No One is a Foreigner to God

nooneisaforeigner
Numbers 9:14
An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must do so in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for the alien and the native-born. (NIV)

Of course, God is not talking about asking one of the “little green men” to come and share Sunday dinner, but is speaking of any foreigner who wishes to celebrate with the Israelites. God stipulates throughout the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) that foreigners, or aliens, must be treated in the same fashion as the native-born, and here again He emphasizes that inclusiveness. Even in the Old Testament, God was not just a God of one nation or of one race; if someone wanted to worship Him, all they needed to do was follow the rules and they were welcome.

My NIV translation notes that God still requires the foreigners to be circumcised to represent the covenant, but that they are welcome to share in Passover once that is complete. Since Christians do not always follow the circumcision rite, this may seem confusing to Christian readers. However, it is my belief that we can uphold this part of God’s Word by allowing anyone to fellowship with us if they express a genuine desire to learn more about God.

As this post’s title says, no one is a foreigner to God; He knows each and every one of us, even if we have not made the free will decision to be a Christian yet. Throughout the Pentateuch, God makes it clear that He doesn’t want us humans to worry so much about nationality, ethnicity, place of birth, gender, or anything else that separates us from a potential believer. We make so much fuss about “white churches” and “black churches,” “old-people’s churches” and “young-people’s churches,” etc., that sometimes we forget to reach out to people who may be different from us. We must remember that each person we meet is a child of God and deserves to know more about Him if they want to know.

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