Hebrews 13:10-14, "We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat
which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood
is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without
the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with
His own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto
Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. For here have we no continuing
city, but we seek one to come." Deuteronomy 23:9, "When the host goeth
forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing." Leviticus
16:27, "And the bullock for the sin-offering, and the goat for the sin-offering,
whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one
carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins,
and their flesh, and their dung."
The Israelites could eat the flesh of many sacrifices. Such was the
case of the passover lamb. Then there was a special offering that could
be eaten only by the priests. There was one, however, of which no one could
eat. This was that which was offered on the day of atonement, which was
the tenth day of the seventh month of the year. This offering was a special
one It's skin, flesh, hair and dung were taken outside the camp and burned.
Can you imagine the odor of such a burning?
As the Israelites traveled, some had to stay outside the camp. They
could not enter into the camp. Among these were the eunuchs. Deuteronomy
23:1, "He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off,
shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord." An illegitimate child
also had to stay outside the camp. Deuteronomy 23:2, "A bastard shall not
enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall
he not enter into the congregation of the Lord." The Ammonites and the
Moabites who were descendants of the illegitimate sons of Lot and his daughters
were also outside the camp. Deuteronomy 23:3, "An Ammonite or Moabite shall
not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation
shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever." A sodomite,
such as homosexuals and lesbians, was outside the camp. Deuteronomy 23:17,
"There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of
the sons of Israel." A dog could not be in the camp. This was the term
probably used for male prostitutes. Deuteronomy 23:18, "Thou shalt not
bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the
Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the
Lord thy God." Prostitutes, or whores, could not come in the camp. Deuteronomy
23:17, "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite
of the sons of Israel." The leper was outside the camp. Leviticus 13:45,
46, "And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and
his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall
cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him
he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp
shall his habitation be."
Now the offering on the day of atonement being outside the camp and
the motley crowd that could not be inside the camp with the Israelites
represent God's people. When the Lord Jesus was crucified outside the walls
of the city of Jerusalem, He went outside the camp to identify Himself
with sinners, and now He calls us outside the camp to Himself Hebrews 13:13,
"Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach."
Can you imagine how obnoxious the odor of the skin, the flesh, the dung
and the hair burning must have been? Imagine how obnoxious it was to those
who traveled inside the camp as they looked out and saw those without the
camp- the homosexual, the lesbian, prostitute, male prostitute, the whore,
those with venereal disease, the eunuchs etc.
God is teaching us that when we come outside the camp of this world
unto Jesus and are separated, we will be looked upon with the same disdain
and disfavor with which the Jew looked upon those who were cast out of
the camp and we will be just as much an odor to those in the camp of this
world as were the skin, the flesh, the dung and the hair of the sacrifice
burned outside the camp! This is the hardest thing about separation! When
Jesus was put outside the camp, this old wicked world was saying to Him
"You affect us like the outcasts and the odor of the burning flesh affected
Israel." When we go outside the camp to Him, then we become equally as
obnoxious to the world that crucified Him.
This is not easy. Everybody wants to be accepted. It is not easy to
love and then be considered by the world as unloving. It is not easy for
the scholar to be considered unscholarly by his peers It is not easy for
depth to be considered shallow by those who are shallow and think they
are deep. It is not easy to be called the off-scouring the remnant the
leftovers, the dung, the hair, the flesh, the skin the hide. It is not
easy to be looked upon with the same disdain and disfavor with which the
Jews looked upon those that were not allowed to travel inside the camp.
The temptation is to come inside the camp and justify our entrance in many
ways.
A quarter of a century ago I became Pastor of the First Baptist Church
of Hammond Indiana I had always pastored churches that were outside the
camp- churches of good, dedicated Christian people, but churches with standards
and convictions. We were looked upon by the apostates with disdain. They
called us unloving, uncooperative, unscholarly and shallow Suddenly I was
Pastor of the First Baptist Church in the downtown section of a large metropolis.
The elite began to shower me with attention. I enjoyed it. It was a great
temptation for me to come inside the camp There were many ways I sought
to justify such a course of action-until one day one of the wealthiest
of our members told me that he was tired of the little dirty bus kids!
He told me that he had met with some of the affluent people and they had
decided that I had to choose between them and the bus kids! If we kept
the buses, they would leave with their money. If we stopped the bus ministry,
they would stay. They threatened me by withholding their offerings, assured
me that we could not make it financially without their wealth, and gave
me a few days to make up my mind. God revealed to me that I should not
forsake the poor and the needy, and on my face after a night of prayer,
I chose the bus kids over the wealth of those who threatened me. Suddenly,
I was outside the camp again, and to those who considered themselves to
be the elite, affluent and scholarly, I was as obnoxious as the motley
crowd that was expelled from the camp of Israel and as disdained as the
burning flesh outside the camp.
Invitations to speak at civic clubs ceased. Dinner engagements with
the elite were stopped, and suddenly I found myself outside the gate, rejected
by the self-styled elite, affluent and scholarly of the area. There I was
with the bus kids, the poor, the halt, the maimed and the blind. I was
lonely I did not want to love and be considered unloving. I did not want
to be considered unscholarly and uncouth. It was dark. It was lonely. Then
suddenly I heard a Voice say, "Welcome." I looked up to see Whose voice
was speaking. I saw nail prints in His hands and feet. I heard Him say,
"Welcome. I am glad you have come outside the camp to Me." Suddenly I realized
that Jesus was already outside the camp and that He was just as unpopular
with that elite crowd as I was. Ah, how sweet the fellowship! How wonderful
was His presence! I was outside the camp WITH HIM! What a bargain! What
a deal! What a Saviour!
