God gave ancient Israel an immigration policy even before they had acquired the Promised Land. They were in the desert and the Lord listed a bunch of rules and regulation that they should live by. Among these laws was one in which he was very clear about how to deal with people who wanted to live among them:
"When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 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” (Lev 19:33-34)
The question for us is whether or not we want to obey God’s Law or only parts of it. If only part of it, then which parts. Christians argue that we don’t have to obey them all because Jesus came to do that, yet he didn’t say he came to abolish them either (Matt 5:17). We argue that Jesus’ next statement that the Law would not pass until all is accomplished happened on the cross when he died for our sins (Matt 5:18). That is true, but Paul told us to bear with one another’s burdens so that we would fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2). Jesus explained in his Sermon on the Mount that he expected us not to simply obey the outward requirements of the Law but to obey them in our hearts.
From this, and other things clearly stated in the Bible such as Mark 7:19 when he declared all food acceptable for us to eat, it is clear that many of the regulations of the Old Testament are no longer applicable. However, we must still look at these statutes and determine if they are still applicable.
What is the principle behind Leviticus 19:33-34? What would Jesus say about this regulation? He didn’t address it specifically, but he did say love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:39). When a lawyer tried to trick Jesus, he agreed that loving your neighbor was part of the key to having eternal life, but the lawyer did just like many anti-immigration Americans are doing today. He wanted to exclude people whom he didn’t like from being his neighbors. But Jesus pointed him to the north where the Jews believed the scum of the earth lived, Samaria (John 4:9). He showed the man that these were his neighbors (Luke 10:29-37). I believe Jesus upheld the principle and spirit of Leviticus 19:33-34 completely. Therefore, the biblical mandate regarding immigration Christians should fight for is:
· Do them no wrong
· Treat them the same way we treat citizens
· Love them just like we love ourselves
Quite frankly this is not what many of our leaders want to do and they are doing them wrong. They are not treating immigrants as we treat our citizens and we certainly aren’t showing them love. Christians, we need to repent and obey the Law of Christ.
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