I’ve decided to forego comment on chapter 17. It lays out the rules for where sacrifice may be done and why we don’t consume blood. Pretty self-explanatory.

Chapter 16 Introduces the Day of Atonement. It’s the day when sins are sent away- out of sacred space.

We tend to think of this day as the time when the personal sins of individual Israelites are forgiven. But that simply isn’t so. We already covered those offerings back in chapter 5. Individual sins are taken care of by individual sin and guilt offerings.

Thankfully, the text tells us what the Day of Atonement is for:

“Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary from the Israelites’ impurities and from their transgressions for all their sins; and so he must do for the tent of assembly, which dwells with them in the midst of their impurities. And no person shall be in the tent of assembly when he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family and for all of Israel’s assembly. “Then he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh, and he shall make atonement for it; and he shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood, and he shall put it all around on the altar’s horns. And he shall spatter some of the blood on it seven times with his finger, and he shall cleanse it and consecrate it from the Israelites’ impurities. “And he shall finish making atonement for the sanctuary and the tent of assembly and the altar; then he shall present the living goat.”
‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭16‬:‭16‬-‭20‬ ‭LEB‬‬

The Day of Atonement is about cleansing the sanctuary itself from the sins and impurities of the people.

There are strict instructions for Aaron- so he won’t die. It’s like the caution needed when an engineer goes inside a nuclear reactor. This is the ONE time per year when the high priest goes behind the inner veil into the Most Holy place. God is in that space. We learn that He appears as a cloud hovering over the Atonement Cover. (God seems to have a thing for clouds. ☁️) Aaron will burn incense and sprinkle blood from two sacrifices.

One sacrifice is a sin offering for Aaron and his family of priests. The other is the sin offering for the Tabernacle itself.

Then there’s the goat that is sent to Azazel. In some translations it is called the “scapegoat.”

I encourage you to take 8.5 minutes to watch this incredibly helpful video of Dr. Michael Heiser explaining the purpose of sending a goat to Azazel.

I’m no expert here, but I do know that the 2nd Temple period writing we know as “First Enoch” speaks of Azazel.

This name was listed among the fallen Angels that took part in the goings-on of Genesis 6. And even though he wasn’t listed as one of the 19 leaders, he seems to have outdone most of them in teaching secret things to humanity.

“And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working with them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all coloring tinctures.” 1 Enoch 8:1

(Other angels speaking to the Lord said),

“Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in heaven, which men are striving to learn.” 1 Enoch 9:6

“And the LORD said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there forever, and cover his face that he may not see light. And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire.’” 1 Enoch 10:4-6

“And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.” 1 Enoch 10:8

So… where is Dudael?

The internet would have us believe it is: a spiritual place rather than a physical location on earth, an undisclosed physical location in a (possibly middle eastern) desert, a physical location inside the earth, a place east of Jerusalem in the Holy Land, Antarctica, or… maybe Finland.

The truth is- nobody knows. Especially not YouTubers hoping for more clicks. 😏

Regardless of what anyone thinks of First Enoch, it shows us that Jewish people, (for sure by the time of the 2nd Temple period) understood Azazel as not only as a compound word meaning departure-goat, but also a proper name for an entity involved in the Genesis 6 rebellion.

So what does this have to do with the Day of Atonement? Well… It’s as if Azazel (and the rest of the fallen angels) gave mankind a “gift.” The Day of Atonement is a group of humanity sending it back with a note that says, “No thanks.”

I’m one of those people who believe the “appointed times” of Israel are a prophetic map relating to the work of Christ. Jesus fulfilled the 3 spring feasts at His first coming. He fulfilled them ON THE VERY DAY. He was the Passover lamb, the Unleavened Bread, and the First Fruits of the Resurrection. Then the Holy Spirit came and fulfilled the summer Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) ON THE VERY DAY.

That’s 4 out of 7. The odds are extremely high that Jesus will fulfill the final 3 fall feasts ON THE VERY DAY. They are The Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles.

Bearing in mind that the Day of Atonement is about removing sin from sacred space, let’s look at Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower:

“He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭37‬-‭43‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In Revelation 19 we see Jesus riding a white horse to earth to drive the evil inhabitants out of His world and straight to destruction. He echoes the work of Joshua driving out the evil-doers from Yahweh’s land, but this time it is global in scope. When Christ returns, the whole world will become sacred space as was originally intended. Sin will be sent away. Never to return.