Scapegoats, Atonement and Leftover Sins

The important chapter of Leviticus 16 starts out with an explanation that seems far afield of what the chapter is about—the reason for the deaths of Aharon’s two sons!

There seem to be at least two reasons why the sons of Aharon were stricken when they offered strange fire before YHVH. This chapter starts out with G-d speaking to Moshe about it. The chapter that outlines the day of Atonement (Yom Kipper) deals first with the reason this death happened and the cautions that must be taken in all future instances where someone comes into the Holy Presence of YHVH—how to protect oneself when coming into the Sanctuary. The death of Nadav and Abihu is used as the touchstone for this festival day.

What did Nadav and Abihu do wrong? We know that there is an inference in Leviticus 10 that the sons of Aharon had drunk too much alcohol prior to the incident, which confused their rational thinking and made them think “I’ll do it my way” when offering incense before YHVH. Why does this appear to be fact?

9.“YHVH spoke to Aharon (this time HE spoke directly to Aharon, not Moshe, as if the Eternal needed to explain something to the one who lost his sons) saying; Do not drink intoxicating wine, you and your sons with you when you come into the tent of meeting, THAT YOU DO NOT DIE,–this is an eternal decree for your generations. 10. In order to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and between the contaminated and the pure, 11. and to teach the children of Israel all the decrees that YHVH had spoken to them through Moshe.”

But this is apparently not all that went wrong, though it seems to be the main reason behind what caused their deaths. Verse 3 seems to delve deeper than the translation “I will be sanctified through those who are nearest to me.” I like this alternate translation: “I will be sanctified by those who come near to me…” In other words, there was a protocol for every priest who should come before the Most High Eternal King of the Universe. Just like an earthly king, nobody is to enter the chamber of the king without a proper invitation and proper protocol. Part of this included using the set apart, holy fire and the specified incense, the proper clothing, etc.

Many have thought of YHVH that this was a cruel act and “why would a loving G-d do such a thing? But let us add another layer to our reasoning. If indeed an earthly king would chop off a person’s head for entering the chamber without permission, etc. (example, Queen Esther and her brave entrance before Ahashverus) how much more the King of kings should require respect in this matter! Yet beyond this we think of the time when Moshe came down from communing with YHVH on the mountain and he had a radiant glow on his face that the people could not bear. I like to think of this as a concentration of the energy field that surrounds the presence of YHVH. We know very little about our G-d but we can extract from the stories in Tanakh that He is the source of life and as the Creator, this extreme energy is too much for humanity. Think of other times…when the glory filled the Tabernacle and no one was allowed to be within it’s precincts.

So let me ask you, if you were to enter into a nuclear chamber, would you need to wear protective clothing? Of Course! And so the divine instructions were clear as to protocol for those who should venture to come near.

Chapter 16 gives further instructions: “2 ff…And YHVH said to Moshe: Speak to Aharon, your brother—he shall not come at all times into the Sanctuary, within the Curtain (the Most Holy Place) in front of the Cover that is upon the Ark, so that he should not die; for in a cloud will I appear upon the Ark-cover. With this shall Aharon come into the Sanctuary:…” 1. A young bull for a sin offering, 2. and a ram for a burnt offering, 3. a sacred linen tunic, 4. linen Breeches, 5. a linen sash, 6. A linen turban on his head, Bathe himself before donning these sacred vestments.”

(Why linen? Can that be a material that does not absorb energy? As a matter of observance, linen is worn by people of the desert so they can remain cool in the hot sun. Perhaps there is a connection here!

Later in Tanakh, when describing the dress of the priests, the prophet Ezekiel in Chapter 44:18 says:

“They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.” It seems clear that something is absorbed by linen which allows a person not to overheat from the sun or the Divine presence. But we must not say that Linen is all that is needed for the person had to be sanctified in other ways. He had to take a bath. He had to offer a sin offering, etc.

If we look at it this way, we see a loving G-d who will not tolerate the destruction of His children by allowing them in His presence without protection.

