Escape for the Scapegoat [Part 1]

And Bible teacher Alan Wright wasn't really the trouble Brown was such a big loser. Why is everybody always picking on Charlie Brown. The reason that they're picking on Charlie Brown Charlie Brown that's faster Alan Wright to another message of good news will help you see your life in a whole new light excited for you to hear the teaching today. In our series called Moses is presented an older church in North Carolina not able to stay with us throughout the entire program to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. Yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries so as you listen to today's message. We encourage you to go deeper as we sent you today special offer. Contact us at pastoralan.org that's pastor out and.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright Dreyfus good news on the day of atonement. There were two goats first part of good news insane part is you're no Charlie Brown.

I will explain in Leviticus chapter 18 this is as we're drawing near to the end of a long journey with Moses. I hope that you have. As I have seen Jesus on every page of the story of Moses and the amazing narrative of the exodus of God's people out of slavery and into freedom were finding ourselves in the story and finding the shadows of Christ and the gospel and now we're where we moved into some of the ritual law that is given through Moses to the people and today were going to look specifically at one of the most important days in Israel, Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and see what was supposed to happen on the day of atonement in the middle of the fall feasts of of Israel and this is Leviticus chapter 16 verse five the Lord is speaking to Moses about what Aaron the high priest is today. Verse five and he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel to mail goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Aaron shall offer the bowl as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, then he shall take the two goats set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats.

One lot for the Lord and the other lot for ZyXEL and Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering the goat on which the lot fell for ZyXEL shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness Plaza Del my positive site dollars.

Not really sure the meaning of ZyXEL could be just referring to the wilderness. Some have speculated that it was name of wilderness demon were not totally sure but I think that all of the come clears the whole impact of what's happening with that goat.

Then in verse 15 he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull sprinkling it over the mercy seat in front of the mercy seat was pause here just to say the mercy seat is the lid of the ark of the covenant and ark of the covenant holiest of objects in Israel was positioned behind the veil in the tabernacle their tent of meeting was a portable tabernacle and there's a veil and said it was a holy holy place and then behind this veil, the holy of holies in their resided the ark of the covenant and on the cover of this was a lid and it had these golden cherubim that were facing one another and so what was happening here is on the day of atonement for one of these goats. Aaron is to take some of the blood go back and sprinkle it there on the mercy seat on that lid of the cover is a sacrifice on behalf of the sins of the people and we don't. Verse 20 to find out about this other goat and when he had made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions all their sins you shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote place and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness will talk about escape for the scapegoat. Hello, and there is a words of Charlie Brown echoing into the empty mailbox at Christmas time racks. Nobody sent me a Christmas card today almost wish there were a holiday season. Charlie Brown says I know nobody likes me. Why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it. Charlie Brown says to Linus.

I think there must be something wrong with me.

Linus Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel. I just don't understand Christmas. I guess Charlie Brown says I like getting presence and sending Christmas cards and decorated trees and all that but I'm still not happy always end up feeling depressed and Linus response Charlie Brown. You're the only person I know who they think a wonderful season like Christmas and turned into a problem. Maybe Lucy's right of all the Charlie Brown's of the world. You're the Charlie Brown. He asked that Lucy has a solution for Charlie Brown's depression. She asked him to be the director of the children's Christmas Nativity play attention everyone, the director will be here any minute Lucy shouting director what director says violent Charlie Brown said Lucy and Violet moved nowhere do as a be the worst player ever, when Charlie Brown finally was given an assignment to go and get a tree. At least he can go pick out a nice tree for their big play and comes back with a little spindly little pathetic little tree and puts it onto the piano. They all shrieked. What kind of tree is that you're supposed to get a good tree can't you tell a good tree from a poor tree you're hopeless, Charlie Brown completely hopeless and everyone laughs at Charlie Brown and his tiny little tree. One of the themes of Charlie Brown.

Over the years the Charlie Brown trying to kick the football that Lucy was holding and every every single year. She'd scoop up the ball and he try to kick an eagle flying up their phone from every year.

Just go. Maybe this year be the year he gets to kick that ball. In fact if he was drawing towards the close of the last comic strip thereby was asking Charles Schultz is Charlie Brown to be allowed to kick that football and he said oh no that be a terrible disservice to let him kick the football now, but as he was signing his last comic strip Charles Schultz said. Poor kid never did get to kick that football. Why does Charlie Brown keep on trying to kick the football even though it keeps getting scooped away from any gets humiliated again is because Charlie Brown summed up his life by saying I'm not a poor loser. I'm a good loser. I'm so good at it. I lose all the time and the irony of all this is that if you're a lover of peanuts like I am what you realize is that Charlie Brown is not the dumbest kid on the block. In fact, he is a kind of of little bit of intelligence and giftedness to him that others don't have.

