FROM CBN 

Jesus at the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles)

God gave the biblical festivals to teach the people about His character and to help us understand His plan of salvation. But all Christians who have been "grafted in" to the olive tree (Romans 11:17) share our rich heritage and roots. So as we approach the last of the High Holy Days, we hope you will find it meaningful. The Feast of Tabernacles is an eight day festival, on the seventh month of God's calendar

The Gospels record that our Lord Jesus not only celebrated the festival, but He took traditional elements of the celebration and applied them to His own life and mission. We find this particularly in John 7 and 8 where Jesus uses two traditional symbols from the Feast of Tabernacles celebration, water and light, to help the people understand who He is and what He offers.

In order to understand Jesus' teaching here, we need a bit of background fromLeviticus 23. There, Moses instructed the people that the first day and the eighth day of the festival were to be special days of rest, set apart from the others. But the seventh day became known as Hoshana Rabba, "the Great Day." My people developed special observances and traditions to mark this special day in Israel. The most spectacular of these was the water drawing ceremony.

Imagine a whole parade of worshipers and flutists led by the priest to the pool of Siloam (where Jesus told the blind man to bathe his eyes after He put clay over them). The priest has two golden pitchers. One is for wine. He fills the other with water from the pool. As the flutes continue to play, a choir of Israelites chants Psalm 118. The whole procession heads back to the Temple through the Water Gate. A trumpet sounds as the priest enters the Temple area. He approaches the altar where two silver basins are waiting. He pours wine into one of the basins as a drink offering to the Lord and water from the pool of Siloam into the other.

The whole ceremony, with the parade and the flutes and the singing, was such a joyful occasion that one of the ancient rabbis wrote: "Anyone who has not seen this water ceremony has never seen rejoicing in his life."

The ceremony was to thank God for His bounty and to ask Him to provide rain for the crops in the coming year. Today, many people take water for granted. We simply turn the tap and voilà—water! Not so in the Middle East during the first century. Water was often scarce. The people were very much aware of their dependence on God for the rains that were so vital for the preservation of life. No wonder the prophets came to see rain as a symbol of salvation and the work of God's Holy Spirit:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean… (Ezekiel 36:25).

No wonder then that Jesus stood in the Temple on this great day of the feast and cried out:

If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38).

The Apostle John commented on this speech in verse 39.

But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

As the rain falls to nourish the crops, so the Ruach ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit, falls upon those who have identified with Jesus in His death and resurrection. It is that Spirit that refreshes us, and causes us to grow in grace and in faith. It is that Spirit that allows us to experience Immanuel, God with us. That Spirit is available to us today and every day.

Y'shua's promise to give mayim chayim, living water, prompted even greater discussion and debate during the last day of the festival of Sukkot. The leaders grew angry because the Temple guards refused their order to arrest Jesus. Even when one of their own, Nicodemus, came to Jesus' defense, they still dismissed His claims saying, "A prophet does not come out of Galilee" (verse 52). Apparently, those leaders had forgotten about Isaiah chapter 9:

There will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; of those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned (Isaiah 9:1-2).

And that brings us to the second Sukkot symbol that Jesus used to point to Himself as the fulfillment of Scripture. God had indeed promised that a great light would shine out of Galilee. Y'shua reminded His critics of that powerful and prophetic claim, by using an image that would have been very fresh in the memories of all who heard. Light.

You see, at the end of the first day of the Feast, the Temple was gloriously illuminated. According to the Mishnah (part of the oral tradition of the rabbis), gigantic candelabras stood within the court of the women. Each of the four golden candelabras is said to have been 50 cubits high. A cubit is somewhere between 18 and 22 inches, so we're talking about candelabras that were about 75 feet tall! Each candelabra had four branches, and at the top of every branch there was a large bowl. Four young men bearing 10 gallon pitchers of oil would climb ladders to fill the four golden bowls on each candelabra. And then the oil in those bowls was ignited.

