Leviticus 19:33-34 says, ““When a stranger sojourn 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.”
Indeed, there were several instances in the Bible in which the Hebrews sojourned to Egypt and were accepted. Genesis 12:10 says, “Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.” Subsequently, God appoints Abram to be the father of nations, and He changes Abram’s name to Abraham, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob fame. Suppose Egypt declared a national emergency because of peoples who tried to go there because of the famine, thereby denying people like Abraham from entering? Would there be a Jewish people? Would Jesus arise out of the Jews? Maybe. Perhaps the Almighty God could have raised Jesus out of the Egyptians. Jesus would have had a lot of work on his hands, to convince the Egyptians that there is only one God instead of many Gods. He had an easier time where Jews lived, because the Jews, who were among his first disciples, already knew there was only one God. But forgive me for digressing…
Another instance is Jacob’s family being allowed to live in Egypt, due to Jacob’s son Joseph, because of another famine. What if the Pharaoh then declared a national emergency because again there were people who wanted to enter Egypt? Would we have the Twelve Tribes, many of whom helped lay the foundation of Christianity later on as Jesus’ disciples? Would God then decide to raise Jesus among the Polynesians whose belief in a divinity was shaky at best and therefore would be better candidates for conversion, as they were when Christian missionaries arrived centuries later? God only knows…
But, you might say, ‘This is all Old Testament junk. We know God as Jesus knows Him.’ Fair enough. So, Jesus says, in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Does that sound somewhat familiar? It should, to those who are familiar with the Statue of Liberty. At the base of the statue is a poem by a New Yorker, Emma Lazarus., whose family came from Portugal to escape the Inquisition that was targeted against Jews. The poem goes as follows:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
And coincidentally, the name Lazarus should sound familiar to Christians, for Lazarus was Jesus’ dear friend who resurrected Lazarus out of his grave. (Could this be an example of ‘What goes around, comes around?’)
And to those who desire eternal life, this is what Jesus says in Matthew 25: 34-40- “…the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU WELCOMED ME…Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? AND WHEN DID WE SEE YOU A STRANGER AND WELCOME YOU…?’… And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
And what of those who consider the coming of strangers to be a “National Emergency”? This is what Jesus says in Matthew 25: 41-46- “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU DID NOT WELCOME ME…’…, Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty OR A STRANGER…?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
This is Jesus talking, n’est ce pas? The Jesus that we know God through, right?
What do Jesus’ disciples say about governing authorities? Since they are disciples of Jesus and their words are in the Bible, you accept their gospel do you not? So a disciple, Paul, says in Romans 13:1-2, “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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”
The governing authorities Paul refers to, are those who have been instituted by God. There are other governing authorities that anyone who tests what is right and wrong in terms of their faith would see are not acting with God in mind. These, according to Daniel 2:21, are replaced by God with a government who will act according to what God wants. ‘Oh,’ you say, ‘but Daniel is in the Old Testament.’ Sorry, I slipped. Never mind that Jesus, who upholds the Old Testament, is how you know God. But anyway…
Since the Bible says that the only governments that are recognized by God are those who govern under God, the people who live under God and who have the authority to appoint a government, would do well by appointing a government that acts under God. Such a government would welcome strangers as the Bible calls upon people to welcome strangers since such a government would be a collective authority that acts at the behest of God-fearing people and directly with God in mind.
But we see, in places like America, which calls itself a nation “under God,” that there is anxiety concerning how the people who want to enter can be accommodated. This anxiety is generated by the very people who say they are Christians who see God through Jesus. Well, as Jesus says in Matthew 16:5-12 when his disciples were preparing for a mass gathering and they told Jesus they don’t have enough bread to feed them all, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread?” In other words, have no fear because under God, all will be provided for.
Isn’t it ironic that the Egyptians in the Old Testament days, who didn’t believe in God, had otherwise acted in a godly manner in welcoming Abraham and, later on, Jacob and his family, and still later on welcomed the Baby Jesus and his family when the then King Herod wanted to kill the Baby Jesus, whereas a significant amount of people who call themselves Americans, of a nation presumably under God, declare a “national emergency,” looking to turn strangers away instead of welcoming them?
