Syrian Refugees - Part 2

In my previous post, I stated that there are lots of different angles to the issue of refugees.  I want to look at one of those angles in this post.  What is the Biblical response to refugees?  This is completely separate from other issues such as the government response.  What do we do if, hypothetically, there are refugees living in our neighborhood?  What do we do about refugees who are living in Europe?  Do we as Christians have a responsibility in this area?

           

Old Testament

            I wanted to keep this discussion as Biblical as possible.  I looked up the word for “foreigner” in both Hebrew and Greek and looked at what the Old and New Testaments have to say about how we are supposed to treat foreigners.  The results surprised me.  The Hebrew word for foreigner is גָּר or ger.  It is often translated sojourner.  This is the closest Biblical equivalent to refugees.  It has the sense of a temporary inhabitant.  A newcomer who does not have inherited rights in the country.  It shows up all throughout the Old Testament. I give a list below of some of the passages.  What amazed me when I looked at how this word is used in the Old Testament is the number of times God makes no distinction between Israel and sojourners.  Foreigners are supposed to obey the laws of Israel.  They are allowed to take part in religious feasts.  They have many of the same benefits an Israelite has.  I often think of Israel as having been set apart to be separate from the nations.  What I tend to forget is that Israel’s mission was to be set apart so that they were an example to the nations of who God was.  They were not supposed to shun the nations, they were supposed to demonstrate God’s character to the nations.  If someone from another nation came to live among Israel, they were treated well and allowed to worship God because that was the end goal.  If a foreigner did not follow God, the consequences were serious, but no more serious then if an Israelite did not follow God.  The fact is that God is the God of both the Israelite and the foreigner, of both the Jew and the Gentile.  I believe this has profound implications for how we view immigrants and refugees.  

           

            The way this played out in Old Testament law is demonstrated in these passages.  There are a few common themes.  The first is that foreigners are grouped with widows and orphans.

Exodus 22:21-24 ²¹“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ²² You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. ²³ If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, ²⁴ and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.”

Leviticus 19:10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 10:18-19 ¹⁸He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

There is also a common theme that the reason Israel was not supposed to mistreat sojourners is that they were once sojourners themselves in Egypt.  Not only were they sojourners in Egypt, but Leviticus 25:23 points out that they are also sojourners on Earth.  

Exodus 23:9 “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”

Leviticus 25:23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.

Leviticus 19:33-34 ³³“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ³⁴ You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

The previous passage and the following passage illustrate that not only were Israelites supposed to treat foreigners like they were native to Israel, but God expected both foreigners and Israelites to follow his laws.

Leviticus 18:26 But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.

Interestingly, while Israelites were not supposed to eat things which had died naturally, they were allowed to give it to the foreigner.  The laws designed to distinguish Israel from the nations did not necessarily apply to foreigners.  The laws involving worship of God did apply to both equally.  So even if the food was not allowed for Israelites, they were allowed to use it to provide for the foreigner living among them.

Deuteronomy 14:21 “You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.

These next couple of verses illustrate that the expectation was that Israelites would host strangers and foreigners.  The passage in Job is in the context of Job discussing his devotion to God, which involved opening his home to foreigners.  

Leviticus 25:35 “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.

Job 31:32 (the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler),

To conclude the Old Testament’s discussion of foreigners, here are two passages which show the seriousness of ignoring the needs of foreigners living among us.  In Ezekiel, God explains that the primary sin of Sodom was that they did not aid the poor and needy.  We have already seen that God seems to put foreigners in the same category as the poor and needy.  In addition to being foreigners, refugees have lost their homes and families.  Many refugees are widows and orphans.  Any warning about ignoring the poor and needy includes refugees.  If this is not clear from Ezekiel, God makes it very clear in Malachi 3.  The list of who God is going to judge begins with the people you might expect: sorcerers, adulterers, those who swear falsely, those who do not fear God.  But there are two other people lumped into this list who we may not expect: people who oppress those in need and people who thrust aside the sojourner.

