How Crab Apples and Goats Remind Me of Sin

Please read Leviticus 15-17 and Acts 18 if you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year.

He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites-all their sins- and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness. -Leviticus 16:21-22 (NIV)

I spent many nights of my childhood at The Exchange Club Baseball Park. On nights when my team wasn't playing baseball, I could be found playing cup ball (wadding up a Coke cup to use as the ball) or catching craw fish in the creek that ran alongside the park.

The park also had Crab Apple trees and we would often have crab apple fights where we'd divide up into teams and throw apples at each other. I remember one night when Derek, his brother Jeff, and I loaded up the back of their El Camino with crab apples. On the way home, Derek and I decided that it would be fun to throw apples at cars and people as his dad drove. We never expected that one of our targets would flag Derek's dad down on the side of the road and tell on us.

In the presence of our accuser, Derek's dad asked who threw the apple. I really don't remember if it was me or Derek who threw it. All I can remember is that it wasn't Derek's brother, Jeff. But when asked who threw it, almost in unison, Derek and I said, "Jeff!"

Poor little brother. He ended up taking punishment that he did not deserve. We sat there and watched. I still feel guilty.

Chances are, you've avoided the Leviticus readings the past several days or at the very least just skimmed them. The Levitical laws seem so foreign to our modern way of living; it's hard enough to adhere to the big Ten Commandments. But in today's assigned reading, God instructed Moses about what Aaron should do on the Day of Atonement.

One of the instructions was to present two goats to the Lord. One goat was to be sacrificed as a sin offering. Aaron was to take the other goat and pray over it, confessing all of the sins of the people and symbolically placing those sins on the head of the second goat. The goat was then to be sent into the wilderness carrying all of their sins to a remote place away from them.

When I read these instructions, I couldn't help but be reminded of the seriousness with which God regards sin. Sin separates us from the life and the relationship that God desires for people to experience. In other words, sin leads to death. The death of the first goat, at the very least, represents the death that results from sin.

The second goat, taking on the sins of the world (even though the goat had done nothing to deserve it) leaves me thinking of my friend Jeff in the back of that El Camino. But even more so, it leaves me thinking of Jesus. He experienced punishment that he did not deserve, taking on my sin and yours, so that we might have the abundant life that God desires. That's how serious sin is. And that's how great God's love is.

May God grant you the grace to realize the seriousness with which God regards sin as well as sin's destructive power (a destruction that leads to death) in our lives. And may the actions of Jesus on the cross lead you to turn from sin, experience forgiveness, and receive the new life that God desires for you.