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Azazel, the Goat that was sent away

In Leviticus 16:8, 10, and 26 the name Azazel appears in the Hebrew text in the instructions regarding the Day of Atonement. Verse 8 says (literally),

⁸ Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yahweh and the other lot for Azazel.

William Tyndale translated Azazel as “scapegoat,” and most modern translations repeat this. But this translation was speculative. The Hebrew word az means “goat,” and azal means “to go away.” Hence, it literally means “the goat that goes away.” But in what sense?

The Leviticus 16 ceremony instructs that the goat “for Yahweh” was to be killed on the temple grounds and its blood sprinkled on the mercy seat in the Most Holy Place as a “sin offering” (Leviticus 16:9, 15) to atone for all the sins of the people. This prophetic type was fulfilled when Christ Himself sprinkled His blood on the mercy of the temple in heaven (Hebrews 9:6-12).

The second goat prophesied of Christ’s second appearance, which we must understand today in order to comprehend the spiritual details of the second work of Christ. In past years I have had limited understanding of this work, but now more revelation has come. Hence, it has become possible to share that revelation with others as best I can.

The Second Goat

The second goat was not to be used as a sin offering but the sins, iniquities, and transgressions of all the people were to be imputed to it and then the goat was to be sent away into the wilderness. This second goat prophesied of Christ in His second appearance, but this extended also to the church as a whole.

It is important to note that the second Goat is Christ, and that it was sent away “for Azazel,” pictured as a satyr, half goat-half man creature. Azazel is an opposing figure, a counterfeit “goat,” if you will. When Christ was led into the wilderness after His baptism (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1), He fulfilled the role of the second goat being sent into the wilderness “to be tempted by the devil.”

“The devil” is not a name per se. The name, stated in Leviticus 16:8, is Azazel. His temptation was literally a confrontation to overcome where men had failed earlier. He was tempted 40 days, representing 40 years of Israel’s testing in the wilderness. (Fasting compressed 40 years into just 40 days.)

This again became the pattern for the church whose wilderness experience extended across a 40-Jubilee cycle from 33-1993 A.D. It is the same 40 Jubilees that represent the reign of King Saul, who was crowned on Pentecost, the day of “wheat harvest” in 1 Samuel 12:17. Therefore, we can study the reign of Saul and see how each year of his reign prophesied of a Jubilee cycle in church history. In effect, like with Christ Himself, the church (body of Christ) was sent into the wilderness to be tried by Azazel and to see who would succumb to temptation and who would overcome as Jesus did.

Hence, in the message to The Seven Churches, we read, “he who overcomes” will receive various rewards as an inheritance (Revelation 2:11). A distinction is thus made between the church in general and the overcomers in particular. Not all believers are overcomers. Not all believers “endure” to the end. They will not lose their salvation, but they can lose the reward as an overcomer.

Testing Faith

The point is that Azazel is specifically the entity responsible for providing the temptations in the wilderness, which are the trials of our faith being tested by fire (1 Peter 1:6, 7; 4:12, 13). The three specific temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness provide us with a broad outline of the main issues that have confronted the church as well. These are summarized in 1 John 2:16,

¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The temptation to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:3) was probably about “the lust of the eyes,” because, in the Garden, Eve “saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6).

The temptation on the pinnacle of the temple (Matthew 4:5) was about “the boastful pride of life” by which men tempt God, hoping to be able to brag about how God saved them after they jumped off a cliff. Tempting God is specifically condemned in Exodus 17:1-7, specifically when they questioned God’s presence: “They tested the Lord, saying, is the Lord among us or not?”

The temptation on the high mountain (Matthew 4:8) was about “the lust of the flesh.” The “flesh” refers to man’s fallen nature, often called “the flesh” in Paul’s writings. Romans 8:5-8 says,

⁵ For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

The “old man” in Paul’s writings (or “old self,” NASB) is the natural man—that which was born of flesh and blood. The “new man” is the offspring of God that is begotten by the hearing of the incorruptible word of God (1 Peter 1:23). This is the spiritual man which exists side by side with the child of the flesh. Whichever “son” we claim to be is how we will live and how we will be recognized by the court at the White Throne judgment.

Azazel tempted Christ by offering him all the kingdoms of the world if he would agree to be second in authority. This appealed to the desire of the flesh for power, riches, and glory. The church too has been tempted in the same way. Azazel has offered the church great power over the nations, as long as it would submit to the lusts of the flesh. That is the overall condition of the church today as we reach the climax of the age.

The Book of Enoch

Enoch takes the enigmatic name “Azazel” from Leviticus and develops it into the biography of a fallen angel who became the archetypal corrupter of humanity. Azazel teaches forbidden knowledge. 1 Enoch 8:1–3 says,

“Azazel taught men to make swords, knives, shields, and breastplates; and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them; bracelets and ornaments; the use of antimony; the beautifying of the eyelids; all kinds of costly stones; and all coloring tinctures.”

Azazel is therefore blamed for introducing weapons of war, metallurgy, jewelry, cosmetics, and luxury arts. The result is:

“There arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray.”

Unlike some of the other Watchers, whose chief sin was marrying human women (Genesis 6:3), Azazel is portrayed as the corrupter of civilization through technology misused for violence and fleshly vanity. So we read that the four archangels cry out to God:

“Thou seest what Azazel has done, who has taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were preserved in heaven.”

Notice that Azazel receives individual blame above the others. God commands the angel Raphael: “Bind Azazel hand and foot…. Cast him into the darkness... make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein.” He is reserved there “until the day of the great judgment.” He remains imprisoned until the day when God's final judgment is executed.

One remarkable line says:

“The whole earth has been corrupted through the works taught by Azazel; to him ascribe all sin.”

Many scholars believe this verse is deliberately interpreting Leviticus 16. Enoch interprets Azazel as the ultimate source of mankind’s corruption. Hence, the second goat, representing both Christ and His body, is sent into the wilderness “for Azazel” and “to Azazel,” who had been confined to the wilderness since the time of Noah’s flood.

Yet having still a role to play in testing the faith of believers, he was not brought into a final judgment, nor was he removed completely. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness which Enoch calls “Dudael.” Some scholars derive this name from: דוד (dûd), “kettle, pot, cauldron” and אֵל ('el), “God.” This would yield something like “the cauldron of God,” or a boiling pot. This would fit with the idea of a fiery ordeal during the test of one’s faith.

So at the end of the present age, we are arriving at a climactic point in earth’s history where the overcomers (as a body) are finishing up the final tests of faith. I believe too that the overcomers are the ones called to defeat Azazel and overthrow his spiritual throne in preparation for the second ministry of Christ. Recall that after Jesus overcame temptation, He returned to Galilee and began His earthly ministry. That is what we today anticipate, but it is not only Christ but the overcomers serving under His authority that will reign with Him in the age to come (revelation 20:6). This is their birthright inheritance.