Tuesday, October 8, 2024

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READ: Ecclesiastes 5

⁸ If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don’t be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them. Ecclesiastes 5:8 (CSB)

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By and large, I skulk around social media for equal parts educational fascination at the ridiculousness of humankind and sick fascination that occasionally morphs into a good dose of moral superiority. But then occasionally… I just get mad. I can deal with the chem trail conspiracies and that to be a Bible-believing Christian you need to accept a flat earth because honestly, it is so inconsequential. 

But then occasionally… 

Recently there has been a series of memes going around with Deuteronomy 28:43–44 (CSB), “The resident alien among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.” It is, of course, a dire biblical warning against the relentless invasion of non-Americans. 

I say, ‘non-American’ because surely the people posting it can’t be referring to immigrants to America. If that were the case, they would undoubtedly recognize their surname as decidedly non-indigenous. The woman who shared it on Facebook had a German last name. (A.k.a., not native to the Americas.) 

Many things can be learned from this abject nonsense. For example, we can probably find an isolated verse somewhere in the Bible to support every prejudice in our hearts. I’m guilty of proof-texting from time to time as well. At best it can be misleading, and at worst, it is downright dangerous. Not to mention in this case, it’s patently false. We know that it is false because when we look at the scope of scripture, we know that God’s heart beats for those who are destitute; the widows, unparented children, and (you guessed it) the foreigner.

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s a smattering of verses that suggest that far from being an infestation, immigrants are precious. Le 19:33-34; Ex 22:21, 23:9; Dt 10:18-19, 24:17-18, 27:19; Zc 7:10; Mal 3:5; Job 31:32; Ps 146:9; Ez 47:22; Mt 25:35; He 13:2; Ro 12:13; 1 Pe 4:9; Le 24:22; Nu 15:15-16; Je 22:3; Ep 2:19; Ga 3:28. 

And don’t forget the entire chapter of Isaiah 58. Heck, some of these foreigners could turn out to be angels! I can’t imagine they would default on their loans. 

This violence against the unbeliever is nothing new – not if Solomon is to be believed – and neither is the violence to God’s Word. And that is what we’re dealing with. Violence. And you can’t justify violence in thought, word, or action, without doing violence to God’s Word and even His character. 

Politics are politics. There are complex foreign and domestic interests to keep in balance, but God isn’t political. His love doesn’t respect borders. We are not commanded to keep outsiders out but rather bring all people in. Let us be people of peace in thought, word, and action.