Message Twelve

Enter within the Veil and Go outside the Camp

Scripture Reading: Heb. 6:19-20; 13:13; Exo. 33:7-11

1. The goal and ultimate conclusion of the book of Hebrews is that we would enter within the veil and go outside the camp—Heb. 6:19-20; 13:13:
   1. To enter within the veil means to enter into the Holy of Holies, where the Lord is enthroned in glory, and to go outside the camp means to come out of religion, whence the Lord was cast in rejection:
      1. The camp signifies the organization of religion, which is earthly and human.
      2. Every religion is a human organization and an earthly realm which keeps people away from God’s economy.
   2. We must be in our spirit, where, experientially speaking, the practical Holy of Holies is today, and outside religion, where the practical camp is today:
      1. The more we are in our spirit, enjoying the heavenly Christ, the more we will come outside the camp of religion, following the suffering Jesus.
      2. The more we remain in our spirit to contact the heavenly Christ, who is in glory, the more we will go forth outside the camp of religion unto the lowly Jesus to suffer with Him.
      3. The genuine New Testament ministry brings us into the enjoyment of Christ in our spirit, within the veil, and strengthens us to follow Jesus outside the camp in the fellowship of His sufferings for the sake of His Body— 2 Cor. 11:2-3, 23-33:
         1. Within the veil, we participate in the ministry of the heavenly Christ that we may be equipped to minister Him to the thirsty spirits outside the camp.
         2. By entering within the veil and going outside the camp, we are equipped in every good work for the doing of the will of God, who does in us that which is well pleasing in His sight—Heb. 13:20-21.
   3. To enter within the veil is to get into our spirit; when we turn to our spirit and exercise it, we enter within the veil—1 Tim. 4:7-8:
      1. We have to exercise, to use, to employ, our spirit by fanning our spirit into flame, setting our mind on the spirit, and discerning our spirit from our soul—2 Tim. 1:6-7; Rom. 8:5-6; Heb. 4:12.
      2. We must exercise our spirit that we may enter within the veil to have direct contact with the heavenly Christ, the man in the glory, beholding Him to be transfused and infused with Him so that we may become His corporate reproduction—2 Cor. 3:18.
      3. To be within the veil is to be in the Holy of Holies, in a realm where we partake of Christ and enjoy Him as the hidden manna, the budding rod, and the law of life, issuing in God’s corporate expression for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose—Heb. 9:3-4.
2. After the children of Israel worshipped the golden calf, Moses moved to a place outside the camp, where everyone who sought the Lord went to meet with him, for both the Lord’s presence and speaking were there— Exo. 33:7-11:
   1. We need to see and be warned by the principle of the golden-calf idol, an idol made by God’s redeemed people to make them an idolatrous camp—1 Cor. 10:5-7:
      1. Self-beautification leads to idolatry—Exo. 32:1-3; 33:5-6; Gen. 35:2-4; cf. Exo. 28:2; Isa. 60:21.
      2. Idolatry is Satan’s usurping of what God has given us in order to make it a waste; it is our abusing what God has given us and not using God’s gifts, both material and spiritual, for God’s purpose.
      3. Idolatry is the worship of the things we enjoy, the worship of enjoyment, amusement, and entertainment—Exo. 32:6, 18-19; cf. Psa. 36:8-9.
      4. With idolatry there is the pretense of worshipping the true God—Exo. 32:4-6; 1 Kings 12:26-30.
      5. With idolatry there is mixture in worship— Exo. 32:4-6, 21-24.
   2. Because Moses realized that the Lord’s presence would no longer be in the midst of the people, he removed his tent and pitched it afar off from the camp; his tent then became the tent of God—Exo. 33:7:
      1. The camp signifies a religious people, who belong to the Lord in name but who, in actuality, worship idols, worshipping something and seeking something other than the Lord Himself:
      2. In the history of God’s people, the camp may be seen in at least three periods:
         1. The camp was first the children of Israel after they worshipped the golden calf.
         2. The Jewish religion became the camp at the time of the Lord’s living on the earth—Matt. 15:7-9.
         3. Later, the church changed in nature from being a tent to being a camp, a religious system, religious Babylon, comprising a group of religious people belonging to the Lord in name and honoring the Lord with their mouth, but having their hearts set on something other than the Lord— Gen. 11:4, 7, 9; 2 Chron. 36:6-7; Ezra 1:11; Rev. 17:3-5; 18:2a, 4.
      3. After Moses removed his tent and separated it from the idolatrous camp, the Lord spoke to him face to face, as a man speaks to his companion—Exo. 33:11:
         1. God and Moses were companions, associates, partners, involved in the same career and having a common interest in a great enterprise.
         2. Because Moses was intimate with God, he was a person who knew God’s heart, who was according to God’s heart, and who could touch God’s heart.
         3. We need to enter within the veil and go outside the idolatrous camp to have the closest and most intimate relationship with the Lord so that we can be persons who share a common interest with God and who can be used by Him to carry out His enterprise on earth.