Elihu asks Job to think about his behaviour, good and bad. How does it affect God? Elihu asserts that God doesn’t benefit at all if we are righteous, nor does he suffer at all if we sin. He argues that we never put God in our debt by doing good things, and neither do we harm him when we do wicked things.
Read More sin, transcendence, atonementWe are all familiar with the connections to Jesus that have been made for 2000 years – a male without defect, blood is spilled, atonement is made for sin. Jesus is the sacrifice lamb, the one offered up for the sins of the people, just as animals were offered up in the days of Moses and right until Rome destroyed the Second Temple in 70 A.D. Jesus is the sacrifice that replaces all other sacrifices including the burnt offerings.
Read More atonement, sacrifice lambThis passage relates all sorts of sacrificial detail in precise and unalterable terms as much of Leviticus does. What makes this set of verses unique is that the sins of the people are not laid upon the head of a blood sacrifice but upon the head of a male goat that is released to wander in the wilderness. It is by this wandering in the wilderness that the goat makes atonement for the sins of Israel.
Read More humanity of Jesus, scapegoat, atonement