelites. And so to do that, we’ll have to go back into the story we’ve been following in the Book of Enoch.
Azazel in the Book of Enoch
Now, can I prove that the ancient Israelites had a book of Enoch to study? No. But just remember, the book of Jude affirmed that the prophecy in the Book of Enoch was legitimately written or spoken by Enoch. So that means his writings must have existed in some form from the time of the flood up until New Testament times. And therefore, I believe this will reveal the understanding that the Israelites had of Azazel.
To recap, in chapter 8 of the book of Enoch, Azazel was one of the Watchers or fallen Sons of God who came down to the earth in the pre-flood world and taught humanity things we weren’t supposed to know.
Enoch 8 says, And Azâzêl taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals 〈of the earth〉 and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.
Then last week, we studied Enoch 9, where there were literally some angels in heaven who were watching all this play out and saying, “God, how long are you gonna let this go on?” And chapter 9 of Enoch’s book was their prayer. In Chapter 10, God responds, and here is what He says. We’re going to take this a little at a time.
Chapter 10 begins, 1. Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him: 2. '〈Go to Noah〉 and tell him in my name "Hide thyself!" and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it. 3. And now instruct him that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.'
So in response to the angel’s prayer where they’re like, “God, what are you going to do in response to all this,” God says, “Uriel, I’m gonna send you to find a guy named Noah someday, and you’re going to warn him to get ready for the flood.” Now, this is prophetic, as it was written in the days of Enoch. This was about the future there. Now, does this contradict
Genesis 6:13 and 14, which say:
13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood…”
Is this a contradiction, because one version says that God told Noah, and the Book of Enoch says that God sent an angel to tell Noah?
Well, first of all, I would always say to believe the Bible above anything else. If you decide to completely discard or reject the Book of Enoch, you are free to do so, it doesn’t make you any lesser of a Christian at all. This is entirely extracurricular of a study.
However, I want you to know that there’s no contradiction here. There are plenty of times in the Bible where it will say that God sent an angel to deliver a message, but Scripture will also say, “God told him this or that.” You can see this in Genesis 16, Exodus 3, Judges 6, Zechariah 1, all over Scripture. And not only that, when a human prophet is sent to deliver the word of the Lord, that is also treated in Scripture as if it’s the Lord Himself speaking. So there is no contradiction in Genesis 6 saying God spoke to Noah, and the Book of Enoch saying Uriel was sent to deliver the message on God’s behalf.
Let’s continue with Enoch 10: 4. And again the Lord said to Raphael: 'Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dûdâêl, and cast him therein. 5. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. 6. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire.
God instructs an angel named Raphael to bind Azazel and cast him into the desert. By the way, these angels that are coming up are the same ones mentioned in the previous chapter as praying to God about what He’s gonna do. It was Michael, Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel. Raphael here is told to slap the handcuffs on Azazel and put him in a spiritual prison. This is what it means to cast him into the darkness. He’s going to be bound in Sheol, or the grave, which is the underworld. The underworld is called the underworld because it’s under the world. Funny how that works, right? Azazel will be taken there; however, Azazel isn’t going to be buried very deep. It said that he is supposed to be placed within Sheol just enough that he can see what’s going on in the world. He just can’t do anything about it. He just has to sit there or lie there and watch. There will be more elaboration on this later in the chapter, but we won’t get there today.
It actually gives a location where Azazel will lie and observe. It says in the desert which is in Dudael. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly where that is. Timothy Alberino’s commentary on Enoch says, “The location of Dudael is a mystery. Some scholars believe that Dudael refers to a rocky terrace in the wilderness east of Jerusalem called Bet-hudehun, while others maintain that it is located somewhere in the Eastern Desert of upper Egypt.”
Clearly, Dudael must be somewhere between Egypt and Mesopotamia, as this is where Israel was wandering during this time period. And a lot of it is desert wilderness. As we’ve studied on the podcast before, such as in the episode called Demons in Dry and Desolate Places, the wilderness was thought of as belonging to evil and the demonic. The camp of Israel was a wandering patch of Holy Ground; the desert was unholy ground. So Azazel is bound up right there, until the day of Great Judgment at which he’ll be cast into the lake of fire. And then we’ll just read another sentence or two today. (It’s gonna take us a few weeks to get through Enoch 10; it’s a chapter that’s thick with insights.)
God tells Raphael, And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. 8. And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin.'
Raphael is told to heal the earth, to try and keep mankind alive and uncorrupted long enough that they last until the flood. Raphael’s name means something like, “God heals,” which seems to tie in with his job; think like how “Jehovah-Rapha” means “The Lord My Healer.”
Two-Way Atonement
And let me read this last sentence again: …the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin.'
