"Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 23: 9)
God cares about foreigners, or people who live in a strange land, who are estranged from the native people.
They are easy to take advantage of, because they do not speak the main language, nor do they understand the customs of a country.
God told the Israelites to respect them and not oppress them:
"33And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. 34But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19: 33-34)
The LORD taught the Israelites to identify with foreigners because they were foreigners at one time.
"17Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge: 18But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing." (Deuteronomy 24: 17-18)
Did you know that you and I were once foreigners, too, estranged from God and separated from Him because of sin?
"21And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:" (Colossians 1: 21-22)
Wow! Not just redeemed, but reconciled!
We are no longer outside of His Kingdom, either:
"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience . . . 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2:1,2 4-6)
Later, Paul emphasizes that we are no longer estranged Gentiles, as the Jews of Moses' and Jesus' had declared:
"11Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2: 11-13)
And then:
"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;" (Ephesians 2: 19)
We are now citizens of a New Kingdom, too: His!
"[God] hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" (Colossians 1: 13)
Notice how God the Father defines the Kingdom in terms of His dear son, not just Jesus, or the Son of God, but his dear son.
Such are you and I now, in Christ (1 John 4: 17)
We were estranged from God because of Adam, we are brought into His Kingdom:
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 3: 20)
Do you feel alienated, do you feel that you do not fit in, that you have been rejected because of your race, color, or culture? Know and believe that because of God's love for you, you are no longer a stranger, but a full citizen in His Kingdom!
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