But You Have To Allow Immigration, Don’t You?

 

Image: Unsplash

Much of modern Christianity has been overcome by an anti-nationalist progressivism that denies the right of sovereignty to nations, denies the validity of borders, and says that it is evil to deny people the right to move where they want in the world. It has been thoroughly overcome by this globalist thinking, a traditionally leftist perspective. Various passages are used to support this idea. Here is a good example of one of those passages,

“8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart” (Zech. 7:8-10).

The key word here is “sojourner”, which you will hear modern preachers say is akin to a refugee or an immigrant. You cannot oppress the sojourner, therefore you need to open your doors of your nation to the refugee or the immigrant. A passage like this, and similar passages, would be used as a kind of smoking gun for this progressive view. But does it really support such a position in an ironclad way?  

Well, the answer is clearly no. Just stop and think about it for a minute.

Is this passage about immigration or refugee programs? No, it is not. It is about a nation’s magistrates and governors making sure that they enact true and merciful justice in their own land. The whole chapter makes it clear that God is addressing the Israelites, who have failed to properly enact the law in their own nation. So, this passage is not talking about foreign relations at all. It is talking about domestic law enforcement.

Consider also this important fact: magistrates and governors of any given nation hold no inherent right to rule or authority over foreign peoples outside their borders or national sovereignty. Empires ignore this principle, by seeking to rule over many peoples, but then God judges them for this and many other inherently evil imperial acts. So, arguing the magistrates of one nation, have the right to enact laws for the benefit of people of other nations is to confuse their proper role and function. The governors of one nation are supposed to govern their own nation, no one else’s. So, utilizing a passage like this to support things like immigration or refugee programs, goes both well beyond the text, and well beyond the function of the roles of magistrates and governors.

But consider this also: the role of a judge or a ruler is to enact just or righteous judgements. True justice. Justice speaks to what someone is owed by the right of the law, or what the law says is right. And no one has a right to the land or possessions of those of another nation. No one has this right, any more than anyone has the right to take possession of another person’s house. God defines the boundaries and habitations of man (Act 17:26-27), and he commands nations not to transgress the land of other nations,

“4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession” (Deut. 2:4-5).

This is just one example of many in the Scriptures. The person who moves a boundary marker according to God is wicked. So, one cannot reasonably argue that “true justice” or “true judgements” give the right to the foreigner to come in and take possession of part of your land. This is a twisting of what justice means.

Consider also this: how is it just to take the best and the brightest from poorer nations and fill your own nation with their efforts and skills. Of course, not all refugees or immigrants come from the crème de la crème of other countries, but one of the arguments for immigration is that we should take the best skilled workers we can get from overseas to strengthen our own workforce and skills base here. But this is not just, it is just another version of wealthy nations pillaging poorer nations. If you strip poorer nations of either a) their brightest and most skilled, or b) their wealthiest and best resourced people who can afford to emigrate, then you will ensure that nation has a harder time of seeking to build itself up. You ensure that nation stays at a lower level of development. How is this just? How is this “true judgements”?

So, from multiple different angles it is easy to knock down arguments for a passage like this being used to defend modern mass immigration or refugee intakes. What you will end up doing with such policies is dispossess some of your own people, who now have to compete with a larger work force, for less jobs and higher prices for assets like houses and businesses, which they need to survive. How can we say that a governor or magistrate who serves foreign peoples like this, is administering true justice for his own people? Of course, what bolsters this is that we never see ancient Israel practicing either large immigration intakes (though they did take in small numbers of people, like Obed-Edom, Ruth, Rahab and the like) or engaging in refugee programs. It was hard enough to get the people and the ruling elite to share their resources with each other, let alone solve the issues of foreign nations.

So, then are we rejecting this verse? Of course not. Then how should it be applied? Simply read what it says, “…10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” Do not oppress the foreigner who is in your midst. Don’t treat him poorly because he is from another nation, be a good host. Don’t be like the wicked men who seek to attack the stranger, but give him shelter while he is a guest, and make sure he leaves your nation with a good report. This teaching is based on the situation of Israel in Egypt, where the issue was not that Egypt would not let them in, but that Egypt would not let them out, “Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt (Deut. 10:19). Be good to the guest, because you know what it is like to be treated very poorly by your hosts.

This is not a passage about immigration or refugee intakes, it is talking about not using your power as natives to abuse the situation of the foreigner in your midst. Which is actually a common result of modern immigration programs, because they are used by some to undercut the wages of citizens, hire poorer people for less pay, and give working conditions to sojourners that citizens would not accept; among many other forms of exploitation. It is not a coincidence that sex trafficking and human trafficking networks make large use of the relatively free movement of peoples that exists in the world today. Because the wicked find it easy to exploit the foreigner when they can bring them to a country where they know not the language or their rights and when they can easily move people across the world.

So, don’t be frightened by passages like this one, being used to say that your views of low immigrations and of not supporting refugee intakes are not Christian. This could not be further from the truth. Being kind to the foreigner is many steps away from saying: come and take our land. These are not the same thing. Indeed, as we have demonstrated, the wholesale support of the large movement of people is used by the wicked in many ways to bring evils on both foreigners and nationals alike in many nations. The businessman who wants to use immigration to suppress wages and the politician who wants to use immigration to pad the budget figures even though his neighbours will find it harder to buy a home, do not have this verse to stand on. It actually does the opposite, it stands in condemnation of their policies. Very clearly. Because such policies are unjust.