“…go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” The people the writer is addressing had been brought up on an external system of traditional rules, religious regulations, and rigid restrictions. These were preferred before the Altogether Lovely One. External rites are always wrong when chosen over Christ.
Many today are in the same situation as these early Christians. They are associated with a movement or group that started out right, but has now ended up wrong. To turn your back on it and walk away is no easy thing. The loss of lifetime friends, the misunderstanding by loved ones, and the reproach of one’s peers, is a price many are not willing to pay. If others would come along with them, they might be willing, but to go it alone is unthinkable.
The books of Hebrews is about Christ being better; and, believe me, identification with our Lonely Christ is better than association with the popular crowd. God had rejected and abolished their old ceremonial ways and had offered them in its place “a new and living way.” Will you accept it?
Who minds being outside the camp, if you’re inside the veil?
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