Greek Key Terms:
Context: Revelation 20 describes Satan's binding (vv. 1-3) and ultimate fate (v. 10). An angel seizes "the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan" and binds him for a thousand years, casting him into the abyss. After a final rebellion, Satan is "thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur" (v. 10) for eternal torment. The imagery echoes the scapegoat's removal: the source of temptation to sin is "cast" into progressively more final places of banishment — abyss, then lake of fire.
OT-to-OT Development:
Connections:
Christological Connection: Revelation 20 consummates the scapegoat trajectory at the cosmic level. The Day of Atonement sent the sin-laden goat into the wilderness — the realm of desolation associated with azazel and demonic habitation. In the consummation, it is not merely Israel's annual sins that are removed but the source of sin itself: Satan, "that ancient serpent" (Revelation 20:2), is bound, cast into the abyss, and finally thrown into the lake of fire. The trajectory reaches its terminus: what was symbolized annually by a goat driven into the wilderness is realized eternally when evil itself is banished from God's creation.
Christ's victory over sin — accomplished at the cross and symbolized by the scapegoat — is the foundation for Satan's defeat. Hebrews 2:14 explains the mechanism: "Through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil." The cross did not merely remove the effects of Satan's work (sin's guilt and penalty) but dealt a mortal blow to Satan himself. Revelation 20 depicts the progressive manifestation of that blow: binding (v. 2), imprisonment (v. 3), and final destruction (v. 10). The scapegoat carried sin to the wilderness; Christ carried sin through death; and the risen Christ ensures that the author of sin is permanently expelled from the new creation.
The trajectory's three stages map clearly. First, annual removal (scapegoat to wilderness) — symbolic, temporary, repeated. Second, decisive removal (Christ on the cross) — actual, once-for-all, effective. Third, eternal removal (Satan into the lake of fire) — cosmic, irreversible, final. Each stage escalates the permanence and scope of removal until the new creation has "nothing impure" (Revelation 21:27) — not because sin has been carried to a remote place, but because sin and its source have been eternally destroyed. Already: Christ has "disarmed the rulers and authorities" (Colossians 2:15); Satan is a defeated enemy. Not yet: the final casting into the lake of fire awaits Christ's return, when the removal the scapegoat foreshadowed reaches its absolute, irreversible consummation.
Connection Method(s): Typology (Direct, Forward-Looking), Redemptive-Historical Progression — The scapegoat's removal into the wilderness (associated with azazel/demonic realm) finds eschatological consummation in Satan's eternal banishment, completing the trajectory from annual to decisive to eternal removal of sin. All 5 criteria met: analogical correspondence (both involve banishment of sin/evil to a desolate place), historicity (both real), escalation (goat to wilderness → Satan to lake of fire; annual → eternal; symbolic → actual), pointing-forwardness (the scapegoat's connection to azazel/wilderness demons hints at a cosmic conflict requiring cosmic resolution), retrospective interpretation (Revelation's casting-out imagery consummates the scapegoat pattern). ANTI-DEFAULT CHECK: Redemptive-Historical Progression is co-primary with Typology because the passage marks the endpoint of a three-stage progressive removal (annual → decisive → eternal) that only the full scope of Christ's work — cross, resurrection, return — accomplishes.
Trajectory Table: 141 - Scapegoat (Removal of Sins)