The Day of Atonement - The Scapegoat

Recently the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur was celebrated. It is a day that in some religious circles, people atone ritually for their sins and shortcomings. Leviticus 16 is a chapter in the Old Testament that details the ceremony of atonement.  Part of that service is the the choosing of two goats, one to be killed in sacrifice and a second goat to be used as a scapegoat:

8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses. Leviticus 16:8-9, 34

According to current psychological lingo, a 'scapegoat' is a vulnerable person on whom others project their negative feelings upon to distract from their own vulnerabilities and mental anguish. It means that there is a transfer of guilt or blame, or other negative feelings on someone else.

In the Bible 'scapegoat' is used as a "type" of Christ. The word is used 4 (a number that represents the world) times in the Bible.  The sin offering in atonement is Jesus Christ and it is a one-time offering for all the sins of man.  He became the scapegoat for the world. Jesus Christ was loaded with our sin anguish and guilt and he carried it off into the spiritual wilderness. Our minds have been relieved from the heavy weight of dealing with the negative aspects of this world.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried (loaded up with and carried away) our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4

After a long day of wrestling with the perplexities of life we can lay our heads down on the pillow and instead of  replacing all the negatives of the day with counting sheep or goats, we can rejoice in the work of Jesus Christ  and rest easy and wake up engulfed in 'sonshine' when we wake up.