Since immigration policy is one of the issues that many people are talking about these days, I decided to look up what the Bible says about immigrants. So I typed in the word ‘alien’ in the search engine that my iPhone Bible has, and found 73 occurrences (in the NIV). I found some really interesting verses, which I have written below. God seems to have a very positive view of immigrants.
I am not sure how all this relates to the issue of illegal immigration, but I thought it would be interesting to start a discussion surrounding these verses. I know this issue may be a touchy subject, but I would really like to know what everyone else thinks on the matter. So here are the verses:
“An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD’s passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you.” Ex. 12:48-49
“Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” Ex. 22:21
“Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.” Ex. 23:9
“Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.” Lev. 19:10
“When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” Lev. 19:33-34
“Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him.” Lev. 20:2
“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.” Lev. 23:22
“You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.” Lev. 24:22
“For the generations to come, whenever an alien or anyone else living among you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, he must do exactly as you do. The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD:” Num 15:14-15
“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.” Deut. 10:18
“Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the LORD your God.” Deut. 14:21
“Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.” Deut. 24:17
“When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” Deut. 24:19
“When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat your towns be satisfied.” Deut. 26:12
“‘Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!'” Deut. 27:19
“The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail. All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.” Deut. 28:43-45
“Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you.” Deut. 28:47-48
“My guests and my maidservants count me as a stranger; they look upon me as an alien.” Job 19:15
“Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were.” Psalm 39:12
“The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.” Psalm 146:9
“This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” Jer. 22:3
“The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.” Ezekiel 22:29
“Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” Zechariah 7:10
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, maybe this is too much at once. Maybe I should start with ones that stood out to me the most. These are Ex. 22:21, 23:9; Lev. 19:33-34, 24:22; Deut. 10:18, 24:17, 28:43-45, seven passages.
Wow, Seth, this is a very helpful compilation of verses, and a lot to think about. I think the verses clearly lay out the Christian duty to to treat the alien as a native, not depriving him of justice. At the same time, however, I don’t think that requiring immigrants to enter the country legally would fall under the category of mistreatment or oppression. I think it’s the responsibility of the government to uphold the laws (e.g. on illegal immigration) and the responsibility of the citizen to welcome the immigrant/alien as one of his own. But that’s just my opinion, and this is indeed an increasingly complicated issue. I’d love to hear what others have to say.
Its interesting that the very first verse says that if they want to be a part of the “system” (here partaking of the Lord’s Passover), they must conform to the laws pertaining to that system. Also, another verse says they must live by the same rules as the citizens. When people come illegally they are not officially part of the system.
“You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.” Lev. 24:22
I think it’s interesting how God ends each command with “I am the LORD your God.”
Also, this particular verse is one that our country no longer adheres to. Not long ago, a Muslim asked to be judged in court by Sharia Law, rather than by constitutional law, and he was allowed. Sharia Law, of course, encourages deception of enemies, beating of wives, and murdering of Christians and Jews (which, in the eyes of many of them, is equivalent to the entirety of the United States). Sharia Law also states that Muslims are to impose Sharia Law in America! If only people would just read up before making these decisions. However, they didn’t, and now they have allowed the Muslims one step closer toward their goal of dominating our country. (And by “the Muslims,” I refer to the ones who abide by their religion and law.)
Why does this happen? The answer:
“The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower…because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.” Deut. 28:43-45
But good for Oklahoma for being proactive on the Sharia law thing. In the end I think these verses call for us to treat aliens (presumably legal) with dignity and as we would treat native peoples or citizens. However, God does call for the aliens to “do as the Romans… when in Rome”.
Wow, I didn’t know about this Sharia law issue in the States. How strange and unsettling that I didn’t hear about it. I had thoughts similar to Emily regarding Deut. 28:43-45. I am not sure to what extent the “alien” is rising above us, but I am sure that the acceptance of the doctrine of “tolerance” is big step in this direction.
On the other hand, to what extent can we directly apply these verses to the USA, since not all of its citizens are God’s people? Can these verses be directly applied to the church?
In these verses we find 1) general attitudes toward those who are oppressed, and 2) laws of the theocracy that are fulfilled in Christ. These two are not unrelated. The “alien” is distinguished from God’s chosen people. In Christ the gospel goes out to the whole world, including “the alien.” In that sense we are aliens who through Christ have been brought near. Paul says, “Remember that at that time you (the Ephesians) were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ…. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household….” (Ephesians 2:12-20). So the primary meaning of “alien” has to be understood in a Christocentric way. However, if in the Old Testament, when aliens were not part of God’s people, God commanded Israel to have compassion on the alien, how much more should we his people have compassion on the destitute and needy now that we, the aliens, have been included in God’s people. This compassion does not mean ignoring the immigration laws of our country. On the other hand, Christians in the US need to be careful not to be captured by the American Civic Religion and it’s desire to protect our borders because “we are the best.” Also, when protection for illegals is promoted in the name of compassion, when in reality the motive is getting more votes, people are using Christian graces in a self-serving way.
I agree with all of the above. Here are some other thoughts.
1. I can’t imagine going to Chile (or anywhere else) and not obeying the laws and learning the language. For one thing it would be disrespectful and also disorienting. In other countries you would face jail time and be kicked out ASAP. Having said that, the Latins are used to not following all the laws in their country as it seems that they are hard to understand for the common folk and there will always be a law that contradicts the one you are trying to follow. In most Latin countries (not Chile) you can bribe someone pretty easily if you want to get something done illegally so Latins in a sense have been taught to skirt the law. A Peruvian wrote a book describing that if he wanted to start a business following all the laws correctly it would take 8 years! I think many are attracted to the US because there is the rule of law (even though they are skirting it) and they know they will be treated well here. They are just following what they know to do.
2. Many are fleeing such bad circumstances and governments that they are willing to take a risk. The ones who come to the ER are very respectful and you can tell they are hard workers. However they use each others passports to go back and forth to Mexico. One time the employer showed up and knew what their workers were doing but didn’t care. The employer said they are hard workers and they treat them like family. Some of them have told me though that in other jobs they are taken advantage of, working long hours and not getting paid. They can’t complain to anyone because they are illegal.
3. More than one person has told us that so many Mexican men coming here leaves so many families without fathers and husbands. If they end up staying here for a long time they eventually have mistresses and leave their families altogether.
4.The aliens are treated well in the healthcare system.
5. I don’t know why the Latin church doesn’t address the issue. On the TV you hear that it is good that they are here because they bring family values which I question as infidelity is a major issue in the Latin culture and teen pregnancies are higher.
6. I think legal immigration is great and adds to any country’s culture. When we had to go to the embassy in Chile there were always lines of people waiting to get Visas. It is not an easy process. We had to go through a process for Chile and we had all the rights and privileges of a citizen. Those who come illegally just step all over the others who follow the rules.
7. I don’t know what should be done about those that are already here as children are involved but I think we need to protect our border somehow and the Mexican government needs to get their act together. The economy is bad but it is because of corruption and not because there isn’t money. They are letting the terrorists take over so more jobs are going to be lost.
8. When I was a child, in the summer time there were migrant workers who would come from Mexico. They were aliens but they would go back home when the harvest was done. I don’t know why that changed.
Lots of interesting comments!
Thanks for all your comments. I agree that immigrants need to be treated with justice and compassion just as citizens are, but they have the responsibility to have a legal status. We do need to enforce our laws regarding illegals. Certainly all other countries do. And you’re right, Phyllis, the matter of illegals with children who are growing up here certainly muddies the waters.