The "Scapegoat" and Christ

The Law of Moses states that on the annual Day of Atonement, "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness" (Leviticus 16:22).

Jewish history records that it was a common practice to tie a red strip of cloth to the scapegoat. The red stripe represented the sin of the people which was atoned for by the red blood on the mercy seat. According to the Jewish Talmuds this red stripe would eventually turn white, signaling God's acceptance of the offering.

A reference in the Talmuds verifies that, at about the time Christ was crucified, God no longer accepted the sin offering and the scapegoat offered by the Jewish high priests. The Talmuds state:

"Forty years before the Temple was destroyed [30 A.D.] the chosen lot was not picked with the right hand, nor did the crimson stripe turn white, nor did the westernmost light burn; and the doors of the Temple's Holy Place swung open by themselves, until Rabbi Yochanon ben Zakkai spoke saying: 'O most Holy Place, why have you become disturbed? I know full well that your destiny will be destruction, for the prophet Zechariah ben Iddo has already spoken regarding you saying: "Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour the cedars" (Zech. 11:1).'" - Talmud Bavli, Yoma 39b

It's important to note that this event occurred 40 years before the destruction of the Temple at 70 A.D. So, the date of this amazing event was 30 A.D, the same year that Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice on the cross.

The Jewish Todah and the Eucharist

Consider the importance of the "Todah," as recounted by Jewish rabbis. Ancient rabbis taught that, after the coming of the Messiah, all sacrifices would cease except the "Todah," which would never cease to be offered throughout all eternity. The todah offering was a sacrificial meal shared with friends, and it was an offering of bread and wine. In fact, it resembled the sacrifice that the king-priest Melchizedek shared with Abraham in thanksgiving for the rescue of the people of Salem (see Genesis 14:18-20). "Todah" itself means "thanksgiving." The Greek word "eucharistia," like todah, means "thanksgiving," and in fact some Jewish writers used "eucharistia" to translate the Hebrew "todah." In short, the Christian Eucharist is the fulfillment of the Jewish belief about the end, as it pertains to sacrifices. Eucharist ("todah") is the only sacrifice that remains, and it was instituted by Jesus Christ.

The "Bet Kol" and the Destruction of the Temple at AD 70

During Judah's apostasy during the 6th century BC, the prophet Ezekiel saw the Glory Cloud depart from the Temple and travel east, to the Mount of Olives (Ezek. 10:18-19; 11:22-23); later, in his vision of the New Jerusalem, he sees the Glory-Cloud returning to dwell in the new Temple, the Church (Ezek. 43:1-5). This vision was fulfilled when Christ, the incarnate Glory of God, ascended to His Father in the Cloud from the Mount of Olives (Luke 24:50-51) and sent His Spirit to fill the Church during the Feast of Pentecost--around AD 30.

A later image of this transfer of God's Glory can be found in Jewish historical writings. At Pentecost at AD66, as the priests in the Temple were going about their duties, there was heard "a violent commotion and din" followed by "a voice as of a host crying, 'We are departing hence!'" This departure of the Deity from the temple at Pentecost of AD 66 was exactly 36 years after the Holy Spirit was first given in power to the apostles and the others at the first Christian Pentecost recorded in Acts Chapter Two. And now, again on Pentecost day, the witness was given that God himself was abandoning the Temple at Jerusalem. This meant that the Temple was no longer a holy sanctuary and that the building was no more sacred than any other secular building.

Remarkably, Jewish writings state that the Jews had come to recognize that the Shekinah glory of God left the Temple at this time [AD 66] and remained over the Mount of Olives for 3.5 years. During this period a voice was heard to come from the region of the Mount of Olives asking the Jews to repent of their doings (Midrash - Lam. 2:11). This has an interesting bearing on the history of Christianity because we know that Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected from the dead on the Mount of Olives -- the exact region the Jewish records say the Shekinah glory of God remained for the 3.5 years after its departure from the Temple on Pentecost, AD66. The Jewish reference states that the Jews failed to heed this warning from the Shekinah glory (which they called "Bet Kol", the voice of God), and that it left the earth and retreated back to heaven just before the final seige of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD70.

From Pentecost AD 66, no thinking person among the Christians who respected these obvious miraculous signs associated with the Temple could believe that the structure was any longer a holy sanctuary of God. Josephus himself summed up the conviction of the many people who came to believe that God "had turned away even from his sanctuary" (Wars, 2.539), and that the Temple was "no more the dwelling place of God" (Wars, 5.19), because "the Deity has fled from the holy places" (Wars, 5.412).

Writing while these events were still uppermost in the minds of the Jews, St. John declares that the Shekinah, the Glory of God, rests on the true Holy Temple/City and consummate Paradise: the Bride of Christ (Revelation 21:9-11).