Psalm 146:9
King James Version
9 The Lord preserveth the strangers;
he relieveth the fatherless and widow:
but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
How would you conduct yourself in a foreign country?
In the same manner, how must that country treat you?
At some point, we've all been either one of these things --
Tourists, migrants, immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
How were we received in countries we've gone to?
How have we conducted themselves?
Lately, European countries created new immigration policies.
There seems to be growing concern for border controls.
In early January of this year, we created a new blog.
We called it "FORTIFY your FORTRESS".
Only because many of us leave our souls, and nations open.
We want to welcome, but many also abuse that welcome.
Worse, many wish to wreak havoc on our souls, and nations.
With the perpetrator no one else but CHRIST's enemy.
So I asked myself, what does the Bible say?
When I want to know what GOD wants us to do, or be, I always turn to Scripture.
A born again, worth GOD's WORD always turns to Scripture.
What does the WORD of GOD say?
How are we to treat foreigners?
As foreigners, how are we to conduct ourselves?
GOD had laws for Israel, how they were to treat Gentiles.
In the same manner, He also gave laws for strangers to obey.
It is important we take note of these ANCIENT laws.
We need to learn from the Old Testament.
My approach will be TWO-fold:
1. How was Israel to treat "strangers"?
2. How must strangers conduct themselves within Israel?
But first, it is important we hear GOD's prophecy on Israel.
For she, too, was once a stranger in Egypt.
And suffered greatly because of that.
Genesis 15:12-16
King James Version
12 And when the sun was going down,
a deep sleep fell upon Abram;
and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13 And he said unto Abram,
Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs,
and shall serve them;
and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge:
and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace;
thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again:
for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
That prophecy shaped GOD's commands towards Israel and "strangers".
We can take our cue from her example, for GOD is just.
After all, Israel is GOD's chosen nation.
He wants her humble, and holy.
He wants her perfect, and perfected.
He wants her peaceful, and prosperous.
We, Gentiles, ought to be the same.
All of CHRIST's commands apply to both Jew, and Gentile.
Romans 10:12-13
King James Version
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek:
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
Now, for the ANCIENT verses that apply.
Which the Jews hold sacred.
By no means is this complete.
A link below shares more verses that apply.
How Israel was to treat "strangers":
Exodus 22:21
King James Version
21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him:
for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:9
King James Version
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.
Leviticus 19:9-10
King James Version
9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land,
thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field,
neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard,
neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard;
thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger:
I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:33-34
King James Version
33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land,
ye shall not vex him.
34 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.
Leviticus 24:22
King James Version
22 Ye shall have one manner of law,
as well for the stranger,
as for one of your own country:
for I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 25:35-37
King James Version
35 And if thy brother be waxen poor,
and fallen in decay with thee;
then thou shalt relieve him:
yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner;
that he may live with thee.
36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase:
but fear thy God;
that thy brother may live with thee.
37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury,
nor lend him thy victuals for increase.
Deuteronomy 1:16
King James Version
16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying,
Hear the causes between your brethren,
and judge righteously between every man and his brother,
and the stranger that is with him.
Deuteronomy 10:19
King James Version
19 Love ye therefore the stranger:
for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 17:14-15
King James Version
14 When thou art come unto the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say,
I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee,
whom the Lord thy God shall choose:
one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee:
thou mayest not set a stranger over thee,
which is not thy brother.
Deuteronomy 24:17-18
King James Version
17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger,
nor of the fatherless;
nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:
18 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt,
and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence:
therefore I command thee to do this thing.
1 Kings 8:41-43
King James Version
41 Moreover concerning a stranger,
that is not of thy people Israel,
but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;
42 (For they shall hear of thy great name,
and of thy strong hand,
and of thy stretched out arm;)
when he shall come and pray toward this house;
43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place,
and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for:
that all people of the earth may know thy name,
to fear thee, as do thy people Israel;
and that they may know that this house,
which I have builded, is called by thy name.
Malachi 3:3-6
King James Version
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver:
and he shall purify the sons of Levi,
and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
be pleasant unto the Lord,
as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment;
and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,
and against the adulterers,
and against false swearers,
and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages,
the widow,
and the fatherless,
and that turn aside the stranger from his right,
and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.
