Release

Today’s Bible Reading: LEVITICUS 14:33-16:34

Leviticus 16:22

The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

For many of us the weight of our sins is unbearable. Although we have confessed them and been cleansed from them, we find it hard to remove the guilt and shame that still clings to us because of them. We realize we have been forgiven but we can’t seem to forget. They seem to follow us and we can’t forsake them. Even though the Lord has forgiven and forgotten our sins (Jer. 50:20) we can’t seem to forgive ourselves. We can’t shake them. They don’t’ go away. They keep resurfacing.

In the life of Israel, God gave a visual expression of the removal of the sins of His repentant people. It was a portrait of the free and full remission and removal of their sins.

On the Day of Atonement, the priest would select two goats from the people to present to the Lord. He would then cast lots for the goats. He then chooses one to die and one that would remain alive. One would be the designated as a sacrifice and the other would be set free. One would secure the remission for our sins and the other would show the removal of our sins. One would die for ours sins and the other would dispose of our sins.

The priest would kill the sacrificial goat to make atonement for the sins of the people. He would then proceed to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on various parts of the temple to make atonement for them. When this process was completed, he would turn to the scapegoat which was to be set free. He laid his hands upon the head of the animal transferring all the transgression of people of Israel onto the goat. The goat was then led away bearing the iniquities of the people into the wilderness. The removal of the goat from the camp pictured the removal of the people’s sin.

The specified place to which the goat was sent is significant. The goat was led to “an uninhabited land”. This land was unoccupied. It was desolate and deserted. No one lived there. The goat was sent where it could never be found. The implication is important. As the goat was sent to place where it would never be seen again, so were our sins. No one will ever see the goat again. They will never find it and it will never return.

Nobody will ever find the goat or your sins. Satan will not find them and God Himself will not locate them. God promises that they are gone. The Lord states that your sins have been carried to a nowhere land where no one lives and no one can find them. He also says that He put your sins behind his back (Is 38:7), He cast them as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12) and He cast your sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). Your sins have been put behind his back never to be seen again. They are as far as the east is from the west never to return again. They are in the depths of the sea too deep to dredge up. God says your sins will never ever reappear. God says that your sins have been exterminated, eradicated and eliminated. Don’t dwell where God doesn’t go. He has said you are released, so live released.

Today rejoice in the forgiveness that God has provided in Jesus. Thank Him that through His death your sins have been dealt with. They are gone. Ask God to help live in the forgiveness He offers. By faith trust His word that your sins are removed and you are released from them. The goat is gone, so are your sins. Let go of them and live. Receive His release.