He is got a special sensitivity and in some ways, you realize that Charlie Brown was only one who really got it when he got that little tree instead of the big commercial deal, so it wasn't really that Charlie Brown was such a big loser.

Why is everybody always picking on Charlie Brown.

The reason that they're picking on Charlie Brown is because Charlie Brown agrees with them could have been anybody could've been any kid in the neighborhood could've anyone that became the scapegoat. Webster defines it simply as a person who was unfairly blamed for something that others have done that talent right will have more teaching moment from today's important series like something is holding you back if you can important see what could change everything. Is there someone you love to sing stack well. What's missing blessing on patients spoken over you can learn how to embrace the practice of blessing to Pastor Ehrenreich's new book, which quickly became an enzyme number one best seller after its recent until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month right ministries once send you the I thank you for your demos make your gift today discovered the power to bless the gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries.

This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you get today. We will send you a special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our banks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website. Pastor, our.like today's teaching now continues once again is Neil Burton psychiatrist has a longer explanation saying the ego defense of displacement plays a role in scapegoating, in which uncomfortable feelings such as anger and guilt are displaced and projected onto another often more vulnerable person or group scapegoat, a person is then persecuted, providing the person doing the scapegoating not only with a conduit for his uncomfortable feelings, but also with the pleasurable feelings of piety and self-righteous indignation, the creation of a villain necessarily implies that of a hero even if both are purely fictional so psychologists, counselors, others have recognized that in our homes and our schools and in our societies tend to have this phenomenon of scapegoating, but it's origin is much, much older than any of our modern awareness goes back to Leviticus chapter 16, there were on the day of atonement to goats. The entire narrative of Moses revolves around the Exodus. The exit of the people out of Egypt and into freedom. It is a story of a people who were slaves and could not free themselves except for God to intervene in the way that God intervened, ultimately, was through the Passover, in which there was the blood of an innocent lamb posted over the doorpost of the Hebrew homes so that when the destroyer move through and saw the blood it would be no destruction that would come to that household.

And so it was that the people who were slaves are made free because the blood of an innocent lamb and this sweeping narrative is not only the key to the Old Testament, but it is the key prefiguring of the gospel itself that Christ comes as our Passover lamb and is by his blood. There were not set free from a literal slavery, figurative or spiritual slavery, our bondage to our sin, our selfishness, our fear of death and we are set free because of the forgiving cleansing act that comes the sacrifice of Jesus, so that narrative is familiar to most Christians, because it is the story of Christianity, but there was also on the day of atonement. This other goat who was kept alive and they laid their hands upon this scapegoat and send it out into the wilderness, not for it to be dead before to be a living carrier of their shame and the people of God when they had agreed to all of the law that God gave through Moses and they said will do everything that you have told us to do. They couldn't keep the law for more than a few days, and in fact when Moses goes up to the mountaintop to meet with God is gone longer than they like they are making soon a golden calf to worship and so God, seeing that the people could not keep the law.

He gave them an amazing gift. It was a gift of a ritual system at the tabernacle of making sacrifices as temporary repayment and temporary covering of their sin, and yet God also on this day of atonement gave them this other amazing gift and that was this scapegoat that would carry out their shame into the wilderness so in other words, on the day of atonement. God is in boldface is highlighting his answer for the two biggest human problems. Guilt and shame we see if I can just make this as clear as I possibly can. What was going on in Israel, and how this prefigures the gospel for us. God brought these people out gave them law but the people were disobedient and couldn't keep the law, and so is part of his gift to them.

The Lord gave them seven feast throughout the year, which would cause them to remember and celebrate God and what he done for them. So in the spring you have Passover and unleavened bread and firstfruits all clumped together and then 50 days later you have the feast of weeks which we would know is Pentecost which comes from the word.

5050 days after the Passover feast and then in the fall there be another series of three feast are together at harvest time, and after this feast of trumpets and before they would have the feast of booths where they would live in these little leafy huts in the midst of that the fall festivals was this day of atonement, it was regarded as the holiest day of the year in Israel, and so on this day, there would be these two goats that would be would be the answer for the two biggest problems that they had and that is guilt and shame. See if I've explained the difference between guilt and shame. If I had committed a heinous deed and I was guilty of this. I would also be ashamed of. This is like saying if I had committed some terrible deed.

I would recognize that I was guilty and worthy of punishment. I was on the wrong side of justice and I deserve to be punished, but also be haunted by the awareness that I'm the kind of person that could do such a thing.