6 For I am the Lord, I change not;
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Ephesians 2:11-22
King James Version
11 Wherefore remember,
that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh,
who are called Uncircumcision
by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh
made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope,
and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus
ye who sometimes were far off
are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
14 For he is our peace,
who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;
for to make in himself of twain one new man,
so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God
in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off,
and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him
we both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father.
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together
for an habitation of God
through the Spirit.
Hebrews 13:1-2
King James Version
13 Let brotherly love continue.
2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
How strangers were to conduct themselves in Israel:
Exodus 20:10-11
King James Version
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle,
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day,
and hallowed it.
Leviticus 17:8-9
King James Version
8 And thou shalt say unto them,
Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel,
or of the strangers which sojourn among you,
that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,
9 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation, to offer it unto the Lord;
even that man shall be cut off from among his people.
Leviticus 17:10-12
King James Version
10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel,
or of the strangers that sojourn among you,
that eateth any manner of blood;
I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood,
and will cut him off from among his people.
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood:
and I have given it to you upon the altar
to make an atonement for your souls:
for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel,
No soul of you shall eat blood,
neither shall any stranger
that sojourneth among you eat blood.
Leviticus 17:13-14
King James Version
13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel,
or of the strangers that sojourn among you,
which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten;
he shall even pour out the blood thereof,
and cover it with dust.
14 For it is the life of all flesh;
the blood of it is for the life thereof:
therefore I said unto the children of Israel,
Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh:
for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof:
whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.
Leviticus 17:15-16
King James Version
15 And every soul that eateth that which died of itself,
or that which was torn with beasts,
whether it be one of your own country,
or a stranger,
he shall both wash his clothes,
and bathe himself in water,
and be unclean until the even:
then shall he be clean.
16 But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh;
then he shall bear his iniquity.
Leviticus 20:1-5
King James Version
20 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel,
Whosoever he be of the children of Israel,
or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel,
that giveth any of his seed unto Molech;
he shall surely be put to death:
the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
3 And I will set my face against that man,
and will cut him off from among his people;
because he hath given of his seed unto Molech,
to defile my sanctuary,
and to profane my holy name.
4 And if the people of the land
do any ways hide their eyes from the man,
when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:
5 Then I will set my face against that man,
and against his family,
and will cut him off,
and all that go a whoring after him,
to commit whoredom with Molech,
from among their people.
Leviticus 24:15-16
King James Version
15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.
16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord,
he shall surely be put to death,
and all the congregation shall certainly stone him:
as well the stranger,
as he that is born in the land,
when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord,
shall be put to death.
Deuteronomy 31:10-13
King James Version
10 And Moses commanded them, saying,
At the end of every seven years,
in the solemnity of the year of release,
in the feast of tabernacles,
11 When all Israel is come
to appear before the Lord thy God
in the place which he shall choose,
thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
12 Gather the people together,
men and women, and children,
and thy stranger that is within thy gates,
that they may hear,
and that they may learn,
and fear the Lord your God,
and observe to do all the words of this law:
13 And that their children,
which have not known any thing,
may hear,
and learn to fear the Lord your God,
as long as ye live in the land
whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
Revelation 11:1-2
King James Version
11 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod:
and the angel stood, saying,
Rise, and measure the temple of God,
and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out,
and measure it not;
for it is given unto the Gentiles:
and the holy city shall they tread under foot
forty and two months.
Of course, there are many more statutes.
A more comprehensive reference on "strangers" can be found here.
It's really important to know a country's culture, and laws.
That we may conduct ourselves with respect towards our host country.
We can't just go barging in, and do as we wish.
Neither must a host country try to intimidate us.
Thus, so much chaos, and confusion, in the world today.
If every citizen, official, nation, and stranger would turn to JESUS, there'd be peace.
Let us all be guided, by GOD's laws.
The LORD's laws are PERFECT.
It is always for the GOOD of all.
Psalm 19:7-11
King James Version
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever:
the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
yea, than much fine gold:
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned:
and in keeping of them there is great reward.
Related material:
Migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants: What’s the difference?
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