What Does the Bible Say About Immigration?: Part 2

[Darris McNeely] The United States is addressing the issue of immigration both legal and illegal on our borders in the south and from other areas right now. It is big news. President Donald Trump has issued a recent restraining order for ninety days to reassess the whole matter, and it has caused a great deal of political uproar. We’ve been talking about immigration from a biblical point of view, and I want to take it a bit further here on this installment of BT Daily to talk about – a little bit more about what we learn about boundaries of nations within scriptures. God has set the boundaries of the nations, and we see that very clearly from the book of Genesis all the way into the New Testament, and it does matter.

In Genesis chapter 10, we have a description of God allotting borders and land to various peoples, and especially to the descendants of His servants, and He gets very, very specific. In Genesis 10:19 Genesis 10:19And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as you come to Gerar, to Gaza; as you go, to Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even to Lasha.
American King James Version×, we have a listing of nations here, “the territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza, toward Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiin, and as far as Lasha.” Very specific boundary delineations here. And in Genesis chapter 15, we find that God gives to Abraham and to his descendants a very, very clear parameter of the boundaries of the land of promise to Abraham and his descendants, from the river in Egypt to the river of the Euphrates – known geographical points.

My point is this: God set the boundaries for the nations. In fact, in Acts chapter 17, the apostle Paul is talking to a group of Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill, a very famous passage in scripture. In Acts chapter 17, the apostle Paul states this, speaking of God: “He made from every one every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.” Paul is saying that God has determined the times when nations would rise and fall, come and go, even, and sometimes even disappear. And the boundaries of their habitations, that’s talking about national lines of demarcation and boundaries and where people would inhabit. That is of God. And in a broad sense, we still see that on the face of the earth. We see it very clearly from the biblical scripture, not only to the servants – to the family of Abraham, but also among the other nations.

Here’s the point: God determines the boundaries of the nations. God determines in His own time and way who lives where, even if, as we see in some cases, especially when Israel went into the Promised Land and had to remove others who were there, beyond the promise and the dictate of God to fulfill His will for His people. It doesn’t matter who got there first, it matters what God’s will is, and that’s an important key to understanding history. May not be appreciated by everyone, but it is a fact of scripture, and it is a fact that we need to understand in this whole issue of immigration today, legal or otherwise, that boundaries do matter. God does set the boundaries. And the boundaries of a particular nation must be respected, or you don’t have a nation. That’s a well-understood fact of our current world order.

We’ll come back next time and we’ll talk about a bit more of a distinction between what the Bible says of foreigners and aliens and what is given to them as they would come in to the land of Israel, what God tells us there, and draw certain conclusions.

That’s BT Daily . Join us next time.