Scripture for Today, 10-24-18: God & Walls

The Bible and National Borders
​"Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark [border stones], which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it."

Deuteronomy 19:14; Proverbs 22:28
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10-27-15, * -- National immigration policy is front and center in public discourse around the world, most prominently in the West, to which many are fleeing. In a presidential election season, Americans are sharply divided over what should be done about the millions of illegal or “undocumented” residents coming from the south of the USA. Europe is trying to cope with waves of Syrians and North Africans either fleeing conflict or seeking a better standard of living. Some are drowning as their boats capsize in the Mediterranean. Others are hit by trains in the rail tunnel beneath the English Channel. Some nations are strengthening their borders [Hungary & Italy]; others are opening their arms to vast numbers of newcomers.

What should a Christian accept or prescribe? 

We see God’s order to the Israelites to sweep the house clean of Canaanites. We also find prescriptions of kindness for the “stranger” and “sojourner.” Furthermore, early populations were often sparse, tribal, and mobile, ill-suited for the firm lines we see on political maps of the world. City-states such as Athens and Nineveh were more typical than nation states. There are general principles suggesting God's approval that a country should control its borders:

1. Romans 13:1-7, Paul says we must submit to governmental authorities. Rulers are rulers by virtue of jurisdiction over territory.
2. Acts 21:39, 22:28-29, Paul claims his rights as a Roman citizen to have a hearing in Rome. Citizenship is a prerogative of the state, which can and must stipulate who does and does not qualify for it.
3. Genesis 11:9, the Lord confounded the languages of mankind to discourage the vanity and treachery of a monolithic world. When we, in effect, erase borders by not enforcing them, we risk losing the “separation of powers” essential to the political economy of fallen man.
4. Deuteronomy 19:14; Proverbs 22:28 there are warnings and, indeed, curses regarding the movement of a neighbor’s boundary stones [landmark]. The ownership of real estate is sanctioned by God, and trespass is a genuine offense.
5. Numbers 35:6-32 under God’s direction, the Israelites set apart cities to which those guilty of manslaughter might flee relatives who sought blood vengeance.
6. 2 Kings 20:20 King Hezekiah dug a water tunnel from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam to prepare Jerusalem for an Assyrian siege. Both acts were predicated on the need for walls to maintain the integrity and safety of the residents.

There is one God, and we are not He. 

To breach a national boundary border is typically to trespass on private property. A nation cannot do every nice thing, for its resources and its ability to impose intrusions upon the populace are limited. If all charitable immigration decisions were good, then the more the merrier, but this would be chaotic nonsense. Ironically, a nation which opens its borders wide to those who do not share its core values dilutes the very qualities which made it an object of desire in the first place. Embracing all those who would infiltrate and flood our nation with toxic ideologies ... the nation would commit cultural suicide. 

Being “Christlike” is not the same as saying 'anything goes.'
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*Excerpted and adapted full original message from McCoppenger here