Now let us take a look at the sacrificial animals that were to serve for the yearly day of Atonement.

Aharon (in future times; the High Priest) was to come with a bull for his own sin offering to “provide atonement for himself and his household (at this point he is to confess all the sins over the bull which now becomes a carrier of these sins and stands waiting to be sacrificed,” vs 6.

Then he takes two goats and stands them before YHVH at the entrance of the tent of meeting and casts lots over them. One is taken as a sin offering for YHVH and the other for Azazel (Azazel, in modern Hebrew means “the goat that goes away” but is also used colloquially to say “goes to hell”).

Now that the animals have been set apart for sacrifice, the procedure begins. The first to be slaughtered is the High Priest’s bull and after the atonement is provided (verse 11) then the bull is slaughtered and the procedural sacrifice is carried out. At this point he must take fiery coals from the Altar of incense, mixed with incense and present them inside the curtain (of the Most Holy place) and then place this incense upon the altar so that a cloud of smoke from the incense fills the chamber, expressly “so that he not die” when coming into the Holy Presence that is upon the cover of the Ark. He takes some of the blood into the chamber and sprinkles the ark cover with this blood. Then he goes to slaughter the goat that is set apart as the “sin offering of the people” and does the same with the blood as he did with the Bull offering. Now what happens seems to be a cleansing of the entire year’s sins which have been already confessed and atoned for one by one, and day by day and which have somehow contaminated the Sanctuary. Let’s read:

Verse 16: “Thus shall he provide atonement upon the Sanctuary for the contaminations of the Children of Israel, even for their rebellious sins among all their sins: and so shall he do for the Tent of Meeting that dwells with them amid their contamination.” 17… “he shall provide atonement for himself, for his household, and for the entire congregation of Israel.”

At this point, after the people are atoned for, the High Priest begins to cleanse the sanctuary, sanctifying the altar, the Sanctuary, and the tent of meeting with the blood of the bull and the blood of the goat.

Now the question arises: If during the year, all the sins had been expiated, why the need for a final cleansing?

I am going to make perhaps a very inadequate observation here that might serve the purpose. When you wash a sink full of dishes, they are all clean. But the sink must be scoured after the dishes are done. The vessel that held the dishes still retains some of the dirt from the washing up. Maybe this works and maybe it is pretty crude, but the idea works for me. There is also the idea of a biology lab that experiments with germs. Actually maybe a better example. The lab assistants must wear special protective clothing that is usually discarded after use. After the experiments are done, the lab has to be thoroughly cleaned up. Test tubes must be sterilized, etc… So, sin is such a horrific thing that even the aftermath of an atonement must be atoned for, cleaned up and done away with. And now this brings us to the living goat.

The High priest leans his hands upon the head of the living goat and confesses all the “iniquities” of the Children of Israel and all their rebellious sins upon it and then (vs 21-22) “sends it with a designated man to the wilderness. The goat will bear upon itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land…”

So the garbage has been swept out of the Sanctuary, the Altar, and the Tent of Meeting, out of the lives of the people, and the dustbin (the scapegoat) is sent to an uninhabited land to thoroughly rid the camp of the residue. Could this be a bit like taking nuclear waste out to space? Maybe, maybe not.

That person who took the goat out to the dessert now must bathe himself and wash his clothes before entering the camp and the hides of the two animals that were sacrificed must be burned outside the camp. After this, the person who burns them has to bathe and wash his clothes to completely rid himself of even the stench of the sacrifice.

The rest of the chapter speaks of burning off the fat, and the eternal decree of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) which must be done on the 10^th day of the 7^th month.

All the Best…

Ariella Tiqvah

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I want to give credit for several of the ideas in this article to Hakham Melech ben Ya’aqov of Karaite Insights (https://karaiteinsights.com/) in his study on this chapter in which my husband Binyamin Nachshon and I participated Shabbat, 29 April 2022.