To him ascribe all sin. Guys, as I studied this, this week unlocked a mystery about the Bible that has puzzled me for years. I did an in-depth study of Leviticus and Deuteronomy several years back. (Why would I do such a thing? My goal is to do an in-depth study of every book of the Bible at some point in my life. So back in my youth pastor days, I went on a side-quest through the books of the Law, because they’re so foundational to understanding the rest of Scripture.) And again, most people don’t like to read Leviticus because it’s so much about sacrifices and offerings and repetitive stuff that we don’t even have to do anymore.
But here’s something I was shocked to learn as I studied the Levitical sacrifices, which are found in the first seven chapters of that book: there were no sacrifices for intentional sins. There were no sacrifices for intentional sins. There were only sacrifices for unintentional sins.
You see, there are different words for sin in the Bible. I have an episode all about this coming up this summer, once we finish the Enoch series. We tend to use the word “sin” to kind of encompass all wrongdoing, but technically, the word “sin” only refers to the smallest kinds of sin. When we miss the mark. When we’re aiming to do right and miss the target. When we don’t know any better.
But when you sin on purpose- when you know where the line is and you willingly cross it- then it becomes a new category of wrongdoing. Now you have a transgression. A willful sin is a transgression. Now you have defiance. If it’s even more serious, like the sins of the Watchers, now it’s an iniquity.
Some will say that if you accidentally sin, it’s not really a sin. That’s backwards. Unintentional sin is what sin truly is. When you intentionally sin, it becomes something more serious. That’s a transgression. Or an iniquity. Or an abomination. There’s a sliding scale, or spectrum, of sin, and the Levitical sacrifices in chapters 1-7 only dealt with the small sins. And you can use the word “sin” to refer to all kinds of wrongdoing, the Bible does that, too; but technically, the meaning of sin just means the minor ones.
And that’s the Bible mystery that has puzzled me for years. If the sacrifices only dealt with small sins, then how did your big sins get fixed? What if you had transgressions and iniquities on your record? You couldn’t just go down to the tabernacle and bring a cow and have things made right with God.
For that, there was only one event on the Levitical calendar to deal with those things: the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur. That was the day you needed forgiveness for your transgressions and iniquities. Only there wasn’t a sacrifice that could deal with all that. They had to do something else.
Now that we understand who Azazel and that he’s out there in the desert somewhere, let’s revisit this ceremony in Leviticus 16.
Leviticus 16:5-6
5 And he [the high priest- Aaron in this case] shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.
Why? Because first you’ve got to deal with your own sin before you deal with others’ sins.
Verses 7 and 8
7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.
To cast lots was to play a game of chance. I did an episode about casting lots last year if you want to learn more about this Old Testament practice. Episode 64. Since there were two goats, it essentially means you could flip a coin.
Now, neither goat is really the lucky goat, in my opinion. One goat will have its throat slit in a sacrificial offering. The other is going to be cast out into the desert where he probably won’t have a happy ending there either.
Verses 9 and 10
9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
Because Azazel is somewhere out in the wilderness, in the desert, where he has an opening. The goat is going to carry the sins of the people to him. We’ll come back to that; let’s read about what specifically happened to each of the goats. There was a pure goat now for the Lord and an impure goat for Azazel.
Skipping down to verse 15
Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil…
And verse 18
Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
Remember this: sprinkling the blood of the pure goat on the altar seven times. We’ll return to this; let’s keep reading about the impure goat.
Verses 20 through 22
20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 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 all their transgressions, all their sins. 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. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
So this goat was sent off. And you didn’t want it coming back. You never wanted to see this goat again. You wanted it as far away as the east is from the west.
And that is how atonement has to work. There has to be a two-way atonement. It’s not just about making yourself clean; it’s about washing off all the filth. But what do you do with the filth? Where does the filth go? You have to send it somewhere.
So some people misunderstand this goat ritual and think that some kind of offering is being made to a demon. That this is meant to give a sacrifice that appeases some malevolent spiritual being of the desert.
No! This was about sending a bucket of crap to one of the Watchers. “Here, Azazel. Here’s all our crap. We’re dumping it on this goat and we’re sending it to you.”
That’s how atonement works. It has to go two ways. It’s not just about taking the purity of the clean goat and applying it to the people. It’s about taking the impurity of the people and putting it somewhere else. You need two-way atonement in order to be cleansed.
And so essentially, the transgressions of the people were added to Azazel’s record. It’s as if now the people didn’t commit those iniquities, but Azazel’s list of iniquities got even longer. It’s like, “Azazel, since you started all this iniquity, you can get the credit for all of it that happened after you, too.”
And if that sounds unfair to Azazel, tied up out there in the desert not bothering anyone anymore, let me return to God’s words in Enoch 10: And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin.'
Again, you don’t have to believe the Book of Enoch. But what God says in this book correlates perfectly with what God says in Leviticus 16.
Take the clean record of the pure goat and God will give it to the people. Take the unclean record of the people and give it to Azazel. That is two-way atonement. And that’s how atonement has to work.
God doesn’t just turn the light on. He turns the dark off.
