People today are using the Bible to both support and oppose giving amnesty to illegal immigrants in our country. Hoffmeier clears up the confusion explaining how there are three Hebrew words that we translate "foreigner"- zar, nekhar and ger. Zar and nekhar refer to visitors from foreign countries who are just passing through. Ger refers to foreign residents who live in another land WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE HOST NATION making them legal aliens/or immigrants. Joseph asked Pharaoh's permission for his family to live in Egypt during the famine (Gen. 45:16-18).
The Bible talks in 160 places about how the Ger is not to be oppressed but to receive equal justice and have full access to the social support system of ancient Israel. There is also provision for religious inclusion. But the Ger were OBLIGATED TO LIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS of Israelite society. According to Jewish law, the zar and nekhar do not have the benefits extended to the Ger, the legal alien.
Quit with the "Deport Jesus" rhetoric!
The mistake many well-meaning Christians make is to extend the Biblical laws for the Ger to illegal aliens in America even though they don't fit the legal and social definition. It is true that God is an adopter, but he's also a respecter of law, borders and national soveriegnty. It's not hard to find passages where we are commanded to welcome the stranger, passages about God engrafting foreigners into the family of faith. But what I'm hearing these days is a total distortion of all of this, as if laws don't matter.
President Obama's religious affairs advisor Shaun Casey said;
Jesus was an illegal alien… the disciples were displaced people. That Jesus was an illegal ought to shape how we engage the current debate… in the current debate over immigration policy it distresses me to no end that so many of my fellow church goers ignore this fundamental tenet that should be central to our identity.
And you'll hear these folks go on to quote this verse to make their point that Jesus can identify with illegal's… "Foxes have holes in the ground, birds of the air have nets but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head." And so the point there is we grant amnesty to twelve million illegal aliens so we aren't just like those who turned pregnant Mary and Joseph away from the inn.How do you respond to that? Here's how… point out it's all patently false. Jesus broke no law, he wasn't an illegal, neither were his disciples. Jesus' parents didn't violate Egyptian law when they crossed the border and lived there legally for two years. Both nations were regions within the Roman Empire and Joseph and Mary were legally there.
Treat illegals with respect and dignity, but subject them to law
When the Bible tells us to treat well and not turn away the foreigner (Lev. 19:33-34) - it's talking about Ger (legal immigrants). With regard to illegal immigrants the only passages we have to go on are general passages about showing mercy and compassion to all people. Those are not passages that can be stretched to mean people can live illegally wherever they want, not pay taxes, and yet receive all the benefits granted the Ger, the legal alien. Romans 13:1 says "everyone must submit himself to governing authorities."
Churches that engage in civil disobedience by providing sanctuary for illegals in their facilities, though appearing compassionate, have no Biblical justification. For those who are illegal, churches CAN help make sure their human rights are protected and that people are treated with dignity and respect - they can pay legal fees to make sure illegal immigrants are given a fair hearing. There are ways to assist the undocumented alien without breaking the law. For those in the Sioux Falls area I encourage you to support a new ministry my friend Pastor Carl Bruxvoort recently started called New Roots which exists to support our community's growing international population and their families.
Hopefully I've said enough to provoke you to further study. It's a very complex issue - one of the biggest tangled knots I've struggled with as a Christian trying to sort all this out is how current immigration policy splits up families - legal's and illegals. Also, the church must rise up and decry American Greed which manifests in paying illegals less so we can make more.
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