Foreigners Among Us

 

I read an interesting passage in Deuteronomy today. I know, who reads Deuteronomy? I recommend it. The book gives Moses’ first person recap of the wilderness years. They are at the borders of Palestine and Moses is readying them to enter and take the land.

That in itself is an interesting point. By “taking the land”, the Bible is clear God meant that literally. He’d promised this land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and now, some 400 years later, he’s about to make good on that promise.  In Genesis he made his promise to Abraham, but told him it would be years in the future. During that time Israel would go to, and grow in, Egypt. At first they would be privileged people, family of the beloved Joseph, but by the time of Moses they were ill-treated slaves.

The question is, why the wait – 400 years? Why not skip those hideous years of slavery? According to Genesis because “the sin of the Amorites has not reached its full measure”. (Genesis 15:16) God goes on to give Abraham a list of the people’s they will take the land from (Genesis 15:18-21). Apparently, the Sovereign God gave the people living in Palestine, specifically the Amorites, 400 years to get their act together. The people living in Palestine were great worshippers of multiple gods, represented in multiple idols. The Sovereign God of the Bible wanted everyone to worship Him, and Him alone. He is, after all, the Creator of the Universe, the only one worthy of worship. We can assume they had 400 years to turn to this God.  They did not.

We do know the people in Palestine knew what God had done for Israel up to this point. We know they were very afraid as Israel neared Palestine. But only a handful actually turned to Israel’s God, the rest decided to run or fight Him. But that’s another story.

So In Deuteronomy 7, this same list of people groups God gave to Abraham, are the people Israel will come up against in “taking the land.” The plan was not on a whim. It was not out of bloodthirst on behalf of the Israelis or God. It was the end of a 400 year sentence on those people for their evil ways. 400 years is a lot of grace. Furthermore, it’s all on God, who “delivered them over” for defeat. The talking of the land wasn’t from Israel’s great warrior might, it was all on God. He tipped the scale.

What interested me today was a seeming contradiction to all of this. Israel was to go into the land and completely destroy the peoples inhabiting it as part of God’s discipline of those people. God seems pretty anti anything not Israel. Yet, in Deuteronomy 10:17-19 Moses describes God as “God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”

So through Moses, God is saying “You were foreigners once, and horribly mistreated. You are not to treat foreigners as you were treated, but with kindness and generosity as I want them to be treated, because I love the foreigner residing among you”.

How can God say he “loves foreigners” when he’s about to blow away several tribes of them? Because He is God. He is both love and justice, grace and righteousness.  He loved the Amorites, and the rest, and gave them 400 years to get their acts together. They had, after all, given Abraham and his family space to live and die in Palestine. Abraham and his family had lived among foreigners, peacefully. God is not capricious. He doesn’t just summarily wipe out people because it’s fun. God first and foremost loves all, and He gives all of us time to come to know Him. But there is a limit to His time. Peter writes “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  (verses 8,9)

In Ephesians, Paul wrote “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands) – remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope, and without God in the world.” (verses 11,12)

Christians, before Christ, were foreigners to God. People without belief are foreigners in God’s world. That’s a lot of foreigners. And Paul wants these new Ephesian believers to remember this, their former state. Just prior to this he has reminded them that they have been saved by faith, through grace, not from anything of their own doing. Like the Israelites about to take the land – they were to step out in faith and God’s grace would do the work.

Paul goes on to write “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility….Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of his household.”  (verses 14, 19-20)

Moses tells us in Deuteronomy that God loves foreigners. God commands the Israelites to love foreigners because He does. Galatians says that we who believe in Jesus Christ were once foreigners. God obviously loved us enough to die in our place, making those who accept that gift of grace family members, citizens with God’s people.

What does that then tell us about how we should respond to “foreigners living among us” – those who do not yet know God or Christ Jesus? In the time we still have of our “2000+ years”, what is our response to the foreigner? Do we love him/her/them as Christ does? Do we treat them with patience and respect? Can they see Jesus in us and, rather than run or fight us, want to join our family?

Today Israel/Palestine is on the forefront of a lot of us. The ongoing war Israel is waging against Hamas in retaliation of Hamas’ attack on Israeli people has struck a deep divide in our country. There is a lot of confusion about Jews and their “right’ to Israel. Most believe it all began after World War 2, with the West (primarily Great Britain) giving Palestine to the surviving Jews. Though part of the picture, the story goes back to ancient times, back to Genesis and Deuteronomy in the Bible. Even if you don’t believe in the Bible, the Jewish people hold the Old Testament as their history, their truth, and have done so for centuries. This isn’t a new fight.

In reality, the land is both/and, Jewish and Palestinian. But the Jews believe God gave it to them, and that is what the Bible teaches. The Bible does not, however, give Israel the right to be unethical in their dealings with “foreigners.” Believing Israel is their land is not a blanket approval of all they do there. In fact, the Old Testament is full of stories of Israeli leaders leading military campaigns against God’s wishes and ways. They were dealt with, sometimes even more harshly than what they’d dealt out. In fact the history of the Jews and the loss of their land stems directly from their disobedience and distrust of God. For centuries they have lived under the domination of other countries, feeling a disproportionate discrimination that continues today. Up until the late 1940’s they were spread around the world, living without a land of their own.

And as we are quick to judge the Israeli treatment of “foreigners” we should look at our own country. I find it amazing that so many people are ready to thrown American Jews under the bus. Anti-sematic actions have grown exponentially in our country since this war began. Yet, the American Jews were not part of that – so why are their synagogues being attacked, as well as their lives being disrupted by such hate? Neither the Jews nor the Palestinians living in America are foreigners, they are citizens.  We may not agree with their politics, but they are us! So if we cannot even treat each other with love and respect, it’s no wonder there is such animosity against true foreigners in our country. I cannot imagine the fear so many of us must be feeling over threat of deportation, especially when they have been living here, working, being good neighbors and perhaps hoping one day to be a citizen. And how many of us, as citizens, have our “papers” on us at all times? To have to “prove” you are a citizen upon request, seems anything but American.

So maybe we need to take another look – if not at God, at each other.  How should I treat the "foreigners" around me?