The Bible on Illegal Immigration and National Borders

Someone wrote the following in the comments section of this blog mildly taking me to task for something I just posted.

According to Jewish thought, Sodom and Gomorrah’s main sin was allowing people to die at the gates of those cities. The gates would be closed at sunset and would not re-open until morning. Since they were desert communities, many people waiting to get in would die of thirst or starvation by the time the gates re-opened in the mornings. Sexual sins sure were a big problem there but was not the main reason those cities were destroyed. They were destroyed mainly because of they’re hardness of hearts. Sound familiar? Does history always have to repeat itself like this?

Here is my response to them:

With all due respect, if you intend to post on my blog, you’d best have your facts straight and represent the Bible correctly, or you’ll be called on it. Moreover, instead of looking to Jewish thought for our biblical understanding, how about going directly to the Bible? Jewish thought also declares that Yeshua is NOT the Messiah. So “Jewish thought” must be taken with a huge grain of salt, and, in most cases, can’t totally be relied on as the basis for biblical understanding.

Now to the point:

It is a myth and a misunderstanding of Scripture to say that YHVH Elohim primarily destroyed Sodom for its lack of hospitality. This argument was raised to justify homosexuality, and is based on a mis-reading of Ezek 16:49. Those who proffer this myth not only overlook all the other biblical scriptures that talk about the sins of Sodom, but also overlook the context of Ezek 16:48 including the very next verse—Ezek 16:50. Here it is stated that Elohim overthrew Sodom because they proudly committed abominations, which was in addition to their lack of hospitality. What abomination is this? The Bible only calls a few sins abominations. Homosexuality is one of them (Lev 18:22).

Now let’s address America shutting its borders to illegal immigration.

First let’s address the issue from a secular perspective. A nation has to have laws or there will be anarchy, mayhem and it will not be a safe place for its inhabitants to live. A nation also has to have borders, or there is no nation. Period.

True, our nation is one of immigrants. My grandmother was born in Germany, and my great-grandfather in Sweden. Both came here legally. They didn’t crash the border. And when they got here, they went to work and assimilated into the American culture; they even refused to speak their mother tongue in favor of English. They didn’t come here with their hands outstretched looking for public assistance in the form of welfare benefits. They also weren’t full of diseases and with criminal backgrounds. Such people were turned away at Ellis Island and sent back home. Those who were deemed to be an asset to this country were allowed in.

This is not the situation with many, if not most, of those currently crashing America’s southern border illegally. Few of them seem to care about our laws and legal immigration. They feel it is their right to come to the US simply because they want to. Many of them are criminals, drug runners and will go on the public dole as they can get here. The US can’t handle this economically or socially. Currently 27 percent of all criminals in the US Federal Prison System are foreigners from our south.

Second, let’s address immigration from a biblical perspective. (This is a quick overview and a brief study, and not a comprehensive discussion of this subject.) Did Israel have borders? Yes. Did the Israelites defend these borders from foreign invasion? Yes, and by Elohim’s instructions. Did Israel have laws? Yes. That body of laws was called the Torah, which tells us how to love Elohim with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourself. Read the Bible. It’s all there.

Now, under what conditions were foreigners allowed to immigrate into Israel? First, they were to be treated with respect, but they had to accept YHVH Elohim, the God of Israel, and to follow the laws of Israel, namely the Torah of Elohim (Exod 12:43–49; 22:21; 23:9; Lev 24:22; Num 15:16, 29).

Second, they didn’t come into Israel as welfare dependents or criminals, nor were they allowed to bring in their foreign cultures or satanic religious systems. They had to assimilate into the tribes of Israel and once there they went to work, while, at the same time, accepting the God of Israel and his laws. They weren’t working to overthrow the borders, language and culture of Israel, or the God of Israel, nor were they sucking the economic resources out of Israel. If they fell onto hard times, like any other Israelite native or foreign born, they sold themselves into temporary servitude to their debtor and worked until their debts were paid off. There was no free lunch here!

To use the Bible to justify allowing anyone to come into America illegally for any reason, frankly, demonstrates biblical naivety if not ignorance of the facts.

 

6 thoughts on “The Bible on Illegal Immigration and National Borders

  1. Been following you for a short time, thank you for your biblical truth! This particular article was so well said!

  2. AMEN!! So many tend to ‘overlook’ Leviticus 24:22; Numbers 15:16, 29, but readily accept Exodus 22:21-23,9. Thank you Nathan and Shalom for speaking the truth.

