Outside the Camp
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton
Text: Hebrews 13:9-14
I. Understanding the place of the Old Testament is difficult for man
A. God is clear that
1. The Old Law would come to an end - Jeremiah 31:31-34
2. The Old Law did come to an end - Colossians 2:14; Ephesians 2:15-16
B. The book of Hebrews is mostly about why that change had to take place and how much better the New Law of Christ is - Hebrews 8:6
C. We are going to examine the concluding summary of Hebrews to better understand these things - Hebrews 13:9-14
II. The book of Hebrews was targeted to Christians from a Jewish background
A. From the establishment of the church there were always elements who tried to push Christianity back toward the Old Law - Acts 15:1-5
B. The book of Galatians deals with the issue
1. A perversion of the Gospel - Galatians 1:9-10
2. Christians were being pulled away by Judaizing teachers - Galatians 3:1-4
3. People wanted to make it a Jewish sect - Galatians 6:12-15
III. Old Testament Food versus New Testament Food
A. It wasn’t just circumcision that was at issue, there was push to conform to the dietary laws
1. “Righteousness” was being determined by conforming to the rules of the Old Law - Colossians 2:17-18
2. Even though food doesn’t make a person righteous - I Corinthians 8:8
3. Foods do not profit the person occupied with them - Hebrews 13:9
4. Don’t subject yourselves to regulations - Colossians 2:20-23
5. Righteousness comes by grace, not by law keeping - Romans 3:27-28
B. Under the Old Testament, only the priest could eat from the altar - Numbers 18:9-10
1. It was a part of a priest’s rights - I Corinthians 9:13
C. But Christians have food which cannot be eaten by priests following after the Old Law - Hebrews 13:10
1. They had no right to it
2. Jesus declared that he was the bread - John 6:35, 48, 51
3. That bread we partake in - I Corinthians 5:7; 10:16-17
4. The Lord’s Supper represents this, but we understand that Jesus wasn’t talking about physical food, but spiritual food
5. Christ bought with his blood our salvation - Hebrews 10:5-12
6. And those remaining under the Old Law had no right to partake in it
D. Notice that the write talks about those serving under the tabernacle
1. Why tabernacle instead of temple?
2. A tabernacle was a tent, a temporary dwelling
3. This was a further stab that the Old Law was only temporary
E. Pulling in the Old keeps you out of the New - Galatians 5:2-4
IV. Jesus’ death is compared to the sacrifices of the Old Testament - Hebrews 13:11-12
A. The sin offerings were no fully burnt on the altar - Leviticus 16:17
B. It wasn’t a coincidence that Jesus died outside the city limits - John 19:17-18
C. In this way, Jesus became a type of burnt offering. His sacrifice was in the category of burnt offerings - Ephesians 5:2
D. But because it was outside the gates of Jerusalem, what was done was not fully a part of the Old Law. It is for this reason that Jesus’ blood reaches those not born as Jews - Ephesians 2:11-18
E. Using Jerusalem as a symbol, the writer points out that partake of this sacrifice, the Jew must go outside the camp - Hebrews 13:13
F. They had to come out of the Old Law - Romans 7:4
G. That it would involve hardships was a given - Matthew 5:10-12
V. No continuing city - Hebrews 13:14
A. The Old Law had been fade since the days of Jeremiah - Hebrews 8:13
B. The city that the Jews took so much pride in would not last - Matthew 24:1-2
C. There was nothing left for the Jews under the Old Law
D. But in Christ we seek an eternal home - Philippians 3:20-21
E. Salvation is not in the Old Law, but in Christ and his law.
F. Will you also seek for the continuing city to come?