So guilt says I made a horrible mistake. But shame says I am a horrible mistake. Guilt asked how can the charges against me, be removed, but shame asked how can I measure up so that I will be accepted. Imagine, I stole a minor amount of money $1000 and I appeared before the judge and the judge said, if you will pay it back with 10% interest in the charges will be dropped. What I would do is I would quickly pay back the thousand dollars plus the hundred dollars interest so that the charges would be dropped and if I made that payment to the court and the judge put down the gavel and said all charges are hereby dropped free to go. Then I would be in a I was guilty but then I was declared not guilty because the debt had been paid, but if I walked out of that courtroom came home and walked into my family and I saw the look in their eyes and I knew how much I disappointed them, and how my children never thought of me as a thief and I thought about facing the church and telling everybody that I'd stolen $1000. All of that, even though I was no longer guilty in the eyes of the court would still be haunting my soul wouldn't it. I feel something even worse probably than the guilt and that would be the shame, wondering whether I'd really be accepted in the same way ever again. So the answer to my first problem might guilt would be answered by paying the debt, but the answer to the second problem. My shame would not be answered by paying the debt. No amount of paying the debt would take away my shame what it there's only one way that the shame would be taken away and that would be by my family accepting me and loving me anyway. So in other words, guilt can be taken care of if someone were to pay the appropriate debt and the penalty were paid. But shame only is healed when there is a radical acceptance that takes place in the soul becomes convinced that despite the fact that I've made these terrible mistakes committed these crimes that I am ultimately loved the let's imagine that I stole not $1000 but I didn't get involved in some kind of huge embezzlement scheme and defrauded people and other money so I stole $500 million in the scam and I was caught. If the judge said if you pay back the $500 million plus $50 million in interest, then the charges will be dropped. I'd be in a real predicament because I don't already.

Let's imagine lost the $500 million in my poor financial scheme and I didn't have the $50 million to build paid interest anyway. So there I am in acute predicament that there's been an offer made that would declare the charges dropped. And yet the debt was too big. There is no way that I could pay it.

On the one hand, I do have a glimmer of hope that maybe there's a way out of this status of being so guilty if somebody could pay this debt, but other hand I be greatly saddened and totally desperate and a little bit hopeless because I know that I didn't know somebody that could pay the 550 million that would be guilt that I didn't have an answer for because the debt was too big and the shame that would accompany the magnitude of that would be so great it would be hard to ever imagine being fully accepted by others. So then I'd have to insurmountable problems. A debt that was too big to pay as so my guilt could not be resolved and a sense of shame that I couldn't be at peace with myself for doing such a horrible thing and hurting so many people.

This is in the natural what our situation is in the spiritual we are in a huge debt because of our sin. This is offensive to the modern mindset because it seems that religion has always talked about seeing people going to hell and people in the world are just tired of hearing all of that, they look at religious people that are any more righteous than they are. And so, so many people given up on church because this is offensive also to people because the offense they say that we've committed isn't that bad, why should we be such a huge sense of debt over our sin. I'm not that bad of a person is only think I could give you a case you ever had this thought process are you're talking to someone else who has a stop trust me just give you an explanation that flows like this. Why do we have spiritually speaking debt. It's because we live in a world that is based on justice right and scheme for the sky, blessing your life grayscale vision for your rights, free grace and encouragement. It's free just passed away feel like something is holding you back if you lack an important scene that could change everything. Is there someone you love hissing stock. Well, what's missing blessing on vision spoken over you can learn how to embrace the practice of blessing to Pastor Ehrenreich's new book, which quickly became an Amazon number one best seller after its recent until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month right ministries once send you the I think your demos make your gift today discovered the power to bless the gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries.

This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you get today. We listened you to get a special offer.

We are happy to send this to you as I banks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website. Pastor, our.like I will about you, but some of the folks relisting right now to an okay run that by me again escape for the scapegoat working that out in the brain right now. This is a good message. This is a good take away even right here to place this bookmark. There were two goats on the day of atonement. One is the blood sacrifice. We understand about though blood of the Lamb, but the scapegoat is the one who was designed to carry the shame of the people might lay hands and confess all their wickedness over the scapegoat sitting on the wilderness to just bear their shame and what we're learning about is that there is something that we have to deal with: guilt in the blood of Jesus pays for that but we also have shame and that's where were going to go with this message is God's given us a gift to deal with our shame, and so what Jesus has done for us is both for our guilt and for shame, both for the actual debt that we owed. That has been paid, but also what to do with those feelings of not measuring up as feelings of being unclean. Those feelings of being isolated in the things that cause us to lose our boundaries and all of that well or where were learning about that it's it's a message about the lifting of our shame.

Those who live renter for yourself yourself materials or been part of that or been one of her cuffed at some point in your about boundaries about healthy boundaries about not meeting the scapegoat and right here in the middle of the credible story of Moses, we learn about the scapegoat on the day of atonement and is really important. Daniel identified first place. Somebody make an escape, that you also question is are you friend scapegoat. Other financing answer in the gospel of Christ ultimately is the Lamb's blood but also scapegoat, today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries