Alright, let's grab our Bibles tonight. Turn to Numbers chapter 21. Numbers chapter number 21 is where we're going to be starting off. We're going to hit a lot of scripture tonight on Wednesday night Bible study. So tonight I plan on finishing up our study on the animal types of Jesus. We went over Jesus as being referred to as a lamb. You know that's the prominent one. But that refers to His gentleness and His meekness. All right, we talked about Jesus being the lion. We talked about that's referencing his ferocity and his wrath. That's in the second coming whenever he comes back. Last time we looked at two birds that represent Jesus and that represents the freedom Jesus provided by his substitutionary death, right? He was that heavenly being that came down, died for us now that we may go back up to, may go up to heaven one day. Tonight we're gonna be going over two more. The first of which we've talked about a little bit and we won't go into great detail since I'm trying to do two of them tonight. But in Numbers chapter 21, let's start in verse 4. Numbers chapter 21 verse 4, the Bible says, And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, talking about the children of Israel here, to encompass the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses. Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread." Don't you like how they complain that there's no bread and he says, what about this bread? Oh yeah, not the bread that we got. That's not the bread we're talking about. Anyway, verse 6. And the Lord sent fiery serpents, the Lord, sent fiery serpents among the people. And they bit the people, that's what serpents do. And much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he may take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole. And it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Let's pray. Amen. Alright, so let's talk a little bit about the plight of the people, the children of Israel here. Right now, God just sent fiery serpents as punishment for this ungrateful, murmuring multitude. Fire, as you know, we talked about a little bit, represents the wrath and judgment of God. Right? That's why hell is a place of fire. That's where the wrath of God that abideth on every unbeliever. That's why hell is a place of fire. God sent fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah. Okay? And that's not the only time God sent fire down from heaven. Whenever his judgments coming down, it often appears as fire. The Lord also had a flaming sword that kept Adam and Eve from returning to the garden. Why? That was a symbol of the wrath that they would get and the judgment of God they would get if they tried to sneak back in the garden. So to combat the fiery judgment of God that would end in death, God commanded Moses to make a fiery serpent out of brass. We see this in verse 8. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. The brazen serpent here, that's what represents Jesus Christ. Serpents in your Bible, I'll put this on here, because serpent's the first one that we're doing. Is it E-N-T or A-N-T? My spelling's been off all day long. There we go, E-N-T. But I did find out here that the Bible, I'm going to do the Bible spelling on subtlety here. Serpents often represent subtlety. Sub-til-ty is how it's spelt in the Bible. And I know you spell it how you want. Subtlety or hidden wisdom. That's what the serpent here represents. Subtlety or hidden wisdom. Most of the time this is a bad thing and used to hide sin or to cause mischief. Most of the time subtlety in your Bible is a very negative thing. Let me give you some examples, Genesis 3.1, now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, right? I mean the serpent, the devil, is very subtle. He's called subtle a couple times in the Bible. Jacob used subtlety against Esau whenever he stole his birthright from him or talked him out of it, I should say. Amnon's friend Jonadab was subtle. He's the one that talked him into doing things with his sister. Whenever the people were plotting against Jesus, Jesus was plotted against with subtlety, the Bible says. You might ask then, why would Jesus ever be likened unto a serpent? because it's just, it's natural not to like snakes. If you like snakes, you're not natural. Let's just let you know that right now. The Bible says that, you know, whenever that's all going on there, and the serpent that beguiled Eve and all that, whenever it's in Genesis chapter three, the Lord says, I'll put enmity between thee and the woman, right? I mean, there's, they're enemies, all right? You should be enemies with serpents, especially if you're a lady. But if you like snakes, just ignore that part and just focus on the Bible here. But you say, why would Jesus ever be likened unto a serpent? Because subtlety is not always a bad thing. There's a couple times in the Bible subtlety is actually a good thing. I want to give those to you because I've heard before subtlety is always negative in the Bible. No, it's not. 2 Kings 10. We'll be back at numbers. I just want to give you these real quick. 2 Kings 10. If you're like me, sometimes you make the mistake of just taking a preacher's word for it, and if you hear it from more than one preacher, then you're like, oh, okay, it must be, because I trust that one and I trust that one, so it's just good. No, the Bible's the final authority, not any preacher, including me. 2 Kings 10, look at verse 18. 2 Kings 10, 18. And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu shall serve him very much. Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Let none be wanting, for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal. Whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtlety." to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal." Jehu's getting everybody gathered together here and said, oh yeah, we're going to have a great celebration for Baal, let's all come together, we're going to worship Baal, I'm a great Baal fan, you know, who needs the Lord, let's just do this. And he gets it all set up, gets everybody in there and look what happens, jump down to verse 25. And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering, the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, go in and slay them. Let none come forth, and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and the guard of the captain cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them." Verse 27, "...and they broke down the image of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel." He did this with subtlety. You say, well, how do you know God approved of it? Jump down to verse 30. And the Lord said unto Jehu, because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done it unto the house of Ahab according to all that was done in mine heart, thy children on the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. So here Jehu uses subtlety to destroy God's enemies. So it's not always negative. God approved of it. That's what the Bible says. Proverbs chapter one says this. Proverbs 1 gives accolades also to some subtlety that is positive. Proverbs 1 starting in verse 1, the Bible says, The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity. These are all the good things that Solomon is hoping to give wisdom to his son through the book of Proverbs. It says, "...to receive instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity." Verse 4, "...to give subtlety to the simple." What's subtlety? It's hidden wisdom. Alright? "...to give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion." And see, I'm telling you these serpents are often times a sign of subtlety and a sign of hidden wisdom. How did the serpent in the garden deceive Eve? Because he knew something Eve didn't know. Sure, he twisted it and he lied about it and everything to get her to fall and sin against God and all that, but he had some hidden knowledge there. He had some hidden wisdom. That's why in places like in Matthew 10, verse 16, the Lord says this in Matthew 10, 16, behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus says we should be wise as serpents, as harmless as doves. Why? Because we're sheep among wolves. All right, we need to have this subtlety used in the right way and we need to have this hidden wisdom. Back to Numbers chapter 21. Now that we got it established that it's okay that Jesus is being likened unto a serpent here because we just instantly negatively think of the devil and all this, but there are good signs to it, good sides to it. Numbers chapter 21 verse 8, And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole, and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. First of all I want to have you notice the form of the serpent. There's my pole. I wish I had brown, but it's on order. My brown is coming. I set up a pole, and he puts up this nice little serpent here, which you guys know I don't know how to draw anything, and I didn't have time to get Jessica to do it. But anyway, I'll make his head a little fatter. He looks like a worm, and that's alright. But he's on fire. He's a fiery serpent. Notice The Lord didn't tell Moses, I want you to put an image of a man up on the pole. I want you to put an image of a lamb up on a pole or a ram or anything else. He said, I want it to take the same form as what's killing you, except it's out of brass, right? Moses made a brass image of the same thing that was killing Israel. That's a fiery serpent. Jesus, whenever he came here, Didn't take on the form of a beast. He didn't take on a form of a huge angel or a seraphim or a cherubim or anything else. He took on the same form as what led us to death. He took on the form of man. Because why do we have sin in our body? What is it that stung us and got us? It was man, it was ourselves. And the Bible says this in Philippians 2, verse six and seven, It says, talking about Jesus, it says, who being in the form of God, that's what he was before he got here, he was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. So just as Moses set up a fiery serpent on the pole, Jesus Christ came down in the same form and in the same shape as what caused our demise, and that's the sinfulness of man. So we got the form of the serpent, number one. The second thing I want you to realize and take notice of the fastening of the serpent. Okay? Moses put the serpent on a pole, right? And lifted him up for public viewing. He fastened him. He put him on a pole and set him up high so that anybody that was snake bitten could look up and see the pole. He didn't put the serpent on the pole and then lay it on the ground or go throw it in the ditch or hide it behind a tree. He set it up so people could see it. Right? Jesus was nailed to the cross and lifted up for public viewing. They wanted him up on that hill. They wanted everybody to see his blood. They wanted him to see his pain because they said, if you disobey us, this is what's going to happen to you. He was up on for public