Picture sixteen beautiful blazes leaping toward the sky from these golden lamps. Remember that the Temple was on a hill above the rest of the city, so the glorious glow was a sight for the entire city to see. In addition to the light, Levitical musicians played their harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets to make joyful music to the Lord. What a glorious celebration! The light was to remind the people of how God's Shekinah glory had once filled His Temple. But in the person of Jesus, God's glory was once again present in that Temple. And He used that celebration to announce that very fact. He was teaching in the court of women just after the Feast, perhaps standing right next to those magnificent candelabras when He declared to all who were gathered there,

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12).

Many refused to have their own darkness exposed by that light. But there were those who were drawn to the light, whose hearts burned with the truth of Jesus.

*The Scriptures actually speak of the Feast of Tabernacles as being seven days, but it also speaks of an eighth day on which a holy convocation is to be held, with sacrifices made and no traditional work done on that day. See Leviticus 23:34-36.

Exclusive: Craige McMillan notes how the mobs fail to do what the 1st Amendment requires

By Craige McMillan

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

That was the First Amendment to our United States Constitution, folks. There's nothing in there about burning down businesses, courthouses, cities or forests. Attacking or killing people you don't like doesn't seem to be in there either.

Even if the protests were "mostly peaceful," or even entirely peaceful, they would still be illegal. Why? Without a petition, the government has nothing to fix.

The purpose of the assembly part of the First Amendment is to petition (ask/demand) that the government redress (consider/change course) and fix whatever your assembly presents to the government as its grievances. Doesn't mean they will, but you have every right to ask.

Putting out a snarky tweet directed at a politician you don't like isn't petitioning the government. Staging mob action for the television networks so they can sell more advertising isn't petitioning the government. Beating people in the street or in their cars for the cameras isn't petitioning the government. Even Facebook posts that escape the censors aren't petitions to the government.

What we are seeing today are not assemblies before the government, petitions for change, or even articulated grievances. What we are seeing is the reality of what $12,000 per student education budgets, teachers' unions, education credentialing degrees embedded within public schools and the merger of education and day care brings about.

If any of the rioters, looters, or elected enablers had ever attended even a lowly one-room schoolhouse on the prairie, with just one teacher for all grade levels, they would know this. Instead they were coddled by loving, leftist parents who paid for their children's "education" at big-name colleges and universities, trusting the schools to do the dirty work of communist indoctrination. When the insurrection is put down, and the call comes, they will have no clue how their child ended up at the morgue.

Ditto for any of the celebrities with massive paid social media followings. It appears that for many their only "education" was paying homage to Harvey Weinstein and his kin. Jeffery Epstein demonstrated that politicians were no more difficult to own. In the end, the law is a poor substitute for good, moral behavior and concern for our fellow men and women.

WND.COM

(Image courtesy Pixabay)

A hotel in Northern Ireland has apologized to a Christian minister for halting a marriage seminar that was underway in one of its conference rooms and evicting the attendees.

Rev. Harry Coulter of Carrickfergus Reformed Church had reserved a room at the Balmoral Hotel for a "Marriage Matters" event that, among other topics, addressed the imposition of same-sex marriage on Northern Ireland.

MORE

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday agreed to hear a full court appeal of a case in which a juror was dismissed for stating he received divine guidance during trial deliberations.

Former Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown is asking for  a retrial of her fraud case, arguing U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan wrongly removed a juror for telling other jurors he had prayed for guidance from the Holy Spirit and believed Brown was innocent.

More

THE SABBATH

The Day of Atonement just ended, so what comes next in God's Holy day Schedule?  It's a week long celebration of feasting and fun called Tabernacles, or tents...  It when God's people where told to live in temporary tents for 8 days.  Why? You may ask.  The reason is that this celebration is central to the message Jesus brought forth!

Feast of Tabernacles

In John 1:14 we read,

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt (Greek word we translated “dwelt” is “tabernacle”) among us.

It was 3,500 years ago / 1,500 before Christ / God instructed Moses to build the tabernacle.

Tabernacle was a tent. “The tent of meeting.”

The tabernacle was filled with symbolism.

Something that stands for something else by reason of relationship, association, resemblance; a visible sign of something invisible. The lion is a symbol of courage.

