Is Jesus or Satan The Scapegoat? Does Satan Bear All Our Sins?

Leviticus 16:5-10 & 20-22 talk about a goat that makes atonement for the people of Israel by bearing their sins and taking them away into the wilderness. The goat is called the scapegoat, or in Hebrew Azazel, and most bible interpreters believe that the scapegoat represents Christ who takes away the sins of the world. But Seventh Day Adventists believe that this goat is Satan and they believe that Satan will one day make atonement for the sins of all God’s people by bearing the guilt for all their sin and being punished for them. They even say that it is Satan who finally separates God’s people from their sins.

The Great Controversy Chapter 28—The Investigative Judgment
As the priest, in removing the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the head of the scapegoat, so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin. The scape-goat, bearing the sins of Israel, was sent away “unto a land not inhabited;” [Leviticus 16:22.] so Satan, bearing the guilt of all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit, will be for a thousand years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate, without inhabitant, and he will at last suffer the full penalty of sin, in the fires that shall destroy all the wicked. Thus the great plan of redemption will reach its accomplishment in the final eradication of sin, and the deliverance of all who have been willing to renounce evil.

Leviticus 16:5 And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.

The first thing that’s worth noting is that both of these goats are taken from the congregation of the children of Israel. Jesus came from the people of Israel. He was an Israelite. But Satan was not from among the people of Israel. He was the enemy of Israel.

The second thing that’s worth noting is that the two goats are described as “a sin offering”. They are not described as two separate offerings, they are one sin offering, and they represent two aspects of Christ’s atonement.

The third thing is that according to Leviticus chapter 4 sin offerings had to meet certain qualifications, namely, they had to be without blemish and this represented the sinlessness of Christ. No matter how you try to spin it, both of these animals were innocent creatures which had done nothing wrong and were completely blemish free.

Leviticus 16:6-8 "Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.

This further supports the view that both goats were blemish free because if one was blemished and one was not and the lot for the Lord fell to the blemished one then it couldn’t be sacrificed. So, both the goats had to be without blemish.

The word “scapegoat” in Hebrew is Azazel and Seventh Day Adventists try to argue that Azazel is another name for Satan. But there is no evidence for this from the time of Moses. At best there is a demon named Azazel in the books of Enoch but that was written over a thousand years later.

Unger's Bible dictionary
AZA′ZEL
It is a word of doubtful interpretation and has been variously understood. 1. By some it is thought to be the name of the goat sent into the desert. The objection to this is that in v. 10, 26 the Azazel clearly seems to be that for or to which the goat is let loose. 2. Others have taken Azazel for the name of the place to which the goat was sent. Some of the Jewish writers consider that it denotes the height from which the goat was thrown; whereas others regard the word as meaning “desert places.” 3. Many believe Azazel to be a personal being, either a spirit, a demon, or Satan himself. The Cabalists teach that in order to satisfy this evil being and to save Israel from his snares, God sends him the goat burdened with all the “iniquities and transgressions” of His people once a year. But we think it entirely improbable that Moses under divine guidance would cause Israel to recognize a demon whose claims on the people were to be met by the bribe of a sin-laden goat. 4. The most probable rendering of Azazel is “complete sending away,” i.e., solitude. The rendering then of the passage would be “the one for Jehovah, and the other for an utter removal.” Unger, Merrill Frederick; Harrison, R. K.. The New Unger's Bible Dictionary (p. 129). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

[larsandrune]

Do seventh day adventists actually believe that Satan bears christians iniquities and takes away all of our sins, the sins of the world, and not Jesus's death on the cross? NO. Absolutely not. but of course no one reading this will believe otherwise because of confusing two separate issues and their context plus confirmation bias based on a riged evengelical understanding of scripture.

[angloaust]

Behold the Lamb of God
Who taketh away the sins
Of the world!

[conartist]

Thanks Caleb for making this truth clear. It’s taken me over 30 years to debrief and heal from the deceptions of the SDA. I’m truly thankful for theologians like you that help innocent people like me, that were influenced from a child, to break free from their evil 💜🙏🏼🦋

[calebcrawford]

Anybody saying that Satan will suffer for our sins is not only just a straight up heretic, but also committing blasphemy of Jesus and what He did for us on the cross.

[patrickbrowne]

Thank you Lord Jesus, for taking away my sins!

[ShopharTemple]

My sin is nailed to the Cross. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ

[HG-knhb]

The scapegoat was the symbol of removing sin away.

Ps 103
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

[gd]

Wow. These people found a new way to twist everything and flip it on its head. Thank you for keeping people be aware of this falsehood.

[lionoffireraw]

That’s nuts!!

No one can even attempt to legitimately argue against what you presented in this video!

[divergentone]

Torah, online - "Azazel plays the role of a deity in the biblical ritual of Yom Kippur, and in early interpretation, he played a central role as the initiator of sin and even the devil, or alternatively, as a protective figure. Later tradition obscured his identity, presenting Azazel as the name of a demon, as the scapegoat itself, and even as a place name."

[benjaminofperrin]

I suppose if you live long enough you'll hear everything. That was certainly a new one for me. What a cult!

[pompeabella]

This is blasphemy. Jesus died for the sin of the world and his sacrifice was done once for all . ONCE

[AdmireM]

So did you want the Goat to be blemished? That's why they had to cast lots to separate the goats because they were representing two very different things, if they both represented Christ, there would be no reason to cast lots, just pick any because they both represent the same. My other question to you is if Christ is the Scapegoat, are you saying he will be seperated from his people forever?

[mikhailhunter]

For all the people saying Jesus is the scapegoat, you are also saying he is Azazel.

Azazel is a demon.

Y'all are so anti SDA you would rather say Jesus represents a demon...

Read Leviticus 16 for the day of atonement.

And read Hebrews 8

[TheFaithofJesus-bkwl]

YOU ARE TOTALLY INCORRECT! We do not believe that Satan ( BEARS ) the sins of the people in the same way Christ did, that was the position of the " Sin Offering " ( Christ ). However, the scapegoat ( Azazel in Hebrew, which means Satan, goat demon, or demon of the goat ) wasn't even a word until the 1700s, and the concept or interpretation for it was by William Tyndale. Tyndale believed and associated the scapegoat with Christ because of his lack of knowledge of the word atonement, believing that atonement means to be reconciled. However, atonement has a few different meanings and the one we believe fits the scapegoat ( Satan ) is to purify by taking responsibility for the existence of sin dying, and being removed from existence which will purify ( atone ) the universe, not to pay the sin debt.

Almost every 1, 2, and 3rd-century church fathers all wrote that Azazel ( the scapegoat ) was Satan. Furthermore, the Bible says without the shedding of blood there can be no atonement for sin, does the scapegoat shed any blood? Nope, not a single drop.

[matthewthomas]

To say that Satan will bear all of our sins is heresy straight from the pit of Hell. Jesus paid for all our sins and the guilt thereof one time and that was all that was needed. One sacrifice took care of the Sin of mankind. This is so obviously false. How anyone can believe this is beyond me?

[christinabrigham]

I used to be SDA but God pulled me out of this deception.

[WatcherNine]

The pastor you used as the example here (I forget his name) is regularly on TV on Sunday. I liked what he was preaching most often as it was biblical as far as my understanding. I did not know he preached this, I never saw it before, and I did not know he was a seventh day adventist. Maybe it says that somewhere on his broadcast, I never noticed. I'm going to have to take special notice of who I am listening to from now on. If a pastor mixes falsehoods and misconceptions into the message he brings to the people, how can we listen to him at all?

I can't, and will not from this point forward. It's difficult to understand how someone could ascertain from the Word of God that satan bears our sins after the Word of God says over and over again that Christ died for our sin, the BLOOD OF GOD was shed in payment for them IF we believe on Him. How can someone minimize that sacrifice?!? It's upsetting to say the least, to the point I can't accept that this is a simple mistake or misunderstanding. It makes me angry when people twist the word of God, and that's what this 'denomination' has done. That makes the seventh day adventists no better than the catholics with their idolatry and other things.

Be very careful, these are the days of deception. Pastors, congregations, and denominations can lead you unwittingly straight to hell.

[bradleyhite]

I was born and raised Seventh-Day Adventist, but as soon as I found out that every other Christian denomination believes Jesus is the scapegoat and how that whole thing works I had to leave the Christian cult I was in. What's crazy, no matter how much I try to explain this to my family they all claim this is the one thing I'm definitely wrong about since I left.

[seannapier]

Another point to be made against this heresy is that Satan himself would never sacrifice himself for us; he hates all of Gods creation and wants to destroy everything that He created, so to say that Satan, the prince of darkness, will bear our sins is pure insanity.