The Bible Complicates Things

The Bible Complicates Things
By F. Richard Garland

Sometimes I am tempted to quit reading the Bible - it complicates things! Just when I think I know what it says, I read a passage again in a new translation or out of a new context, and discover something I had missed.

Lately, with the topic of immigration so much in the news, I decided to see what the Bible had to say about aliens. Wow! Did I get an ear full?! Our ancestors in the faith, notably Abraham and Isaac, were aliens. Very early in scripture the law of the community made equity clear: “There shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you.” [Exodus 12:49 and Leviticus 24:21]

Business conduct was required to be honorable and attentive to the poor and the alien: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field … You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien.” [Leviticus 19:9-10]

Those who are not just towards the alien are subject to divine disapproval: “Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan and the widow of justice.” [Deuteronomy 27:19] “I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against … those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.” [Malachi 3:5]

As for today’s controversy about illegal aliens, the Bible says: “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” [Leviticus 19:34]

Ah, the Bible! It complicates things!

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