display, up high. So we have the fastening of the serpent. Number three, we got the fixing of the serpent. Those in Israel that were snake-bitten were bound to die. If you didn't get bit by the snake, you weren't really worried about it. But it's whoever got bit by those fiery serpents, those were the ones that were going to die. Since the Garden of Eden, all mankind has been bound to die because of the serpent's biting tongue. We all got snake bit in the Garden of Eden by the way of his poisonous words that sunk into Eve's mind there and then Adam's and they both fell because of sin. What happened? Snake bite. That brazen serpent and Jesus on the cross were both there to take away the venom that would lead to death. All right, the serpent removing the quick, I can't even read my own notes sometimes. You know, some of these guys, you gotta do a better job when you write these notes for me. This is horrible, I expect better. I gave you that nickel for nothing, I tell you. Anyway, it's not a service if I don't give my wife a hard time. So anyway, he had to, The looking up on the serpent removed the venom, the cause of the venom of the people that was going to lead to the death of their body. But with the Lord, it was removing the eternal death of the soul in hell. Because whenever they look on them, look on him. I don't know. We'll keep going. Number four, we've got a lot of ground to cover. Ask me to explain that one later. Maybe I'll get it by then. Number four, we got the free will to receive the cure. Notice nobody was told, OK, listen, you're snake-bitten. Now, listen, I'm going to take your head, and you are going to look up on this serpent that Moses made. No, no, no. Listen, you don't have a choice. Don't close your eyes. Don't pry your eyes open. Nobody forced them to look on the serpent. What they did is they said, listen, you're snake bit, you're going to die. Here's the cure. You got to look. Okay. And anytime anybody wants to come to Jesus Christ, anytime anybody wants to escape going to hell and the sin, the cause of their sin, the end result there, the wages of their sin, that is eternal death and hell fire. They need to look to Jesus and live. Alright? You don't force anybody to get saved. You can't force anybody to get saved. All you can do is point the way and say, look. Look and live. Look and live. Alright? There's no force there. It's completely free will. The only thing a bitten Israelite had to do to escape death was to look. The only thing a sin-cursed individual has to do to escape hell is look. Look to the man on the cross. Look to the God that died for you. Okay, no one was forced to look at the brazen serpent, no one is forced to come to Jesus. It was a free cure for a common ailment and it was made available to all. All right, let's turn to John chapter three. There's a lot of likeness between our Savior that died on the cross and that serpent that was lifted up to the saving of Israel there. John chapter three. I don't pretend that these are all of them, I'm sure you can find some more likenesses, I'm just trying to give you a taste here. John chapter 3, let's start in verse 9. This is when the Lord Jesus is talking to Nicodemus. John chapter 3 verse 9, Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Alright, verse 10, Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." It's never been about works, it's been about looking at the man on the cross. Okay, just like the serpent was raised up in the wilderness, Jesus said, so must I be lifted up, and you look on me, you're gonna live, all right? So we got the serpent there. The next one, let's look at Leviticus chapter 16. Like I said, we did a little bit on the serpent already. We'll get over that one through, get through that one pretty quick. Leviticus chapter 16. Next animal we're going to be looking at is a goat. It's a goat. Leviticus chapter 16, we're going to start in verse 1. Get us some good context here. You see what all is going on. Leviticus 16.1, the Bible says, And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died. They offered strange fire, and the LORD killed them. Verse 2, And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark, that he die not. For I will appear in a cloud upon the mercy seat. Remember Aaron is the priest. He's the one that's got permission to go in the holy place and in the most holy place to offer the sacrifice, do the rituals he's supposed to do there. Verse 3, Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with a linen miter shall he be attired. These are holy garments, therefore shall he wash his flesh with water, and so put them on." He's getting ready for service, he's taking a shower, putting on his special church Sunday clothes, right? Verse 5, "...and he shall take the congregation of the children of Israel, two kids of the goats, for a sin offering, and one ram for a burn offering." Two goats, one ram. And Aaron shall offer his bullock on the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, and the one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. You've heard about people being a scapegoat and everything. What do scapegoats get? They get the blame. You know what goats are good for? They're good for blaming. They're associated with blame. You want to blame something, you find a goat. They're good for something. They're good for blaming. And y'all know me, you know I don't know a lot about animals. So I talk to people that do know a lot about animals. Y'all