The Bible Verses about Immigrants that Feel Rough (Part 3)
What about some of those pesky Old Testament verses? For this information, I am going to dig into the article by Dr. Hans-Georg Wuench (as mentioned previously here). It is important to note that the different words for “stranger” (as put in my graph in here) overlap. We can try to put them into firm separate categories (as it done in some ugly places on the internet), but Hebrew scholars have noted that there isn’t a specific general consensus on these words in the Old Testament (see the Wuench article for more). Dr. Wuench’s main question is how, in the Bible, does one go from Zar (general stranger) to Ger (generally looked on positively stranger) rather than Nochri (generally looked on negatively stranger). One of the things that stood out to me is that Exodus 12:43 says no foreigner (Nochri) can eat the Passover meal. Then five verses later it says if a foreigner (Ger) wants to eat it, they (and all the men in their family) must be circumcised. Ger, in this sense, seems to be someone who wants to assimilate/convert to Judaism.
Zar is not always connected to someone who is not Jewish. It can be used for “strange gods” or “strange women” (prostitutes). The emphasis is on how they are distant: whether from a distant (physical) place, or they are distant (spiritually) from God and the community. Nochri is sometimes used in the same way, but often seen as something that can be dangerous to Israel, specifically in the area of drawing them away from God. Nochri were not allowed to be king of Israel (Deut. 17:15), and were allowed to buy and eat animals found dead (which Israelites couldn’t do), and Israel could charge them interest (they couldn’t charge other Israelites: Deut. 23:21).
It is important to note about intermarriage that God told Israel not to intermarry with the specific people He had commanded them to destroy (for their own sins) in Deuteronomy 7:3-4: the command was not to not intermarry with any and all strangers. God specifically takes Moses’s foreign wife’s side (Numbers 12) when they try to send her away, and there is also the classic example of Ruth (Ruth 2:10-11). She specifically says she is Nochri (v.10) and then Boaz replies he has heard of her good actions (v.11) meaning she is not Nochir, but someone to be welcomed in and rewarded (v.12). There are specific prophesies about a time when the Nochri will be reconciled with everyone else (and God calls out the Eunuch, both of whom were not to enter into the temple- Isaiah 56:3, 6), as they turn to God and obey His rules.
It is another discussion about Ezra and Nehemiah, who connect the foreign/strange women married to Israelite men with Solomon’s (Nochri) wives, and sin that led to captivity (Neh.13:26-27). Many people have noted that this (and their treatment of sending away the married women and children) was an overcorrection, not a Biblical law/principle. It is hard to know in historical books if it is written down as something that happened through people’s choices (i.e. slavery) or something commanded (God’s intention).
This leads us to the most common word for immigrant: Ger. The Middle East is famous for their hospitality. Ger is used of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the revered patriarchs of Israel (see above about the Bible being a story of Immigrants). They (Ger) were told to obey the Sabbath (Ex. 20:10). They were included in the covenant (Deuteronomy 29:10-13), and the law applied to them in most cases. As Ger, they were given special care and treatment, along with the Israelite widows, fatherless, and poor (Deut. 27:19, Job:15-17, Ps. 146:9). There is even a specific anchor baby verse (Ezekiel 47:22). From these verses, it is very easy to conclude that in the Old Testament, as in the New Testament, everyone is invited in, but not everyone accepts that invitation. Nar were not forced to convert to Judaism, and by their choices they decided to stay Nar (distant), become Nochri (against) or Ger (join in the customs around them to varying degrees, up to circumcision/converting).
It is important to remember that we are not Israel, and we are not in the Old Testament time period under their church/state type of government. We are in America, under a democratic republic with separation between church and state. Churches don’t give passports and decide who can enter our country—the government does. We (as the church) are called to love everyone: legal and illegal. We (as the church) don’t choose if they are legal or illegal. We are to be part of our government, working towards justice for all. I think there should be boarders. I think there should be laws on how to get into our country, and that as Christians, we should be a part of making these laws just and equitable to all. All countries struggle with this: it is nothing new.
I think most of us agree that those who commit crimes should not be allowed in. Not having the right papers (due to many reasons) is not a crime, but it does complicate the process. I am grateful that God understand these “complications” and tells us, the church, to be extra helpful to those who have them (the stranger, poor, widow, fatherless). As Christians, we should be on the hunt to HELP these specifically mentioned people. We should be thinking of and finding creative ways for our government to be helping these specifically mentioned people. God called them out (prioritized them) for a reason.