“The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.“
Proverb 27:26
The animal above is an oryx, not a domestic goat. However, she shows the same attitude of a goat in her pose for the camera.
The significance of the goat in Scripture then, should not be underestimated.
Most have only considered goats in the Bible in a negative sense. There are certainly negative characteristics in any typology. There is no perfect type of Jesus Christ anywhere in nature or in Scripture. He is too large to fit into just one container.
Goats as the Bad Guys
The kingdom of heaven parable of the sheep and the goats is probably the most well-known (although from the perspective of Spiritual Reload, we always assume ‘well-known’ means, ‘not read enough’). Matthew 25:32-33 tells of the judgment of the nations.
“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: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”
The outcome of the left hand is foreordained to be bad. The goats are nations who will not help the Jewish people during the Tribulation. They are cast into hell.
There is the rough he goat of Daniel 8, which represented Greece, and his great horn, Alexander the Great. His conquests arranged the world for the arrival of the Antichrist.
“And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.” (Daniel 8:21)
These two types in Scripture are widely-known, and by themselves cast the goat in a rather bad light.
Good Guys in the Making
But the goat was of course one of many animals which were seen as “very good”1 in the eyes of the Creator. A goat was offered by Noah when he safely debarked on Ararat.2 A she goat was one of three special animals requested by the Lord for a sacrifice from Abram when He made the covenant with him.3 Jacob fed Isaac two kids of his father’s goats, and clothed himself in goats’ skin to steal Esau’s birthright.4 Later Jacob would earn his fortune through goats while working for Laban.5
(Note that it was goats' hair that was used to deceive Isaac. Many histories falsely allege that the descendants of Abram were African or Caucasian [Muslims and Mormons]. The thick, straight hair of the goat clearly points to Shemite lineage.)
When Joseph was sold by his brothers into Egypt, his coat was dipped in the blood of a goat to convince Jacob of his certain death.6 Joseph was by far the most illustrious type of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. As it is plain to see, the life of a goat and a man were significantly intertwined.
The children of Israel served in Egypt for 400 years. God saved and called Moses to deliver them. After He brought 9 plagues, God instituted the Passover. Exodus 12 contains the rich affirmation of “a lamb,” “the lamb,” and “your lamb” — all foreshadowing the availability, the peculiarity, and the necessity of a substitute for a man. But the Lord also gave a provision for a substitute of the substitute.
“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:”
Exodus 12:5
A kid of the goats could satisfy the need for blood in place of the firstborn. If I have ever seen that before, I never gave it the attention it deserved. With these first mentions from the Bible in mind, it is easier to see that a goat’s skin, a goat’s price, a goat’s blood, and a goat’s life serve as a substitute for a man.
Similarities of a Substitute
As we have introduced the scapegoat as a misunderstood, yet crucial part of the national atonement, it would seem that the goat may have his place as a picture of Jesus Christ. However, as the Bible developed the nature of this beast it gave the sense that we observed: as a substitute for the main thing. A kind of a larger family. Something left in place of another. In the negative sense: an imitation. In the positive sense, something that is so similar to another, that it may serve in it’s place.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”
John 1:1-2
We have observed generally the goat in Scripture, and how in this instance in Leviticus 16 –the Day of Atonement– the slain goat is a picture of Jesus Christ.7 God required there to be two goats, however, and one was selected by lot to be the scapegoat. If one is a type of Jesus Christ, what is the significance of this second goat? And what is it’s relationship to the man Christ Jesus?
I present for your consideration, that the scapegoat is a picture of the Scripture, as the slain goat is a picture of Jesus Christ. To test this comparison, let us first look at the relationship of Jesus to the Bible. Then we will be ready to try the parallel on the scapegoat.
The Word vs. the word
The life and work of Jesus Christ are inarguable facts of history. His miraculous advent is the fulfillment of thousands of years of prophecy. You and I know about Jesus because the Lord inspired and preserved His words to relate the truth of Himself. I believe in Him by faith, but that faith came by the words of God. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) My faith in the Son of God came via the word of God. They are closely connected. Let’s compare a few of their attributes.
