Hebrews: Join Him Outside the Camp
Hebrews 13:9-14; Acts 10:9-16 - We have a path to follow that goes outside the camp that was established.
“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. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 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. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”
Hebrews 13:9-14 NASB1995
After the author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is same forever, he now cautions the reader to not be carried away by varied and strange teachings. We strengthen our hearts by grace, not by foods. Those obsessed with dietary laws did not benefit from that focus. Our altar is the cross, from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat from. Jesus suffered outside the camp and gate, just like the animals were burned outside the camp (hence the imagery in the AI image for today). This is quite compelling and challenging!
Steven Cole makes a critically important observation about this passage and false teachings, as quoted in Precept Austin:
False teaching is a perpetual danger for God’s people. The author warns, “Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings” (He 13:9).
We live in a day when evangelical Christians minimize the importance of sound doctrine and even speak against it as something that divides us and goes against Christ’s commands to love one another. The emphasis today is on coming together where we can agree, rather than dividing over doctrines where we disagree. To say, “I’m right and you’re wrong” over doctrinal matters smacks of pride and intolerance. It will earn you the unwelcome labels of “fundamentalist” or “separatist.” The concept that any religious teaching may be universally true or false runs counter to the modern mindset.
We view religious or spiritual views as a matter of preference, not of truth. Pastor Leith Anderson told of a visitor to his church who said that he liked Reformed Theology, the inerrancy of Scripture—and reincarnation. Although Anderson explained that reincarnation is unbiblical, the man didn’t alter his theology (cited in Gene Edward Veith, Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture [Crossway Books], pp. 175-176). Truth was reduced to personal preference: “I like vanilla, you like chocolate. But neither is right or wrong.”
A 1991 George Barna survey found that only 23 percent of evangelical Christians expressed a strong belief in absolute truth. Among the American public the number jumped to 28 percent! (Cited by James Dobson, Dec., 1991 newsletter.) If only one-fourth of evangelicals hold a strong belief in absolute truth, then the idea of avoiding false teaching is not going to be of much concern. But the New Testament is filled with warnings against false doctrine. Jesus warned, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Mt. 7:15+). Paul warned the Ephesian elders to be on guard for savage wolves, and then added (Acts 20:30), “and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” He warned the Galatians about men who were preaching a false gospel (Gal. 1:6, 7, 8, 9). In Colossians, he warned against being taken captive by philosophy and those who imposed rules about food and drink and the observance of certain days (Col 2:8+, Col 2:16+). His pastoral letters frequently mention sound doctrine and warn against false teaching (1Ti 1:6, 7; 4:1, 2, 3; 6:3, 4, 5; 2Ti 2:16, 17, 18+, 2Ti 2:25+; 3:6-9; 4:3, 4; Titus 1:10, 11+, Titus 1:12, 13+, Titus 1:14, 15+, Titus 1:16+). (See also, 2Pe 2:1, 2f+; 1Jn 2:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; 3:7; 4:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; 2Jn 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; Jude; Rev 2:1f+, Re 3:1f+.)
Although the Hebrews knew exactly what the author was referring to in our text, we do not. It may have been Jewish regulations about clean or unclean foods, or some Jewish sacrificial ceremony, such as eating the Passover lamb, that was supposed to have benefited the partakers. The force of the imperative indicates that some were already being carried away with this teaching and needed to stop. Perhaps it was the same thing that the author referred to in Hebrews 9:9, 10, where he said that various sacrifices offered could not make the worshiper perfect in conscience, “since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.”
John Owen (An Exposition of Hebrews [The National Foundation for Christian Education], p. 436) points out that the Jews put so much weight on these foods because they were associated with the Jewish altar. Taking them away declared that their altar, which was the center of their religion, was of no more use. The Judaizing Christians thought that somehow the use of such food had a place in establishing or confirming the heart, perhaps even in the matter of salvation. But such practices were of no benefit because they pulled the Jews away from the only means of salvation, namely, God’s grace in Christ.
The main point to note here is that Satan has always infiltrated the church with false teaching that invariably dilutes or digresses from God’s grace in Jesus Christ. If we buy into the modern idea that doctrinal truth is a personal preference of minimal importance, we join these early Hebrews, in danger of being “carried away by varied and strange teaching.” To deny the vital importance of sound doctrine makes us prime targets for the enemy’s attacks. (The Antidote to False Teaching ).
