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Justice For The Alien/Foreigner
Brian Mashburn
November 1, 2015
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Justice For The Alien/Foreigner
Read the Bible and it becomes clear that God requires His people to prioritize the "aliens" that live among them. No, not extra-terrestrials. Aliens are foreigners from foreign places who live among you in your land, be they immigrants, refugees, or otherwise.
God targets this class of people with special concern, insisting they be treated equally, repeatedly saying things like, "the community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD." (Num 15:15)
This was unheard of in ancient society; but not with God's society. In fact, God weaved the reasoning for this requirement right into the biblical narrative.
For example, God initiated the creation of His people by making them aliens in a foreign land, calling "Father Abraham" to uproot and go to another country. Over and over, Genesis makes a point to remind us of this (Gen 17:8; 19:9; 21:23; 23:4; 28:4). Exodus does the same, frequently saying things like, "Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt." (Ex 23:9)
The prophets kept this priority ever-present all the way up to the climax of history when God Himself came as an alien: Heaven's King dwelling among us native to Earth. Layered on that, Jesus spent the first years of his life as an alien in Egypt. In the end, the New Testament explains that all Christians identify best as aliens (Heb 11:13-16), making our care for aliens the ultimate expression of loving others as we want to be loved by God.
Justice toward the alien is the inevitable result of someone who follows Jesus. Today, we invite you to love them.