February 12, 2020: SOAP #3723:  Leviticus 18-19; Psalm 13; Acts 19

Scripture:  Leviticus (NIV) 19:33 “‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not ill-treat him. 34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Observation:  There are two reasons given in this passage for Israel to treat the non-citizens, later known as Gentiles, –to treat them with respect and help them with their needs.  One reason was because they had been aliens in Egypt for 400 years.  Egypt had taken them in and saved them from the seven-year drought.

The other reason was because God was their LORD!  The Creator of heaven and earth, the Creator of man.  He is the ultimate authority.  He has every right to tell us how to treat each other.  We are foolish to ignore His command!  To God, the aliens were as valuable as Israelites.

Application:   My mom’s family, and my dad’s family, came to the United States in the 1870s.  It seems to me that a large majority of people in our nation have roots in Europe, Asia, Africa, or Central and South America.   We have a history of being immigrants.

And surely a high percentage of US citizens live within 5 miles, or cross paths every day with people who have been in our nation for less than a year.  We have opportunity to “love them as ourselves,” as the Lord commanded the Israelites.   We should treat them as though they belong here.  We should expect them to obey our laws as we do.

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, help me to remember that I am an alien on earth.  I am here temporarily; I am passing through on my way to heaven. Use me to bring others with me when I enter my heavenly home. Use me to help others along the way.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!