The other goat, called in our English version “the scape-goat” was then disposed of thus: Aaron “laid both his hands upon the head of this goat and confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and then sent him away by a fit man into the wilderness—the goat bearing upon himself all their iniquities into a land not inhabited.” He was then set at liberty in the wilderness (Lev. 16: 20–22).——The precise meaning of the word Azazel [“scape-goat”] and the reason for usingthis name have been much disputed. Our English Bible fails to give a satisfactory translation of v. 8 where by a most obvious antithesis the sacred lot selects one of the two goats for Jehovah and the other for Azazel. Was it, as many suppose, for Satan, conceived of as “walking through those dry and desolate places, seeking rest but finding none”—to whom this goat, symbolically bearing the sins of the whole people, is sent? If so, what is implied and signified in this sending of the goat to him? I must say I am not wise on these points. If any ideas were current in that age in respect to Satan which might illustrate this transaction, they have not come down to us. It must I think suffice for us to see in these two goats for a sin-offering a sort of double figure to indicate the atonement—the first one slain in the usual way and his blood sprinkled before the mercy-seat—a solemn witness that without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin: the other, supplementing the great idea of atonement by a most vivid representation of sins borne away—forever away, to be known and remembered no more. The sins of the whole people were transferred to the head of this second goat; he takes them away into the unknown desolate wilderness, never to return. Symbolically, the sins are gone forever!——The prophet Micah (7: 19) gives a turn to the same thought only slightly different—“Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Jeremiah also (31: 34)—“I will remember their sins no more.” No symbol could give more precisely, more unequivocally, more forcibly, the great idea of taking away sins. You see them transferred to this second goat by means of hands imposed and formal declaration, “putting them [the sins] upon the head of the goat”; and then he is driven away, bearing his burden into an unknown, desolate land, never to be heard from again!——The sacrifice of the first goat for a sin-offering and the sprinkling of his blood before the sacred Presence of Jehovah had the usual significance of an innocent animal substituted for the guilty sinner—the former dying that the latter might not die—thus showing how God could safely forgive sin. These two goats therefore represent respectively the two great ideas which make up the atonement—the first signifying by what meansGod can testify duly against sin while yet he forgives the sinner; and the second certifying that—the innocent victim having been substituted for the sinner and slain in his stead—God does truly take sins forever away. In briefest phrase these coupled ideas stand out before us in the New Testament: “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29).
III. Sacred Edifices and Apparatus.
A system of worship which included altars and sacrifices, and much more, one which had the ark of the covenant and the visible manifestation of Jehovah’s presence, demanded an edifice for its center and home. It was essential to the proper reverence that this edifice should provide a place of seclusion as well as of safe-keeping for its most sacred things.——Moreover, so long as the people were unsettled—subject to removal any day—this structure must be movable, like the tents of all nomadic people. Hence the first structure was the Tabernacle or Sacred Tent.——A general idea of it may be presented to the reader thus:—Conceive of an inclosed court, one hundred cubits long by fifty wide [the cubit being eighteen inches]; this inclosure being made by hanging curtains of linen five cubits high, suspended from horizontal rods which were supported by posts. The entrance to this inclosure was always at its eastern end, and the eastern section, forming the outer or first court, was twenty cubits in depth, cut off from the rest of the inclosed area by curtains.——In the center of the rear portion stood the sacred tent proper, thirty cubits in length from east to west, and ten cubits in width. This also was in two principal apartments, the eastern being twenty cubits by ten, known as “the holy place”; the western, “the most holy place,” or the “Holy of holies,” being ten cubits square. The perpendicular walls of this sacred tent were of boards set on end, ten cubits high, so supported as to be readily set up, taken down, and transported. The covering was four-fold, of cloth and skins, and was manifestly arranged like the roof of a house, the covering passing over a ridge-pole in the center. Such briefly was this sacred structure.
Of its furniture, the important articles were as follows:
(a.) In the open court in front of the tabernacle proper, were the great altar of burnt-offering and a laver—an immense reservoir or tank for water. (b.) In the holy place—the first section of the sacred tent—stood the altar of incense; the table of shew-bread; and the golden candlestick.——(c.) In the most holy place, enshrouded in the thick darkness, stood the ark of the covenant, containing originally the two tables of stone on which the ten commandments were written, the pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. Upon the lid of this ark, known as “the mercy-seat,” there reposed the refulgence of the Divine Presence—a visible brightness and glory, called by the later Jews “the shechinah”—itself overshadowed by the wings of cherubic figures which rested upon either end of the ark.
The whole structure might be readily taken down and transported from place to place with all its furniture; parties being designated for this service.
In Num. 10: 35, 36 we have the words customarily used by Moses as a form of prayer, accompanying the order for striking and pitching tents: “When the ark set forward Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let those that hate thee flee before thee: and when it rested he said, Return, O Lord, unto the ten thousands of Israel.”
Of the temple built by Solomon I need not say more than this—that its plan was essentially that of the tabernacle, differing in the following points: Its dimensions were twice as great; and it was built for a permanent, immovable edifice, of the most substantial and costly materials.
IV. The Sacred Orders.
The tribe of Levi was chosen and set apart for the services of worship and of religious instruction. Out of this tribe the family of Aaron was selected for the priesthood. The most sacred services devolved upon the priests, the High Priest only being permitted to enter the most holy place once a year, as we have seen. The Levites performed subordinate services, supplying the requisite wood and water for so vast a system ofsacrifices and offerings, and serving also in the transportation of the sacred tent and its furniture. At a later period the service of song in the house of the Lord was in their hands.