I don’t think we can emphasize enough the importance of sound doctrine! There is a large movement today of people known as Messianic Judaism. I had some friends who followed that denomination for a while but are now back to an evangelical tradition. They were both raised as Christians, but were attracted to the continuity and recognition of Judaic rites coupled with belief in Christ. The group observes Judaic customs (kosher diets), Judaic feasts and merges them with teachings from the Gospels. Many of them are Jews who believe in Jesus. Not to be ungracious, but those who follow this merging of the two traditions must have left the epistle of Hebrews out of their Bibles. The New Covenant is not an addendum to the Old Covenant, as we have learned over the past few months.
What did Peter learn about dietary laws and the focus of the Christian message in his vision in Acts 10?
“On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.”
Acts 10:9-16 NASB1995
As we observed in my study of Acts, this vision happened just before messengers from Cornelius, a gentile Roman, approached Peter to have him come to the household of Cornelius. God is telling Peter that no one is beyond the reach of the Good News and what God has cleansed is not considered unholy. Paul also had serious run-ins with Judaizers, who were Jews who were believers, who insisted on the rites of circumcision for gentiles who converted (Paul addresses this in the book of Galatians, among other writings).
It is a bit of a relief to know, from the author of Precept Austin, that Hebrews 13:10-14 is considered among the most challenging passages of scripture in the Bible. I thought it was just me (tired or distracted) that was having difficulty with the intent, but many commentators are also divided on meanings. Hopefully, this h
Let’s start with the words from David Guzik, in Enduring Word. I usually find him to be pretty logical and consistent:
c. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat: Their friends and relatives remaining in traditional Judaism labeled these Jewish Christians illegitimate because they did not continue the Levitical system. But the writer to the Hebrews insisted that we have an altar, and it is an altar that those who cling to the Levitical system have no right to.
i. Essentially, our altar is the cross – the centerpiece of the Christian gospel and understanding (1 Corinthians 1:18-24 and 1 Corinthians 2:1-5).
d. Jesus… suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach: If our Savior was rejected and His sacrifice (performed at the cross, our altar) was considered illegitimate then we expect nothing better. Identifying with Jesus often means bearing His reproach, the very thing many are unwilling to do.
i. Outside the camp: The camp refers to institutional Judaism, which rejected Jesus and Christianity. Though these Christians from Jewish backgrounds were raised to consider everything outside the camp as unclean and evil, now they had follow Jesus outside traditional, institutional Judaism of that time.
ii. “It means, first, let us have fellowship with him. He was despised; he had no credit for charity; he was mocked in the streets; he was hissed at; he was hounded from among society. If I take a smooth part, I can have no fellowship with him: fellowship requires a like experience.” (Spurgeon)
iii. “A sorry life your Master had, you see. All the filth in earth’s kennels was thrown at him by sacrilegious hands. No epithet was thought coarse enough; no terms hard enough; he was the song of the drunkard, and they that sat in the gate spoke against him. This was the reproach of Christ; and we are not to marvel if we bear as much. ‘Well,’ says one, ‘I will not be a Christian if I am to bear that.’ Skulk back, then, you coward, to your own damnation; but oh! Men that love God, and who seek after the eternal reward, I pray you do not shrink from this cross. You must bear it.” (Spurgeon)
iv. “If you can dwell with the wicked, if you can live as they live, and be ‘hail-fellow well met’ with the ungodly, if their practices are your practices, if their pleasures are your pleasures, then their god is your god, and you are one of them. There is no being a Christian without being shut out of the world’s camp.” (Spurgeon)
e. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come: The difficult job of bearing His reproach is easier when we remember that the city or society we are cast out from is only temporary. We seek and belong to the permanent city yet to come.
i. In bearing His reproach we face great difficulty and suffering. The good news is that for those who bear His reproach, this world is the worst they will ever have it. For cowards who turn their back on Jesus, this life is the absolute best they will ever have it.
Ok, that helps. Let’s note a few highlights from this commentary:
Christians (including early church Jews who converted) have an altar that replaces the tabernacle/temple system and animal sacrifice that was in place. Peter, in the Acts passage, had to learn through that vision he received (that occurred three times, an intriguing coincidence) that gentiles are not unclean and are part of the plan of salvation, too.
Identifying with Jesus means bearing His reproach. His suffering on the cross occurred outside the city gates and outside the camp of traditional Judaism. Let’s do a quick Blue Letter Bible lexicon word study on reproach:
Reproach comes from the Greek noun ὀνειδισμός or oneidismós (Strong’s G3680), with the following Biblical usages:
a reproach
such as Christ suffered, for the cause of God, from his enemies
As Spurgeon notes in the commentary, bearing His reproach means that we must share a similar experience in our lives (hated, mocked, crucified). We must take up our cross and follow Him.