remember Brother Crawford that came here and preached while me and my wife were gone at some point in time. Brother Crawford, the Marine, came over here and preached. Well, him and his wife, they raised a bunch of goats. They got a goat farm. and everything. So I called up Brother Crawford and I said, Brother, I'm doing something on animal types of Jesus. Can you tell me something about goats? Because I know nothing. And I didn't just want to Google it. I wanted to talk to somebody. You know, like a person. That's kind of a novel idea. But he told me some interesting things about goats. He said goats are pretty beneficial animals. He said they could produce about two gallons of milk a day, nursing goats. And that's good for people with dairy allergies and things like that. Drink goat's milk. He told me that goat meat tastes real good and has many uses. And I was like, people eat goats? Because I just asked him, I said, do people eat goats? And he goes, yeah. And come to find out, it's about 5% of the meat eaten worldwide is goat meat. It's up there pretty high. Pork was number one, like 36%, something like that, in case you're interested. But worldwide, goats eaten worldwide, said it's real good meat. He also said goats are beneficial because they're good at clearing the land and keeping the weeds down and everything. If you've got an area that's hard to mow or whatever, he said, you just build a fence, put a goat in it. Goat will take care of all of it. No lawn mower needed or anything. He said they work pretty good. He said goats are kind and gentle. He said they don't, especially the younger ones, he said they don't harm people. At least the goats he has, I don't know. But he said that children often show goats in like 4-H and FFA because they're safe for kids to be around. There's not a lot of harm there. He said at least his goats, you know, you might know some mean bully goats or something like that, I don't know. But the goats he had, he said goats are interested in people. He said they have personalities and that actually make pretty good pets. I said, okay, you know, get a pet goat and whenever we get tired of it, we just eat them. I like pets you can eat, okay? We grew up with some cows, it was good. But goats are good for taking the blame. They accept what is rejected by others. Something Brother Crawford told me is that whenever you put a goat out in a field, he said they eat the weeds first. He said, they'll leave the grass alone until they eat every weed out of that field, and then they'll start eating the grass. Why is that? They take on them the things that nobody else wants. They're good for blame. If something is damaged, they often blame the goat for it. The goat often gets the blame because they are curious and they've been known to eat anything. They eat cardboard. Do they really eat tin cans? They can. But Brother Crawford told me that the goats are often rebellious and they like to break out of the cage just so you know they can do it. They'll break out of their cage however they do it and then they'll stand by the gate and wait for you to let them back in. You say, why? Just so they can show you, look, I can do it. Now, please let me back in. I want to eat my weeds. I mean, they're weird animals, but they're kind of rebellious. But they're good at taking the blame. It's funny, too, because once they break out, they'll go over, and they'll go to the gate, and they'll start making noise to get back in. They make that horrible noise, and I won't even imitate it. Maybe I'll let one of the kids do it sometime. But I don't know. Goats make weird noises. But in our passage, God is telling Moses how Aaron is supposed to perform this particular sacrifice. There was a bullock offered for the sins of Aaron and his family, verse number 6. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself. This bullock is offered for Aaron and make atonement for himself and for his house. So Aaron and his house, their atonement is made with the bullock sacrifice. But the two goats are for the people, all right? It's for the masses. It has to do with blame and it's for the people. This is important. Let's first, like I say, we got two goats here. We got two goats. We got the first goat is the killed goat. Okay? Because I know big words and I'm not afraid to use them. He'd be dead. That's what I'm saying. He's the killed goat. They cast lots. That's a way of, however you want to do it. It's like flipping a coin, drawing straws. That's casting lots. They did something by chance to determine which goat is going to die and which goat's going to be the scapegoat. So let's look at the killed goat first, verse number nine. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. The killed goat drew the Lord's lot, and was killed the same day as an offering for sin." That's why he was killed. He was killed for an offering for the sin of the people. Not for the priesthood, but for the people. He was killed for the sin of the people. His blood was shed, and that blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat. Look at verse 15. