Hebrews 13:13 says, “Let us therefore go forth unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” We must go out of the camp unto Jesus because Jesus has left the camp. Jesus was driven out of the camp and was put to death outside the camp. The camp would not accept Jesus the Lord. There was a religious group who had the Lord in name but worshipped something other than the Lord. They did not accept the Lord, and they even gave up the Lord. Therefore, the Lord gave them up. If we are going to have the presence and the fellowship of the Lord, we have to go out of the camp.
In the history of God’s people the camp may be seen in at least three periods. The camp was first the children of Israel after they worshipped the idol in Exodus 32. They had the name of belonging to the Lord, but in reality they worshipped something else and hence became a religious camp among whom it was impossible to have the Lord’s presence. Second, the Jews in Judaism, the Jewish religion, became the camp at the time of the Lord’s living on the earth. They also were a religious group, claiming the name of the Lord but worshipping something other than the Lord. Later, Christianity also became the camp, taking the name of the Lord but not worshipping the Lord in spirit and truthfulness (John 4:24). The Lord’s presence would not be in the camp. The Lord’s presence left all the camps, and all those who really seek the Lord have to leave the camp, go out of the camp unto the Lord. Those who do will have the presence and the fellowship of the Lord. This is a very solemn matter.
We have to ask ourselves whether we are in the camp or in the tent, even whether we are the camp or the tent. At the very beginning of our practice of the church we stressed this matter very much. We have to go out of the camp unto the Lord. We cannot and we should not remain in Christianity as a religious camp. We left the denominations because we realized that all the denominations are simply a religious camp. In the eyes of the Lord, Christianity is a camp. Outside of the camp there is the tent of the Lord. Now we are not in the camp, and we are not the camp people. We are in the tent and we even are the tent. We are people who have followed the Lord out of Christianity, out of the camp. However, we have to be very careful. It may be that after a certain time we will also become the camp.
What is the camp and what is the tent? The camp is a religious people who belong to the Lord in name but who in actuality worship something and seek something other than the Lord, while the tent is a separation from that religious group.
There is always the separation of the tent and the camp. We have to realize, however, that separation and division are different. Division among the Lord’s people is something evil. Moses and Joshua were not divided from the Lord’s people, but they were separated from them (Exo. 33:7-11). Likewise, we would never say that we have made a division among the Lord’s people, but we would say and even insist that we must make a separation from the camp of Christianity. We cannot give up the separation, but we have no intention to make a division. We must differentiate between separation and division. If we are going to set up another sect, we will make a division, but we have no intention to do that. We would not be divided from the Lord’s children, but Christianity has become a camp. Because the Lord has come out of it, we must also separate ourselves from the camp and set up the tent.
The tent and the camp are a clear picture of our real situation. Originally the camp was the place where the Lord’s presence and fellowship were, but at a certain point it lost its nature and became idolatrous. Therefore, the people who know the Lord’s heart must leave it and set up a tent. Immediately after Moses pitched the tent, the pillar of cloud came down to the door of the tent and Jehovah spoke to Moses as a companion, face to face (33:9-11). All those who are seeking the Lord have to go out of the camp and go forth unto Him at the tent.