Tabernacle / everything in it/ a symbol / or a type / picture / an object lesson / picture story Person / work/ Jesus /salvation.

Theologically, it is of immense importance; Genesis only 5 words are given to the creation of billions of galaxies.

Gen. 1:16, “He made the stars also.”

For the tabernacle, its construction, its significance, 50 chapters.

The tabernacle also gives us a glimpse of what the throne room in heaven is like! Heb. 9:24…

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

One of the lessons God wanted to teach was that He wanted to be in the midst of His people.

The Tabernacle was situated right in the middle of the Israelite encampment. When the Tabernacle was set up, the nation of Israel surrounded it. Three tribes set up their tents to the North, three to the South, three to the East, and three to the West.

And right in the middle of them all was God’s tent… His tabernacle.

But even when the people moved from place to place and the tabernacle had to be torn down and moved, EVEN THEN, God’s Tabernacle was the center of His people.

Read CHRIST in THE TABERNACLE

The Scapegoat by William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Bob Barney- The Plain Truth

Today is the Day of Atonement, a day in Old Testament times with great symbolism and ceremony about the forgiveness of sin, and restoration to God's presence for all mankind. In Leviticus 16, we read about the Day of Atonement, and learn some fascinating facts often overlooked. For one thing, we read that the Day of Atonement is a 24 hour period covering two days of the week. Contrary to the Jewish practice of beginning the day in the evening, God's Day begins in the morning, at sunrise. In Leviticus 23:32 we can clearly read that the day of fasting and prayer starts at sundown on the 9^th day of the 7^th month, and ends 24 hours later on sundown on the 10^th of the month. 32 This will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day.”

The following is from The Plain Truth's Red Letter Bible, where every word of Christ is in RED, including in the Old Testament!  

ORDER HERE

The Prophets:

Isaiah 53

THE SUFFERING CHRIST:

            The part of Isaiah not usually read by Jews today. It is about the suffering Christ.

1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD(Jesus)'s power been revealed?

                        The answer to this is Christians. JOHN 12:38   Romans 10:16

2 He grew up in his presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him.

                        Jesus was ordinary looking! In fact, people could not pick him out in a crowd. Even though he taught everyday in the Temple, the High Priest needed Judas to point Jesus out to the soldiers! He was that ordinary          looking!

3 He was despised and rejected. A man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. He was despised like one from whom people turn their faces, and we didn't consider Him to be worth anything.

                        Jews today, claim their Messiah would come as a king. This shows that he was to come like Jesus        did! Adam his his face from Jesus, so did the Jews, so do many today!  Matthew 27:30    Hebrews 4:15                John 1:10

4 He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God(Elohim/Theos) had wounded Him, beat Him, and punished Him.

                        The Jews believed him to be a sinner, beat him and killed him.  Matthew 8:17     1 Peter 2:24

                        literally, "But yet He hath taken (or borne) our sicknesses," that is, they who despised Him because of His human infirmities ought rather to have esteemed Him on account of them; for thereby "Himself took           OUR infirmities" (bodily diseases). So Matthew 8:17quotes it. In the Hebrew for "borne," or took, there is probably the double notion, He took on Himself vicariously (so Isaiah 53:5Isaiah 53:6Isaiah 53:8Isaiah       53:12 ), and so He took away; His perfect humanity whereby He was bodily afflicted for us, and in all our       afflictions ( Isaiah 63:9, Hebrews 4:15) was the ground on which He cured the sick; so that Matthew's          quotation is not a mere accommodation. See Note 42 of ARCHBISHOP MAGEE, Atonement. The Hebrew        there may mean to overwhelm with darkness; Messiah's time of darkness was temporary (Matthew 27:45),       answering to the bruising of His heel; Satan's is to be eternal, answering to the bruising of his head (compare          Isaiah 50:10). 
                        carried . . . sorrows--The notion of substitution strictly. "Carried," namely, as a burden. "Sorrows,"     that is, pains of the mind; as "griefs" refer to pains of the body ( Psalms 32:10, 38:17). Matthew 8:17might       seem to oppose this: "And bare our sicknesses." But he uses "sicknesses" figuratively for sins, the cause of             them. Christ took on Himself all man's "infirmities;" so as to remove them; the bodily by direct miracle,           grounded on His participation in human infirmities; those of the soul by His vicarious suffering, which did      away with the source of both. Sin and sickness are ethically connected as cause and effect ( Isaiah 33:24,     Psalms 103:3, Matthew 9:2, John 5:14, 5:15). (Jamieson)

