Sermon Tone Analysis

*Outside the Camp*

A sermon based on Hebrews 13:12-14

 

*Introduction*

*          *Good morning it is a joy to stand before you again, and it is a joy to declare the Word of God.

I trust that you will receive nourishment for your souls as a result of your time here today.

I trust that you will see Jesus, and that He will be more precious to you because you came and sat in your pew this morning.

May His Spirit come upon us as we look into his holy Word.

Please open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 13.

Our main text for today 13:13,14 but I want us to get the context, so let’s begin reading in verse eight.

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

9 Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.10

We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.11

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned *outside the camp.*

12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered *outside the gate*.13

So, let us go out to Him *outside the camp*, bearing His reproach.

14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come (Heb.

13:8-14).

*          *We are called as Christians (people who believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ), to identify not with the Old Testament shadows, but with the New Testament realities.

On the whole, the purpose of the book of Hebrews is to bring New Testament light to Old Testament shadows.

What do I mean by that?

Well, the shadow~/reality concept, or type~/antitype concept, basically says God spoke and performed acts through nations—in particular Israel, and through individuals, in particular prophets throughout the Old Testament.

Subsequently, those words and acts not only had significance for His people then, but they also have incredible significance for His people now.

The book of Hebrews is a very important book when attempting to put all these pieces together.

Our New Testament passage for today has deep Old Testament roots, roots that should be understood in order to fully grasp the significance of the text, which leads me to the first point which is:

*I.** Identifying with Jesus consists of going outside the camp *

          What in the world does that mean?

Let’s go back to verse 8. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes forever” (Heb.

13:8), that verse is drawing our attention to something.

It is drawing our attention to the fact that Jesus’ ways are eternal and that the old ways, those things mentioned in verses 9-1, and in particular the tabernacle (vs.10) and the priesthood are gone—gone and done away with.

For how long—forever?

No longer do we follow a temporary priest.

In fact, look at our main text for today which reads:

                   12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His                     own blood, suffered *outside the gate.*

13 Hence, let us go out to Him *outside the camp*, bearing His                                reproach.

                   14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking /the city/                        which is to come (Heb.

13:13,14).

Notice the phrase /outside the gate/ and /outside the camp/.

These are O.T. expressions that the recipients of this letter would completely understand,

but for twenty-first century Gentiles it is not that clear.

Turn to the book of Exodus chapter 33, and let’s get a sketch of how this word was used and its significance.

SUMMARIZE OR READ Exodus 33:

                   7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it *outside the camp*, a                        good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting.

And everyone who sought the Lord would *go out *to the tent of                                      meeting which was *outside the camp*.

8 And it came about,                             whenever Moses went *out to the tent*, that all the people would arise                         and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until                         he entered the tent.

9 Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of                           cloud would  descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the                         Lord would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people saw the pillar                      of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise               and worship, each at the entrance of his tent (Ex.

33:7-10).

Notice the separation that Moses established between himself and the Israelites “outside the camp.”

Remember the whole golden calf incident just occurred, subsequently God and Moses were not happy with the people, and thus they had to go “outside the camp.”

The second significant thing is the tent of meeting.

It was here where God met with Moses “face to face.”

Also from this tent of meeting, developed what was soon to be known as the Tabernacle, which was basically a portable sacrificial shrine.

*THE DAY OF ATONEMENT*

          The Tabernacle is important because it was in the tabernacle where the sacrifices were made.

In fact, within the Tabernacle sacrificial system was established a very significant day, a day once a year when the priest and the people would have a special time of confession and sacrifice.

This day was called. . .

the *Day of Atonement,* an event that occurred within the Tabernacle.

Please turn to Leviticus chapter 16.

There you will notice that God spoke to Moses and told Him literally what to say and do regarding this ritual.

He told him that Aaron the priest would enter the tabernacle and put on various holy clothes, including a tunic and undergarments.

He would in turn offer a number of significant sacrifices: the first for himself, and the second for the people.

*TRANSITION TO SACRIFICE FOR HIMSELF*

*SACRICE FOR HIMSELF ( TURN TO Lev.

**16:11**-14)*

*SUMMARIZE*

                   11 “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for                           himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he           shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.

12 “He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar                           before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and                     bring it inside the veil.

13 “He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud                     of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the                                        testimony, otherwise he will die.

14 “Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle                    it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the              mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven                         times (Lev.

16:11-14).

*SACRIFICE FOR THE PEOPLE*

*READ THIS SECTION*

                   20 “When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of                                 meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.

21 “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live                          goat, and confess over it all the *iniquities of the sons of Israel and                       all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay                        them on the head of the goat *and send it away into the wilderness by              the hand of a man who stands in readiness.

22 *“The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities* to a solitary                          land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness (Lev.

16:20-22).

*TRANSITION TO KEY WORDS*

Take note of some key concepts.

Notice that Aaron laid on the goat all the sins of the sons of Israel, and that *the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities (22)*.

See later in the text where they take the bodies of the animals and burn them “outside the camp.”

What was the purpose of all of this?

                   “Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, *to make                                       atonement for the sons of **Israel** for all their sins* once every year.”

And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did (Lev.

16:34)

         

          *SO WHAT?*

I can hear some of you ask—are you going to give us

another history lesson?

Does this have any importance for those of us who are not from the Middle East or wear religious attire?

Yes, it has significance and it is directly related to our text for today.

Please turn back to Hebrews (which, by the way I like to call little Leviticus).

Everyone that I studied agrees that Hebrews 13:10-11 is referring to this very thing that we just read—*the Day of Atonement.

*The problem with the Hebrew Christians was that they were being tempted to go back to the ways of the tabernacle and trust in those sacrifices—which were only shadows.

They were meant to be introductory to the real sacrifice.

That is where our Lord comes in to the equation.

Observe verse 12, “therefore Jesus!” Oh, brothers and sisters—*therefore Jesus*, *therefore Jesus* that He might sanctify the people through His own blood—not the blood of a ram, lamb, bull or goat, but by his own blood of suffering.

And where did He suffer?

*OUTSIDE THE CAMP*—Hence,     

* *

*II.

Going outside the camp consists of going through the gate and to the cross *

          This is pregnant with meaning.

First of all, it seems quite clear that just as the scapegoats took on the sins of the sons of Israel, so Jesus took on the sins of His people.

Is this not what Isaiah alludes to in Isaiah 53:6 where he says,

“All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Is.

53:6).

But how does this relate to the outside the gate and outside the camp statements?

I believe this way.

First, Jesus’ trial and scourging were inside Jerusalem the holy city of the Jews—true?

His sacrifice, however, was outside of the city or “outside the camp” as our text reads.

The rejection of Jesus by the sons of Israel, the Jews, was incredibly significant.