1) Israel was instructed to OPEN its borders! —“Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21). The Hebrew word for “stranger” is ger (גֵּר), which means a sojourner. God wanted His people to remember that at one time they were strangers. “And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee” (Leviticus 25:35).

Many point to the words of our Lord in Matthew 25:35, “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in.” However, the technical interpretation is that this is during the tribulation—namely at the end when Jesus Christ returns in His second coming. Both the sheep and goats will stand before the King. The “strangers” will be the Jews during the tribulation, and how they are treated by the Gentiles.

These passages in both the Old and New Testaments reveal that God has pity on the widows, orphans, and strangers. But keep in mind, these strangers (resident aliens) would be law-abiding citizens who incorporated the Jewish way of life into their families. That is a “huge” difference than what is going on in our land today.

Even cities of refuge were established by God for refugees (Numbers 35:15).

2) Israel was instructed to CLOSE their borders!—“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it” (Numbers 33:51-56). God knew that the illegal strangers in the land would turn His people’s hearts away from His Will. Therefore, they were not to allow them in the land. Looking back in retrospect, they did not fully obey the Lord and consequently, they sinned against God and were eventually taken into captivity.

Conclusion: There seems to be a biblical balance on the subject of allowing strangers (resident aliens) into the land. On the one hand, legal aliens were permitted as long as they obeyed the laws of the land and incorporated the Jewish practices into their lives. Does this sound familiar? The Word of God encourages believers to have fellowship with other believers. But it forbids to fellowship with unbelievers.

How are you doing? Are you praying?