5 He was pierced for our lawlessness. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace.  He was whipped, and {by His wounds} we were healed!

                        He was killed because of sin. Sin is the breaking of the Law! Christ did not come to take away the       Law, but to take away the punishment for breaking the Law. The Law is still in force and always be – we are   freed from the PENALTY of sin.   Romans 4:25  1 Peter 2:24

                        -a bodily wound; not mere mental sorrow; literally, "pierced" as I used here; minutely appropriate to   Messiah, whose hands, feet, and side were pierced ( Psalms 22:16). The Margin, wrongly, from a Hebrew        root, translates, "tormented."

6 We have all strayed like sheep. Each one of us has turned to go his own way, and the LORD(Jesus) has laid all our sins on Him.

                        We are all sinners (1 John).  In fact, if we say we have no sin, we are liars and the truth is not in us!    Why is there suffering today? This is the answer. We have all gone our own way, a way opposite of God's Way           (HIS LAW). And death and sorrow is our reward! Christ came to pay off this debt-with His blood. In         2 Corinthians 5:21; He was not merely a sin offering (which would destroy the antithesis to   "righteousness"), but "sin for us"; sin itself vicariously; the representative of the aggregate sin of all    mankind; not sins in the plural, for the "sin" of the world is one ( Romans 5:16Romans 5:17); thus we are      made not merely righteous, but righteousness, even "the righteousness of God." The innocent was punished        as if guilty, that the guilty might be rewarded as if innocent. This verse could be said of no mere martyr.

7 He was abused and punished, yet He never said a word! He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. He was like a sheep that is silent when its wool is cut off.

                                    He is our Passover lamb!            John 19:9

8 He was arrested, taken away, and judged. Who would have thought that He would be removed from the world? He was killed because of my people's sins.

                        Matthew 27:11-25    removed from the world-- He is in Heaven

                        Acts 8:33; translate as the Septuagint: "In His humiliation His judgment (legal trial) was taken          away"; the virtual sense of the Hebrew as rendered by LOWTH and sanctioned by the inspired writer of Acts; He was treated as one so mean that a fair trial was denied Him ( Matthew 26:5914:55-59). HORSLEY     translates, "After condemnation and judgment He was accepted."

9 He was laid in a tomb like a criminal. He was put there with the rich when He died, although He had done nothing violent and had never spoken a lie.

                        Christ fulfilled this by dying (by crucifying Him with two thieves, Matthew 27:38)  and being buried in a rich man's unused tomb; his uncle two rich men honored Him at His death, Joseph of Arimathæa. Christ  never lied, only truth was in Him. The Devil is a liar and no truth is in him.

10Yet it pleased theLORD(Jesus) to punish Him with suffering. 

When YOU{God the father} make His life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings, He will have a multitude of children, many heirs. The will of the LORD(Jesus) will succeed through Him.

                        They were voluntarily borne by Messiah, in order that thereby He might "do Jehovah's will" ( John      6:38 , Hebrews 10:7Hebrews 10:9), as to man's redemption; so at the end of the verse, "the pleasure of the     LORD shall prosper in His hand."

                        The Margin rightly makes the prophet in the name of Yahweh Himself to speak in this verse.

11When He sees all that is accomplished by His anguish, He will be satisfied. And because of what He has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for He will bear all their sins.

                        Yahwehis still speaking according to Jamieson. my . . . servant--Messiah ( Isaiah 42:1, 52:13).

12 So I will give Him a share among the mighty, and He will divide the prize with the strong, because He poured out His life(soul-nephesh) in death and He was counted with  the sinners. He carried the sins of many. He intercedes for those who are lawless {sinners}.

