Scapegoat

Leviticus 16:21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: According to Wikipedia, a scapegoat is the "practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame". Dictionary.com says it is "a person or party made to bear the blame for others, or to suffer in their place." Biblically, it is the goat that Aaron laid his hands upon during the Day of Atonement. In doing so, the sins of the nation were transferred to the goat, which was then led into the wilderness. The scapegoat is one of the greatest pictures of Christ's death on the cross that we have in the Old Testament. On the cross, Jesus received unmerited negative treatment or blame. He was made to bear the blame for us, and suffer in our place. His unmerited suffering, became unmerited favor for us. He too, like the goat, died outside of the camp. Because of His willingness to lay down His life for us, we can proclaim "my sins are gone, I've been set free"!