Lev 4:12 | KingComments | STEP | The bull must not only be slain, it must also be burned, outside the camp, so outside the place where God lives, on a clean place. The Lord Jesus did not die an ‘ordinary’ death. He was taken out of Jerusalem by the people and died there under the judgment of God on the sins. He has been forsaken of God. None of God’s children who died has ever been forsaken by God. Martyrs could die at the stake singing because God was with them. But the Lord Jesus died, while He Himself has borne the sins of all who believe in Him “in His body on the cross” ( ) and was “made sin” for them by God ( ). That is what He prayed in Gethsemane on His face that the cup should pass from Him. But He is also perfect then and says to His Father: “Yet not as I will, but as You will” ( ). His perfect obedience brings him to Golgotha. That is why this place is a clean place at the same time. The Lord Jesus is made sin. God has “sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and [as an offering] for sin, … condemned sin in the flesh”, His flesh, on the cross ( ), that is to be the sin offering. The sin offering must be burned outside the camp, far from the place where God dwells. It means that God is not with Him, but against Him, in the three hours of darkness when He bears the sins and is made sin. Every part of the animal is burned to ashes. ‘Burn’ means a different thought than “to offer … up in smoke” in the previous chapters and also here in . ‘To offer up in smoke’ is in connection with the pleasure of God; “to burn” is in connection with God’s wrath. ‘Burning’ happened in my place. I have to realize that well when I have sinned again. Again and again I have to realize that by nature all my thoughts are sinful: the head is burned, my walk is sinful: the legs are burned, my feelings are spoiled by sin: the entrails are burned, everything that emanates from me is only filth: the refuse is burned. I have deserved judgment, but the Lord Jesus, as the innocent Offering, has undergone it for me. “Outside the camp” also has an application for us. This is clear from Hebrews 13. There is talk of sin offerings whose “bodies … are burned outside the camp” ( ). The camp in that verse is a reference to Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God; therefore sin offerings should be burned outside and not inside. Parallel to this, the Lord Jesus suffered as a sin offering not inside Jerusalem but outside, outside the gate, outside the camp ( ). Immediately thereafter it says: “So, let us go out to Him outside the camp” ( ). Jerusalem has become an unholy place and that has become visible because the Jewish system threw the Holy One out of the city. Therefore, from that moment until today the believers are called upon to leave – that means: to break with – everything that is so unholy, that there is no place in it for the Holy and Just One. To remain in the picture, we can say: in such an unholy camp the believer no longer feels at home, so he is called to leave it and go out to the Lord Jesus. It can still be said of ‘the camp’ that it is a picture of Christianity in its outer form. It is the picture of the religion where great emphasis is placed on outward things, where a mediating priesthood is maintained, but where there is no place for the Christ of the Scriptures. From Hebrews 13 we can learn that the position of the New Testament believer is threefold: he is at the altar ( ), in the sanctuary, and outside the camp ( ). For all Christian churches where the characteristics of the camp are seen, the command today is also for the individual to go out to Him. To be connected to a glorified Lord in heaven goes hand in hand with being connected to a Christ reproached on earth. Moses also chose “the reproach of Christ” because he considered it “greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” ( ).

‏ Leviticus 4:12

Outside the Camp

The bull must not only be slain, it must also be burned, outside the camp, so outside the place where God lives, on a clean place. The Lord Jesus did not die an ‘ordinary’ death. He was taken out of Jerusalem by the people and died there under the judgment of God on the sins. He has been forsaken of God.

None of God’s children who died has ever been forsaken by God. Martyrs could die at the stake singing because God was with them. But the Lord Jesus died, while He Himself has borne the sins of all who believe in Him “in His body on the cross” (1Pet 2:24) and was “made sin” for them by God (2Cor 5:21). That is what He prayed in Gethsemane on His face that the cup should pass from Him. But He is also perfect then and says to His Father: “Yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mt 26:39). His perfect obedience brings him to Golgotha. That is why this place is a clean place at the same time.

The Lord Jesus is made sin. God has “sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and [as an offering] for sin, … condemned sin in the flesh”, His flesh, on the cross (Rom 8:3), that is to be the sin offering. The sin offering must be burned outside the camp, far from the place where God dwells. It means that God is not with Him, but against Him, in the three hours of darkness when He bears the sins and is made sin.

Every part of the animal is burned to ashes. ‘Burn’ means a different thought than “to offer … up in smoke” in the previous chapters and also here in Lev 4:10. ‘To offer up in smoke’ is in connection with the pleasure of God; “to burn” is in connection with God’s wrath.

‘Burning’ happened in my place. I have to realize that well when I have sinned again. Again and again I have to realize that

by nature all my thoughts are sinful: the head is burned,

my walk is sinful: the legs are burned,

my feelings are spoiled by sin: the entrails are burned,

everything that emanates from me is only filth: the refuse is burned.

I have deserved judgment, but the Lord Jesus, as the innocent Offering, has undergone it for me.

“Outside the camp” also has an application for us. This is clear from Hebrews 13. There is talk of sin offerings whose “bodies … are burned outside the camp” (Heb 13:11). The camp in that verse is a reference to Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God; therefore sin offerings should be burned outside and not inside. Parallel to this, the Lord Jesus suffered as a sin offering not inside Jerusalem but outside, outside the gate, outside the camp (Heb 13:12). Immediately thereafter it says: “So, let us go out to Him outside the camp” (Heb 13:13). Jerusalem has become an unholy place and that has become visible because the Jewish system threw the Holy One out of the city.

Therefore, from that moment until today the believers are called upon to leave – that means: to break with – everything that is so unholy, that there is no place in it for the Holy and Just One. To remain in the picture, we can say: in such an unholy camp the believer no longer feels at home, so he is called to leave it and go out to the Lord Jesus.

It can still be said of ‘the camp’ that it is a picture of Christianity in its outer form. It is the picture of the religion where great emphasis is placed on outward things, where a mediating priesthood is maintained, but where there is no place for the Christ of the Scriptures. From Hebrews 13 we can learn that the position of the New Testament believer is threefold: he is at the altar (Heb 13:10), in the sanctuary, and outside the camp (Heb 13:11-13).

For all Christian churches where the characteristics of the camp are seen, the command today is also for the individual to go out to Him. To be connected to a glorified Lord in heaven goes hand in hand with being connected to a Christ reproached on earth. Moses also chose “the reproach of Christ” because he considered it “greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” (Heb 11:26).