_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: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited_. *** * Exodus xxix, 20-21. ** Exodus xxiv, 8. *** Leviticus xvi, 21-22. Could this be the origin of the confessional? The goat ceremony has a wider meaning than the commentators will admit. There were really two goats, upon which Aaron, the priest, cast lots, "one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat." * The word "scapegoat" is a euphemism; the Hebrew text says _Azazel_. Now this was one of the terrible names of God. Both Jews and Mohammedans believed Azazel to be a dread divinity. Milton introduces Azazel as the standard-bearer of the fallen hosts of heaven. The Arabs, who are a branch of the Semitic race, paid homage to this celestial, and spoke of him as the counsellor or advocate of Allah who was banished from heaven because when Adam, the first man, appeared upon the scene, he would not bow to him. Azazel did not think much of man; and it was for that he lost his position. The "scapegoat," then, in the text was none other than his Satanic majesty, the fallen chief of the heavenly hosts--the devil. Setting apart a goat for Azazel, or allowing him to share with Jehovah the offering at the altar, gives support to the belief that the Jews worshiped the devil as well as Jehovah. It is plainly stated in other parts of the bible that devil worship was common among the Jews even as late as the time of Rehoboam, who reigned after David and Solomon. ** But more light is thrown on the subject of the intimacy between God and Satan in the story of Job. * Leviticus xvi, 7-8. ** II Chronicles xi, 15: "And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils." IV. The Strangest Story in the Bible