As we looked at a few Sunday ago, Romans 13:4 says ‘ 4 The authorities are God’s
servants, sent for your good. …. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of
punishing those who do what is wrong.’
As we think about the problems facing our nation this election year, it’s hard to ignore the
issue of our borders. We have seen for the past few years unprecedented volumes of
crossings of our southern border – crossings that are not carried out according to our laws,
as those laws are essentially ignored by our federal government.
Why would our nation allow for illegal crossings, when we have on our books some solid
immigration laws that have worked really well for so many years? What is the problem?
We’ll get to the problem in a few sentences. But the MOTIVE for our government ignoring
these laws appears to be that the current executive branch in the White House is working to
build a future voting block for its political party. The idea is that if people are allowed into
the U.S., and ultimately given some type of status that allows them to receive benefits and
to actually cast votes, that they will vote for the party/ideology that actually was ‘generous’
enough to allow them into the U.S. in the first place. And here is the truth about this –
EVERYBODY knows about this motive! It is so out in the open. The church, though,
doesn’t talk about this, although our nation’s lack of enforcement of its laws by a nation is
a HUGE MORAL ISSUE! (What might happen if the government decided to stop enforcing all
traffic laws? All laws that address violent crimes?)
Any immigration policy allowing people in without being vetted, while neglecting to
require those coming across the border to do anything about earning citizenship – will
likely tax existing resources for the destination country beyond its ability to provide even
for those who are there legally. So, the tradeoff is the allowing of immigrants to come
illegally, to flood the ‘system’ of our nation, creating shortages in our ability to provide for
legal citizens, just so certain parties and politicians can stay in office, and exert power.
The lack of enforcement of immigration laws is not the problem here. It is only the
symptom of the deeper problem.
The REAL problem here is with the motives of politicians & bureaucrats who forego
SERVICE TO the citizens- which is the proper motive for holding governmental office –
for POWER OVER the citizens. The motive is actually self-preservation of an office, with
the office representing that POWER that is so coveted. So the violation of immigration
laws is simply a ‘cover’ – an illegitimate ‘means’ to an illegitimate ‘end’.
Having established the real motive behind our open southern border, and having
established that motive as the REAL problem, the question that arises is “Does the Bible
speak to the issue of immigration?” And If so, “…what does it say?”
This past weekend, we looked at some of the key truths the Bible lays out about borders
and nations. We demonstrated that through a few key principles, God has formed a
blueprint for the nations – and immigration – from the time of the scattering of peoples out
of the Tower of Babel debacle in Genesis 11.
Perhaps the most important of these principles can be summed up in this statement: ‘God
loves immigration – orderly and legal immigration….’As a matter of fact, He made it
very clear in speaking to Israel through through the Prophet Isaiah. The prophet writes in
Isaiah 56:6-7, 6 “I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who
serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of
rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. 7 I will bring them to my holy mountain of
Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt
offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all
nations.”
God’s message to His people Israel is that they are to accept into their nation the foreigners
who desire to convert to Judaism – those who commit themselves to the Lord. By this
commitment, three requirements are noted:
a) They actually SERVE Jehovah God. They engage in ministry to others out of a love for
God. They connect with their new Jewish brothers and sisters in a way that contributes
positively to and in the new nation in which they would be making their home.
b) They love and revere the name of the Lord. This means that the service that they provide
is ‘backed up’ by a genuine heart relationship characterized by reverence for the holiness
of the name of the Lord God. Practically, this means that in situations we face, the first
thing that comes to our minds is what the Lord says about the situation, and in that, we
seek to do what His Word says to do.
c) They actually live by the LAW that is in place in the nation of Israel. This civil law was
based very closely on the law that God passed down to Moses – spiritual law that was to
double as civil law.
As God instructed the nation of Israel on how they were to handle Gentile converts (also
known as ‘proselytes’), He gives us advice as to how we should handle immigrants
through that example He gave to the Israelites. Most importantly, God gives the example to
Israel directly – and us indirectly – regarding the civil & legal framework that should
govern the issue of immigration. If you look at our laws for immigration into the U.S. they
really are fairly closely aligned with how God instructed Israel. There are, of course, even
references to faith in the founding documents that are so critical to immigrants knowing the
understanding what it means to become an American citizen.
In this case, our laws are good laws. Many in our church who have gone through – or are
still going through – this process will agree. Ignoring the enforcement of immigration laws
simply perpetuates a power-based (and corruption-based) platform for government officials
from which to operate.
So – God loves immigration – orderly, moral and legal. And because God loves it, so
should we. Make sure that you vote (early voting begins October 17) and that your vote
aligns with what God’s Word says!
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