Before we move on I must add the following to what has already been shared dealing with Hebrews 13:10 which states this: “We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.“ Just where to start I'm not sure of but anyway here goes. I'm doing this because while waiting for someone who had called with a need for help, I started thinking on what the Lord has shown in our study earlier yesterday. So I went back to examine the material covered when I found the following. First our altar is not of this world nor is or was it made with human hands. This will become more plane as we move through the scriptures that follow. So first we'll look at a few words with the aid of the Strong's and Thayer's Greek Dictionaries which say this about altar G2379 : “metaphorically, the cross on which Christ suffered an expiatory death: to eat of this altar, i.e. to appropriate to one’s self the fruits of Christ’s expiatory death.” Then the word tabernacle which taken from both the Thayer and the Strong's Greek Dictionaries say G4633 this: from a root of G4639 which is a shadow of something ie...adumbration, a sketchy outline, foreshadow, prefigure, presage; and G4632 which is a vessel, metaphorically: a man of quality, a chosen instrument, specifically a wife as contributing to the usefulness of the husband.
With all that said lets look at what scripture says. To begin turn to Revelation chapter 21 verse 3: John here is speaking: 'I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.' (Leviticus 26:11; Jeremiah 31:33) and this in turn references chapter 7 verses 14-17:
“I (John) said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation (the enigma of the interim in which we now live, the period between His first and second coming), and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
Now turning to Colossians chapter 2 verse 11 but to get the flow we'll start with verse 9 and go through 17:
“For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power: (11) In Whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ (this is what takes place on the cross when the flesh or heart of natural man, the man of sin, is pealed back or away to destroy the flesh in which the ontological essence of Satan or evil, sin dwells and then God gives us a heart of new flesh in which He by His ontological essence in Christ now indwells us): Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”
For Paul says this in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 16 but again to get the full flow we'll pick it up in verse 14 and go through 18 as this is key to remaining in the Spirit and our walking by the Spirit:
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? [Are we getting the picture as Paul is painting it here? What fellowship has God with Religion or what concord has Christ with Religion? NONE is the correct answer. Now] (16) And what agreement hath the temple (our hearts by faith as revealed in Revelation 21:3 above) of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean (the religions and governments of man) thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
I have tried as I may not to say too much through the above scriptures but allow them to speak for themselves. Now on with our Hebrews study.
Hebrews 13:11
"For the bodies of those beasts, (those sacrificial animals) whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, (now that of course was a reference to the Day of Atonement) are burned without (or outside) the camp."
Now the same here is a reference to the city of Jerusalem as “without the camp”. And even in the Temple worship those beasts’ bodies were not burned there in the Temple complex, they were taken outside the city walls. Just as Jesus, our passover, was taken outside the city walls to be crucified on our alter, as both the lamb of sacrifice and the scape goat which carried the sins into the wilderness. This helps to tie all the above scriptures together. For all forms of Religion and especially that of Judaism were judged outside the camp as the sins laid on Christ in His vicarious death portrays. Along with verse 12.
Hebrews 13:12
"Wherefore (wherefore since even the sacrificial animals for the Day of Atonement had to be burned outside the city wall) Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, (in other words, His work of the cross, His death, His shed blood, He too) suffered (where?) without (or outside) the gate."
In other words, the Hebrews would have never agreed to have such a horrible spectacle as the crucifixion take place inside their hallowed grounds. So they made sure that the Romans carried out the crucifixion outside the city walls. Alright so it was all in a fulfillment of God’s divine purposes, so Christ also, you see, suffered outside the city walls. All this was prophesied and is in fulfillment of those prophecies. Which fulfills all righteousness and the requirements of the Law now made a religion by the priesthood. Not by God for God told them that they had broken and defiled that which was meant for their good through His prophets.
In his Commentary on the Gospels, James A. Fowler reveals the contrast between Christ and the Religionist's of His day. This is brought out in vivid detail in chapters twelve through fourteen and could be titled Jesus Confronts Religion. We have the link to his web site posted in our link section on this page. He reveals quite will the conflict between the religionists ie...scribes, Pharisee's and Sadducee's and then the nationalist and militant of Jesus' day.
Hebrews 13:13
"Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach."
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