"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 we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." (Hebrews 13:10-14).

         Types and shadows, parables-- the awesome working of His love and grace-- "All these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world (ages, dispensation) have come." (1 Cor. 10:11). Ensamples-- Greek, tupos, meaning a type or figure, a pattern to follow, a print that is made to portray a message, an example to be imitated, perhaps we could even include the thought of some form of a role-model. Hebrews, chapter eleven, lists several individuals that challenge us to likewise surrender to our God, and live out His life in a manner that both glorifies God, and serves as an example for men.
         As a wheel within a wheel, there are many levels, dimensions which reveal more of God's purpose and plan. There is no contradiction, one truth does not cancel out another facet of truth, but to everything there is a time and season, and while out of season, out of place, out of proper timing it can become as error, yet when God blends all of His handiwork together, it reveals a beautiful synchronization of design and perfect timing. We pray the Lord will open our eyes to see what He is doing in this hour, and then enable us to surrender to that working, that He might be glorified.
         Before we can consider the "without the camp" dimension and working, we would first take note of being "in the camp." The first time the word is used in the Scripture is in Exodus 14:14, "And the angel of God which went before the camp of Israel..." The entire nation of Israel which came out of Egypt was spoken of as "the camp of Israel," and that which was wrought in them prefigures the dealings of God with the "church" realm. It bespeaks of a congregation, of a composite gathering of people. God blessed the camp of Israel and walked among them, identifying them as HIS people, and having specific purposes and plans to be fulfilled in them. There were blessings destined for the whole camp, and there were chastening times appointed for them. While God could deal with individuals, there were times when ALL THE CAMP was subject to His handiwork. Some of those occasions were awesome in their happening-- as when "there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the  trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled." (Ex. 19:16).
         Even in this day we find there are people who are afraid of the manifest presence of God, nor do they understand His holiness and sanctification. They have their own form and ceremony which they follow, and mixing their traditions with their religious fervor they are ignorant of His righteousness. The confusion that is found in the camp is astounding, and there are some tremendous dealings of God on the horizon to bring order out of chaos, and purify the people until they stand unashamed before Him.
         There is an interesting happening that took place when Moses came down from the mount with the two tables of the testimony. While Moses was gone the people had made a golden calf and were worshiping it, and utterly defiled their camp. Joshua was with Moses, and as they came near the camp, they  "heard the noise of the people as they shouted,  and he said unto Moses. There is a noise of war in the camp. But Moses said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear." (Exodus 32:17-18). As soon as they came nigh unto the camp, they saw the golden calf, and the dancing. It was "party time" with a false god. How often this has been repeated through the years-- the confusion of noise in the camp. There is not the clear, pure worship unto the Lord, but a mixture of shouting, dancing, and religious activities, that appeals to the carnality of man, and thus they "corrupt themselves." (Exodus 32:7). Thus there are judgments to be faced-- correctional processings-- for God would have a holy people, with whom He might dwell.
         It is one thing to have God walk through the camp, and shew mercy to His people as He woos them to follow Him, and quite another thing to have God DWELL in the camp in daily sweet communion. There have been "times of refreshing that come from the presence of the Lord," (Acts 3:19), and we are grateful for what He does in the camp during these visitations, but we long for that much greater union and in working of God as we dwell in Him, and He dwells in us.
         There were many things that had to be dealt with in the people, iniquities that had to be removed from the camp. Such as when an Israelitish woman and an Egyptian man had a son, and "this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp. And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed." (Lev. 24:10-11). This half- breed son was an unholy product of a mixed union. It was an abomination, and had to be removed. It makes for a tremendous example, of trying to mix the flesh and the Spirit and ending up with on-going warfare. Even as Paul wrote, "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." (Gal. 5:16). The severity of cleansing was at hand as God gave the instruction-- "That they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones." (Lev. 24:23). And so the expurgation of the camp had begun. We need not amplify this at length, but "they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that had an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead." (Num. 5:2). All had to be put without the camp until they could go through the rites of purification. "For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp to deliver  thee, and to give up thy enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that He see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." (Deut. 23:14).
         Due to the impurity of the people, though God was still with them, yet in a deeper sense God had to dwell outside the camp until such a time as they were purged, cleansed, made righteous in Him.
         The types and shadows continue when we come to the various sin offerings that were made. "The whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him  on the wood with fire--  And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation." (Lev. 4:12, 21).
         This brings us to our scripture at the beginning-- "The bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp." This the people understood. Then the writer goes on to bring application and truth from this-- of its fulfillment in Christ. "Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate." The salvation of the camp was first wrought outside the camp. There they burnt the sin-offering, and there Jesus Christ was crucified. "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the whole world." (1 John 2:2). There He was-- outside the camp-- and a profound work was being wrought for all those who were yet in the camp. Ultimately salvation would cover them all, for He "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2:4). And, "In Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in His own order." (1 Cor. 15:22-23). You may wander from camp to camp-- you may endure all the programs of man without coming into a deep relationship with Christ-- but God has "appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained." (Acts 17:31). Then there will be joy in the camp, and "ALL shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Heb. 8:11-12). His judgments will correct, His blood shall cleanse, and every man in the camp will be brought to the knowledge of the truth.