Ezekiel 16:49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

One of the big reasons people do not want refugees to come to America is fear.  The fear is understandable since there is risk in bringing foreign people into the country.  We will discuss that risk in some of the next posts.  However, the way I see it, that fear does not factor into a discussion of the Christian response to refugees.  We are to fear God, not man.  A lack of a fear of God is the last point in this list in Malachi.  When we operate out of a fear other than a fear of God, we are in a dangerous place.  I would argue that there is plenty of scriptural support that since God is so clear about our responsibility to welcome the foreigner, turning away refugees and foreigners cannot be motivated by a fear of God.

In the Old Testament, God makes it clear that Israel is supposed to take care of and love foreigners who are living among them.  This is serious enough that God puts people who thrust aside foreigners into a list of people such as sorcerers and adulterers who will be judged when He returns.  Now, it is possible that these passages refer to foreigners who have submitted themselves to God’s commands.  Israel was not expected to treat their enemies like this right?  This is relevant because the concern about accepting refugees is that terrorists and enemies of Christianity and America may come into our country.  While I firmly believe that statistics show that the vast majority of refugees are not terrorists, even if a refugee was an enemy of Christianity scripture speaks to that.  The Bible speaks a lot about enemies of the people of God.  I believe that looking through the Old Testament, it is clear that the enemies of God will be destroyed.  However, the authority and responsibility to destroy those enemies belongs to God.  Israel conquered their enemies with the help and power of God.  If an individual who belonged to a nation who was an enemy of Israel chose to come live in Israel, I believe that the previous passages applied to that individual.  This is based on Exodus 23:4-5.  “If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.”  While this does not specify a foreigner, the word enemy refers to someone who hates someone else.  So I think this passage would apply to both native and foreign enemies.  

New Testament

The New Testament actually has much less to say about sojourners.  This is most likely due to the fact that Israel was living as foreigners in Roman land.  The main passage which mentions how we as Christians are to treat strangers is Matthew 25.  I have included the full passage below.  

Matthew 25:31-46 ³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Just like in the Old Testament, the stranger is in the same list as the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned.  The stranger is someone who is in need.  As Christians, we are supposed to move towards needs we see around us.  This includes the needs of foreigners and strangers living with us.  This is our main responsibility as Christians.  As Galatians 5:14 says, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus makes it clear in Luke 10:29-37 who our neighbor is.  In his parable, our neighbor could be anyone, even a Samaritan.  What is our cultural equivalent to Samaritans?  Samaritans had broken off from Judaism and had their own religious system.  Jews and Samaritans hated each other.  I would argue that if Samaritans were the neighbors of Jews, then Muslims are the neighbors of Christians.  If we are supposed to both welcome the stranger and love our neighbor, which includes Muslims, then when a Muslim foreigner comes to live in our community, I would argue that the Christian response is to welcome them in.  In the same way the Old Testament Jews were supposed to be motivated to welcome the sojourner because they were once sojourners in Egypt, as Christians, we also understand what it is to be a sojourner. Ephesians 2:12 and 19  say “¹² remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” Hebrews 11:13 says, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”

To conclude, I believe that there is a common thread throughout all of scripture that the people of God are supposed to move to meet the needs of people around them.  This very clearly includes foreigners living in our communities.  Scripture is also clear that we are to show love to our neighbors.  This includes people we would call our enemies.  When we put these facts together, I firmly believe that the Christian response to refugees living in this country is to welcome them in and to show them love.  We should welcome the opportunity to demonstrate the character and love of Christ to people from other nations.  What better opportunity to do this than when they come and live with us.  Nowhere in scripture are we told that it is legitimate to fear either foreigners or our enemies.  I would argue that as Christians we need to be very careful to not push away the sojourner among us.  I want to be clear that the needs of refugees are not more urgent than the needs of the hungry, the widow, or the fatherless.  There is so much need in the world.  However, I do want to say that the needs of refugees and immigrants are just as important.  This post does not address what the government's response to refugees should be.  All I am arguing in this post is that if refugees and immigrants do come live with us, we need to build relationships with them and show them love.  We, as Christians, should advocate for them.  Our long term goal is to see God glorified by people from every tribe, nation, and tongue.  How does our view of refugees fit into this long term goal?

