Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Bible's Take on Immigration | Torah | Exodus 22:21-24, 23:9

Episode Date: July 6, 2022

What does the Bible say about immigration? Should your faith impact your political views about immigration? In today's episode, Jensen uses Exodus 22:21-24, 23:9 to explain how God views immigrants and what that means for Christians. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Exodus 22:21-24, 23:9

Welcome to 10-minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair, and right now we're going through Exodus. In 2020, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, two Latino women, headlined the Super Bowl halftime show. During Jennifer Lopez's portion of the performance, she included a powerful image of young children sitting in cages of light across the field. Now, when you think of 2020, you probably think about the pandemic. But before the start of the pandemic, immigration was at the forefront of our nation's political stage. A zero-tolerance family separation policy had been put into place, where parents and children were forcibly separated from each other upon crossing the U.S. and Mexican border illegally. In 2018, a group of reporters gained access to one of the facilities in Texas where children were being held.

They stated that there were migrants, including children, in cages, sleeping on mattresses on the ground under foil blankets. Shortly after, the Border Patrol released photos confirming what these reporters witnessed. In 2019, a group of lawyers and a physician were granted access again to a facility in Texas. They came following a flu outbreak that led to five infants being placed in neonatal intensive care. The physician is quoted saying, children without their parents were facing extreme cold temperatures, lights on 24 hours a day, no adequate access to medical care, basic sanitation, water, or adequate food. The youngest child there was two and a half months old.

Rightfully so, during the lead up to the 2020 Super Bowl, there was incredible outrage at the treatment of migrants and children. And as of November of 2021, 17003 children, separated under this policy had yet to be reunited with their families. And so, during her halftime performance, Jennifer Lopez made the bold choice to make a statement against the policy at the time. Now, not everyone was happy that she did. The NFL tried to remove this portion of her performance when they first saw it. But in her recent documentary, halftime, she said, for me, this isn't about politics. This is about human rights.

Now, if you live in America, you know that immigration and taking in refugees is a hot-button issue in politics. Feelings can run hot, and people can be extremely passionate about their beliefs, taking the side usually of whichever political party they tend to associate with. It can be an incredibly divisive issue, and it's often wielded by the media and political parties to stoke fires and point fingers. And because of this, I know that waiting into this conversation today might have already made more than one person a little bit uncomfortable and maybe even angry. I'd like to say that while I don't wish to unnecessarily stoke an already hot fire, I am okay with making you uncomfortable or angry by talking about this. I'm okay with it. And not because I have a political agenda, because I don't. For what it's worth, families continue to be separated at the border under our current administration.

Both Republicans and Democrats are capable of doing harm here. I'm okay talking about it because the Bible talks about it. God has something serious and radical to say about how his people treat foreigners in their land. And in a culture that is constantly wrestling with the topic of immigration, we should want to know what the God of the universe calls us to be. to do as his people. Which means that today, I do hope that whatever you feel or believe about immigration, that you would hear the word of God and reflect on what it has to say. The passage we're looking at today falls within the laws given to Moses at Mount Sinai.

Our verses actually signal a change in tone, where before the law was given in third person, here the language shifts to using you and I for the Israelites and God. This shifting in language highlights for us the personal, covenantal dimension of the law. These aren't just rules for rules sake. God is giving his people these instructions so that they can live in a way that is honoring and pleasing to him, so that they can flourish and be in a covenantal relationship with their God. And so in chapter 22, verse 21, we begin reading, You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him.

For you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath will burn and I will kill you with the sword and your wives shall come widows and your children fatherless. Later in chapter 23 verse 9, we read again, You shall not oppress a sojourner.

