The Day of Atonement, known as Yom Kippur, is designated as a Sabbath of solemn rest, marked by the unique requirements to afflict one's soul and refrain from all work. This day includes extraordinary rituals, with the ceremony of the two goats in Leviticus 16 being central to its observance as part of a larger annual cleansing ritual performed by the high priest. The two goats together constitute a single sin offering, with each goat fulfilling a distinct role essential to the atonement process. One goat is designated for the Lord, to be sacrificed for the satisfaction of His justice and the cleansing of His house and people. The other goat, often associated with the Hebrew term azazel, meaning goat of departure or complete removal, is tasked with bearing the sins to an uninhabited land, symbolizing their complete removal from view. The selection of each goat's role is determined by casting lots, ensuring that the decision rests solely in God's hands. The live goat is presented alive before the Lord to be sanctified for its purpose, not for judgment, but to receive its charge to carry the burden of sin out of sight. This dual aspect of the sin offering addresses both the payment for sin through sacrifice and the removal of sin from consciousness, demonstrating a comprehensive atonement provided by God.

The Day of Atonement, as detailed in Leviticus 16, involves a complex ritual with multiple sacrificial animals, each serving a specific purpose in pointing to the Messiah. The Hebrew term underlying atonement is plural, kippurim, indicating that the holy day is literally the Day of Atonements, with more than one atonement taking place during the ceremony. Leviticus 16 mentions five atonements, highlighting the multifaceted nature of the ritual. In the ceremony, two goats play significant roles. The first goat's blood cleanses the holy place, while the second goat, known as the azazel, bears the iniquities of the children of Israel away to an uninhabited land, completely removing them from view. Leviticus 16:21-22 instructs the high priest to lay both hands on the azazel's head, symbolically transferring all the iniquities, transgressions, and sins of the people onto the goat. These sins remain outstanding since the blood of the first goat did not pay for them, necessitating the second goat, designated as a goat of departure or complete removal, to resolve them. The fulfillment of the live goat's role is seen in Jesus Christ, as Scripture states that our iniquity was laid on Him, He bore our sins, and He took them away, mirroring the actions of the azazel and leaving no need for any other being to accomplish this. If either purpose of the two goats—access to God or forgiveness of sins—were missing, the relationship with Him would be incomplete. The New Covenant provides both access to God and forgiveness of sins, allowing for true atonement and growth in His image. Lots were cast to determine which goat would be for the Lord and which would be sent away, as explained in Proverbs 16:33, where every decision of the lot is from the Lord. This act reminded the Israelites of the priest's fallibility and the necessity of looking to God for direction in worship. God reserved the decision of the goats' functions for Himself, dictating the terms of worship and emphasizing His role as the arbiter in the ritual of the Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement ritual in ancient Israel provides the framework for understanding a difficult but essential aspect of the Messiah's sacrifice. On Yom Kippur, the high priest performed an elaborate ceremony to cleanse the Holy Place and remove the nation's sins from God's presence. Central to this ritual was the second goat, the azazel, upon which the high priest laid both hands, confessed all the iniquities of Israel, and sent it away alive into the wilderness, bearing the nation's sins away from the Tabernacle. This live goat prefigured Christ, who fulfilled both actions described in Leviticus 16:21-22: having sins laid upon Him and bearing them away, as confirmed in Isaiah 53:4-6. Isaiah's prophecy reveals that sin's penalty involves more than death; it produces grief, sorrow, separation, and disfigurement, as seen in Christ's marred appearance and prolonged suffering rather than a swift execution. Isaiah 53:11-12 further confirms the azazel's fulfillment, teaching that the Messiah justified many by bearing their iniquities. Hebrews 9 parallels the Atonement ritual precisely, distinguishing the blood-based purification (accomplished by the first goat and bull, with no hands laid or sins confessed) from Christ's bearing of sins as the antitype of the azazel, later confirmed in Hebrews 9:28 and I Peter 2:24, where Christ bore sins in His own body on the tree, bringing spiritual healing. Paul's declaration in II Corinthians 5:21, that God made Christ "to be sin for us," reflects the Hebrew term chatta'ah, which denotes both sin and sin offering, showing that the substitute animal became identified with sin itself, just as the azazel did when sins were laid upon it. Galatians 3:13 adds that Christ became "a curse for us," fulfilling the symbolism of the azazel being sent away from God's presence, paralleling Adam's expulsion from Eden. Christ's cry of forsakenness on the cross reflects this curse, borne only until His death and resurrection. The location of Christ's suffering reinforces this typology. Unlike the standard sin offering, killed at the Tabernacle, the azazel was sent outside the camp while still alive. Likewise, Christ suffered "outside the gate," likely on the Mount of Olives, away from the Temple, symbolically fulfilling the goat's role of bearing sin away from God's presence. His death was not instantaneous like the first goat's, but prolonged, as He bore the curse and consequences of sin for hours while fully conscious. Ultimately, this typology emphasizes that Christ's sacrifice was substitutionary, sparing humanity from bearing their own sins. Though innocent, He became sin and a curse, fulfilling the shameful role of the azazel so that reconciliation with God might be possible. Accepting this reality, however uncomfortable, is essential to understanding the full scope of His redemptive work and the depth of what He endured for humanity's healing and restoration.

