Jonah - whale belly camp in the deep

 

Elijah - still small voice camp in the cave (complete with a 40 day fast)

 

Moses -

 

-         40 years of royalty camp in Egypt

-         40 years of shepherd camp in Midian

-         40 years of wondering camp in the wilderness

 

Jesus - temptation camp in the wilderness (40 day fast required)

 

 

 

Many of the Old Testament people were nomads - they lived in tents.  The Pentateuch and Joshua are filled with references to camp - because that is how they actually lived.

 

 

PS 78:25 Men ate the bread of angels;

    he sent them all the food they could eat.

 

  PS 78:26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens

    and led forth the south wind by his power.

 

  PS 78:27 He rained meat down on them like dust,

    flying birds like sand on the seashore.

 

  PS 78:28 He made them come down inside their camp,

    all around their tents.

 

Then there is a change.

 

Judges is filled with references to war camps.

 

I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles are war camp after war camp.

 

 

Southern Kingdom (Judah and Benjamin) were forced to camp when taken into captivity.

 

MIC 4:10 Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion,

    like a woman in labor,

  for now you must leave the city

    to camp in the open field.

  You will go to Babylon;

    there you will be rescued.

  There the LORD will redeem you

    out of the hand of your enemies.

 

 

 

The writer of Hebrews (the connecting book of OT sacrifice and NT fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ) says that the bodies of sacrifices were burned outside the camp.  So was Jesus offered up outside the camp - so, lets go to Him outside the camp.

 

HEB 13:11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

 

 

God’s people are described as a camp in Revelation 20 at the end of the millennial Kingdom.

 

REV 20:7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth--Gog and Magog--to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

 

 

 

Paremboln - the word signifies either a camp or an army on the march or engaged in battle (Linguistic Key). 

 

-          mostly used as a military term; so always in our literature.

 

-          a fortified camp (Hebrews 13 and Revelation 20)

 

-         barracks or headquarters of Roman troops in Jerusalem (Acts 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32)

 

-         an army in battle array, battle line (Judges 4:16; 8:11).

 

 

Camp:  "a field or a plain"; the place where an army has encamped; the collection of tents for an army; to live in a camp as an army.  The modern Webster’s definition is "a place with tents for vacationers or soldiers"

 

Camp-meeting:  in America a religious meeting in the open air, where the frequenters encamp for some days for continuous devotion.

 

I would like to suggest that when we go to camp it is not just for a vacation (even though we pray that it will be vacation like).  We go to camp because we believe there is a spiritual war being waged. 

 

 

Why do I need camp?

 

 

I.                    I need a break from the routine daily battles.

 

1PE 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

 

RO 7:21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

 

 

II.                 I need to be prepared for future battles.

 

 

2CO 10:1 By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you--I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

 

 

LK 14:28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

 

    LK 14:31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

 

 

 

 

 

III.               I need to meet with my commander - the Lord Jesus.

 

 

2TI 2:1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

 

 

 

 

IV.              I need to fellowship with other soldiers.

 

 

"Like a mighty army moves the church of God!"

 

 

 

 

We need to go to camp.

 

For many I hope that will mean Lake Bronson Bible Camp.

 

For all of us it means the Warroad Baptist camp.

 

For all born again believer it mean the Living Church of the Lord Jesus Christ camp.

 

 

There is a war going on brothers and sisters - the battle lines are not between us.  The true battle lines are between us and this world.