The Scapegoat, the Crimson Ribbon, and the Rabbi's Secret About Thirty-Three Years

The Only Sacrifice That Was Not on the Altar

The Day of Atonement ceremony contains one of the most unusual sacrifices in the entire Torah. All normal sacrifices are offered on the altar, after they are killed and skinned and prepared for the offering. But the scapegoat is different. The high priest lays hands on the head of the scapegoat and confesses the sins of all Israel — and after that it is taken to the desert and released, carrying the collective sins of the people, and atoning for those sins. This atonement is not for private sins as individuals. The atonement on the Day of Atonement is for the national, collective sins of Israel. The blood of this goat is not shed on the altar, and yet there is atonement of sins accomplished by the scapegoat sent to the wilderness.

Part of this ceremony in the time of the Temple in Jerusalem was to cut a crimson ribbon into two parts. Half of the ribbon was tied on the gate of the Temple in Jerusalem. The second half of the crimson ribbon was tied on the horns of the goat. When the goat died in the wilderness, the crimson ribbon that was tied to the gate of the Temple would turn white — as the text in Isaiah chapter 1:18 says:

From the Year 30 AD — It Stopped Turning White

Then something changed. From the year 30 AD, according to the Talmud, this crimson ribbon stopped turning white — and it did not turn white for 40 years, until the Temple was destroyed. In two Talmudic tractates we have the discussion of what happened in the Temple in the year 30 AD — 40 years before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Here is a quotation from Babylonian Talmud Tractate Rosh Hashana 31b:

The second reference is from Babylonian Talmud Tractate Yoma 39a.

In other words, we have a witness in the rabbinical literature — a witness that is contemporary with the Apostolic era — that says that in the year 30, 40 years before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the signal that noted when the atonement had actually happened by turning from crimson to white — stopped functioning. The same Talmudic passage gives three more indications that the service in the Temple stopped functioning normally for 40 years before the destruction. Something happened in the year 30 AD that changed the fundamental way that the Temple functioned.

The Medieval Rabbi's Secret — "When You Are 33 Years Old"

The medieval commentator of the Bible, Abraham Eben Ezrah, gives us a very interesting clue to the secret meaning of the scapegoat and its significance. Eben Ezrah comments on Leviticus 16:6-10 and says:

This is a very curious statement by Abraham Eben Ezrah, who generally speaking is a very rational commentator and tries to stick to the plain meaning of the text.

Nachmanides — the Ramban — writes in his commentary on the same passage that Rabbi Abraham Eben Ezrah was trying to hide the secret, and he will reveal it. The Ramban tells us that the secret is in the one who lived 33 years — and that is Esau. However, when Jewish rabbis in so-called Christian Europe during the Medieval Period wanted to talk about Yeshua and the Church in Rome, they had to use code words. The code for Yeshua was Esau and the code for the Roman Church was Edom. Why? Because Esau in Hebrew has the same letters as Yeshua without the "Y" — and since Yeshua is counted to be the father of the church, the church is Edom, the nation of Esau. After revealing this, the Ramban says:

The concept presented by the Ramban is based on an ancient midrash that says that the scapegoat was actually offered to Azazel — who is Samael, i.e. the devil — in order to appease him so that he will not torment Israel. This idea is totally rejected by Rashi, another great Bible commentator.

Yeshua — The Greatest Scapegoat of All of Human History

The writer of Hebrews understood the connection perfectly:

The Hebrew writer is calling upon the brothers to take example from two important sacrifices that were offered not on the altar in the Temple but outside the gates of the city — the Red Heifer, and the scapegoat. Only outside the camp — outside the consensus today — is where we can bear the reproach of the Messiah and bring salvation to the people inside.

Yeshua is the greatest scapegoat of all of human history. He is the ultimate and the extreme Jew of history. We cast Him out into the wilderness of the Gentiles and He carried our sins, but He is coming back to us. An Orthodox Jewish professor on Israeli television years ago spoke about Yeshua and His teaching on "love your neighbor as yourself" — presenting Him in a deeply positive light. The image of Yeshua is going through a transition in the Jewish community, and His teaching is being reevaluated in light of the time and history of the first century in the land of Israel. The nation of Israel will never receive Christianity from Christians. Israel will receive Yeshua from inside, from within the very soul and spirit of Israel. May the God of Israel open the eyes of His people to recognize Yeshua and receive the One who was cast out for their redemption.