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"Then Aaron shall lay both of
his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over
it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all
their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he
shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away
into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in
readiness." Leviticus 16:21
As the
high priest of Israel, Aaron was commanded to take two
goats, one to be sacrificed for the people’s atonement,
and one to lay the sins on and taken to the wilderness
by the arm of a strong man. The first goat represented
Jesus and the second, the Azazel goat represented Satan.
Though Jesus gave His
sinless life in payment for our sins, the devil is still
responsible for tempting man to sin and stands guilty
before the Lord. This was commanded to be done on the
10th day of the 7th month on the Hebrew calendar which
occurs in September or October. It is the Day of
Atonement and occurs nine days after the Feast of
Trumpets which is the first Holy Day of the fall
Festivals. Atonement is a time when people will become
AT-ONE-MENT with God as the tempter is taken away. The
7th trumpet blast of the year is sounded on
Trumpets which pictures the return of Jesus.
Atonement pictures the
time when Satan, the Azazel goat, will be put away for a
thousand years and the man in readiness represents the
strong angel which will cast him into the abyss, -"Then
I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding the key
of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid
hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil
and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he
threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over
him, so that he would not deceive the nations and
longer, until the thousand years were completed; after
these things he must be released for a short time."
(Rev.20)
The 7-day Feast
of Tabernacles begins five days following Atonement and
pictures the Kingdom of God being established upon the
earth when Jesus and His saints will rule the nations
for a millennia. At the end of the thousand years Satan
will be released to tempt the nations and then afterward
be cast into the Lake of Fire to be destroyed, -"When
the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released
from his prison, and will come out to deceive the
nations." - "And the devil who deceived them was thrown
into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, where the beast and
the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented
day and night forever and ever."
"Forever" in Greek can
mean an "age" which is usually timed at a thousand years
which is the correct meaning here because of what
Ezekiel prophesied Lucifer’s fate to be, -"Therefore
I have cast you as profane from the Mountain of God. And
I have destroyed you, O covering angel, from the midst
of the stones of fire. . .Therefore I have brought fire
from the midst of you; It has consumed you, and I have
turned you to ashes on the earth." (Ezek.28)
The 8th day of the Feast
of Tabernacles is actually another Holy Day which
pictures the second resurrection (Rev.20) and the Great
White Throne Judgment.
There are 365 days in our
solar year and the devil comes up one day short - that
day is the Day of Atonement when he will be imprisoned.
In the Hebrew names have a numerical value -
interestingly enough, Satan’s numerical value matches
his fate - it is 364.
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