Thread: Another Bible Study on Illegal Immigration

Another Bible study on illegal immigration

Joseph Farah
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Posted: November 29, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern




So well-received was my first Bible study on illegal immigration, I decided to write another one.
I can tell you from personal experience, it is rare when you can write about what the Bible says or suggests about a certain topic without attracting some heavy flak. To my astonishment and joy, I did not receive even one critical e-mail about a column that was read by many thousands of people.

Maybe this follow-up will bring out the naysayers.

With my first effort, I purposely approached the issue of illegal immigration with Scriptures I had never before seen applied to this particular debate. Instead of dealing with the people we call illegal aliens, I dealt with the larger picture of what it means to be a nation-state.

Countless Bible studies have been conducted in America in recent years using some familiar citations about "strangers" and "aliens" and applying them to our current controversy.


Leviticus 19:33-34: And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Exodus 22:21: Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 23:9: Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 10:19: Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Some churches have stopped right there after reading that verse and decided they know all they need to know about their duty as Christians to illegal aliens.

"We're supposed to treat them just like one born among us, according to the Bible," they proclaim. "That means amnesty. It means all the benefits of citizenship."

But hold on there, partner. Not so fast. You can develop some really bad theology – not to mention politics – by reading the Bible out of context, by not fully understanding what is being said to whom and about whom.

Strangers that sojourn with you or live with you does not equate with illegal aliens. In fact, the corollary here, in each and every case, is that the children of Israel were "strangers" in Egypt. That's why they were to treat their own "strangers" well, because they knew what it is like to be "strangers" in a foreign land.

Clearly, then, what it means to be a "stranger" is to be a foreigner. In the case of the children of Israel in Egypt, they were invited and, at first anyway, were honored guests. Later, they would be oppressed by a generation who "knew not Joseph." But they were certainly not trespassers. They were certainly not in Egypt illegally. They were certainly not breaking the laws of the land by being in Egypt. In fact, they were commanded not to offend their hosts in any way (Genesis 46:28-34).

So, we must conclude that "stranger" does not equal "illegal alien." Even when the term "alien" is used in the Bible, it seems to have the exact same meaning as "stranger."

God loves the stranger, we're told. You should, too. They should be treated with respect and dignity. They should not be mistreated. These foreigners should be given food and clothing when they are in need. That's the clear message of the Bible – treat law-abiding foreigners and aliens with love and compassion.

The aliens and strangers of the Bible were expected to obey the Hebrew laws, though they were exempt from some. They were also treated differently than the children of Israel in that they could not own property; they could be bought as slaves and charged interest on loans.

Only if these aliens and strangers were fully converted as Jews – and that included circumcision – could they be landowners, partake of the Passover and be fully integrated into the nation of Israel.

In other words, even though the aliens and strangers of the Bible were not illegal aliens, they were still expected to fully assimilate into the Hebrew religion and culture before they could receive all the blessings and all the responsibility of full citizenship.

Further, keep in mind these godly instructions were meant not just for the governing authorities in Israel – the judges and kings – but, more importantly, for the people. These were personal instructions. And they are clearly good instructions for us all today.

If we want to be compassionate to the strangers and aliens of our world today, those law-abiding foreigners who desperately want to come to America and are patiently awaiting their turn, we need to be certain they don't get squeezed out unfairly by those who broke the law and pushed ahead of them in line.

We shouldn't be mean to those lawbreakers either. We shouldn't mistreat them. We should even forgive them. But they have to leave.

They haven't been invited. They are not our guests. They are not just strangers; they are trespassers. They need to go back home and get in line like everyone else waiting to enter our country lawfully.


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=58918

I deleted my own post. I decided not to comment on this after all.

I didn't read the whole thing - but I think he was trying to say the people who use the Bible to say we have to accept and care for them - are wrong.

Strange -

Blahblahblahblahblah I am Christine and God also says to obey the laws of the land. So obey them and kick out the illegals.

Many churches, pastors, priests, etc...are using religion, the Bible, as an excuse for aiding and abetting illegal aliens- giving them 'sanctuary' in order to avoid deportation, handing out printed information about how to avoid arrest and deportation, etc... And anyone who doesn't agree with their point of view is accused of not living by the Word of God. They use many Bible references (some stated in the previous article) to try and persade many Christians that illegal immigration is A-O.K in God's eyes.

Joseph Farah is merely putting forth a valid Bible based arguement that illegal immigration is against God's law BECAUSE it is against the laws of a sovereign nation (USA), which by the way was founded on Christian principles. Read Romans Chapter 13 verses 1-7.

I posted this on another thread back in April. It seems Mr. Farah might've seen it...

Biblical immigration

Deut. 19:14
Quote:
Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
"Landmark" refers to territory, boundary, or border.

Moses further declared in Deut. 27:17
Quote:
Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.


Deut. 32:8
Quote:
When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people.
(Notice that God "separated the sons of Adam." God "set the bounds of the people.")

Acts 17:26
Quote:
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.
There's those pesky borders and boundaries again.


Titus 3;1-2
Quote:
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.


Luke 2;1-5
Quote:
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
Even Jesus' parents followed the secular law and submitted themselves to the taxing authority of Rome.

Acts 24;16
Quote:
I am exercising myself continually ?of committing no offense to GOD and men.
That means not breaking man's laws.

Rom 13;1-4
Quote:
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will you not then be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and you shall have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid: for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon he that does evil.


1Pet 2;13-15
Quote:
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.


This last one kinda sums the whole thing up for me...

Lev 19:33-34
Quote:
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.



So the contrast here is between the rules that apply to 1) the stranger passing through, versus the rules that apply to 2) the stranger who was dwelling with the Israelites.

The point of the passage was INTEGRATION into the Israelite community by the stranger.

The passage is saying not to apply the same criteria to the one who is merely stopping in versus the stranger who is to be considered a part of the community.

Now here is the point that matters: in order for the stranger to be considered part of Israel, the attitude of the Israelites was that they were required to "love him as thyself"...which is a high standard.

What did that "Stranger" have to do in order to be considered PART OF ISRAEL FIRST?

The answer is that the stranger had to:

1) Become an Israelite
2) Agree to be Bound by ALL the laws of Israel
3) Agree to follow ALL of the rules of Israel
4) Agree to the SAME penalty as those who were part of Israel.

That may sound casual to those who read this today. But there are two very important points:

1) Part of the Israel Law had "Death by Stoning" for many many offenses, so joining the tribes who will stone you to death for breaking the rules has serious consequences.

2) The other part - is that in order to join Israel, he had to be circumcised.

So, instead of the responsibility being on Israel to treat that PERMANENT stranger as part of the tribe, YES - that is what they had to do,

But ONLY AFTER that stranger had agreed to abide by ALL OF THE LAWS OF ISRAEL, with death following shortly for many many infractions.

THANK YOU PinestrawGuys for posting that again!

He is saying that while we have SOME churches saying "no person is illegal because the Bible says so" .. the Bible actually says to be HUMANE, but not to give "citizenship" to "foreigners" who are not invited.

He is saying that some people are trying to compare apples to toenails.

I am sick of them using this absurd excuse also!

What would heaven be like without organization? People doing what and when and how they please.

I don't think it would be heaven do you? In the Kingdom of God there are "LAWS" ... if we OBEY those LAWS we are rewarded. If we DO NOT OBEY THOSE LAWS... WE PAY THE CONSEQUENCES!!!!Why do they think God would EXPECT something different here????

They are looking for excuses when they try to use this for an excuse IMO.

americangrl wrote:

I deleted my own post. I decided not to comment on this after all.

I know the feeling - been there, done that.