You know the heart of a sojourner, for you are sojourners in the land of Egypt. The word sojourner here refers to a foreigner, someone living within Israel who is not a native-born Israelite. These foreigners could be in the land for any number of reasons, famine, war, traveling for work, migrants. The scripture here doesn't give a, a reason why the person has come into the land or how they've come into the land. It doesn't

tell us anything about their economic status or what they do for a living. It just tells us that God's people are not to wrong or oppress the foreigners living in their land. The law goes on in Chapter 22 to specifically speak to the mistreatment of widows and the fatherless children. The punishment for mistreatment of these groups is swift and severe. This isn't a suggestion or a hope that God has for his people. This is a command, a serious one, with serious consequences. God's people are to be a people who care for the foreigners and the vulnerable among them. And this isn't the only place in Scripture that we see God making provision for the foreigner. God's law has around 20 laws specifically in place for the protection and benefit of the foreigner living in Israel.

God sees these people groups who cannot often provide for themselves, who are vulnerable and in danger of becoming destitute or being taken advantage of. He sees them and he provides for them. He provides protection by urging his people to treat them fairly and with respect. He creates a community where there are laws that cancel debts and provide funds for those who are destitute and allows the vulnerable to collect food from the fields of his people. See, God calls his people to care for the foreigner and the widows and the orphans, not because there's someone to pity and look down upon, but because they themselves are not any different from his people. Notice that both times that God implores his people to not oppress the foreigner, he reminds them that they too were foreigners in the land of Egypt. They know the heart of a sojourner. God's people are not immune to having need, to being cast out of the promised land.

Time will show us that the Israelites fail to uphold God's law and ultimately end up in exile. They themselves will become sojourners in a foreign land. And while ultimately God's people do return to Jerusalem, to the promised land, scripture tells us again and again that God's people are still living in exile. 1 Peter chapter 1 and 2 refer to Christians as exiles living in a foreign land we live in a world that's not our home you've probably heard that before we look forward to a day that we can live with God in his kingdom but until that day we must see ourselves as foreigners in a strange land we are not at home we do not belong we know the heart of the sojourner And so we should rejoice and celebrate the fact that we follow, worship, and are loved by a God who provides for and cares for the sojourner and the vulnerable. A God who, when he walked on this earth, spent years of his young life as a political refugee

in Egypt, fleeing from a tyrant. We follow a God who understands and provides. And with that knowledge of and gratitude for a God who can empathize and who provide strength and comfort to his people in exile, we too should desire to obey God's command to not oppress the sojourner. In our obedience, it isn't out of duty or done begrudgingly, but out of a desire to love and care for those who are vulnerable because we can know the life of a sojourner. God calls his people to create a community that is marked by people who look out for the good of the foreigner and the vulnerable.

People who provide for their needs, people who seek their good, people who build relationships with, and love them deeply. Your political views on immigration, migrants, and refugees should first and foremost be shaped by God's views of immigrants, migrants, and refugees. The words you speak about and the actions you take towards immigrants, migrants, and refugees should first and foremost be obedient to God's call for his people to not wrong or oppress the foreigner. No matter what political party is in power, Christians everywhere should be seeking the good of the sojourner in their land. This might look like political activism, but it might also look like finding and serving the refugee community in your city. It might look like

steering conversations towards love rather than hate at family gatherings or lunch tables. It might look like choosing not to share a news article that paints a negative picture of God's vulnerable children. It might look like using your voice to speak out against injustices done to the foreigner in your community. At the very least, it has to look like you and me humbly submitting our hearts to the Lord and confessing the way. ways that we have partnered in the oppression of the sojourners in our land, whether it be through action or silence. Will you pray with me today? Lord God, we come before you grateful, grateful that we follow a God who loves and cares for the vulnerable among us. We thank you that you are a God who

sees and provides for the sojourner. We ask that you would rid our hearts of any hatred, any frustration or hardness towards others. We repent of the ways that we have partnered in their oppression. Replace our hardness with empathy. Please, God, help us to see your children as you see them. Give us the strength and wisdom to know how to care for the foreigners in our community and fight against those who would seek to oppress them. We love you, and we thank you for your provision.

Amen. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks News. newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help encourage you in the middle of the work week and bring you deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.