It All Works Together

I love the way God links the things of scripture together to point us ultimately to truth. I am also grateful that God is faithful to fulfill scripture.

The coming of the Messiah is one of those things that all of scripture points to. The first mention is in Genesis 3:15.

The truth of scripture is that Jesus is the Messiah and that He came to take our sins and do away with them through His death on the cross.

In Leviticus 16 we read about the scapegoat.

Leviticus 16:6-10

Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats – one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat.

Two goats were chosen. One as a burnt offering and the other as a scapegoat. Aaron would take the scapegoat and place his hands on its head and place upon it all the sins of the people. The goat would then be escorted out into the wilderness and let loose to carry the sins of the people far from them. It would remove the sins from the people.

The reality of what this was doing is shared with us in Psalm 103:11-12.

Psalm 103:11-12

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

When we confess our sins and repent of them, Jesus then forgives us and remove our sins as far as the east is from the west.

Our sins are not just forgiven. The penalty of our sin is removed and the reality of our sin is removed.

God doesn’t say that He has put our sins as far as the north is from the south because north and south meet at the poles. He has put them as far as the east is from the west because they never meet. God’s forgiveness means that our sins are removed forever from us.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being forgiven and having your sins removed from you forever.

In Isaiah 53 we see another thing that Jesus did as our scapegoat.

Isaiah 53:8

By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

The scapegoat, Jesus, was cut off from the land of the living and stricken.

Jesus not only died for our sins but He suffered great physical, emotional, and spiritual pain as He died.

The Father could have had Jesus die for us in any way that He chose. The Father chose for Jesus to die by crucifixion. It is one of the most painful ways to die. The Father had Jesus die in a way that was shameful both in the eyes of the Jews and Gentiles.

The goat that was chosen to be the scapegoat had done nothing wrong to be made the scapegoat. Jesus was completely innocent. He had committed no sins.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that Jesus was sinless and died for our sinfulness.

Then in the New Testament we see the fulfillment of these things in the life of Jesus.

Matthew 27:46

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi lama sabach-thani” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?”

The Father had, for the first time in all eternity, moved away from the Son. Our sin had cause the Father to separate Himself from the Son. Just as the scapegoat had been separated from God’s people and was completely isolated from the living.

Then in John 19:42 we read, “Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”

The tomb where Jesus was laid was not inside the city of Jerusalem. The tomb was outside the city. This reminds us that the goat which was sacrificed for the people’s sins was disposed of outside the camp and the scapegoat was released outside of the camp into the wilderness.

Jesus was viewed as a condemned criminal. He was innocent but viewed this way because of our sin.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being accepted by the Father because Jesus was rejected because of our sin.

Jesus as our scapegoat bears the reality and guilt of our sin and we receive the reality of His righteousness.

That is a beautiful and gracious exchange for us because of the Love of God the Father.

With Jesus as Our Scapegoat Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                       Joe