         But in the meantime, until that appointed day arrives, those whom He calls to experience a deeper relationship with Him, will continue to find that HE is outside the camp. God said to Moses, "Let them make Me a sanctuary: that I may dwell among them." (Exodus 25:8). But there was so much worldly controversy in Israel, so much carnality of man, that God also said, "I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people: lest I consume thee in the way. - So Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp... and it came to pass that every one which sought the Lord WENT OUT unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp." (Exodus 33:3, 7).
         God’s presence was there, but not in closeness to the people, because they were too stiff-necked and rebellious, and HE who is a CONSUMING FIRE would have moved to purge and purify, and consume them in the way. So they had to prepare a little plot of ground for Him-- afar off from the camp. All this prefigured the greater, as we saw in Hebrews l3:ll-l3.
         Afar off from the camp, on a little plot of ground SET APART FOR HIM, He met with those who came out and sought after Him. Significant that "a body hast Thou prepared me." (Heb. 10:5). An earthen vessel-- a little plot of ground, a body prepared. True, there are much deeper applications for this "body," for there is a blessed spiritual body that He is preparing for His indwelling-- made up of those who have come outside the camp. But the truth is here, and so Jesus came, took on Him the form of man, and gave Himself as a sacrifice that He might sanctify the people-- and every one that goes forth unto Him without the camp, when sanctified by Him, ultimately is destined to become one in whom He shall dwell in fullness.
         We read that "We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle."' (Heb. 13:10). There were sacrifices offered which the priests were allowed to eat certain parts, and some sacrifices which both priest and the worshiper were allowed to eat-- fellowship/communion which was on a certain level before the Lord. But there was also that sacrifice which was a WHOLE BURNT OFFERING unto God, and man had no part in it. There is an altar which goes beyond all man's self-indulgence, which lays bare the heart before God, and deals with the inner spirit of man. O, to be sanctified by Christ-- separated unto Him, that His will alone might be fulfilled in us. Far too long self has coddled its own will, and sought to gratify the flesh while supposedly serving the Lord.
       Religion finds its basis in the self-life: self-will, self-effort, self-glory. Nebuchadnezzar expressed this when he said, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built (self-will, conceived by self, maintained by self) for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power (self-effort), and for the honor of my majesty ( self -glory)." (Daniel 4 :30).
       How  mankind has exploited the blessings of God, satisfying self, and yet claiming to desire only the will of the Father. They revel in a religious high, and glory in their works, programs, and numbers, and turn the altar into a place of negotiation-- "Lord, You do such and such for me, and I will serve You." But there is a process of stripping and cleansing, as we are drawn out of the camp, to be joined to the Lord in the oneness of His mercy and grace, and then it is "no more I, but Christ liveth in me."
         Moffatt translation gives, "Our altar is one of which the worshipers have no right to eat." Implying a realm beyond where we satisfy ourselves when we offer our sacrifices. There are no reserves, nothing held back, but the surrender to God is complete. Jesus offered Himself in that manner. It was a total surrender to the Father's will, and was done without the camp. He suffered without the gate, and if we desire a union with Him-- oneness in the fullest sense of the word, then we are going to have to go forth unto Him without the camp. Not only does He come to us where we are, but there is a GOING FORTH UNTO HIM,-- that we might "be with Me where I am; that they might behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me." (John 17:24).
       "Be with Me where I am." Where is He? Outside the camp! Now, it must be made very clear, there is both a negative coming out, and a positive coming out. John wrote: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." ( 1 John 2:19). "These be they who separate themselves, sensual (soulish), having not the Spirit." (Jude 19). They might be out of the camp, going their own way, but they are not being joined to Him who is our life.
         "He who willfully separates and estranges himself (from God and man) seeks his own desire and pretext to break out against (or quarreleth with) all wise and sound judgment." (Prov. 18:1, Amp.). Self-opinionated, these are "not all of us," but are wrapped up in their own ways and speculations.
        In his translation, Ferrar Fenton adds a thought-- "A man seeks his own desires, when raging against control." Not submitting themselves to the Lord, but rebelling against the Spirit's control, they go out from the camp to do their own thing. This self-separation follows a pattern that involves...
             a,   A looking back. "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit
                   for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62).
             b,   A drawing back. "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, My soul
                   shall have no pleasure in him." (Heb. 10:38).
             c,   A turning back. "Many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with
                   Him."  (John 6 : 66).
             d,   A falling back. "That they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared,
                   and taken." (Isaiah 28:13).
           While the negative "come outers" will face their own processings in due time, we rejoice that there are some positive "come outers" who are willing to "go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach."
         Reproach-- to defame, taunt, revile, rail against. Herein is some of the deep inworking of God, that we are reproached for going out of the camp to be joined in a new and deeper way to Him. We have already noted that there were those unclean ones who were put out of the camp, including the man that cursed, and was stoned. And the usual connotation of being put out of the camp signified that you had done wrong, and no longer worthy to be with the camp. Then we look at Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, and note that "He was numbered with the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:12, 4). And the people did "esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Not acceptable to the people in the camp, they led Him forth and crucified Him outside the gate. His death was not considered as a Sacrifice, (though He was), but because of transgression. For those whose eyes have been anointed to see, we do not view it negatively, but we see how wondrously "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." (2 Cor. 5:19). We bow low to worship Him for all that He did for us-- and we marvel at such love and grace. Yet there is a sharing of His reproach that is only understood when we go to Him without the camp. Separated from all else, we would be joined to Him.