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, he's going to the holy place, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat. So Aaron, the high priest, he's got his priestly clothes on. He's already washed himself. He's attired in his holy priestly garments. He goes and he casts lots on the goat. He said, this is going to be the Lord's offering, the sin sacrifice for the people goat. And he kills that goat. He takes some of that blood. He goes in, being the only one allowed to do so, He goes in behind that thick veil into the most holy place where the mercy seat is, the Ark of the Covenant is underneath it, the mercy seat is on top. He gets in that blood and He starts sprinkling that blood on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. That's the offering that He's offering, that goat's blood for the sin offering for the people. Right? that shed blood on the mercy seat, pacified the wrath and judgment of God, and saved the people from the punishment of their own sins. It was an atonement for their sins, okay, that sin offering. This goat signifies the guilt of the people, it signifies the guilt of the people that Jesus bore when he took the punishments of our sin on the cross, okay? So we have the one killed goat, He is for sin offering and that signifies Calvary. Okay? Because it's for the guilt of the people, sin offering, same day because Jesus, His blood was shed in one day as a sacrifice for sin for all the people. His blood stopped the wrath of God from reaching the people who deserved it. Right? Keep your marker here in Leviticus. Turn to Isaiah chapter 53. Great chapter on Jesus. Written many years before Jesus showed up. Isaiah chapter 53. And we're going to start in verse 3. Isaiah 53 verse 3, the He, that's Jesus. They don't know it yet whenever this is written back in Isaiah, but it is the Lord. Isaiah 53 verse 8, I'm sorry, 53 verse 3. The Bible says, He is despised and rejected of men. Sounds like He's getting some blame there, doesn't it? He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. People are turning against Him. They're hiding their face. He was despised and we esteemed Him not. He's getting shame. He's getting guilt that He's bearing. Other people are turning away from Him. Verse 4, Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." God must really hate him. Look at what he's going through. Verse 5, "...but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." The shedding of His blood, this is what it's talking about. Verse 6, "...all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." The sin is being placed on Him as a punishment. Our sin, the punishment for our sin, He is a sin offering for our sin. All of it is getting laid on Him. For He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Verse 7, He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. He was killed to pay for sin." What was he? A sin offering. The Bible tells us that specifically in Hebrews chapter 10. I'll give you Hebrews 10.12. Hebrews 10.12 says this, But this man, talking about Jesus, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Calvary was a sin offering. It was a sacrifice for the people, for the sin of the people. That's the first goat. But let's turn back to Leviticus chapter 16. Now you've got the living goat. The living goat. Leviticus 16, look at verse 9. Leviticus 69, and Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him for a sin offering. There's the first goat, excuse me. Verse 10, but the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make an atonement with him and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. So after the one goat was killed for a sin offering for all the people, that happened first. After that, the other goat was preserved alive as an ongoing atonement for the people. You see that? The whole reason for the scapegoat was to make an atonement with him for the Lord. Verse 20. 20. And when he had made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. This is after Aaron already went through, sprinkled the blood of the dead goat everywhere and all that. He made that atonement. 21. And he shall bring the live goat, and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat. and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness." Verse 22, "...and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited And he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. See the scapegoat here, the scapegoat represents the living Jesus after the cross. So here we got the killed goat being the sin offering on Calvary, being a sin offering is Jesus on Calvary. Then we have the living goat, who is the live Jesus, represents the living Jesus. after Calvary. And what's his job? Well first let's look at the timing of it. Notice it's after the sacrifice for the sin was made by the shed blood. The first goat had to be killed before the second goat had the sins confessed and put on his head. So the timing after the sacrifice for the sin was made by the shed blood. And this was all for an atonement was to be made by the living scapegoat. You know what atonement is? Atonement, that means to make amends with somebody, to make restoration or reconciliation, making things right, reestablishing on this point a relationship with God. Right? So the first goat got killed as a payment for sin offering, but the second goat, his whole job was to make an atonement, make a reconciliation to be able for them to have fellowship with the Lord again. Right? So the timing is important, but notice this, number two, it's only confessed sin that are placed on the scapegoat. Verse 21. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the living goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat." So it's only the confessed sins that get put on that goat. That's why the Lord told Aaron, you need to confess all the sins of all Israel. Why? That sin is getting placed on the scapegoat. To make an atonement with God Almighty, Israel had to confess their sins, have Aaron confess the sins onto the head of that goat and send that goat away. Confessed sins are the ones that bring atonement, reconciliation between the individual and God. It has to be confessed to be put on the scapegoat. The Bible tells us in 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That confession is not for salvation. The salvation came with the sin offering on Calvary. You accepted Jesus Christ as that goat that was killed to pay for your sin offering. That was already taken care of. But to have an atonement, to have a reconciliation, to have a relationship with the Lord, you've got to confess that sin to Him after you get saved. Right? All the sin that you had before you got saved, that got washed in the blood. The moment you accepted Jesus Christ, you were made anew. The Bible says it's an operation made without hands. There's a cutting away from your body and your soul. Your body's gonna continue to sin. Your soul sins no longer. That sin does not affect your soul. Your soul is made clean. It's been washed in the blood. It's going to heaven when you die, regardless of how much you sin in your body afterwards. Okay? Circumcision made without hands. That's what it's talking about. But in order to have a fellowship with the Lord, in order to have a good relationship with your Heavenly Father, you have to stay confessed up. You have to pray to Him and say, Lord, I'm sorry I sure messed up here. Lord, I know I shouldn't have done this. Will you forgive me for that? He's not gonna send you to hell for not confessing your sins after salvation. That was taken care of on Calvary. But that fellowship and the sin that you cling onto and the sin you refuse to confess, that's gonna put a wedge and a distance great between you and God because you don't confess it. But if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jesus bears your confessed sin after salvation to provide atonement and reconciliation to God. Jesus is the scapegoat. Notice, Aaron was not the scapegoat. Israel was not to tell Aaron all their sins and Aaron bear those burdens alone. No, no, no. He was the priest for the people. He had to do things differently. He had to put it on the scapegoat himself. But now we're made priests and king through Jesus Christ. We have a high priest, that's Jesus Christ. I'm not your priest. Anybody around here who dresses like mother and tells you to call him father, that's not your priest, okay? We have one priest. We have one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus. Okay, we don't need anybody else for that. Jesus bears your confessed sins afterwards. Jesus is the scapegoat, not the priest, not the preacher, not the brethren. We're to confess our faults one to another, not confess our sins one to another. Okay? You can say, I've got a problem with this, but don't give me a laundry list of your sins, because I can't do a thing about them. All right? I can repeat them to other people, so don't tell me your sins. Okay? How about that? Number three, notice the location. After the scapegoat hath the confessed sins on him, notice where he goes, verse 22. Let's do 21 again. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat. Their sins are now on the goat. And shall send him away, the goat away, by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited. And he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Nothing else is to be done after that. That scapegoat, the one that's bearing those confessed sins, now goes to a place where nobody can find them out. Where nobody else is. into a wilderness where no one, where that is not inhabited. Do you realize confess sin place on Jesus goes to a place where no man is. Bible says in Micah 7, 19, he will turn again. He will have compassion on us. He will subdue our iniquities and now shall cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. What's done with your sins. It's, it's cast into the depths of the sea. No man can get there. Psalms 103 verse 12 says, As far as the East is from the West, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. Our sin gets fully separated from us. No one's going to find it. Isaiah 38, 17, Behold, for peace I have great bitterness, but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. Where do your sins go after you confess them? behind the back of an omnipresent God. A God that's everywhere puts your sins behind His back. Who's there? Nobody. God's everywhere. So where's your sin? In a place where nobody is. So you confess it to the Lord, you forsake that sin, you repent of it, let's get rid of that, give it to the Lord, and then don't worry about it. It's not yours anymore. Why? That scapegoat's taking it to a place where nobody else is. You don't have to worry about anybody else finding out about it. So Jesus Christ presented by these goats bore our blame once on the cross dying for your sins and ever after that living to take your confessed sins upon his own head to atone your relationship with the Father. Praise the Lord. I'm glad. Aren't you glad they picture this so well in the Old Testament, even the sacrifices back then. I like how it's for everybody. And in Jesus Christ, he not only just came to die on my sins and now I'm left on my own and my relationship to God is just up in the air. No, he's still faithful to forgive our sins if we confess them to him.