repeated in other parts of the Roman Empire. Immigrants, especially Jewish immigrants, were at the center of the spread of the Christian religion from its inception. Having experienced the power of God on the day of Pentecost, the Jewish immigrants on pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Acts 2:9–11) dispersed to all the regions of the empire to spread the gospel. These people knew what exactly it meant to be living in the Roman Empire and yet to belong to another domain which is that of the Kingdom of Christ. God was therefore glad to use them for His programme of transforming His world.
According to Prof Elliot again, Jewish immigrants were sometimes “excluded from voting and landholding privileges as well as from the chief civic offices and honors, they enjoyed only limited legal protection while . . . they still shared full responsibilities with the citizenry for all financial burdens, such as tributes, taxes, and production quotas”2. For those of them who became Christians, such an experience prepared them to be Christ’s ambassadors. They knew on a daily basis that though they lived in the Roman Empire, they were treated and regarded as people who were different.
When the earliest Christians described discipleship to the Lord Jesus with terms that depicted them as aliens, foreigners, sojourners and strangers in the world, they had practically experienced life as foreigners already. It was not at all difficult for them to understand Paul’s statement that their “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20). In their daily lives, they experienced life as if they were citizens of another domain, as foreigners and immigrants. An interesting quote from an anonymous letter, which was written in the second or third century AD, summarizes how the earliest believers understood their identity:
“For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs. They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life . . . Yet, although they live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, as each man’s lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the country in clothing and food and other matters of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary constitution of their own commonwealth. They live in their own countries, but only as aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners.3
The Christian condition is therefore an immigrant condition, both in real terms, and metaphorically. If only Christians lived by this mindset, they will make a remarkable difference to the communities in which God has placed them. If, on the other hand, they choose not to bind their hearts and minds to the government of God but rather live by earthly standards, their societies will be stumbling. Our investigation of the phenomenon of immigration in the Bible is therefore a very crucial project. For, through our study, we shall come to insightful answers on how believers must live in this world as Christ’s ambassadors.
In this book we wish to focus on immigration in the Bible. What does the Bible actually say about immigration? What role did immigrants play in the spread of God’s Kingdom? What conclusions can we draw from the Bible to help us answer the questions that nations, Churches and individuals are facing today with regard to immigration? How should an immigrant interpret his experiences?
There are several different ways that one may choose to investigate this subject. The method of approach we have chosen is to examine the lives of the giants of the Bible. On doing so, even in a cursory manner, we are immediately confronted with the undeniable reality that most, if not all the spiritual giants of the Bible, were immigrants, and aliens in their environment. Some, like Abraham, Ruth, Esther or Daniel were complete strangers where they were. Others like Moses, David or Paul had at some stage of their lives been strangers and immigrants, prepared and trained by God before being re–inserted into their societies. It is evident that they had to be different to be used by God. We shall discover that one important aspect of their “differentness” was their immigration status.
Abraham was called by God to leave his country, his secure business and family, and to follow God’s leadership as an immigrant and ambassador of God’s blessings. Joseph on the other hand, through a series of “accidents”, found himself living as a migrant worker, a house slave in particular, in a foreign land. He must have said to himself on thousands of occasions; “it was not [them] who sent me here, but God” (Gen 45:8). In learning to interpret his experiences from God’s perspective, Joseph turned calamity for himself, his master, his host country and his own people into success and glory.
The most profound and detailed story of immigration in the Bible is that of the people of Israel. While they suffered under the cruel tyranny of the Egyptians, God heard their cry for deliverance and in His own time, delivered them. Their forty years of wilderness travel was however, a mixture of the positive and the negative. There, they experienced both the power and presence of God to prepare them as His people. During the same time they experienced periods of intense testing of their faith. All immigrants, real or metaphorical, share this experience of testing and preparation with the people of Israel in the wilderness.
The Old Testament also describes the exploits of migrant women such as Sarah, Rahab, Ruth and Esther, to name but a few. These migrant women brought tremendous blessings to generations after them through their persistence and faithfulness. Ruth was the typical Gentile, who rejected her roots in order to follow Jehovah and share the heritage of God’s people. Esther may have thought she was in an impossible situation in exile. That is, until God’s time came, when she realized that she had been placed where she was at that particular time for a specific purpose in keeping with Jehovah’s kingdom.
Not all immigrants in the Bible were successful in their mission. Some like Samson and Lot lost their focus, became self indulgent, and ceased to be light in the world of darkness. Samson in particular was a wasted opportunity. He lacked self–restraint and discipline. He was a gambler who enjoyed the thrills of near escapes. Samson is a good example of how to fail as an immigrant.
Few people appreciate that the Bible describes Jesus as a Foreigner and an Alien in this world. In Him, God became an immigrant in the world He had created, and through Him, reconciled humanity to Himself. As a baby, Jesus became a refugee and an asylum seeker in Egypt, fleeing from the swords of Herod’s soldiers. And in His ministry, he was homeless, living like a fox that has no hole to sleep in, a Son of man with nowhere to lay His head. Yet, the Lord Jesus knew His mission as God’s Agent, sent to draw people and reconcile them to His Father.
Not only Jesus, but also Paul, Stephen, Barnabas, Apollos, John, Peter—the major “movers and shakers” of the New Testament, were at one time or the other immigrants and foreigners. Stephen’s development as a Hellenistic Jew in the Diaspora, Philip’s Greek background, Barnabas’ development in Cyprus, Paul’s birth and training in Tarsus and Apollos’ schooling as a Jew in Egypt prepared them to become the mighty men of God. It was through the ministry of these immigrants that the whole world was turned upside down for Christ. This fact certainly has very crucial lessons to contribute to the debate on immigration and religion.
In the following chapters, we shall examine the lives of some of these immigrants of the Bible more closely. This will help us to form a view on how to respond to the various issues raised by the present international debate on immigration.
We shall also discover how God uses the life of the immigrant as a metaphor of Christian discipleship. The immigrant’s displacement, rootlessness, marginalization, double personality, and liminality resonate very well with the nature of discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ. All believers are called to be aliens of the Kingdom of God and ambassadors of Christ the King. Like the immigrants of the Bible, believers are also called to follow Christ and be His ministers of grace so that through them His promised Kingdom will come.
Discussion Questions
1. The word “discipleship” means different things to different believers.