         Yet, how often in our walk with Him, we find that "The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell on me." (Romans 15:3). Slandered, misunderstood and defamed, we bear a unique reproach from those who glory in their works, and esteem us as rebels, misfits, and a disgrace to their cause and game. But our desire is not to be "men pleasers," but "God pleasers." (Gal. 1:10).  And if this involves sharing His reproach, so be it.
         Then the writing to the Hebrews goes on, "For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." (Heb. 13:14). Of the present, natural realms, it can truly be said, "we have here no continuing city." "For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are age-abiding." (2 Cor. 4:18). Of Abraham we read, "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as a stranger-- for he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:9-10). Abraham was not looking for a permanent dwelling place on a material earth realm. He sought for a BETTER, that is, an HEAVENLY realm which endures. Truly his testimony was not so much a verbal one, but as a life which he lived. He was a stranger to the earth realm, because he belonged to another, and he sought for a city whose builder and maker was God. Place this truth over against Him who gave His life outside the camp, and you see that HE did not plan a permanent dwelling in the earth realm, but He was bringing forth a new creation species that would leave the camp, and be joined to Him in the newness of His life. We seek for a permanent realm of glory-- and to dwell with our Father in the fullness of His life, and we are willing to let go, release all that would tie us to this world.
         The reason for going forth unto Him without the camp is because here we have no continuing city-- we are not satisfied with the status in the camp. The limitations, the emptiness, the lacks that we feel impel us to press onward, we would "go on unto perfection." (Heb. 6:1). "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13-14). Here is a GOING ON-- a constraint that urges us onward, regardless of what we face in our coming out. Yes, there is fellowship in the camp. There are inspiring moments as God blesses the people that cry out for more of Him. There are involvements, building programs, religious activities that can consume all your precious hours. But they do not satisfy-- the life we truly desire is found IN CHRIST, and He is without the camp. This necessitates our going forth unto Him.
          It is to be noted that when Jesus WENT FORTH without the gate, it was not a celebration time-- there were no musical bands playing-- no singing and dancing in the street-- "They took Jesus, and led Him away. And He bearing His cross went forth unto a place called Golgotha," (John 19:16-17), to be crucified. Without the camp He suffered, and it is without the camp that He will be enjoyed. As the whole burnt offering portrayed in symbolic form, now the reality of the sacrifice was fulfilled in Him. As the tabernacle was pitched outside the camp, and those who sought the Lord would have to go out unto Him, so now our true dwelling place is without the camp and we must go forth unto Him. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and "no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6). But note how He blazed the trail-- carrying His cross, and marking out the way with His own blood.
         "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in His steps."' (1 Peter 2:21).
         "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh. (Now) let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith." (Hebrews 10:19-20, 22).
         He left us an example, and a footpath, consecrating for us a new and living way, and He leads us outside the camp, drawing us onward to where HE IS. It is a way that includes "the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death." (Phil. 3:10). The full depth of intimacy with our Lord is not experienced when we are in the camp-- too many distractions and illusions. Too many ego-parades of men. Too much self that needs to be crucified. But as we walk the way of the cross it leads us outside the gate and on to our Golgotha. In the uniqueness of His love and grace HE applies His cross in our lives, that He might bring us into His ultimate triumph.
         We hear Him call us, "Come, follow Me," and we think He wants us to join Him in a walk by the sea of Galilee. Or maybe He would sit with us under the shade of an olive tree, and tell us more about the power and wonder of His kingdom. We are sure that He wants us to help gather up the fragments after He feeds the multitudes bread and fish. It sounds like an excellent example of prosperity. And we want to be with Him when He heals the lame, opens the blinded eyes, and causes the deaf to hear. All of these things have their time and place, and we rejoice in all that He does. A revival time in the camp is most welcomed-- but this, this call from Mount Calvary, "Come, follow Me, yield your life to Me as a whole burnt offering," are you sure you heard right? Is He really calling you away from all the camp?
         "He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it." (Matthew 10:38-39).
         "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23).
         Jesus spoke betimes of the way set before Him, and the disciples could not grasp what He was saying. "Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered Him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterwards.'" (John 13:36). The way had not yet been marked out-- Jesus was walking a path shown only to Him by the Father, and the disciples were not yet ready to walk that way. "BUT THOU SHALT FOLLOW ME AFTERWARDS." In His own divine inworking, He brings us into a personal experience of "afterwards" Others may not be ready, their time is not yet, but for you, today He calls, "Come unto me, without the camp." And there, in the fellowship of His sufferings, we go to Him, and find that the cross was but a means to an end-- and the end is joined to Him in one spirit.
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(1)Prinzing, Ray and Doris "Letters of Truth"  Boise, Idaho 83705, P.O. Box 5822

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