By Bruce Smith
I expect we’re going to hear a great deal about displaced people, immigration and refugees in the coming weeks. With that in mind, I thought it might be useful to take a look at Biblical accounts of such people to see if their stories might be a guide for us. As I spent some time with the stories, I found that displaced people play an important, complicated, and critical part of the Bible’s narrative. For this week I thought I’d share them with you.
The first is Abraham, who because of a calling, leaves his homeland and heads uninvited into a distant land where he had to make his way. He becomes established and is the forebearer of Israel and the original Patriarch of Jewish history. In one remarkable passage he feeds and entertains strangers who turn out to be angels. They provide the blessing of, at long last, a child for he and his wife, Sarah. The history of the Israelites/Jewish people begins with this forefather who is blessed for welcoming strangers. Remembering this, the writer of Hebrews urges us to welcome strangers who just might turn out to be angels.
Abraham’s great grandson Joseph is displaced when he is sold into slavery (human trafficking) and taken to Egypt. There, even as an alien, he begins to make his way. He is unfairly jailed on false charges but saved through divine intervention while in prison. He is given great power and saves the family that will become the Israelite nation from starvation. Because of famine that family immigrates to Egypt where, after a time, their offspring become unwanted and are subjected to harsh slavery.
That enslavement leads to the epic story of the Old Testament, Moses leads a multitude of despised slaves in their escape out of Egypt and into their promised land. Not surprisingly, conflicts with the original inhabitants result from this mass immigration. A story that sounds very modern and familiar!
There are two refugee stories in the poignant book of Ruth. The book begins when a man flees starvation from a famine to settle in an alien country. There he establishes a family that, unfortunately, is devastated by premature deaths. Then Ruth, a widowed alien, lovingly follows her mother-in-law to live in poverty in her adopted country. From that questionable beginning she becomes the mother of the founding dynasty of the Israelite kingdom and the forebearer of Jesus himself. A destitute foreigner thus becomes a forebearer of the Messiah.
The Jewish nation, itself, is forced into exile where they “weep by the waters of Babylon” as a displaced minority for 40 years before being allowed to resettle in their native land and continue the narrative that is our Bible. Psalm 137 describes the misery and the horror of the destruction of Jerusalem as do large portions of the book of Lamentations. Despite its name, the book of Lamentations also contains of one of the most uplifting passages in the Bible, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” How many exiles have clung to a similar hope?
The book of Esther, set in exile times, tells the story of the Jews barely avoiding annihilation as a persecuted minority of foreigners. The courage of Esther and her uncle save them.
And there is the story of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fleeing Herod’s deadly persecution to safety in Egypt where they apparently take up residence for years. In time, they return to Palestine where Jesus begins his world-changing ministry.
In each of these cases the leading character has left or been forced from their native land when circumstances left them in an untenable situation. In each case they find acceptance, sometimes not easily, and become key players in the Biblical story. This despite what was almost certainly uneasiness, wariness, concern, and even outright opposition. As “others” they were encroaching on the status quo. Because of their success, however, God’s grace is made active in the world.
In keeping with the recent series on “I’ve Been Meaning to Ask,” I’ll close with this question to ponder. What do these Bible stories tell us about displaced people, refugees, and immigration today?