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The whole sin offering, including its skin and all its flesh, with its head, legs, and its inward parts and its dung, was burned outside the camp (Lev. 4:11-12, 21):
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This signifies that Christ as the sin offering suffered reproach outside the Jewish religion (Heb. 13:11-13).
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Christ was crucified outside Jerusalem, which is considered a camp representing the Jewish religious organization (v. 13).
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Christ came to replace the types of the offerings in Leviticus (Heb. 10:5-10):
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As the unique sacrifice and offering, Christ took away all the sacrifices and offerings of the old testament and established Himself as the new testament sacrifice and offerings (vv. 7-10).
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Christ came to be the real sacrifice and living offering, who offered Himself on the cross as the reality of all the offerings (9:14, 25-26; 10:11-12).
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The central thought of Leviticus is that the universal, all-inclusive, inexhaustible Christ is everything to God and to God's people; as an exposition of Leviticus, the Epistle to the Hebrews reveals the marvelous, mysterious, and all-inclusive person of Christ (1:2-3; 4:14-15; 10:5-10; 13:8):
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In the book of Leviticus itself we cannot see how great, excellent, wonderful, all-inclusive, and inexhaustible is the Christ whom we offer and enjoy as the offerings; for a revelation of the all-inclusiveness of Christ, we need to consider the aspects of Christ that are revealed in Hebrews.
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 13:11-12 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy of Holies for sin by the high priest are burned up outside the camp. Therefore also Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.Hebrews 13:11-12 tells us that Jesus as the sin offering suffered outside the gate....Christ was judged there, and that is also our place. The more we are outside the gate, the more we are in the place where Jesus was "burned to ashes." Then we can truly enjoy Him and praise Him for the blood and the ashes.
The gate in verse 12 refers to the city of Jerusalem, which signifies the earthly realm, while the camp in verse 13 refers to the tabernacle, which signifies human organization. Together, the two signify one thing, the Jewish religion with its two aspects, the earthly and the human....We need to follow [Christ] outside the religious camp, bearing His reproach. This means that we are passing through the process of suffering that He underwent. As suffering ones, we will become the same as He is. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3839-3840)
Today's Reading
In Hebrews 10:5-10 we see that Christ is the unique sacrifice and offering....A sacrifice dealt with sin and sins, whereas an offering was a gift to God for His pleasure. All the sacrifices and offerings in the Old Testament are types of Christ as the unique sacrifice and offering in the New Testament. Through Christ as the offerings, we and God, God and we, have a mutual enjoyment, the fellowship of co-enjoyment (Deut. 12:7).In Hebrews 10:5-9...Paul commented that Christ's coming to do God's will is to take away "the first that He may establish the second" (v. 9). The first in Paul's comment refers to the sacrifices and offerings of the first covenant, the old covenant; the second refers to the sacrifice of the second covenant, the new covenant, which sacrifice is Christ.
As the unique sacrifice and offering, Christ took away all the sacrifices and offerings of the old testament and established Himself as the new testament sacrifice and offering. Christ is our sacrifice to deal with sin and sins, and He is our offering, our gift, presented to God for God's satisfaction.
Christ came to be the real sacrifice and living offering, who offered Himself on the cross as the reality of all the offerings. He is the reality of the sin offering, the trespass offering, the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3815, 3817-3818)
The central thought of Leviticus is that the universal, all-inclusive, and inexhaustible Christ is everything to God and to God's people. Today we can speak of the enjoyment of Christ, but one day all things will be headed up in Christ (Eph. 1:10). At that time, Christ will be everything to God and man. The enjoyment of this one person will be the unique celebration in the universe.
In the book of Leviticus itself we cannot see how great, excellent, wonderful, all-inclusive, and inexhaustible is the Christ whom we offer and enjoy as the offerings. In Leviticus we can see that all the offerings typify Christ, but we do not get the realization and the sense of how great Christ is. No word can express the greatness of the Christ who is all the offerings.
For a revelation of the all-inclusiveness of Christ, we need to come to the book of Hebrews.
The book of Hebrews reveals to us what a wonderful person Christ is. In chapter after chapter, Paul opens the veil to show us the marvelous, mysterious, all-inclusive person of Christ. In particular, Hebrews speaks of the priesthood of Christ. Christ is not only our Savior—He is also our High Priest. In chapter 10 we see that this One has become the replacement of all the Old Testament offerings. He came to do God's will (Heb. 10:7, 9). In the New Testament economy, God's will is to replace the Old Testament offerings with Christ. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 308, 303, 123)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 379, 381