[musical interlude]
Next Time
Next time on this podcast, we’ll continue right along in Enoch 10 with a subject that I’m very excited to delve into a bit more: the Nephilim Civil War. This refers to a conflict that took place in the pre-flood world. There was also a Nephilim Civil War in the post-flood world. We’ll talk about both of those conflicts next week.
And if you want to get in touch with me in the meantime, my email is weirdstuffinthebible@gmail.com. And if you can take moment to tap the 5-star review button if you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d really appreciate it. In fact, if you’re listening to this on release day, it’s actually my birthday today! So if you want to get me a present, you can leave me a 5-star review. I would also accept a thousand dollars for my birthday. But if you don’t want to send me a thousand dollars, you can just leave a 5-star review.
And by the way, shoutout to Rachel P, who emailed me this week to say she has listened to literally every episode. That means she is an official weirdo. I’m sorry if you don’t want to be called a weirdo Rachel, but thems the rules. And I will say, I happen to go to church with Rachel’s whole family and they are one of the neatest families you will ever meet.
Also shoutout to Josiah B who wrote in a couple weeks ago encouraging me to do this episode on the scapegoat/Azazel. Hope you liked it, Josiah.
The Son of the Father
And as we wrap up, I just want to share something that you’ve probably been thinking about as we explored this episode. I know this one may go a little long today, but trust me, it’s so worth it. I don’t even want to push this info off into a newsletter; it’s too amazing.
The Day of Atonement is not just an Old Testament practice; it’s truly fulfilled in the crucifixion of Christ in the New Testament. And it’s so fitting to cover this as we approach Easter, or as I like to call it, Resurrection Sunday.
And when Jesus was being put on a trial and had to stand before Pilate, Pilate could find no reason to kill Jesus. So Pilate tries to find a scapegoat.
Matthew 27:15-17
15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
Pilate presented two men before the people. A horrible, sinful, evil man named Barabbas- who was a rebel and a murderer. And Jesus, who was perfect and sinless and pure.
Just like, on the Day of Atonement, two goats were presented before the people: one pure, and one impure. But both were goats.
Barabbas actually does have something in common with Jesus. Bar means “son,” and Abba” means Father. Barabbas means “Son of the Father.” Just as Jesus is the Son of the Father.
Both were sons of the father. But they had very different records. However, what do the people say? Which goat do they pick?
Matthew 27:20-26
20 Now the chief priests
[wait- who was it that was supposed to offer up the sacrifice of the goat in Leviticus? The high priest. Who asks for Jesus to be crucified here? Verse 20: now the chief priests…]
and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!”
Verse 26
26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
And we know about the crucifixion of Jesus. We’ll be hearing about it more and more in the weeks ahead. But I just want to note a couple more things.
Do you remember what the high priest was supposed to do with the pure goat’s blood in the Day of Atonement ritual? Sprinkle it 7 times at the altar.
From the beatings and crucifixion He suffered, Jesus bled from seven locations: his head, his back, his left hand, his right hand, his left food, his right foot, and from the spear in his side, where blood and water came out. His skin was broken on just 7 parts of his body, and he bled from those 7 places. Correlating with the sprinkling of blood 7 times on the altar.
And at the end of the Day of Atonement ritual, this is what it said the high priest was to do.
Leviticus 16:23 & 24
23 Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out…
Aaron the high priest went in with old garments that were now dirty and stained, and he exits with fresh new garments. Just as, when I accept the Gospel, my dirty record of past deeds is removed and fresh pure garments are given to me.
Jesus fulfills the Day of Atonement both ways. He was not just the pure goat in the Day of Atonement ritual. Jesus was the impure goat as well. It wasn’t just His clean record that was given to me. My record of sin was transferred to Him.
II Corinthians 5:21 says
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
When God looks at us, He sees the perfect record of His Son. But that’s because, when Jesus was hanging on the cross, it was like He became Azazel. The record of our sin was dumped on him. Just as God had said in the book of Enoch about Azazel: to him ascribe all sin- at the cross, God looked at Jesus and said, “to Him ascribe all sin.”
Isaiah 53:11
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
But just as God told Raphael to heal the earth, Isaiah 53 also tells us that by Jesus’ wounds, we are healed. Rapha. The wounds that we deserved were given to Him, and we are healed.
Frankly guys, we don’t just have sins. We all have iniquities and transgressions as well. And Old Testament sacrifices couldn’t have dealt with them. Even Chuck Norris himself couldn’t have roundhouse-kicked our sins away. But Jesus found a way to be both goats and make atonement both ways.
Azazel was one of the Sons of God. But he fell, and so he became the subject of the Day of Atonement. For over a thousand years, all sin was ascribed to this fallen Son of God. But at the cross, a different atonement was made by the true Son of God.
Atonement goes two ways. The righteous record of Jesus is transferred to me. But my record of sin was transferred to Him on the cross.
So if you think trading a goat or two for your sins sounds weird, I hope you’re a little more weird today, too. Thanks for listening, God bless you for sticking around until the end, and we’ll see you next time on Weird Stuff in the Bible.