Of all the holy days that God has commanded us to keep, I've had a particular question over the years about the Day of Atonement. For a long time, I had accepted the Worldwide Church of God's explanation regarding the identity of the Azazel goat. By the time I came along, the correspondence course was down to 32 lessons instead of the original 58 lessons. The best explanation given in the 32 lesson study was that the name Azazel, no longer just a word, was quote Azazel among the early desert dwellers in the Sinai, referred to Satan the devil!
Well, that seemed pretty convincing to me at the time. The lesson also explained how fasting was needful to draw closer to God, but it did not explain why God commanded us to fast on that holy day. So I guess I just thought it was one of those questions that I assigned to the category of questions for Jesus when I meet Him. It was not until the Church of the Great God's fairly recent explanation of the true identity of that goat that brought that question to my mind all over again.
The purpose of this message today is to try to answer that question based on the true identity of the Azazel goat, and I would like to thank David Grabbe in particular for his efforts in helping us understand that on this occasion, Jesus Christ plays a dual role in this single sacrifice. The question again I've had all this time is, why are we commanded to afflict ourselves on this day? Please note that I am not asking what form of afflicting ourselves God has in mind, but why we are commanded to afflict ourselves at all. It's pretty clear to me in reading chapter 58 of the book of Isaiah that fasting is what God regards as afflicting ourselves.
Many of us may not know this, but there are Jewish groups who have come up with their own versions of afflicting yourself on this day that are perverse in my opinion anyway. It seems that fasting is not enough in their sight. They've come up with some bizarre things they require doing on this day. For example, they require that one wears his or her shoes on the wrong feet. Worse, they forbid relieving themselves all day long.
These ideas are of men and are not supported. They're supposed to go better than what God can command. I'm reminded of the Catholic custom of self-flagellation or flogging oneself as a form of religious discipline. One of the greatest examples of human arrogance is the Jewish addition of rules and regulations beyond the words of God.
I realize I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here, but please bear with me for a few moments, because I think it's important for us to remember the principles of God's word for us. Please turn with me, if you would, to Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 32. That's Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 32.
Deuteronomy 12:32 Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it nor take away from it.
Uh, earlier in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 2. We also read in chapter 4 and verse 2.
Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I command you nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you.
Getting back to the subject at hand, I'd like to present some instances of Christ fulfilling the things that are put on the head of the Azazel goat. Let's go back to His crucifixion day, while He suffered greatly on that tree. Let's go to Matthew 27 and verse 45. Matthew 27 in verse 45 and 46.
Matthew 27:45-46 Now from the 6th hour until the 9th hour there was darkness all over the land. And about the 9th hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
It seems to me that the darkness over the land which took place around noon was the representation of the sins of all mankind, past, present, and future, that would be laid on Him. Because of this, the Father, who cannot allow any part of sin to be connected with Him, had to disconnect from His beloved Son. I have no doubt that this instant was the most painful moment the Father had ever experienced.
Let's remember that God, who had commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, did not allow this to take place. That sacrifice He reserved for Himself when He allowed Jesus to die bearing all the sins of mankind. I have to say that I'm reminded also of the time that God blessed Abraham in Genesis 15. Something odd is mentioned there. In Genesis 15 and verse 11.
Genesis 15:11-12 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, [that is the sacrifice that had been made so that God could swear by Himself, that this would come true for Abraham.] Anyway, when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. And in verse 12, now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold, horror and great darkness fell on him.
I just wonder if this was also a prophetic vision of the sin that Jesus would take on Himself on behalf of all Abraham's descendants as well as the rest of mankind. Another scripture that verifies that the Father placed all of our sins on Jesus is found in Isaiah 53. Just another bit of an aside here, I have come to realize that my favorite all-time musical composition is Handel's Messiah. It just seems to me that if God had inspired any composition at all, this is the one.
Its libretto or lyrics are in the main scriptures from the King James Version of the Bible. There is also some use of the book of common prayer when it comes to quoting the Psalms. In listening to this work, a particular verse in part two kept jumping out at me in the course of my studying and praying for understanding the information that was coming to us from our ministry. Again, please turn to Isaiah 53 and in particular verse 6. Isaiah 53 and 6.
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
It's interesting that this is one of the scriptures in the Old Testament that actually reveals the existence of the Father. So if what the Father did according to this verse is true, what reason has God to go and lay our iniquities on Satan after He's laid them on Jesus? The entire chapter is a prophecy describing what our Savior Jesus Christ was going to have to take on in providing us with the forgiveness and removal of our sins and to provide our healing. It is with the understanding that CGG is now teaching about Jesus as the goat of departure that this makes real sense.
God the Father laid our sins, the iniquity of us all, on Jesus Christ, His Son, sent to save us and to still be saving us. As our friend David pointed out, Jesus became sin for us, as we find in II Corinthians 5:21. Jesus became sin for us who knew no sin. He was the Word who was in the beginning with God and the Word was God. He became sin for us.
What a tremendous thing that He took on for us. It is with this understanding then that I've been able to see at least another reason why our God commands us to fast on this day, to humble ourselves before God. Yes, to draw near to God in acknowledgment of our need of Him, yes. But now, also in sorrow and empathy, not just sympathy, but actual empathy for the great sacrifice He's accepted for us in taking our sins on Himself in obedience to the Father.
In His brutal death and in His divine resurrection, He has declared His great love for us, whom He regards as His friends. Yes, I can now say that I better understand why we are commanded to fast on this day. This is a true Thanksgiving Day on our part to both the Father and the Son for the true life they are giving us. As we continue to grow in our fellowship with God and Jesus and with each other, the Father and Jesus Christ removed from us our sins as far as the east is from the west.
Whatever we give today in our offering, it is an honor to be able to do that, and I certainly appreciate it more myself.
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