LOVE THY FOREIGNER AS THYSELF

LOVE THY FOREIGNER AS THYSELF

All Scriptures taken from the Son Of Man Bible, SOMB.bblx e-Sword Bible program module. Original work at www.door43.org. Son Of Man Bible e-Sword module (SOMB.bblx and SOMB.bbli), The Word module (SOMB.ont), and MySword module (SOMB.bbl.mybible), were created and edited by Gene Benjamin II. These Bible modules are available for download on PC, Apple, Android, and other Linux devices from www.biblesupport.com and www.wordmodules.com. On biblesupport.com do a search for “Unlocked Literal Bible 9” then scroll down, and on wordmodules.com do a search for “Son Of Man Bible” then scroll down.

Today, we’re going to explore loving your neighbor from a slightly different angle, with a broader perspective.

In answer to a Torah interpreter’s question, Yeshua stated the two greatest commandments from which all the rest of the Torah commandments derive, Matthew 22:39, “And a second commandment is like it, ’Selflessly divinely love your neighbor as yourself.’”

At another time, a Jewish teacher asked Yeshua in Luke 10:29b, “And who is my neighbor?”

Have you ever looked into who your neighbor is? Matthew 22:39 above is a direct quote from Leviticus 19:18, “Do not take vengeance or hold any grudge against any of your people, but instead love your neighbor as yourself. I am YHWH.”

While I was editing my Son Of Man Bible this week, I came across some interesting Hebrew words and phrases, sojourning foreigner and resident alien. The King James Version translates these words as stranger and sojourner and a few other ways. Then I came to Leviticus 19:33-34, “If a sojourning foreigner lives among you in your land, you must not do him any wrong. 34The sojourning foreigner who lives with you must be to you like the native-born Israelite who lives among you, and you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your Divine One.”

That phrase, “you must love him as yourself” jumped off the page and bounced around in my brain for awhile. As I kept studying and meditating on this teaching, it just exploded on my mind that sojourning foreigners living among you is talking about resident aliens, immigrants, illegal immigrants, migrants, refugees. From my study, I discovered that the Torah makes no statement that there is such a thing as an illegal immigrant. That is a man made contrived status, not a YHWH or biblical status.

YHWH owns the entire globe, all the land on earth, every nation, every country belongs to our Creator YHWH. His creatures, his lowly migratory day laborers and refugees, all people traveling from one country to another are free people and do have rights under the Torah. No nation, including America, has a right to arrest or detain a sojourning foreigner, or to build a wall to keep them out. Sojourning foreigners in your country have the same status and rights as widows, orphans, and other poor citizens of your own country. Deuteronomy 10:18-19, “He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and he shows love for the sojourning foreigner by giving him food and clothing. 19Therefore, love the sojourning foreigner; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.” YHWH loves all ethnic-linguistic nations, all humans, so we must also love all people, if we want to be like him.

All peoples of this planet have YHWH-given rights to migrate to any other nation, land, or country that they need to for freedom from oppression, or famine, or war, or persecution, or to find work, etc. The first pilgrims to America came here to be free from persecution for their religious beliefs.

I am heartbroken to see how America is handling our immigration situation today. We have immoral laws on the books. Our immigration laws are just some of those immoral laws and policies. I don’t believe that we owe every immigrant a welfare check, but each messianic congregation and individual believer owes help and hospitality to sojourning foreigners and resident aliens. Most people flooding across our borders are seeking safety from gang violence or oppressive civil governments, or they need work for reasonable pay. Some are terrorists hiding among the innocent. This is nothing new, but a messianic believer still has a Torah obligation to help the sojourning foreigners and resident aliens among us. Folks, we need to write to our congresspeople and president to improve and loosen our immigration laws and policies. It is immoral to have a closed border to keep sojourning foreigners out of our country, or any country.

Yeshua is coming back soon. I do not recommend that we continue to upset him with our immoral behavior. Psalm 24:1-10, “The earth is YHWH’s, and its fullness, the globe, and all who live on it. 2For he has founded it upon the seas and established it on the rivers. 3Who will ascend the mountain of YHWH? Who will stand in his set-apart place? 4He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up a falsehood, and has not sworn an oath in order to deceive. 5He will receive a blessing from YHWH and righteousness from the Almighty of his salvation. 6Such is the generation of those who seek him, those who seek the face of the Almighty of Jacob. Selah. 7Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, everlasting doors, so that the King of glory may come in! 8Who is this King of glory? YHWH, strong and mighty; YHWH, mighty in battle. 9Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, everlasting doors, so that the King of glory may come in! 10Who is this King of glory? YHWH of the heavenly armed forces, he is the King of glory. Selah.”

I hope we’re ready to meet him face to face. Come Sovereign Yeshua!