The Man Christ Jesus
The Scriptures
He is called the Word of God. “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.”(Revelation 19:13)
The Book is called the word of God. “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (1 Peter 1:23-25)
Jesus said, “I am the way...” (John 14:6)
The Book is the way, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” Psalm 119:1
He is “…the truth” (John 14:6)
The Book is truth “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.” (John 17:17)
He is “…the life” (John 14:6)
The Book is life “…the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)
He is “that bread of life.” (John 6:48)
Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
He is “the light of the world.” (John 8:12)
David said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105
He likened Himself to “a corn of wheat” that would die to bring forth “much fruit.” (John12:24)
In the parable, “The sower soweth the word.” (Mark 4:14)
Jesus is the Word incarnate. He was able to be handled physically. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
The Book is the word in print. It is able to be handled physically. “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)
Jesus has a resurrected body that is eternal. “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)
The Book has words that are eternal. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35
You must receive Jesus Christ to be saved. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name:” (John 1:12)
You must receive the word to be saved. “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21)
Jesus Christ is masculine. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1 Timothy 2:5)
The word is masculine. “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” (Proverb 30:5 with Hebrews 4:12)
Jesus Christ was present at Creation. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1-2 with Genesis 1:1-3)
The Book was present at Creation. “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.” (Psalm 119:89 with Proverbs 8)
The Lord preserved in English Scripture accurate capitalization for the sake of differentiating the “word”– the Bible –from the “Word”–the Lord Jesus. The Book is not the Man, yet sometimes they are so close they are hard to distinguish (see Hebrews 4:12-14, Proverb 30:5, Galatians 3:8, and Romans 9:17).
Add to that the value placed upon the word by God the Father: “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” (Psalm 138:2) By God the Son, “What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:62-63a, indicating His own flesh) And by the Holy Ghost, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: … For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:19, 21) The value of the Scriptures exceeds that of the name of God, the physical body of Jesus Christ, and the experience of an audible voice from Heaven. The written words of God are more valuable to have than any one of those!
Saviour and Scripture
But the presence of one does not deny or diminish the other, rather the Scripture testifies of Christ, and Christ, when He was on earth, bore witness of the truth. Jesus said to Pilate, “To this end I was born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” To which Pilate retorted, “What is truth?” (John 18:37, 38) Pilate made the biggest blunder of his life by denying that there is a final, absolute truth in the world. That truth was around before Jesus showed up and it remained after He ascended up into Heaven. The pre-incarnate Christ called it, “The scripture of truth.” (Daniel 10:21) The presence of the Scriptures only magnifies what the Saviour accomplished on Calvary.
This is where the meaning of these two common barnyard animals begins to make sense. The offering and scapegoat. The one testifies of the other.
The Assertive Personality of the Goat
Now, a scholar in a stale library might assume that the strange operation of Leviticus 16 and turning loose a goat in the wilderness would sentence the scapegoat to Darwin’s ‘natural selection’. They assume, based on a guess about a meaning of a Hebrew word8 (and little to no farm living) that no good can come from this. And they might be correct… if the scapegoat was a scapesheep.
I phoned a shepherd who had raised both sheep and goats. He has now spent as much of his life with goats as he had with sheep. He also happens to be a pastor of a church. After 25 years of handling goats, there was one thing this shepherd was absolutely certain about: they are each a totally unique species. They require different tending, different fencing, and different socialization. In his experience, goats are much more secure and confident than sheep. They do not have as strong of a herd draw, and are prone to leave and roam on their own. When they are in the herd, there is a harsher pecking order among them than in a flock of sheep. Another emphatic difference was that they are very hoggish in the feed trough. In general, goats are more ornery, self-confident, and dominant by nature than sheep are.
So, if on Yom Kippur a sheep were shooed out of the fold, theirs would be a sad fate indeed. With no one to shear them, they would become overgrown. Outside of their fold, they would become stressed and panicked. Without a shepherd, they would certainly die.
I learned of another shepherd who lost a sheep because it got separated from its flock on the back side of his small pasture. He thinks maybe it fell asleep, or got spooked at a neighbor’s dog barking. He found it in his pond, literally within sight of his barn. Instead of going around the pond to the barn, it ran right into it. Its wool soaked up the water and it weighed it down and drowned it. Sheep are not meant to be alone. Sheep need a shepherd. A goat not so much.
According to the word of God, goats are one of four spectacles that carry on with dignity.
“There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;A greyhound;an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.”
Proverbs 30:29-31
Why, that goat ranks next to a king in the order Solomon gives. That’s pretty good for a goat! I believe this gives enough reason to support the typology of the scapegoat. In the final installment, we will read the precious few verses we have, and see if the type holds up.
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