Bible Summary:

After Aaron’s sons die from offering unholy fire, God tells Moses how Aaron is to purify the people of Israel from their sins once each year. Aaron must take a bath, put on his priestly outfit, and bring two goats provided by the community for the offerings. He is also to sacrifice a bull for his family’s sins.

Aaron is to randomly choose between two labeled stones to decide which goat to sacrifice to God and which to send out to the desert to take away the people’s sins, ritually transferred to the “scapegoat”, with it.

My Thoughts:

Yom Kippur: This Day of Atonement is also known as Yom Kippur, the holiest day celebrated by the Jews each year. Learn more about Yom Kippur at Wikipedia.

Scapegoat: It is amazing how many phrases and ideas like “scapegoat” originated from the Bible. Scapegoats are innocent people set up to take the blame for someone else’s misdeeds, just like the innocent goat was set up to take away the sins of the people of Israel.