                        IN DEATH-- Jesus died, just as we do. His soul DIED! The word here in Hebrew is nephesh, translated “soul” by the KJV. The same word used in Genesis chapter 1 “and man became a living soul-nephesh.  The best translation for nephesh is a living being- and when speaking of death, the best translation is dead being, or as I translated this here “his life in death.” If not for the power of the FATHER and the resurrection, Christ would still be in the grave awaiting the resuurection of the dead. We see later that ONLY Christ, thus far, has been “born again,” or resurrected from the dead. All of the rest of mankind are still in their graves sleeping! See 1 Corinthians 15.

                        Isaiah 53 plainly speaks of the suffering Messiah – and only Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophecy- HE IS OUR LORD and SAVIOR.

By Bob Barney

THE TRUE DAY OF ATONEMENT IS COMING TONITE AND LAST until Tomorrow evening the 25th until 6PM ! (It is always on the night of September 24th and the day of the 25th!)  Don't be fooled by pagan traditions... Read about it here and prepare for it! It's the least you can do for your God, and the one who suffered and died 4 U!

Forward:  Most of the following is from Wikipedia and is not my words. The basic fact is that this holy day is not only biblical, it should be followed today, and it will be required in the millennium for all to observe. The fact that our position on the calendar differs substantially from the Jewish calendar and most of the Sabbath observing world is based on what the Bible itself claims about God's calendar. The lunar/solar calendar observed by most Jews is simply not Biblical and in fact, is of Babylonian heritage. It is a different calendar than Moses followed, nor is it the calendar that the  Essenes followed. It is very doubtful Jesus followed it, as his Passover was a full day before the Jews. I know the claim that the Last Supper was instituted a day before the real Passover (as Herbert Armstrong maintained) but the Bible plainly shows that Jesus' last supper was on Passover! Clearly, the Jews were not observing the same one. Historians such as Roland  DeVaux have proven quite convincingly that the ancient Hebrew calendar was only 360 days long, comprising of 12-30 day months. Five and every 4  years, 6 days were added   at the end of the year to make up for the shortfall created by a 360 year in a real world time of 365-1/4 day solar year. 

Foreward by Bob Barney: I realize that Jews follow a different Day of Atonement, but as I addressed at Passover time, God's Calendar is not the Jewish Calendar of today. I won't bother to get into that subject now, but for Christians, understanding God's Holy Days are very important to understand just who Christ is and why the so-called Old Testament is vital to understand the real Jesus and what our future holds. Starting tonight until the end of Wednesday Day (at sunset) is God's Day of Atonement.... The following is an article written 50 years ago by Herbert Armstrong...

Day of Atonement, or the Fast

Next, let us read Leviticus 23:26, 27, 31-32: "And the LORD spake ... saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls [fast] ....Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath." Wonderful mystery! At-one-ment with God! Man at last made one with his Maker!

     Again, in the 16th chapter of Leviticus, verses 29 and 31, where the symbolism of the Day of Atonement is explained, we find it instituted a holy Sabbath to be kept forever: "And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you ....It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever."

Meaning Pictured by Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement pictures a wonderful and great event, to take place after the Second Coming of Christ, which the world is in total ignorance of because it has failed to see the true significance of these annual Sabbaths holy unto the Lord. It has failed to keep them as a constant reminder of God's plan of redemption!

     The symbolism is all expressed in the account of the events of the Day of Atonement, as carried out before the crucifixion, in the 16th chapter of Leviticus.

     Verse 5 -- "And he [Aaron, or the high priest] shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering ...."

     Verse 6 -- The high priest offered a sin offering for HIMSELF and his house.

      Verses 7 and 8 -- "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; the one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat" (margin, Hebrew, Azazel).

     Now because this has not been understood -- because there are many different views and opinions and ideas and explanations of this, we here pause sufficiently to go into this in some detail. Let us, therefore, regardless of our own former convictions, study with open minds, without prejudice, proving all things. We want truth!

     The key to the whole explanation lies in a correct understanding of the meaning of Azazel. This word does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament. The Comprehensive Commentary has: "Spencer, after the oldest opinions of the Hebrews and Christians, thinks Azazel is the name of the Devil, and so Rosen ....The word scapegoat signifies the goat which went away." The One Volume Commentary says: "The word 'scapegoat' in the A.V. is not a translation." It is merely an interpretation of the supposed meaning by the translators.

     True, the English word "scapegoat" signifies "one who bears blame or guilt for others." But "scapegoat" is an English word, and is not a translation of the Hebrew word Azazel. The word "scapegoat," and the meaning attached to this English word, is not a translation of the Hebrew word Azazel, and therefore it is not the word inspired originally. Continues the One Volume Commentary: "Azazel is understood to be the name of one of those malignant demons."

Types of Christ and Satan

These two goats were, of course, types. Notice, it was necessary to be decided by lot, which one was qualified to represent Christ, and which Azazel. Some say BOTH were qualified. The scripture does not say this. Let us not assume it. Now a "lot" is a solemn appeal to God to decide a doubtful matter. It is a sacred religious ceremony. It included a supernatural act of God. That is why lotteries and gambling are of the devil -- an actual profaning of a holy service appealing to God.

     Notice, men were unable to decide which goat was qualified to represent Christ. This involved an appeal to God to decide! "One lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel." Now one lot was for the Lord -- this goat typified Christ -- but the other lot was not for the Lord, did not typify Christ, but Azazel -- Satan! These words most naturally suggest that Azazel is the name of a person, here contrasted to the Eternal! Notice the contrast -- one for the Lord, the other for Azazel.

     Now the goat which God selected -- through lot, to represent Christ -- was slain, as Christ, its anti type was slain. But the other goat selected by God to represent Azazel was not slain, but was driven, alive, into an uninhabited wilderness. It was not a resurrected goat, symbolizing the resurrected Christ, for it never died. The uninhabited wilderness, to which this goat was driven, cannot, as we shall show, represent heaven, where Christ went. Heaven is neither uninhabited, nor a wilderness.

     After God designated which goat represented Christ and which Azazel, the high priest (verse 11) killed the bullock for a sin offering for himself, then took the burning coals of fire and the sweet incense into the Holy of Holies, also sprinkling the blood of the bullock before the mercy seat, typical of the throne of God, covering the tables of testimony (the law). This the high priest was required to do in order to purify himself to officiate, and to represent Christ as High Priest. In the anti type, this was not done, for Christ, our High Priest, had no need of this purification as the typical substitutionary priests did.

     Now the Levitical high priest was ready to go out and officiate.

     Next, the goat which God selected by lot to represent Christ, as the sin offering of the people, was killed. Thus the sins of the people were borne by the goat, even as Christ, finally, once for all, bore our sins on the cross. But Christ rose again from the dead, and ascended to the throne of God in heaven.

     Now, who, or what, from this point on in the Levitical ceremony, typified the resurrected Christ, who went to heaven? Some say the goat representing Azazel. Let us see.

     The risen Christ, now at the right hand of the throne of God in heaven (I Peter 3:22), is called -- what? Our High Priest! What was the earthly type of God's throne? The uninhabited wilderness? No! That is where the live goat went!

     The earthly type of God's throne was the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. After Christ died, He went to the heavenly mercy seat interceding for us, as our High Priest. "... Entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec" (Heb. 6:19-20).

     Now, again, who, or what, in the Levitical ceremony of the Day of Atonement, typified the risen Christ, our High Priest, who went within the veil to God's throne in heaven? The one goat had been slain. It represented the slain Christ. It can no longer represent the risen Christ. The slain Christ was not our High Priest, because the Levitical priesthood, with its high priest, did not end until Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven as a High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. But the risen Christ was High Priest. Now WHO took this part in the Levitical ceremonies, temporarily re-enacted year by year, on this eternal Holy Day? Why, so obviously a child could see, it was the Levitical high priest, not the goat representing Azazel!