Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow. ~ Deuteronomy 27:19

In my first installment on the topic of MAGA Christianity, I pointed out that how Israel was to treat foreigners was part and parcel to how they were to live in obedience to the Ten Commandments in their daily lives. 

God’s instructions regarding how they were to show kindness to the foreigner is repeated often in the Old Testament, especially in the Pentateuch, which is the Torah (the first five books of the Bible).

The Torah established the law of God and is the foundation upon which the rest of the Old Testament stands. The law reveals that immigrants are dear to God’s heart, and because they are dear to God’s heart, God wanted them to be dear to the heart of his people.

I am going to be so bold as to say that if you do not understand or embrace God’s heart towards immigrants, you do not truly know who God revealed himself to be to his people Israel. 

If you are a hard core Christian nationalist, there is a very strong chance that the “god” you think you are serving is one of your own making. The One true God who gave the Ten Commandments to Israel, loves the immigrant.

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. I am the Lord your God. ~ Leviticus 19:33-14

The declaration, “I am the Lord your God” echos the first three commandments in which God declares himself to be the One True God, thus Israel was to worship him alone, have no other gods, and keep his name holy.

How Israel was to treat foreigners was underscored by God’s revelation of himself as their defender. Thus Israel was to love them as their own.

Now, the text we opened with (Deuteronomy 27:19) says Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.

This text ought to carry significant weight to those who believe that the United States is and should be a Christian nation, because how we treat foreigners matters to God so much so that the children of Israel pronounced a curse on themselves if they denied justice to the foreigner.

Let me say that again: How we treat foreigners matters to God so much so that the children of Israel pronounced a curse on themselves if they denied justice to the foreigner.

It is also important that we take note that God places the foreigner in the same category as the fatherless and the widow.

In the New Testament, James tells us, Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. ~ James 1:27

Now I mentioned that in Deuteronomy 27:19 that it was the children of Israel who pronounced a curse on themselves if they denied justice to foreigners. That is a far cry from American Christian nationalism in which a concerning number of Christians do not believe that undocumented immigrants should be given due process.

If an American Christian nationalist could go back in time and try to convince the Israelites that they did not need to provide due process (justice) to foreigners, that Christian nationalist might not ever return to the future. Just sayin…

That is how serious justice to the foreigner actually was to Israel who was the only nation ever given the Law of God to govern their nation. Now, let me say again what I have said above lest we forget: How we treat foreigners matters to God so much so that the children of Israel pronounced a curse on themselves if they denied justice to the foreigner.

How Israel was to treat foreigners among them was a serious matter, and how many American Christians do not understand this is staggering.

Please understand that some of the major players in the redemption story that lead to Christ were immigrants. As pointed out in the first installment, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all immigrants, and their descendants, the children of Israel, multiplied into a nation of immigrants and slaves in the land of Egypt.

The story of redemption is the story of immigrants. God’s deliverance of Israel from the land of Egypt through the blood of the Passover lamb set the course for all the types and shadows under the law that pointed to Christ as the lamb of God.

Consider that in the first chapter in the New Testament we find that Ruth is mentioned as one of the ancestresses of Jesus. Ruth was an immigrant who received grace from Boaz because of God’s command in the law which said, “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God. ~ Leviticus 19:9-10

Now consider the following from Ruth chapter 2.

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” “The Lord bless you!” they answered. Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”  The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” ~ Ruth 2:4-10

Notice what Boaz says in response.

Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” ~ Ruth 2:11-12

I want you to notice that how Boaz treated Ruth had absolutely nothing to do with her nationality or skin color, or his national pride and defense of Israel’s borders.

Boaz treated Ruth with kindness because of Ruth’s kindness to her mother in law, Naomi, and because Ruth wanted to worship the God of Israel.

The question I have for any “Christian” who supports Trump’s mass deportations, and the cruel treatment of so many immigrants is this: Have you ever, even once, considered that some of them are here because they want the religious freedom that you have?

Have you ever once considered that some of them just might be your brothers and sisters in Christ, who just want to serve the Lord, work hard, and take care of their families?

Instead of being programmed that they are all “illegals” by sources the likes of Fox News, why don’t you listen to Moses and the prophets whose words you have chosen to despise by your mind set.

It is staggering that Christians who claim that the United States is a Christian nation cheer the harsh treatment and mass deportations of immigrants, and they never stop to ask, “are these immigrants our brothers and sisters in Christ?”

They never stop to ask, what kind of representative of God are we if we are not people of grace and mercy?

Ruth was shown kindness by Boaz, and consequently became his wife and the great-grand mother of King David. And since Jesus was of the lineage of David, Jesus was a descendant of Boaz and Ruth.

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. ~  Matthew 1:5-6

Now, do you remember Rahab? You might if you are familiar with the biblical account of Israel entering the promised land. Rahab was a prostitute who feared God and hid the Israeli spies before Israel entered the Promised Land.

She was a foreigner who was shown kindness by the spies and was saved when Israel overthrew Jerico. She became the wife of Salmon, and became an ancestress of both King David and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rahab (a foreigner to Israel) was the mother of Boaz. Now this brings me back to our original text, Deuteronomy 27:19, which says, Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.

These words are significant because they were part of the blessings and the curses which the children of Israel declared over themselves before they entered the promised land.

When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan river, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin stood in Mount Gerizim to bless the people. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali pronounced the curses.

Our text, Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, was one of the curses that the children of Israel pronounced that would come on themselves, as God’s own chosen people, in the land of promise.

If Christians in the United States are serious about our nation being a Christian nation, they should take how we treat immigrants more seriously. The truth is, the United States is not a Christian nation. It never was, and never will be. Christian Nationalists who think their pursuit of making the United States “Christian” is sponsored by God, don’t even understand the God’s law regarding loving the very people they despise! Such patriotism is a stench in the presence of God.

Understand that the Trump Administration would have deported Ruth, because they have done similar things to many immigrants who were never given due process.

If you have read this article and you call yourself a Christian and you are against immigrants being given due process because they do not have the proper documentation, your view is opposed to God’s Word, and you ought to bow your head right now and repent.

Christians who view undocumented immigrants as “illegals” who should be deported without due process, have an ugly and ungodly mind set and many of them don’t even invest the time to learn about the stories of real people who are being treated harshly because of Trump’s immigration policies.

Out of sight, out of mind, thus not my concern, is not a Christian virtue. Such mindsets come from the evil one.

All people should be treated with dignity and humanely. It does not matter if they are foreigners, homeless, of another religion, or have sexual orientation that we do not approve of. They are people created in the image of God and should be treated with dignity and never denied justice.

The American gospel is not the gospel, and God is not Caucasian, nor does he show any favoritism to any ethnic group over others. God’s promise to Abraham was to make him the father of many nations. May God grant us all true repentance.