Indeed, there were several instances in the Bible in which the Hebrews sojourned to Egypt and were accepted. Genesis 12:10 says, “Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.” Subsequently, God appoints Abram to be the father of nations, and He changes Abram’s name to Abraham, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob fame. Suppose Egypt declared a national emergency because of peoples who tried to go there because of the famine, thereby denying people like Abraham from entering? Would there be a Jewish people? Would Jesus arise out of the Jews? Maybe. Perhaps the Almighty God could have raised Jesus out of the Egyptians. Jesus would have had a lot of work on his hands, to convince the Egyptians that there is only one God instead of many Gods. He had an easier time where Jews lived, because the Jews, who were among his first disciples, already knew there was only one God. But forgive me for digressing…
Another instance is Jacob’s family being allowed to live in Egypt, due to Jacob’s son Joseph, because of another famine. What if the Pharaoh then declared a national emergency because again there were people who wanted to enter Egypt? Would we have the Twelve Tribes, many of whom helped lay the foundation of Christianity later on as Jesus’ disciples? Would God then decide to raise Jesus among the Polynesians whose belief in a divinity was shaky at best and therefore would be better candidates for conversion, as they were when Christian missionaries arrived centuries later? God only knows…
But, you might say, ‘This is all Old Testament junk. We know God as Jesus knows Him.’ Fair enough. So, Jesus says, in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Does that sound somewhat familiar? It should, to those who are familiar with the Statue of Liberty. At the base of the statue is a poem by a New Yorker, Emma Lazarus., whose family came from Portugal to escape the Inquisition that was targeted against Jews. The poem goes as follows:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
And coincidentally, the name Lazarus should sound familiar to Christians, for Lazarus was Jesus’ dear friend who resurrected Lazarus out of his grave. (Could this be an example of ‘What goes around, comes around?’)
And to those who desire eternal life, this is what Jesus says in Matthew 25: 34-40- “…the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU WELCOMED ME…Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? AND WHEN DID WE SEE YOU A STRANGER AND WELCOME YOU…?’… And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
And what of those who consider the coming of strangers to be a “National Emergency”? This is what Jesus says in Matthew 25: 41-46- “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU DID NOT WELCOME ME…’…, Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty OR A STRANGER…?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
This is Jesus talking, n’est ce pas? The Jesus that we know God through, right?
What do Jesus’ disciples say about governing authorities? Since they are disciples of Jesus and their words are in the Bible, you accept their gospel do you not? So a disciple, Paul, says in Romans 13:1-2, “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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”
The governing authorities Paul refers to, are those who have been instituted by God. There are other governing authorities that anyone who tests what is right and wrong in terms of their faith would see are not acting with God in mind. These, according to Daniel 2:21, are replaced by God with a government who will act according to what God wants. ‘Oh,’ you say, ‘but Daniel is in the Old Testament.’ Sorry, I slipped. Never mind that Jesus, who upholds the Old Testament, is how you know God. But anyway…
Since the Bible says that the only governments that are recognized by God are those who govern under God, the people who live under God and who have the authority to appoint a government, would do well by appointing a government that acts under God. Such a government would welcome strangers as the Bible calls upon people to welcome strangers since such a government would be a collective authority that acts at the behest of God-fearing people and directly with God in mind.
But we see, in places like America, which calls itself a nation “under God,” that there is anxiety concerning how the people who want to enter can be accommodated. This anxiety is generated by the very people who say they are Christians who see God through Jesus. Well, as Jesus says in Matthew 16:5-12 when his disciples were preparing for a mass gathering and they told Jesus they don’t have enough bread to feed them all, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread?” In other words, have no fear because under God, all will be provided for.
Isn’t it ironic that the Egyptians in the Old Testament days, who didn’t believe in God, had otherwise acted in a godly manner in welcoming Abraham and, later on, Jacob and his family, and still later on welcomed the Baby Jesus and his family when the then King Herod wanted to kill the Baby Jesus, whereas a significant amount of people who call themselves Americans, of a nation presumably under God, declare a “national emergency,” looking to turn strangers away instead of welcoming them?
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