Levítico 9

Levítico 9

Morris explains the exhortation of believers "to go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach." (Heb 13:13) - This (Heb 13:12) leads to an appeal to the readers to “go to Him outside the camp” (the compound verb exerchomai, “to go out,” and the adverb exō, “outside,” emphasize the thought of “out,” “outside”). Christ is outside the camp of Judaism, and the readers are encouraged to go to Him where He is. To remain within the camp of Judaism would be to be separated from Him. Here there may be an allusion to Moses’ pitching “the tent of meeting” outside the camp and to the people’s going out to it (Ex 33:7). But in the case of Christ, there was a price to pay—that of sharing in the rejection he had undergone, “bearing the disgrace he bore.” In Heb 11:26 Moses was said to have accepted “disgrace for the sake of Christ” (the same expression as here). To align oneself with Christ is to subject oneself to scorn, reproach, and perhaps more. But consistently throughout this epistle the writer has argued, as he does here, that it is well worth it. Furthermore, his readers must have a different outlook from that of contemporary Judaism. The Jews held that the way Christ died proved Him to be accursed (Deut 21:23; Gal 3:13). The readers must be ready to stand outside Judaism with the Christ who bore the curse for them “outside the camp.” (The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume 12: Hebrews Through Revelation) Kistemaker explains "First, we look at the exhortation from a Jewish point of view. The Jewish Christian must leave the family structure in which he learned the precepts and commandments, the ceremonies and traditions, the prejudice and pride of the Jew. He is asked to go to Jesus upon whom the Jewish people invoked God’s curse by hanging him on a cross (Dt. 21:23). To go to one who bears the curse of God is to share “the disgrace he bore.” By choosing for Christ, the Jew rejects Judaism and thus faces expulsion, alienation, and at times persecution. The author of Hebrews reminds the readers of the suffering, public insult, and persecution they had endured in earlier days when they became Christians (Heb 10:33). Next, every reader is exhorted to go to Jesus who was cursed by God, because through Jesus we have access to God. We identify with him, for through him we are made holy (Isa. 52:11; Ezek. 20:41; 2Cor. 6:17). He bore disgrace to set us free from the guilt of sin and to remove the curse from us. That means that the world of sin vents its hatred against us for going to Jesus (John 17:14). Christians are not taken out of the context of a sinful world but are placed in it to be witnesses for Christ. In his list of the heroes of faith, the writer notes that Moses “regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Heb 11:26-note). Christians bear the name of Christ and are commanded by him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him (Mt 10:38; 16:24). The Christian keeps his eye of faith fixed on Jesus (Heb 12:2-note). He knows that this present world will not remain unchanged, but will pass away. (Exposition of Hebrews. Baker Book House). John