Thoughts Weekly Message
When the Cord Stayed Red
On the morning of Yom Kippur, a teaching on Leviticus 16, the scarlet cord on the scapegoat, and what the Day of Atonement means for people who can't remember all they've done wrong.
Tradition says that on Yom Kippur a scarlet cord was tied to the scapegoat’s horn, and once the goat was led out into the wilderness the cord turned white. Atonement accepted. This Day of Atonement morning, with Leviticus 16 open, the message starts with that cord and then gets honest fast, because the man preaching can’t remember what he did last November, much less everything he got wrong this year.
So what were the people of Jerusalem supposed to make of it when the goat came wandering back into the city with the cord still red?