I want to close by discussing what we can practically do to meet the needs of refugees.  The biggest thing you can do is get to know a family of refugees.  Teach them about American culture.  Try to understand their needs and sacrificially meet those needs.  Often times, refugees have experienced trauma.  Just being there and being willing to listen to the hard things can help them process some of what they have experienced.  As an American, you also speak English, a language refugees generally are trying to learn.  Conversing with them can not only help build a relationship, but it can also help them grow their confidence in their ability to speak English.  Other things we can help refugees with is teaching them basic things about life in America: how to budget, how to drive, how to not get their identities stolen, how to file taxes, how to find a job, how to enroll in school, etc.  They have been uprooted from their homes and are living in a place they do not know, separated from family and friends and often with little knowledge of the language they need to survive.  These are all needs that the average person can meet if you are willing to invest in a relationship.

Many refugee families never meet and interact with a Christian.  Why is that?  They live in a culture where they are surrounded by Christianity.  All it takes is reaching out to one family and showing them the love of Christ.  Many refugees come from cultures which have a much higher focus on community than we do in America.  Just spending time with them and helping connect them to community here goes a long way to helping them feel welcomed.  If you do not know where to start, there are solid Christian organizations who work to build relationships with refugees and help them assimilate into the culture in cities around the country.  Connect with one of those organizations and they will be glad to help you see how you can use your gifts to meet the needs of the foreigner living among us.

Next Post

            The goal of this post was to isolate what the Christian response to refugees is.  The goal of next week’s post is to isolate what the government’s responsibility to refugees should be.  I will try to put the Christian response aside and focus on what the role of government is.  This is an area which I do not have a lot of experience with, but I will try to look at the different sides of the issue.  Since I will avoid talking about how Christians should respond in the next post, let me say right now before I get to my government post that regardless of what the government’s role is, I believe that Christians should advocate to the government for refugees.  In America we have a representative government.  That means the government should reflect the values and ideals of the people.  While our government is not Christian, if the nation is Christian, the government should have Christian values.  If the nation is humanistic, we would expect the government to reflect that.  Since we are Christians, I believe it is our responsibility to bring our values to the table when it comes to our interactions with the government.  Even if our government was not representative, I think it is our responsibility to advocate for justice whatever the government’s responsibility is.

Conquest of Canaan Promised

Story:  Conquest of Canaan Promised

Passage: Exodus 23:20-33

Characters:  God, Israel

Summary:    God promises that Israel will conquer Canaan and He will greatly bless Israel in the Promised Land as long as they obey Him and stay faithful to Him. 

  

Notes:  God promised several things in this passage.  The main point I see is that the success and blessings of Israel would not be their own doing.  Not only could they not take credit for it, but it gave them no reason to worry or be afraid of the nations in the promised land.  God says He is providing an angel to guard them and lead them.  They are to be careful to obey his voice and not rebel against him because he will pardon transgression.  This is because God’s name is in Him.  I believe this means that this angel is God in some form.  I honestly don’t know exactly what this looks like or means, but it appears God personally guided them and protected them on their journey.  If they were to obey though, He would be an enemy to their enemies.  God doesn’t set a condition for what happens next.  He says that WHEN His angel brings them to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Canaanites and He blots them out, Israel is not to bow down to their gods, but rather they are to completely overthrow them and break down their pillars.  First off, God says He will blot these people out.  It is not an if, but a when.  Second, He reiterates again the importance of not following their gods.  Honestly, it would be utterly stupid to start worshipping the gods whose nation was just destroyed and abandoning the God who destroyed them, but God felt He needed to remind Israel anyway.  If Israel serves God, He will bless their food, keep them healthy, keep them miscarrying, and give them long lives.  God says He will throw their enemies into confusion and they will run from Israel.  God says He will send hornets ahead of Israel to drive out the nations in their path.  I don’t know what this means, but it is obvious that this conquest would be blatantly supernatural.  Israel was going to be protected and fought for by an all powerful God.  Why wouldn’t God just destroy them all at once?  Why take so long if He is able to conquer them completely?  He explains it is so that the land will not be overgrown and wild beasts won’t take over.  God is intentionally moving slowly to protect His people in the future.  We sometimes question why God doesn’t just act all at once.  This passage shows that sometimes God just has the big picture in mind, and the very thing that you want gone right now is actually keeping you safe in the future.  God is infinitely wiser than any of us could ever be.  He will slowly drive them out before Israel until they possess the entire land.  God finishes by once again reiterating that they are not to make a covenant with them or their gods.  They are not to dwell in the land because they could tempt Israel to sin.  God is very very concerned with Israel worshipping the native gods.  God is indeed a jealous God.  He does not want His creation to get the praise and worship that He deserves.  The purpose of His creation is to point us to worship the creator.  We are far too easily sidetracked into worshipping the created.  God knew that was our weakness and He commanded Israel over and over and over again to avoid that at all costs.  We will see how they do.

