Adapted from The Bible Explainer by Michael Wittmer
God loves immigrants. He was one—once when Jesus entered our world and again when as an infant He was carried to safety in Egypt.
And God’s people have often been immigrants. Abraham migrated to Canaan, Moses to Midian, and the entire company of Israel went to live in Egypt. God said their experience as immigrants should motivate them to care for the outsiders among them. They should be kind to aliens, for “you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt” (Exodus 23:9; see also 22:21).
God “loves the foreigner residing among you” (Deuteronomy 10:18), and He told Israel to love them too. “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33–34).
God told Israel to care for everyone in their community, though He distinguished between Jewish citizens, resident aliens, and foreigners employed either as temporary workers, roaming merchants, or travelers passing through the land.1 Resident aliens are called ger in Hebrew, while mere foreigners are called nekhar and zar.2 English translations often muddy this distinction. The Exodus and Leviticus texts above translate ger as “foreigner,” which isn’t precise enough to clarify this point.
The ger were foreign, but they were much more. They were legal aliens with many of the same privileges and responsibilities as native Israelites. They could participate fully in the Jewish faith, observing Sabbath, offering sacrifices, and worshiping on the Day of Atonement (Exodus 20:8–11; Leviticus 22:17–19; 16:29–30). They were included in Passover celebrations, from which mere foreigners were pointedly excluded (Exodus 12:43, 48–49).
Resident aliens also were expected to keep the same rules as native-born Israelites and suffered the same consequences when they disobeyed (Numbers 15:15–16; Leviticus 18:26; 17:8–12). Resident aliens enjoyed the same safety net as the Jewish poor. They were allowed to glean in the fields, picking the grain the harvesters had missed (Leviticus 19:9–10). A poor legal alien must not be charged interest but treated as a fellow Israelite (Leviticus 25:35–37). In sum, resident aliens could be fully incorporated into the community of Israel, whereas mere foreigners were not.3
The Bible teaches compassion for all people, because everyone is created in God’s image and someday the person in need might be us. The Bible also teaches the importance of boundaries and for governments to rule over their land (Deuteronomy 27:17; Hosea 5:10; Romans 13:1–7). If nations lose their integrity and fall into chaos, everyone loses.
We must love our immigrant neighbors, especially those in desperate need. And we must wisely govern immigration—who and how many are allowed in—or there may not be a “we” left that can love. Don’t fall for simplistic, easy solutions: neither “build a wall” nor “open borders.” The best course, like many issues in our fallen world, will require warm hearts, soft hands, and a stiff spine. Pray for wisdom, and be kind.
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Endnotes:
1 God also gave instructions regarding slaves, who could come from either foreigners or resident aliens but not fellow Israelites (Leviticus 25:44–46 says ger may become slaves; see note 2).
2 Sometimes these terms overlap, but in legal contexts ger is often used to distinguish resident aliens from native Israelites on one hand and mere foreigners (nekhar and zar) on the other.
3 This essay is indebted to James K. Hoffmeier, The Immigration Crisis (Wheaton: Crossway, 2009).