This
week, we are examining the issue of immigration. Specifically, we are answering
two questions. And the two questions are “What policy would Jesus promote when
it comes to the immigration of people from other countries? And what would
Jesus say we should do about illegal immigrants who are now in the United
States?”
Yesterday,
we looked at the reality that in our current political climate, the
conversation surrounding immigration can best be described as heated and toxic.
At one end of the conversation when it comes to the issue of immigration would
be politicians and others who advocate for open borders. On the other end of
the conversation when it comes to the issue of immigration would be politicians
and others who advocate for drastically limiting immigration to the United
States. And in between these two ends of this conversation on immigration,
there are many who simply believe that the solution to the problem of
immigration is the enforcement of current laws concerning immigration, which
they believe are not being enforced.
Today, with
all that background in mind, let’s take a look at what the message and
teachings of Jesus have to say when it comes to the issue of immigration. When
you look at the letters that make up the Bible, the word immigration is not
found. However, while the word immigration is not found, there are five
specific passages that address the issue of immigration and the
responsibilities that an individual follower of Jesus and a government has when
it comes to the issue of immigration.
The
first four passages are found in the Law, which is the first five letters that
are recorded for us in our Bibles today, which the Jewish people referred to as
the Law or Torah. So let’s look at these four passages together and then spend
a few minutes unpacking how these particular passages address the issue of
immigration. The first passage is found in Exodus 22:21:
You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in
the land of Egypt.
The
second passage is found just two chapters later, in Exodus 23:9:
You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of
a stranger, for you also were
strangers in the land of Egypt.
Then,
in the very next letter in the Old Testament of the Bible, called the book of
Leviticus, we see the Lord say the following in Leviticus 19:33-34:
When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and
you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am
the LORD your God.
The
fourth passage records the words of the Lord to the Jewish people as they
prepared to enter into the land that the Lord had promised them, in Deuteronomy
10:17-19:
For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great,
the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
"He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for
the alien by giving him food and clothing. "So show your love for the
alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Now to
fully understand what the Lord is communicating in these four passages we first
need to understand the context that these passages occur and ask and answer
some questions. The first question that we need to ask and answer is “What does
the Lord mean when He uses the phrase “for you were strangers or you were
aliens in the land of Egypt?” With this
phrase, the Lord is reminding the Jewish people of a time in their history that
is recorded for us in a section of the very first letter in the Bible called
the book of Genesis.
Beginning
in the 35th chapter of the book of Genesis, we read about Joseph,
who was sold into slavery by his brothers. While a slave in the house of an
Egyptian leader named Potiphar, Joseph remained faithful to the Lord and did
the right thing, even when it was not the easy or the popular thing to do. Joseph ended up ascending to a place of
leadership where he was second in command of the entire nation of Egypt. And it
was in that position of leadership that Joseph prepared the nation of Egypt for
a devastating famine that would ravage the Middle East during this time in
history.
And it
was during this famine that the Jewish people immigrated to Egypt and were
provided for by the Lord, through Joseph, during the famine. However, after
Joseph died, a new Pharaoh led the nation of Egypt to enslave the Jewish people
for over 400 years. After being enslaved for over 400 years, the Lord sent a
man named Moses to deliver the Jewish people from slavery at the hands of the
nation of Egypt.
And
after delivering the Jewish people from slavery and oppression in the nation of
Egypt, as the Jewish people left Egypt and headed toward the land that He had
promised them, it is in these passages that we see the Lord remind the Jewish
people of the reality that they knew what it was like to live as a stranger in
a strange land. The Jewish people knew what it was like to live as an
immigrant. The Jewish people knew what it was like to be taken advantage of and
to be oppressed as a minority in the land that they had immigrated to.
And
because of that reality, as the Lord led the Jewish people to the land that He
had promised them, the Lord commanded the Jewish people to treat those who
would immigrate to their land much differently than they were treated in Egypt.
Instead of wronging those who immigrated to the Promised Land; instead of
oppressing those who immigrated to the Promised Land, the Jewish people were to
love the stranger and the immigrant as they loved their fellow Jewish
countryman. The Jewish people were to love the immigrant as they loved
themselves.
Now to
love someone as themselves is simply to ask “If I found myself in a similar
situation or circumstance that this person finds themselves in, what would make
me feel loved by someone else?” And then that is what we do for that person.
That is what is means to love someone as yourself. The Jewish people were to love the immigrant
as they loved their fellow Jewish citizen and themselves because the Lord does
not show partiality of take a bribe.
The
Jewish people were to love the immigrant as they loved their fellow Jewish
citizen and themselves because the Lord executes justice for the widow and
orphan, which in the culture of the day were often the poor, the marginalized,
and the oppressed. The Jewish people were to love the immigrant as they loved
their fellow Jewish citizen and themselves because the Lord desired to provide
for the needs of the immigrant and desired to use the Jewish people as the
vehicle to reveal Himself to the immigrant.
Now here
is a question for us to consider: Is this how we view immigrants? Is this how
we talk about immigrants? Is this how we treat immigrants? Do we view, talk and
treat immigrants in a way that loves them as we love ourselves? Do we view,
talk and treat immigrants in a way that reveals and reflects the love of Jesus
to them?
Now a
natural question or pushback that could arise here is “Well Dave, the Lord here
is talking about legal immigrants, not illegal immigrants”. Surely the Lord
isn’t referring to those who violate the laws of a country to enter illegally,
is He?” If that question is running through your mind, I just want to let you
know that is a fair question to ask. And my response to that question is this:
There is no evidence in these verses that the Lord is making a distinction regarding
the legal status of an immigrant.
What
the Lord is addressing in these passages is how we are to treat our fellow man
who bears the thumbprint of God. What the Lord is addressing in these commands
is that we are not to wrong, oppress, or persecute immigrants.
However,
that leads us to a second question that we need to ask and answer when it comes
to understanding what the Lord is communicating here, which is “What exactly is
a stranger or an alien? Does the word stranger or alien correspond with how we
use the word immigrant in our culture today?”
To
answer that question, we again must go to the context of the Jewish people in
Egypt. When the Lord uses the phrase “strangers”, or “aliens”, it is important
to understand that the Jewish people first immigrated to Egypt to seek relief
from a famine that had struck the Middle East. In addition, God, had predicted
and proclaimed to Abraham, who was the father of the Jewish nation, that they
Jewish people would spend 430 years in Egypt prior to leaving to travel to the
Land that the Lord had promised them.
Thus,
the Jewish people never intended to become citizens of the nation of Egypt;
they were seeking temporary shelter, not permanent settlement. That is why the
Lord commanded the Jewish people not to assimilate with the nation of Egypt.
The Jewish people’s intention was to stay in Egypt temporarily but to reside in
the land that the Lord had promised them permanently.
In
addition, the letters that make up the Bible make it clear that a stranger or
alien who desired permanent status among the Jewish people was to assimilate to
become a part of the Jewish people. The stranger or alien who desired permanent
status among the Jewish people was to assimilate in such a way to adopt the
culture, laws, and religious practices that made the Jewish people the Jewish
people. The stranger or alien who desired permanent status pledged allegiance
to live as a part of the Jewish religious, cultural, and political system. The
stranger or alien entered the Jewish nation and followed the legal procedures
to assimilate into the Jewish nation.
Now
this reality leads us to the fifth passage that addresses the issue of
immigration and the responsibilities that an individual follower of Jesus and a
government has when it comes to the issue of immigration. This passage is a
passage that we have already looked at in this series and is found in a section
of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called
the book of Romans.
Friday,
we will examine this passage and its implications on immigration…
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