I dwell this morning on the expression, "Outside the camp", as I in the quiet of the morning  "camp" at Num. 19:3 and Hebr. 13:10-13 from where some good, practical teaching could be gleaned.

I visualize the busy camp of the swarm of Israelites, but also the place of intimate worship and fellowship outside the camp. It was there the "tent of meeting" was (Ex. 33:7), and it was there Moses was seeking the Lord - not as a super saint, but on the grounds of the sacrificed blood.


This of course foreshadows our gospel premise for entering into the presence of God, i.e. "by the blood of Jesus" (Hebr. 10:19). Going "outside the camp" is the equivalent of ignoring for the moment the hurry of the camp  and be alone with Jesus outside the camp. 

Moses didn´t become an isolationist as he still acknowledged the burden of leadership, but the intimate fellowship with the Lord weighed more than the multitudes of his people, in fact it was the very basis of being a spiritual leader.

H.A. Ironside has some healthy comments on the expression "Let us to Him outside the camp ...  (Hebr. 13:13). Says he, "This expression has been gravely abused and greatly misunderstood by many who would make of it the ground for separation from Christians often as godly as themselves, on the pretence that if they do not see eye to eye with them they themselves constitute the camp."

Ironside concludes, "In saying this, I would not for a moment be understood as condoning what is admittedly evil and unholy, but I do not think it can be insisted upon too strongly that there is no ground in this scripture for ecclesiastical pretension of any kind whatsoever.  Ruin and failure are everywhere and call for humble confession and self-judgment, not for pride of position."

I can´t read this without feeling the need of self-judgment myself and a renewed desire to love every child of God that is washed by the same blood I cling to and who wants to hold forth the same gospel of grace that saved me.

But of course you, dear reader, don´t need any self-judgment like that - or do you?  -  3/17/18 - jn