Love the foreigner as yourself

Immigration is a big news item, as we find ourselves still dealing with “kids in cages” on our Southern border. My conservative friends blame Obama for building them. My liberal friends point out that Trump kept on filling them. So here we are, and they’re overflowing.

Clearly this is a bi-partisan issue, in the sense that both parties have proven inept in dealing with it. I plan to spend some time in this space investigating a biblical view of immigration and what, if anything, the Scriptures say about policy. I hope to address objections to a biblical view later. For now, though, I want to present what I believe is clear, biblical teaching on immigrants.

Right off the bat, the good news is that the Bible is uniform in describing the attitude we should have toward “aliens” and “strangers.” This is not like some other sticky issues, where Scripture speaks with some nuance, and there are legitimate points and counter-points to be sorted. Nope: on this issue, the Bible says one, straightforward thing, repeatedly.

Here is that message, in its most powerful expression: “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” (Exodus 22:21-24)

Concerning the foreigner in Israel, note: There is a negative command. Thou shalt not oppress him. There is a command to remember history. You were poorly treated foreigners in Egypt. Then there is a sobering promise. If you do afflict them, enough so that they are moved to cry out to God themselves, God will hear them and answer them, and you will not be at all happy with that answer.

In fact, from this text forward, aliens are grouped with widows and orphans as a “protected class” that God takes special interest in. There is no text of the Bible that reverses or modifies this. What you do to them will be done to you.

Leviticus 19:34 says we should consider the stranger among us as if he were native-born, and love him as ourselves.

Though given these protections in the law, foreigners also had duties. They were not allowed to live by their own codes, but had to live under the same law as Israel. Frankly, that law also kept some privileges from them, in terms of not automatically allowing them full participation in the life of the nation. They were welcomed, loved, and kept from oppression, but they weren’t considered full members of the community, apart from a process that would culminate in them becoming Hebrews themselves.

Some of you already see policy implications here. Some see them, and despise them. That’s for the next column. For now, let’s examine our own hearts regarding how we ought to think about the stranger.

Gordan Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at:

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