One of the most shocking things, to me, about the travel ban issued by the White House, is the number of people, Christian and not, who are quoting the Bible as their source for why the ban should be illegal. They will tell you the Bible teaches that we should always take in immigrants. Exodus 22:21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. But the version you will see is probably a newer translation., not the King James words New International Version "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. New Living Translation "You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. English Standard Version “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. New American Standard Bible "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. However, if you will note a few things, this was about traveling strangers, not permanent residents, The Jews were slaves in Egypt, released by the direct hand of God. They were oppressed. and then set free, However, they were to be good to “strangers.” A good rule. But it says nothing about permanent immigration to the homeland. So how was one to stay, in Israel if not a Jew? The making of a law about strangers is found in Leviticus 19 Various Laws 1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3“ ‘Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. 4“ ‘Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God. 5“ ‘When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. 6It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up. 7If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. 8Whoever eats it will be held responsible because they have desecrated what is holy to the Lord; they must be cut off from their people. 9“ ‘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. 10Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God. 11“ ‘Do not steal. “ ‘Do not lie. “ ‘Do not deceive one another. 12“ ‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. 13“ ‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. “ ‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight. 14“ ‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord. 15“ ‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. 16“ ‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. “ ‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord. 17“ ‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. 18“ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. 19“ ‘Keep my decrees. “ ‘Do not mate different kinds of animals. “ ‘Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. “ ‘Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. 20“ ‘If a man sleeps with a female slave who is promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment.a Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. 21The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting for a guilt offering to the Lord. 22With the ram of the guilt offering the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord for the sin he has committed, and his sin will be forgiven. 23“ ‘When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden.b For three years you are to consider it forbiddenc ; it must not be eaten. 24In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. 25But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the Lord your God. 26“ ‘Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. “ ‘Do not practice divination or seek omens. 27“ ‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. 28“ ‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord. 29“ ‘Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness. 30“ ‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord. 31“ ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. 32“ ‘Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord. 33“ ‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34The 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. 35“ ‘Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. 36Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephahd and an honest hin.e I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. 37“ ‘Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.’ ” So all of you who want to follow the Old testament, the original covenant with Abraham fleshed out as law by Moses, you have to ..close all tattoo parlors, prevent all prostitution, not cut your beards, respect the elderly, never turn to any source but God for enlightenment. This is about proper living and social order. It is not a description of who may be allowed to live among you. If they do, you are to treat them same as you would treat your own family. But they had to obey the Law. It was the same for them as for native born Jews 43The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal: “No foreigner may eat it. 44Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, 45but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it. 46“It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. 47The whole community of Israel must celebrate it. 48“A foreigner residing 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 it. 49The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.” 50All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions. Circumcised, allowed to eat Passover, If they chose not to do this, they were forbidden to take part in Passover. They were not exempt from the law in any way. All countries have borders and the right to maintain those borders. Numbers 20:14-21 “Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ‘Thus says your brother Israel … here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King’s Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’ But Edom said to him, ‘You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.’ And the people of Israel said to him, ‘We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.’ But he said, ‘You shall not pass through.’ And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.” The strangest part of this is depending on one verse in the Old Testament to say borders are illegal, when nothing is implied in that verse,. The Law of Israel, at that time fully a theocracy, was strict. The same penalties applied to strangers as well. And if one is Christian, (the foundation of this country) it is moot, The Law has been fulfilled. We have some duties to strangers.. Hebrews 13;2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. God, the same God of the New and Old testament, would have us deal well with all people. What are we to do about people who would harm us? First, governments are actually a help. Structure and law and order matter. We are supposed to respect God given order. Romans 13:1-7 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. In today's’ world, most countries have given citizens the right to vote. Once in place, the government has the right to determine borders, security, and immigration rules. Israel got their rules straight from God via Moses. We do not have that luxury, or burden depending on your point of view. Much of Europe chose completely open borders, in view of their desire to be one entity, not singular nations. It has been a nightmare with immigrants flooding in, high crime rates especially with sexual crimes, and now…border security and a return to nationalism is a top priority in many of these countries. The flood is from the same nations that are listed in the travel ban, whether terrorists hiding in plain sight or people whose lives have been turned upside down by terrorism and wars, many no longer have documentation and so, nationals from all over the Muslim dominated part of the planet list themselves as Syrian refugees. this is a huge red flag. Our enemies, Islamic terrorists, hate us. We need to take stock on how we vet those coming here. We need to apply current laws as well. Those who overstay their visas (the Obama administration made it illegal to ask employees about their documentation and whether it was up to date. ) need to be checked and, if refusing to comply, deported, Criminal aliens need to be deported. We had warning signs on several of the people who committed atrocities in this country, and ignored them, We need to spend a lot more money on each and every refugee and immigrant, They need to be educated as to all laws that pertain to them, and given English language instruction. Those who legally may work (some statuses do not allow that) should be offered help to find jobs. Not dumped in the closest immigrant friendly cheap housing and handed food stamps. They need much more medical monitoring and support as diseases long eradicated in the US are returning, Some are antibiotic resistant, and future nightmares await if we do not take the time and supply the support, that means money,, to get newcomers well established. Which means we need to update and refigure the cost of every new immigrant from troubled areas . Other immigrants may already have jobs, family etc. to ease their transition. Legal immigration has kept pace through all the various political ideologies of the past twenty years. Getting the real numbers… time and money involved, success or failure to succeed, is imperative, as it is simply unknown, Politicians have kept us in the dark and our newest immigrants as well, for their own purposes. And every one who commits a crime needs to serve their time and be deported. There is nothing biblical that directly applies in this situation. As Christians, we are called to treating immigrants well, once they are here. The lawful exemptions to the ban need to also be enforced, most of the muddle over the weekend was an all or nothing application, yet our laws do have rules about visas, etc, Those who abuse the Bible, take it out of context, to prove a political point, are no better, no less deceptive, than any leader who puts politics head of governance. I pray that God let wiser heads and a cooler judgement prevail, In the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, Amen. |
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