Questions:  Why was God going to destroy so many people?  Why the emphasis on not serving the foreign gods?  What are the hornets God mentions?  Why couldn’t God just wipe out everyone at once and also keep the animals from overtaking the land?

Lessons: I would say the theme of this passage centers around our dependence on God and the proper reaction to His blessing and protection.  Israel was supposed to take a relatively passive role in the conquest of Canaan.  Most of the driving out would be done by God directly in some form.  Israel was to trust that and not serve the foreign gods they find.  As Christians, we are not of this world.  We are strangers making our way to the Promised Land of a New Heaven and a New Earth.  What are some of the foreign gods which easily ensnare us?  It is vital that we do not worship these gods at all!  

Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals

Story:  Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals

Passage: Exodus 23:10-19

Characters:  God, Israel

Summary:    God gave Moses a set of laws about the Sabbath and feasts.  These will be outlined in the notes below.

  

Notes:  I don’t have as much as I want on this one right now.  I might have to add to it later if I think of more.  The first rule God gave Israel in this passage is the Sabbath year.  Every seventh year, they were to not sow or reap.  The fields were to grow whatever would grow naturally and the food would be for the poor and the beasts.  Basically, every seventh year, there was more food for the poor than those with fields.  God again sets the rule of resting on the Sabbath.  The purpose was that on the seventh day, servants, animals, and aliens would be refreshed.  This concept of rest is foreign to our western culture.  We go go go until the job is done.  If we’re resting we’re not being productive and thus we are failing.  God seems to promote a lifestyle of hard work at a slow pace.  It is okay and even necessary to rest every week.  Yes, you had to work hard to survive, but you also had to allow yourself to rest.  We may not work on Sunday in America, but we sure tend to fill our weekends up with activities which keep our weekends from being restful.  The idea is not so much to not work as it is to rest and relax and be refreshed.  God tells them to pay attention to Him and to not even mention other gods.  It wasn’t enough to not worship them; He didn’t even want them discussed.  That is how much He is jealous for the worship He deserves.  There were three feasts God mentioned in this passage.  The first is the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  We already have learned about this one.  This was to commemorate their deliverance from their bondage in Egypt and ultimately, it was also foreshadowing our deliverance from the bondage of sin.  The next feast is the Feast of the Harvest.  This was to be a feast of the first fruits of the harvest.  The final feast is the Feast of Ingathering.  This was at the end of the harvest.  I believe that these also have significance in the New Covenant as well.  Most feasts in the law were foreshadowing something in the future.  The harvest is compared to a lot of things throughout scripture.  Sharing the gospel is compared to sowing seed.  There is a sense of you reaping what you sow when it comes to your actions.  The most significant and applicable passage I can think of though is Matthew 9:37, “"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”  People’s souls are the harvest.  The Feast of the Harvest could well be foreshadowing this future harvest of souls and the Feast of Ingathering could be foreshadowing the end of this harvest.  I need to do a little more research on those feasts, but those are my initial thoughts.  God finishes by commanding that nothing leavened is to be included with His sacrifice.  The fat of the feast was not to be left until morning.  There is a sense that sacrifices are to be special and set apart  and there is also a sense of urgency about them.  Sacrifices are to be from the best of the first fruits.  It is significant when you give the best and first of the results of your hard work to God.  It shows humility and shows an awareness that though work was put into this harvest, it is God, and not our own work which caused this harvest.  A goat shall not be boiled in its mother’s milk.  I don’t know the point of this law, but I will add to this later if I think of it.

