In the wake of Obama’s executive orders on immigration and the outcry and fallout from it, I realized that I did not have a biblical framework on which to analyze the issues. I could not definitely say exactly what the Bible instructs us on the issue of immigration.

The Syrian refugee crisis at that time was much in the news, and I was conflicted by the many Christians who urging our government not to allow Syrian refugees into the country. I was conflicted because I didn’t know what to think.

I realized that, as a Christian, I need to be instructed by the Word of God, and I wondered, “What would that instruction be?” Therefore, I took the time to study it, and the answer surprised me in its clarity.

I did a simple word search in the New American Standard (NASB) version of the Bible. I found at least 36 times that words in the Old and New Testaments were translated as “stranger” (non-citizen, immigrant). The word, stranger, is often accompanied by the word, “sojourner” to convey idea of what we would call immigrants today. Determining a Biblical view on dealing with strangers and sojourners living among us was simple and easy, and the picture that appears seems clear and consistent:

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• The Israelites were instructed in the Old Testament not to wrong or oppress the strangers in the land (Ex. 22:21);
• The Israelites were reminded that they were once strangers in Egypt (Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 19:33; Zech. 7:10), encouraging in them a sense of empathy and identity with them;
• Strangers were listed with orphans and widows as people to whom compassion is due (Ex. 22:21-22; 23:9 ; Deut. 14:28-29; 24:17; 26:12; 27:19; Jer. 7:5-7; 22:3; Ezek. 22:29; Zech. 7:10; Malachi 3:5);
• The Israelites were instructed to leave fallen fruit for the needy and the strangers (Lev. 19:10);
• A portion of the required tithes were to be given to the priests, orphans & widows… and strangers. (Deut. 26:12)
• The Lord watches over the sojourners. (Psalm 149:9)

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These are only a few verses on the subject. Strangers are consistently included with widows, orphans and sometimes the poor as people to whom compassion should/must be shown. People who kill orphans, widows and strangers are considered evil. (Ps. 94:6)

Strangers sojourning among the Israelites were considered equal under the law to the natives in many critical respects. (Exodus 12:49; 23:12) Many of the same standards applied both to natives and to strangers. (Lev. 24:22) Cities of refuge were available for natives and strangers alike. (Josh. 20:9) Strangers were to be treated as natives, and Israelites were instructed to love strangers as themselves. (Lev. 19:34)

Does any of this ring a bell?

Jesus told the disciples to love each other. (John 13:34-35 & 15:12)  He also told them that we are to love our neighbors (Mark 12:31), even if they are Samaritans (different than us). (Luke 10:25-37) He even went so far as to tell them to love their enemies. (Matthew 5:43-48) Those instructions apply to us as well.

Jesus was not really introducing anything new when he said we need love our neighbors (and even our enemies). He was drawing from the consistent themes in the Old Testament. It was there in the fabric of the Old Testament, and that idea of loving our neighbors was introduced in the context of strangers sojourning among the Israelites.

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 19:33-34

Strangers sojourning in the nation of Israel were allowed to celebrate the Passover with the Israelites, providing they agreed to become circumcised. They weren’t required to become circumcised, but those who did were considered “like a native”. (Exodus 12:48) 

The Passover, of course, is celebrated to remember God passing over the houses of the Israelites as God brought plagues on the Egyptians to compel Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt where they had sojourned for over 400 years.

The entire fabric of the Old Testament reveals that Israelites were to identify with strangers and sojourners – because they were strangers and sojourners in Egypt. We, too, are considered aliens and strangers in this world (1 Peter 2:11) because we are only temporary residents here. (Hebrews 11:13) We are citizens of heaven! (Philippians 3:20)

The people of God have always been considered strangers/sojourners in the earth. (Ps. 119:19; Jer. 14:8) Abraham was a stranger and a sojourner in the Promised Land (Gen. 23:4); Moses was a sojourner in Midian (Ex. 2:22); the Israelites sojourned in Egypt for 400 years, and they sojourned in the wilderness for another 40 years.

The Israelites were also removed from their own land and sojourned in Babylon during the exile. Even when they came back, they occupied the land they left, the land was not controlled by them. The land was controlled by the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, and finally the Romans, and God’s people became sojourners again in the land.

The Israelites sojourned in foreign lands more than than they lived in their own land, and they lived in their own land as sojourners longer than they controlled at it as their own. In fact, modern Israelites sojourned outside of Israel from 70 AD to 1940!

The same theme is continued in the New Testament. Peter calls believers “aliens and strangers” in this world. (1 Pet. 2:11) Jesus tells us we need to be born again to see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3) At that point, we become “in the world but not of it” – we become strangers in this world, just passing through.

Most importantly, Jesus provides us clear instruction on the issue of immigration in the famous parable of the sheep and the goats. Jesus says the Father will bless those who fed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, heal the sick and welcome the strangers. (Matt. 25:31-36) More pointedly, Jesus said,

“[W]hatever you did for the least of these [including strangers], you did for me.” (Matt. 25:40)

There is something in the way that we treat other people, including the strangers among us, that is directly connected to our relationship with God.

“The one who loves his brother abides in the Light…. [and] the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (1 John 1:10-11)

We may be blinded on the immigration issue. In fact, I would go as far as to say that we are blinded on the issue of immigration if we are not in favor of a compassionate response to the immigration problem in the US.

As Christians, our posture should be to welcome and love the immigrants who come to us. I do not see that we have any other choice if we want to honor the heart of God that is revealed in Scripture and follow Jesus on this subject.

Regardless of the way our government or other people we know think about the subject, Christians, of all people, should be in favor of loving our foreign brothers and sisters and doing for them as we would want them to do for us. We can have this posture without giving up common sense and protecting our neighbors here from people who want to do harm. These things are not mutually exclusive.

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For a lawyer’s take on the executive orders announced by President Obama, read this:

http://gji.org/blog/view-from-a-lawyer-on-obamas-immigration-action/

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