The Day of Atonement ritual of Leviticus 16 centers entirely on Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the whole sacrificial system, rather than on Satan. The two goats formed a single sin offering with distinct roles determined by lot. The first goat, "for the Lord," satisfied divine justice, its blood purifying the Holy Place, Tabernacle, and altar, which had been defiled simply by association with sinful Israel. The second goat, the azazel or goat of departure, bore the people's confessed sins away into an uninhabited land. This action is unambiguously fulfilled in Christ, as Isaiah 53 declares He "bore our griefs," "bore their iniquities," and "bore the sin of many." The Hebrew concept of bearing sin—lifting, carrying, and removing—is never applied to Satan in Scripture, but is fulfilled by Christ alone, who bore sins "in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24) and was "offered once to bear the sins of many" (Hebrews 9:28). Ezekiel, called "son of man" as a type of Christ, similarly bore Israel's iniquities figuratively, representing the Messiah, not the Devil. The identification of the azazel with Satan derives not from Scripture but from the Book of Enoch. Two errors arise from this misreading: first, blaming Satan as the ultimate author of human sin, and second, claiming the live goat represents only "Satan's portion" of sin needing separate atonement. Scripture refutes both. Ezekiel 18 establishes that each soul bears its own guilt—sons do not bear fathers' sins, nor can a "spiritual father" like Satan bear the sins of his spiritual children. Adam, not Satan, is identified as the one through whom sin entered the world (Romans 5:12), even though Satan deceived Eve first. Paul, wrestling with sin in Romans 7, blames indwelling sin, not the Devil, and mentions Satan only once in the entire epistle. David's psalm of repentance likewise assigns no blame to Satan. Sin is not divisible; there is no "co-sinner" concept in Scripture, and Satan cannot bear guilt that is not his own, since a substitute must be innocent of the sins placed upon it. The Hebrew term for "uninhabited land" in Leviticus 16:22 means "cut off," linked elsewhere to death and the grave (Lamentations 3:54; Isaiah 53:8; Psalm 88:5, 12). Christ was "cut off from the land of the living," bearing sins to a land of forgetfulness where they are not merely paid for but forgotten—God's forgetting being an active choice to disregard sin entirely (Jeremiah 31:34; Isaiah 43:25). This contrasts sharply with Satan, who remains visible, bound, and eventually cast into the Lake of Fire—actions incompatible with the goat's release into the wilderness. The man who led the goat away, then cleansed, parallels those who led Christ to Calvary, for whom He prayed forgiveness. Ultimately, Satan has no role in the atonement ritual; sin, not Satan's presence, separates humanity from God, and Christ alone accomplishes the removal of sin.

On the Day of Atonement, as detailed in Leviticus 16, a unique sin offering involving two goats is prescribed, differing from the typical sin offering that uses a single animal. This special ritual, also referred to as the sin offering of atonements, is commanded by God to occur annually to purge the uncleanness from the holy objects, including the horns of the golden altar of incense, which is closest to God's presence. The Hebrew word for atonement is plural in this context, indicating multiple objects are cleansed on this day, and it could be technically correct to call it the Day of Atonements. In the ritual, the high priest does not lay hands on the first goat, and its blood is taken into the Holy of Holies, indicating its purity, unlike the blood of a typical sin offering which stops at the veil. This blood is used to purify the holy objects, starting with the Mercy Seat and working outward, making atonement for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, due to the uncleanness of the people. The second goat, however, has both hands of the priest laid upon it, and the sins of the nation are confessed over it, symbolizing their transfer to the goat for removal from God's presence. This goat is not killed by the priest but is sent away, bearing the sins as a substitute, fulfilling a role of complete removal. The casting of lots determines which goat is for the Lord, meaning for His satisfaction through purging on account of the people's uncleanness, and which is for the role of complete removal. This act ensures that God's will, not the priest's, dictates the roles of the goats in this significant act of worship. The Day of Atonement focuses on the cleansing and removal of sin due to the people's uncleanness, emphasizing God's supreme choice in how atonement is accomplished.