Questions:  Why the goat law?  What is the New Covenant significance of the Feast of the Harvest and the Feast of Ingathering?

Lessons:  I think we as a culture need to learn to rest.  It seems completely contrary to productivity.  Our culture looks at rest as waste.  This is obviously not how God viewed rest though.  I know for me, rest can help my work be more productive.  It was important to God that His people not be caught up with work.  If they became so busy they forgot God, that would be an issue.  I feel like many Christians in the West today have this very issue.  We need to make a definite effort to slow down and allow ourselves a regular period of rest.  

Laws About Social Justice

Story:  Laws About Social Justice

Passage: Exodus 22:16-23:9

Characters:  God, Israel

Summary:    God gave Moses a set of laws about social justice.  These will be outlined in the notes below.

  

Notes:  These are a variety of rules dealing with justice.  First, if a man seduces a woman of marriage age, he must marry her and pay the bride price.  If the father adamantly refuses to allow the marriage, he must still pay the price.  Sorceresses were not allowed to live.  It was forbidden to sleep with an animal.  Anyone who sacrifices to another god was to be set apart for destruction.  They were not to oppress a sojourner since they themselves were sojourners in Egypt.  We see this theme throughout the bible.  Don’t mistreat someone for a condition you once had too.  If you have been forgiven, you must be forgiving as well is an example we see in the New Testament.  Widows and orphans were not to be mistreated or God would kill you and leave your wife a widow and your child an orphan.  God obviously holds needy dependent people in high regard.  I am thankful for this since I am so dependent on Him that I am only alive because He cares for the needy like me!  If you lend money to the poor, you are not to charge interest.  If you take an item as a pledge from someone who has little, you are to return it before sundown.  In this passage God tells us something about Himself.  He says, “For I am compassionate”.  Here we have the “Old Testament God of wrath” telling us that he is compassionate.  Does that add up?  Yes it does!  He is compassionate to those who need Him and strict with those who try to make much of themselves!  He judges them at the standard they try to give themselves.  If they think they are as big as God, He will judge them at that standard, and they will fail.  If we humble ourselves and recognize our utter need for God, He will show us compassion and love.  The loving/wrathful paradox of God can be explained by His justice.  If we really want to act like we are as amazing as we so often think we are, we need to be willing to let Him judge us by our perfection.  We are not to revile God or curse a ruler over us.  God told Israel that with the full knowledge of the evil kings and dictators they would be under eventually, yet He still commands them to not curse a ruler.  This is an important lesson for us especially with our presidential elections coming up.  No matter how bad our president might seem, we are not to curse him.  God has given him authority over us and we need to respect that!  We are to offer the fullness of our harvest.  Actually, we are not just to offer it, but we are to not delay from offering it.  We are supposed to give freely and joyfully!  After all, our giving is just an outward way to acknowledge God’s hand in our possessions and blessings by giving it back to Him and trusting Him to provide.  The firstborn of animals and people was to be consecrated to God.  Flesh torn by wild animals was not to be eaten.  False reports were forbidden.  You were to be honest in court.  There is a sense in this passage of not going with the flow and standing alone if you have to when it comes to matters of justice.  If no one else backs you up, you are still to give an honest account.  You are to help your enemy.  If you find his livestock going astray or suffering under a burden, you are to step in and help.  Do not kill the innocent.  Take no bribes for it subverts the cause of the innocent.  These rules emphasize honesty, justice, and caring for the poor.  They show that you are not to judge someone for something you once did yourself.  It also introduces the concept of loving your enemy.  By the time Jesus lived, this concept had been all but forgotten.  However, it was in the law the whole time!  From these passages, it looks like God was a God of the poor, oppresses, and needy!  I honestly think it can be summed up as our God is a God of the humble. 

Questions:  This passage is honestly fairly straightforward.

Lessons:  We see in this passage that God cares about justice.  We are not to take advantage of the needy, we are not to convict the innocent, and we are not to oppress those who have little.  These passages after the Ten Commandments focused on worship, the value of life, responsibility, and now justice.  I would say that this is a good look into the qualities and virtues that God finds extremely important!  We could learn a lot by striving to live lives focused on worship and justice while taking full responsibility for our actions and holding life incredibly valuable.