Cain and Abel:

A new paradigm

There has been something surfacing to me throughout the scriptures. It is a hidden theme
that is indiscernible at first, but once recognized is unquestionable. The theme I am speaking
of, which is interwoven throughout the scriptures, is that of the Yom Kippur ceremony. In
this article, we will unveil the meaning behind the story of Cain and Abel and attempt to
shed some light on the many questions that this story leaves it’s readers with.
Leviticus 16 is typically understood to be the Yom Kippur ritual’s premiere within the
Hebrew bible, but this article is intended to challenge that literalist position.
Below, I supplied the pericope wherein the Yom Kippur ceremony is defined, with some
emphasis indicated by bold-lettering.
Even though a mere superficial reading of the Leviticus passage describes many details, we’ll
only be looking at the most basic priestly service for the atonement of Israel. This is the
common thread that stitches together other pieces of the Bible.

Lev. 16:7-10, 21-22,

[7] And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation.
[8] And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other
for the scapegoat.
[9] And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the lord’s lot fell and offer him for a sin
offering.
[10] But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive
before the lord, to make atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the
wilderness.
[21] 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:
[22] And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he
shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Let’s make note of some important points:

- There was a High Priest to carry the service out
- There was two goats used for the atonement of Israel
- One was presented as a typical sacrifice which was known as The LORD’s Goat
[The LORD’s Goat]
- One was presented alive to be banished into the wilderness which was known as
Azazel [The Scapegoat]
- The High Priest would cast lots to determine which goat was to be sacrificed and
which would be presented alive
- The LORD’s Goat would be sacrificed first
- Then the High Priest would transfer the sins of all of Israel on to the head of Azazel
 - Then Azazel would be banished into the wilderness to die of himself [though many
times he would be pushed off a cliff and sometimes die as a result]
- This all occurred on Yom Kippur which is ten days after the last day of the year

The fact that Azazel is left alive may represent GOD’s love towards us. It combined with the
death of The LORD’s Goat may also be a shadow of Yeshua’s death [The LORD’s Goat]
and resurrection [Azazel as living] because both goats bore iniquity. So now that we have
brushed-up on these elementary principles, here are the goods:

Gen. 4:1-16
[1] And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten
a man from the LORD.
[2] And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was
a tiller of the ground.
[3] And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an
offering unto the LORD.
[4] And Abel, he also brought of the firstling of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the
LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
[5] But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and
his countenance fell.
[6] And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
[7] If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the
door. And unto thee shalt be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
[8] And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field,
that Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.
[9] And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am
I my brother’s keeper?
[10] And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me
from the ground.
[11] And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy
brother's blood from thy hand;
[12] When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a
fugitive and a vagabond thou shalt be in the earth.
[13] And Cain said unto the lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
[14] Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy
face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come
to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
[15] And the LORD said unto him, therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall
be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him
should kill him.
[16] And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod,
on the east of Eden.

The above passage is loaded with parallels to the priestly service of Yom Kippur.
Without reading this article any further, were you able to spot them?
Most people overlook what the next page entails…
The Yom Kippur Ceremony
The Goats are under the High Priest’s
jurisdiction [Lev. 16:7-8].
The two goats were presented before
GOD at the door of the tabernacle to have
lots cast over them [Lev. 16:7].
The atonement of Yom Kippur occurs
within the last days of the appointed
timesi and is the end of days for the sins
of that year [Lev. 16:34, 23:27].
The casting of lots determined which
goat was THE LORD’s Goat from which
was Azazel [Lev. 16:8].
The High Priest would cast a lot that
would determine which goat was to be The
LORD’s Goat [Lev. 16:8]. This was
determined first.
By the High Priest’s lot determining which
goat would be The LORD’s Goat, he also
determined which goat would be Azazel
by default of the two [Lev. 16:8].
The LORD’s Goat was considered to be
righteous and holy. This is evident by its
title, “The LORD’s Goat”.
The scapegoat was considered cursed
because of the sins that were put upon its
head. This is evident by its exile into the
wilderness and its title “Azazel” which was
a title for a Babylonian demon is even used
in the apocalyptic book of Enoch as a title
for the chief fallen angel - possibly
meaning satan [8:1-9:6, 10:8].
Cain & Abel
The twins, Cain and Abel, in the telling of
the account are directly under GOD’s
jurisdiction [Gen. 4:6-7].
The two brothers both brought an offering
before GOD [Gen. 4:3-4].
Nestled within the Hebrew of Gen. 4:3-4 is
the understanding that the twins submitted
their offerings during the end of daysii.
GOD’s pleasure in the offerings of Cain
and Abel ultimately determined who was
righteous from who was a murderer [Gen.
4:5-8].
Abel’s firstling of the flock caused GOD to
have respect to his offering [Gen. 4:4].
This happened and is mentioned first.
Through GOD favoring Abel’s offering
above Cain’s offering of the ground, Cain’s
countenance fell unlike his favorable
brother’s [Gen. 4:5-8]. Sort of a default
we could say.
Abel was a righteous shepherd [Heb.
11:4]. Him being a “keeper of the flock”
almost signifies or hints at him being “The
LORD’s Goat”.
Cain was a murderous tiller of the ground
[1Jn. 3:12]. Cain being a tiller of the ground
signifies accursedness in itself, because
tilling the cursed ground was the initial
stipulation of Adam’s curse [Gen. 3:17-19].
Moreover, Cain’s relationship to sin is
described in an identical manner to Adam’s
relationship to Eve. One could even argue
that Cain knew [‫ ]עיד‬sin in the same that
Adam knew [‫ ]עיד‬his wife Eve:

