Immigration 1

It's been a while...

There is much hubbub in the media and in our denomination (Mennonite Church USA) in regard to the national impact of Latino immigration, particularly in the southwestern part of our country. This issue has been politicized to such an extent that it is hard to think about it without the voices of left and right wing pundits exploding in our heads. Perhaps this is the best reason to simply look at the Scriptures to discover what they have to say about the matter.  I plan to do this in several parts, this first being an exploration of the issue in Genesis.
The terminology used in the OT for immigrant or refugee is alien, stranger, foreigner, or sojourner – depending on the translation. I will be using the terms alien and stranger below.

Abram was sent by the Lord from his homeland of Haran to Canaan (Gen. 12:1). Later he was told by God that the land that he was living in as an alien – Canaan - would become the eternal possession of his descendants (Gen 17:8). Before settling more permanently in Canaan, Abram was forced to move himself and his family to Egypt because of a severe famine (Gen. 12:10). Abram got booted out of Egypt because of the deceit he practiced in having Sarai tell the Egyptians that Abram was her brother and not her husband (Gen. 12:19). Subsequently, Abram (Abraham) spent the duration of his life living as an alien here and there in Canaan and dealing righteously with the hosts who allowed him to live in their lands.

Abram’s grandson, Jacob, was the head of Abram’s family line when famine struck the whole world (Gen. 41:57) and only Egypt had adequate food-stores. Jacob sent his sons to purchase food in Egypt so that the family might live. They were at the mercy of a mighty nation that was filled with necessary resources. Fortunately for Jacob’s sons, their long-lost brother, Joseph, was a brilliant official working for Pharaoh. He did have mercy on them, the whole family was saved, and eventually came to settle in Egypt because the severe famine lingered (Gen. 45:8-11). There they lived and worked as shepherds in a territory called Goshen.

It is interesting to note that Egyptians despised shepherds (Gen. 46:34). This was the reason that Jacob and family were relegated to Goshen: presumably to stay out of the way of the intolerant Egyptians.

In Genesis, it is clear that Abram and his family as wandering aliens were often dependent on the benevolence of powerful people on whose land they were living. It is also clear that Abram and his family most often attempted to be humbly conscientious of their predicament as aliens living in territory that belonged to others.  They knew they were at the mercy of their hosts.

Next post: Exodus