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.
ESV Leviticus 16:20-22
10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. 13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity.”
ESV Leviticus 17:10-16
Since the rebellion in Genesis 3, God has established that the necessary payment for sin, is death. Here in Leviticus, God is setting up a system of sacrifice and atonement for His people by which they must face the graphic consequence of their sin, but can also be forgiven of it. The exchange of blood, as the source of life, is the cost that God accepts for forgiveness. This sacrificial system established in Levitical law is pointing us to our need for an ultimate and perfect sacrifice that could cover all the sin of the entire world.
Though it is not in these particular verses, there is another goat that is bled to pay the debt of the Israelites. The one in these verses is the scapegoat. It carries the burden of sins for all the people, and it takes them away. It is cast out from the safety and protection of the camp and into the wilderness to die. Jesus was similarly cast out from His people when he was taken outside of Jerusalem to die. He carried the burden of the the world’s sin, and paid for it with his blood on a cross. His promise was to bring those who look to Him into a right relationship with God through His perfect sacrifice. Thank you, Lord! May the news of your goodness spread forever and call our hearts to rest in you!