Two goats were used ceremonially on the Day of Atonement. One goat was killed for the sins of Israel and its blood sprinkled over the Mercy Seat. This goat served as a picture of the propitiation that would ultimately be completed in Jesus. The goat spilled his blood and sacrificed his life, ceremonially enduring God’s wrath for His people. The priest laid hands on the second goat, ceremonially placing the sins of the nation on that goat. The goat was then set free in the wilderness, taking with it the sins of Israel.
The Day of Atonement served as a picture of what God would do for His people in Jesus. So propitiation is Jesus taking God's wrath for us and expiation is Jesus taking our sins from us. Justification is the imputation of Jesus' righteousness to us.
1 comment:
Id like to offer some comments:
Sacrifices never "endured God's wrath" in place of the sinner, that simply wasn't what was going on. Leviticus 5:11 shows the sin offering could be made with a bag of flour, which is illogical if God has to pour out His wrath on something. Further, the sin offering was made for sins not requiring the death penalty, so it's likewise illogical to understand it as "life for life," thus not Penal Substitution.
You likewise have your definition of "propitiation" wrong. It does not mean to transfer wrath onto something else, but rather to appease it all together. For example: Numbers 16:42-49 describes a rebellion in which God sent a plague to wipe out many Israelites. Moses and Aaron make atonement and turn away God's Wrath by appeasing Him with incense, but neither of the heroes are forced to endure God's Wrath instead. Same with Phinehas in Num 25:1-13 (Ps 106:30-31).
As for the "scapegoat" - this is the only animal the priest confessed sins over, yet this animal was never killed! Quite odd if it is modeling Penal Substitution.
Here is a Penal Substitution debate against a Calvinist, where the doctrine is shown to be thoroughly unbiblical:
http://catholicdefense.googlepages.com/psdebate
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