Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 16-18.

Immediately after the death of Aaron’s sons, which happened during their ordination period, God gave Aaron additional instructions regarding entering His presence in the Tabernacle.  These instructions also contain the sacrifices for the Day of Atonement for the entire nation of Israel.  It is not clear to me if these instructions meant that the only time Aaron was to enter into the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle was on the Day of Atonement, or if he was not to enter until after the Day of Atonement (which would apply to his successors as high priest, they were not to enter the Most Holy Place until after they had first made the Day of Atonement sacrifices).  In any case, this passage is where the idea of a scapegoat comes from.  The scapegoat as described here is one who bears the blame for the sin of others, sin of which they are not guilty, specifically, it is a goat which is incapable of being guilty of the sins it bears.  The symbolism of the scapegoat here involves carrying the sins away from us.  The New Testament presents Jesus as filling the role of both goats in this passage.  He was sacrificed on the cross for our sins, and He carried those sins away from us despite being entirely innocent of them.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.