The foreigner

https://odb.org/2023/09/13/welcoming-the-foreigner

Ancient Israel law was conceived and laid down during the early part of their time at the wilderness (when they were encamped at Mount Sinai and are mainly recorded in Leviticus). The divine law was detailed and covered nearly every aspect of their lives and was used extensively at Kadesh Barnea, the oasis of the desert where they spent most of their 40 years in the wilderness, during their time in Canaan and subsequently even until the time of Jesus and possibly even in the present modern Israel.

One exemplary aspect of the law was God’s compassion, love, and protection of orphans (fatherless), widows, and foreigners. Thus, these marginalised groups of people, for example, were allowed to glean the fields after a harvest, and the harvesters were instructed not to be too efficient in doing so, in order that no one goes hungry in ancient Israel.

There are two types of foreigners during those Israeli times, the temporary ones who were there for trade or business and the ones staying there permanently. The latter group lived among the Israelites and have settled in Israel, but they are usually poor and are odd job labourers, likely remnants of people captured in wars who were not made slaves or had over the years became free (possibly also because slaves were freed every 7 years during the year of the jubilee). They were generally landless and thus had to be hired workers.

You may read about the strangers and gentiles in Israel in the following: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/strangers-and-gentiles

One of the main characteristics of Scripture is to show us the heart of our Father God. Thus, a specific law to safeguard the interests and well-being of the foreigner in Israel tells us that God has compassion and love for the weak and downtrodden. Our application of that characteristic of God is to likewise have compassion and love for the weak and downtrodden since our mission in life as a believer is to be more and more like Christ, more and more like who God is. If God is kind to the weak, we should likewise be. In fact, Christ extended our love for God to also love our neighbours, and these include the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. In our present context, most of us Malaysian Christians (except for those in East Malaysia) are migrants in this land. We are the foreigners. Yet among us, there are other foreigners who earn a living here, especially those who came from faraway lands to take up dirty, difficult, and dangerous (3Ds) jobs that we as locals shun. Do extend our love and compassion to them.