  3. Thank you for your efforts Brother Nathan. I wanted to ask you a sincere question and please take your time and prayerfully give me an answer after inquiring from the Lord Jesus Christ with all of your heart : Can one truly trivialize the sin of letting someone die at their doorstep, when all it would take was to temporarily break the letter of that city’s law and open their door or gates before sunrise and give that person a drink of water to save his life? Can one really trivialize this sin as “lack of hospitality”?

    • With all due respect, this seems like the old life boat question. If the lifeboat is full, and bringing one more person in will sink the boat, what do you do? This is a “what if” question, and wise people don’t answer “what if” questions, since they’re not based in reality.

      Yes, if someone were at the literal doorstep of my literal house, of course, I would take them in. What godly person wouldn’t? I could be (but I’m not) offended that someone would even question me on this suggesting that I need to pray about the answer.

      But the American border is not a literal doorstep. And there are many reasons why people are crashing our borders. Mostly, it’s because of the freebies we offer. They can get a better deal here than there. Moreover, the leftists in Congress and elsewhere are pandering to these folks to get votes to stay in power. My grandparents, great grand parents and great great grand parents on all sides of my family going back to the middle 1600s came to America legally to work without expecting government handouts. That’s not always the case now, however.

      This may tick you off, but I’ll say it anyway. Go ahead and lead the way by your good example. Show us how it’s done. Put your money where your mouth is. Rent a van, go down to the border and pick up a bunch of illegal aliens and bring them home with you. Let them camp out in your garage, spare bedrooms, family room and hallways and backyard. Pay for all their food, education, clothing and medical care. Maybe you can find them a job for minimum wage, so they can pay you back, but likely your expenses will be greater than what they can pay you back. In a year, or how about a week, get back to me and let me know how it’s going for you, your wife, family and your bank account with all these extra people camping out at your house now largely dependent on you.

      Amein.

      • Thank you for your answer. Though in reference to your “lack of hospitality” comment, I believe you were referring to Sodom and Gemorrah. That is what I was responding to: ‘The main reason Sodom was destroyed.’ I wasn’t at all talking about the American border. And I wasn’t questioning whether or not you would take in a starving stranger. I was asking if you believed that’ Sodom letting people die over night of thirst ‘ was worthy of the phrase “lack of hospitality”? Because this is what they in fact did do according to the testimony of many sources, my ancestors included and many other sources from that region. Just because the Bible doesn’t record this, it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Shabbat Shalom

      • Shabbat shalom to you too. Thank you for the civility of your discourse. Though folks may not agree on all things, they should still be able to have a civil discourse—something which is all too lacking in our current political climate where emotional rants and personal attacks have replaced reason, logic and respect. You can’t even talk to such people! Blessings!

        Joseph, I also want to take this opportunity to thank you and all the other folks who have commented on this forum in the last few days, whether they have agreed or disagreed with me, regarding the comments I made on several news articles I recently posted on this blog.

        It is critically important that we as Bible believers address the issues pertaining to the current events (e.g. immigration, border walls, abortion, morality) happening in our society, and do so from a logical and reason-based biblical perspective.

        On many of these issues, I have waited for weeks or even months to make public comment, while, at the same time, seeking the Father’s heart based on his Written Word, the Bible, as to what my response should be.

        When I have finally sensed a release in my spirit to post my views, at the same time, I expected and welcomed civil and respectful pushback from my readers. This is the proverbial iron sharpening iron process about which the book of Proverbs speaks. This is not only constructive but appreciated, and, hopefully, will serve to bring us all more in line with biblical truth, thus helping to unify us in the face of opposition from an ungodly, neo-Baalistic world.

        It’s imperative that the saints refine their understandings of and responses to the current issues facing our society in light of biblical truth. This is how we will be salt and light to the ungodly world. This can be accomplished by giving those around us a more biblical perspective on these current issues as we point them to the eternal values of divinely revealed biblical truth, as opposed to the society’s general approach of blowing with the winds of situational ethics or moral relativism where the ends justify the means and immutable truth is nowhere to be found, and is even considered a passé concept and not even open for discussion.

        As followers of Yeshua and his word, we must discuss these issues, and, behind the scenes out of the public view, we must work out what our responses will be to society’s problems, and determine how to bring the light of biblical truth to bear on the problems facing us. This is one way the gospel is preached and the kingdom of Elohim is expanded.

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