After the High Priest would cast lots over
the goats before the LORD at the door of
the tabernacle to determine The LORD’s
Goat from Azazel, he would then bring
The LORD’s Goat from before the
LORD and sacrifice it [Lev. 16:7-9].
After the sacrifice of THE LORD’s Goat,
Azazel would be presented to GOD’s
presence [Lev. 16:10].
Upon presenting Azazel before GOD,
the High Priest would lay his hands on
Azazel’s head and confess all the sins of
Israel; thus placing all the sins of Israel
on Azazel’s head [Lev. 16:21-22].
Azazel was banished from the camp of
Israel because The LORD’s Goat’s blood
as well as the all sin of Israel was up on
Azazel’s head. As a result of this, he was
sent into the wilderness of an
uninhabited land [Lev. 16:10, 21-22] so
no one would find and kill him.
To the ancients, the Scapegoat/Azazel is
identified with sin and satan.
Unto the woman he said… thy desire shall be
to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
[Gen. 3:16]
And to Cain GOD said:
… if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou
shalt rule over him. [Gen. 4:7]
After GOD favored Abel’s offering, Cain
grew jealous and callediii Abel into a field
away from the place where they made
their offerings to GOD and then killed
him [Gen. 4:8]. This is the parallel to The
LORD’s Goat being taken away from the
entrance of the tabernacle to be sacrificed
in the courtyard [Lk. 11:51] after the lots
were cast [or after the brothers’ offerings
were submitted to GOD].
After the murder of Abel, Cain was
confronted by GOD’s presence [Gen.
4:9].
After confronting Cain, GOD cursed
Cain and put a Mark on him because he
was to rule over and be the desire of sin [v.
4:7, 11, 15].
GOD banished Cain from the face of
the earth because Abel’s blood was upon
him as well as the fact that he was to rule
over sin as its desire. He was sent into an
uninhabited land called nod. Cain left
with a mark so that no one would kill
him if they found him [v. 4:14-16].
Cain’s relationship to sin is described in an
identical manner to Adam’s relationship to
Eve. One could even argue that Cain knew
[‫ ]ידע‬sin in the same that Adam knew [‫]ידע‬
his wife Eve:
Unto the woman he said… thy desire shall be
to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
[Gen. 3:16]
And to Cain GOD said:
… if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
 And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou
shalt rule over him. [Gen. 4:7]

The Apostle Paul apparently understood this allegory of Cain as Azazel and Abel as the
LORD’s Goat - see Hebrews 12:24. This folks, is why we need to know our Torah,
otherwise we start getting all kinds of wacky eighth-day creation doctrines and Gap theories.
But if we study like we’re commanded to, then we’ll be a lot better off in regards to laws,
judgments, prophetic, and allegorical interpretations. The sanctuary service is right in the
beginning of the bible, as we’ve just proven together.
When we discern these kinds of allegories it really gives us more insights into the
understanding that was intended for us through the words of scripture…

i The last of the appointed times given in Leviticus 23 occurs immediately after Yom Kippur, that being the

Feast of Tabernacles. Yom Kippur falls in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month and Tabernacles
falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, just five days later.
ii As if signifying the close of some unknown time period, in Gen. 4:3 the phrase translated as “in the process

of time”, literally reads “at the end of days” [‫]מקץ ימים‬.

iii In the Septuagint we find an extra element to this account that’s missing from the other non-Greek versions:

And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go Into to the field. – Genesis 4:8.