Alike Before the Lord

Alike Before the Lord. A well-established theme in the Bible is the plight and treatment, but also the wisdom and texture found in the life of the sojourner. One-hundred twenty times in the Old Testament, but only twice in the New Testament appear variations of the word sojourn. Yet of those two, one refers to Abraham’s physical descendants through Isaac as “sojourners in a land belonging to others” (Acts 7:6). Therefore, the only unique New Testament contribution to the subject of sojourning comes from Peter to the dispersed church, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Pet. 2:11). From this, the New Testament does not set aside sojourning as obsolete but continues affirming it unchanged from Abraham.

The remaining Old Testament verses, which would form an excellent side-study, elevate the sojourner without marginalizing the native-born citizen. Past Noah, every patriarch was a non-native sojourner: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and all his brothers, Moses, etc. Remarkably, however, God describes himself as “with” the sojourner (Lev. 25:23; Psa. 39:12), who “stands up” for them, “avenges” them when they are mistreated (Psa. 94:6, 16), “watches over” them (Psa. 146:9) and demands that his people do the same because “you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Exo. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:19; 23:7). Evidence of Job’s righteousness, and evidence of Judah’s unrighteousness, show forth in their treatments of the sojourner (Job 31:32; Jer. 7:6; Eze. 22:7, 29) like a litmus paper test.

Regarding capital punishment: “You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native” (Lev. 24:22). Regarding the Passover: “You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native” (Num. 9:14). Regarding offerings: “You and the sojourner will be alike before the Lord. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns among you” (Num. 15:15). Regarding sin: “You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them” (Num. 15:29; see also the Cities of Refuge in Numbers 35).

The normal operating procedure of civil society in Israel—the very essence of the Law which goes beyond the letter of the Law—was “love the sojourner” (Deut. 10:19) or equally, “love your neighbor” (Lev. 19:18). Jesus joined this horizontal love for others, non-native sojourners as well as native-born brothers, with vertical love for the Lord as the apex of “all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40). Fantastically and finally, with reference to his future judgment of humankind, Jesus said, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me” (Matt. 25:34-36). God was a sojourner, too, what a thought! Treatment of the sojourner does not generate righteousness, but it does give evidence of righteousness imputed.