We are cast out of “civil society” because we are looking for the permanent city that is yet to come. As the last note in the commentary says, this life is the worst experience in eternity that can be had by a true believer, but for the non-believer, this life is the best experience compared to their eternity.
Precept Austin has a good example of what it means to abandon that Levitical system and move to the new grace of Christ:
Imagine a chef who refuses to use the new, large, clean commercial kitchen provided for him, insisting instead on cooking in an old, cramped pantry with a flickering bulb and rusty stove.
That old kitchen was once necessary, but now it’s obsolete.
Trying to return to the Levitical system is like trying to cook a banquet for a king in a broken kitchen.
Christ is the new, spacious kitchen of grace—fully equipped, fully sufficient, fully open.
I also found this commentary from Precept Austin to be quite good:
Hebrews 13:12 continues the writer’s powerful comparison between the Day of Atonement sacrifices and the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ. Under the Old Covenant, the sin offerings whose blood was brought into the Holy of Holies were taken outside the camp and completely burned. That “outside” location symbolized rejection, removal of sin, and separation from uncleanness. The author now draws the stunning parallel: Jesus fulfilled that very pattern. He was led outside the gate of Jerusalem, bearing reproach and shame, so that by His own blood He might sanctify His people. In this single verse, the writer gathers the whole weight of the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16 and places it squarely on Christ, showing that our holiness was secured by His willingness to stand where sinners should have stood.
Therefore Jesus also, Just as the Old Covenant sin offerings were taken outside the camp to be burned, Jesus likewise was taken outside the gate of Jerusalem to suffer and die. The “therefore” connects the Old Testament typology of slain animals burned outside the camp (Heb 13:11) with Jesus’ crucifixion outside the camp.
Leviticus 16 describes many of the offerings that were to be established, including the goat who is selected to leave the camp area with the sins on its back (the “scapegoat”).
Let us go forth directs us to bear His reproach and go to Him outside the camp. A.W. Tozer (in Precept Austin) has a cautionary note about being weak in discipleship, from one of his daily devotionals:
The absence of the concept of discipleship from present-day Christianity leaves a vacuum which men and women instinctively try to fill with a variety of substitutes.
One is a kind of pietism—an enjoyable feeling of affection for the person of our Lord, which is valued for itself and is wholly unrelated to cross bearing.
Another substitute is literalism—which manifests itself among us by insisting on keeping the letter of the Word while ignoring its spirit. It habitually fails to apprehend the inward meaning of Christ’s words and contents itself with external compliance with the text.
A third substitute surely is zealous religious activity. “Working for Christ” has today been accepted as the ultimate test of godliness among all but a few evangelical Christians. Christ has become a project to be promoted or a cause to be served, instead of a Lord to be obeyed! To avoid the snare of unauthorized substitution, I recommend careful and prayerful study of the lordship of Christ and the discipleship of the believer!
Our church thrives on “going on Mission for the Lord”. Fortunately, we just had a sermon series about being obedient to Him first and understanding the power of God (ironically, done by examining the Ark of the Covenant). Too few believers study the Lordship of Christ and instead find ways to look pious, wise and busy.
We are seeking the eternal city. I’ll leave you with one more commentary from Charles Spurgeon, quoted in Precept Austin:
It is not ours to arrange a new Socialism or to set up to be dividers of heritages; we belong to a kingdom that is not of this world—a city of God, “eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor 5:1+). It is not ours to pursue the dreams of politicians, but to offer the sacrifices of God-ordained priests. As we are not of this world, it is ours to seek the world to come, and press forward to the place where the saints in Christ shall reign forever and ever.
Amen!
My next devotional examines Hebrews 13:15-16 - Offering a sacrifice of praise.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Help me to come to the Altar of Christ and look to the eternal city! Amen.
Credits and Citations:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
“G3680 - oneidismos - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NASB95).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 3 Mar, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3680/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/>.
Precept Austin was accessed on 03/03/2026 to review commentary for Hebrews 13:9-14. Within the Precept Austin commentary, the Steven Cole sermon can be found at the link in the article above and is © Copyright 2004 Steven Cole.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. Within the Enduring Word commentary:
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon The New Park Street Pulpit, Volumes 1-6and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990)