And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
The command forbids vexing or mistreating a stranger or foreigner who sojourns and lives in the land among the people. It requires treating the resident stranger as one born among the people and loving him as oneself. The reason given is that Israel had themselves been strangers in Egypt.
The command was given through Moses with Jesus as its speaker, in a chapter intended as a lesson for future generations. Its teaching presents the same high standard as the teachings of Christ in the New Testament and belongs to God's directions for just and loving relations. The command belongs with duties to treat the poor and vulnerable fairly, to relieve a needy sojourner, to charge him no interest, to rule over him not harshly, and to deprive no one of what is due. God loves and provides for the stranger, and oppression of the poor is abhorrent to him.
All who renounce heathenism and connect themselves with Israel share the blessings of the covenant as the sojourning stranger, enjoying equal favors and privileges with Israel with few exceptions. The Gibeonites secured the preservation of their lives by submission, and they might have been received on this footing of equality and love, but their deception brought only disgrace and perpetual servitude as hewers of wood and drawers of water, testifying through their generations to hatred of falsehood. The stranger must not be looked down upon for not being an Israelite, but must be treated kindly, loved and welcomed, because Christ died to save him as truly as he died to save Israel.
The stranger was to share in thanksgiving feasts and in the portion of the harvest left for the poor and the stranger. Those strangers who chose the company of people who knew and acknowledged God were to be received and given spiritual blessings, so they could learn God's law and learn of him and glorify him through obedience. For a school this means receiving a boy from a strange country who is separated from mother and sisters with a mother's heart and tender sympathy, taking a personal interest to win his heart, keeping his clothing mended and neat, informing his mother of his faults rather than leaving her in the dark, and laboring with patience to reform him rather than expelling him to go to ruin adrift in a foreign country. It forbids treating a foreign child in a way they would not want their own child treated, and requires treating him as they would want their own child treated and working for his salvation.
The command forbids vexing or mistreating a stranger or foreigner who sojourns and lives in the land among the people. It requires treating the resident stranger as one born among the people and loving him as oneself. The reason given is that Israel had themselves been strangers in Egypt.
The command was given through Moses with Jesus as its speaker, in a chapter intended as a lesson for future generations. Its teaching presents the same high standard as the teachings of Christ in the New Testament and belongs to God's directions for just and loving relations. The command belongs with duties to treat the poor and vulnerable fairly, to relieve a needy sojourner, to charge him no interest, to rule over him not harshly, and to deprive no one of what is due. God loves and provides for the stranger, and oppression of the poor is abhorrent to him.
All who renounce heathenism and connect themselves with Israel share the blessings of the covenant as the sojourning stranger, enjoying equal favors and privileges with Israel with few exceptions. The Gibeonites secured the preservation of their lives by submission, and they might have been received on this footing of equality and love, but their deception brought only disgrace and perpetual servitude as hewers of wood and drawers of water, testifying through their generations to hatred of falsehood. The stranger must not be looked down upon for not being an Israelite, but must be treated kindly, loved and welcomed, because Christ died to save him as truly as he died to save Israel.
The stranger was to share in thanksgiving feasts and in the portion of the harvest left for the poor and the stranger. Those strangers who chose the company of people who knew and acknowledged God were to be received and given spiritual blessings, so they could learn God's law and learn of him and glorify him through obedience. For a school this means receiving a boy from a strange country who is separated from mother and sisters with a mother's heart and tender sympathy, taking a personal interest to win his heart, keeping his clothing mended and neat, informing his mother of his faults rather than leaving her in the dark, and laboring with patience to reform him rather than expelling him to go to ruin adrift in a foreign country. It forbids treating a foreign child in a way they would not want their own child treated, and requires treating him as they would want their own child treated and working for his salvation.