"Goat, Goat, Goat, Sheep"

Colossians 2:
16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

When God instituted his sabbaths and holy days, he set them forth as shadows of Jesus. In other words, they were prophetic in nature. Every time Israel observed them, they were foretelling an event in Jesus' life. Jesus died on Passover, as our Passover lamb. He rose from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits. The Holy Spirit came at the feast of Pentecost (Jesus delivered his new law written on fleshly tables of the heart on the day Moses delivered the Ten Commandments written on tables of stone.)

There are three other feasts that have not yet been fulfilled. That is because they have to do with the second coming. The first of these is the Feast of Trumpets of which no man knew the day or the hour on which the last trump would sound. There is the Feast of Atonement, then the Feast of Tabernacles. Just as the first three happened on the calendar day, so shall the last three.

Consider the Feast of Atonement. It is taken by some to have already been fulfilled, because this is the day the Levitical high priest made sacrificial atonement for the sins of Israel, and Jesus already did that for us at Passover, as delineated in the book of Hebrews. But this was not the purpose of the feast of atonement, and Jesus was not of the Levitical priesthood. The type of the feast, the shadow the feast held, was not for cleansing sin, but for afflicting ones soul (Leviticus 23:27,29). To put the focus on the right place, think not the repenting of your sin, but the repenting of yourself.

On the tenth day of the seventh Hebrew month was the feast of atonement, a shadow of things to come. The fulfillment of that day -which happened eight to nine days after the last trump blew- will be the judgement seat of Christ. It will occur on that day. God graced us with a prophecy that describes this event:

Zechariah 12:
9. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
12. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; ....
14. All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

The house of David refers to the church, the inhabitants of Jerusalem refers to natural Israel (Zech 12:8). (You really need to read this entire passage to grasp the full import of it, but there is not room in this blog. Zechariah 14 reveals the what the shadow of the feast of tabernacles is about.) Jesus is head of the house of David, heir to his throne, whose house are we, the believers (Hebrews 3:6).

The description in Zechariah 12 of this day is one of personal encounter between Jesus himself, and each individual.

But Jesus himself also described this day.

Matthew 25:
31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32. And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36. Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38. When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39. Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Why do I say this is the feast of atonement? Because it is at the feast of atonement that the high priest cast lots to separate out the good goat from the bad goat.

Leviticus 16:
7. And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
9. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
10. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
.... 21. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess 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 shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
22. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

The word "scapegoat" in the Hebrew just means "the goat that goes away." (They translate it "escapegoat" since the other goat gets sacrificed into the service of the Lord.)

Looking at the shadow, it is of importance to note that the High Priest did not decide which was goat was which, but rather, God did through the casting of lots. So too, shall it be at the judgement seat of Christ. You will notice that both the sheep and the goats were caught by surprise as to why they were in that category. That means, the Holy Ghost didn't know either, or he would have told them. It is the Father who will choose.

But why did Jesus use sheep and goats, but the shadow used two goats?

If a sheep and a goat had been used in the shadow, there would have been no need to cast lots. The point is, they both look alike! It was only after the priest casts his lot that he knew which was which. That is the way it is with Christians: you can't tell which are the sheep, and which are the goats. That is why Jesus will have to divide them.

So how do you know which you are? Notice that the sheep in Jesus' story didn't realize they had done it? Notice that the goats all thought they had? But the deciding factor was whether or not the people had walked in love.

1 John 4:
10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
12. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
18. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19. We love him, because he first loved us.
20. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
21. And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Are you a sheep, or are you a goat? Do you fear God's judgement? Then you are not yet made perfect in love. Perfect love casts out fear, because love does not commit sin against the Father: it has no need to fear.

There are many passages in 1 John that display the difference between sheep and goats, but I chose this one because it also tells you how to become a sheep if you are not one, and how to stay a sheep if you are. If your love is not made perfect, you will not have boldness on the day of judgement. You will have fear. And fear brings torment.

In verse 17, John makes a statement that you will not understand unless you understand how faith works. John was speaking to people that were already well versed in faith, and they would immediately recognize it for what it is. Those who do not understand faith will find it confusing, and assume John is talking in riddles. Let me rephrase it for you: "This is how our love is made perfect: "As Jesus is, so are we in this world."

That's right, it is a faith confession, a faith command. How is Jesus? He is dead to sin, and alive to righteousness (Romans 6:10). In verse 17, John is telling you how to walk in love. "The lust of my eye is dead. It died when Jesus died. I see what Jesus sees. The lust of my flesh is dead. I want what Jesus wants. I am not the lord of my life. I do what Jesus does." As Jesus said, "Where I am, there my servant will be also."

St John:
24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
25. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
26. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Is my interpretation of the feast of atonement correct? Is the scapegoat really the goat of Jesus' parable? It does not really matter. The day will come when Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats. He himself said so. Both the sheep and the goats will call him Lord. But the goats will be cast without the camp to be destroyed. And Jesus was very clear to say that the deciding difference was whether or not we loved one another.

All believers have the love of God shed abroad in their hearts (Romans 5:5). But it is not perfected in all of them. You can use your faith to perfect that love. "As he is, so am I. The love of God is shed abroad in my heart: I obey it always. I do always do those things that please him."
Use your faith to let the love of God transform you into the image of his Son (Romans 8:29).

Then, when Jesus passes over you, he will be saying, "Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep."

Copyright © 2009 Burley Ward. All rights reserved.