Birthright Citizenship
by Philip du Nard
The title of this article references a hot topic in current events as President Trump has called for an end to the practice of granting immediate citizenship to children born within the territory of the United States to alien parents.
It’s not my purpose to debate the present legalities of all this which others are doing, pro and con. Rather, the question is, can we extract any Divine guidance from God’s Holy Word that might point us in the direction our thinking should take on this subject?
People fret that the Bible has been used or misused to advocate whatever it is people are interested in advocating. It’s even been used to justify Communism. It’s been used to justify slavery. It’s been used to condemn slavery. The attitude we should have is not to use the Scriptures for our own purposes but to prayerfully, humbly strive to rightly divide the word of truth.
Since Christians are exhorted to pray for those in authority (I Timothy 1:1-2) and we learn in Proverbs 8:15 that it is by wisdom" kings reign and princes decree justice", it certainly seems appropriate to pray that our civil leaders be given wisdom to deal with the issues before them. In Psalm 119:98, the psalmist declares, “Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.” Might the commandments of God as recorded in the Scriptures contain some wisdom for those in government?
I know how that sounds to an unbelieving world. We live in an age in which good is called evil and evil is called good (Isaiah 5:20) “and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey” (Isaiah 59:15). This is especially true of those in government that if they depart from evil, they make themselves a target because “we wrestle...against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12.
I might add that one type of spiritual wickedness that exists in our day which God promises to deal with in His time and His way is set forth in Isaiah 29:20-21 which declares, “ For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.” “They that watch for iniquity” are people and organizations who dig up dirt on people in government to use it against them in a political way and if they can’t find any, they will make it up. “They that make a man an offender for a word” describes rather aptly the political correctness of our time. If you make some verbal slip that offends some group, apologies and explanations don’t count for anything. You’re done. If they can succeed in labeling you as racist, xenophobe, etc. rightly or wrongly, this is supposed to be the death knell of anyone serving in government and in the private sector, you’re out of a job. To “turn aside the just for a thing of nought” is a related offense: magnifying personal flaws as though they were the crime of the century to disqualify good people from serving in high positions of authority. This will come to an end according to God’s promise.
I believe that there is a Scriptural case for ending the practice of birthright citizenship if we were to apply the law of the stranger in Deuteronomy 23. Even Christian people will balk at applying the Mosaic law in various situations because there are some precepts that may seem strange or harsh or that we don’t yet fully understand how the principles behind them would be applied today. But this should not hinder us from applying what we do understand. We should trust God’s promise that He will “magnify the law and make it honorable” Isaiah 42:21 Also, when it comes to the law of the stranger specifically, some good Christian people will imagine that scriptures such as Eph. 2 where St. Paul is addressing peoples who were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel” who are now “made nigh by the blood of Christ” and are now “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints of God” make the whole notion of considering someone an alien as an outdated notion. That is not true. Paul is saying the same thing that he would later say in chapter three that the Gentiles would be “fellowheirs, and of the same body (that is, the body of Christ), and partaker of his promise in Christ by the gospel:...” In other words, in the matter of personal salvation, certainly anyone of any background can become a Christian and become a member of the same body of Christ that believing Israelites are a part of.
Paul’s discussion on who is a member of the body of Christ is not germane to our consideration of birthright citizenship in the United States but God’s civil laws are. They provide the guiding light necessary to deal with what our nation is faced with.
In Deuteronomy 23:3-4, we read that “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever: Because they met you not with bread and water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee." In verse 7, we read, “Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation.”
To “enter into the congregation of the Lord” in ancient Israel could be made analogous to gaining the rights of citizenship in our time and fully participating in the national life of our nation.
We see two classes of peoples presented here. The Ammonites and Moabites could never be naturalized because of the history of “bad blood” between them and the Israelites. However, the phrase, “even to their tenth generation” suggests that there would, nevertheless, be some living within the borders of Israel.
Because of a close ethnic relationship with the Edomites, that is, “he is thy brother,” they could be naturalized in the third generation of those born in the land. The Egyptian presents an interesting special case but they also could be naturalized in the third generation to be born in the land.
Because there are no longer any Ammonites, Moabites, or Edomites as recognizable entities does not mean the principle behind the statute no longer makes any sense in a modern setting. The names would change but the principle is the same.
And what would that principle be? God, through Moses, is telling the Israelites that the ugly truth is that people from some cultures simply cannot be assimilated, or, as we would say," Americanized", because of the group animosity toward the host culture and their total incompatibility. In other words, diversity has its limits. And since they couldn’t look into a person’s heart, He’s telling them to assume the worst for their own protection. If Israelites were instead tolook at the Ammonites, etc. through rose colored glasses and imagine they could “Americanize” anyone, it would be to their detriment. .
I’ll try not to step on anyone’s toes by speculating on who the modern day equivalent of the Ammonites and Moabites might be. But if we give everyone the benefit of the doubt and place them in the same category as the Edomites, three generations in the land were still required before gaining citizenship, if you will. This was to ensure the old loyalties and ways were forgotten and the thinking was more in line with the native population.
How much and what kind of immigration into the United States there should be is one issue, but the concept of birthright citizenship is totally at odds with what is presented in the Scriptures, even for the children of those who have entered the country legally. The present spectacle of pitting the stranger as a potential political force against native born Americans and making the latter group feel as though they are in the wrong is the result of rejecting God’s counsel for the nation. Since the apostle John identifies sin as “transgression of the law,” I John 3:4, this is a part of our national sin.
Many will say that our nation needs to “get back to God.” But it is well that Christians realize that national repentance does not merely consist of getting as many people saved as possible, but acknowledging our own defiance of the national laws for human government set forth by Almighty God. How can Christians retain their savor and shine as lights in an ungodly world if they continue to insist that “we are not under the law” means to ignore and set aside counsel from God’s own civil laws all the while we expect our government to pass other laws that we hope will confer the same blessings that obedience to God’s law would bring? Are we wiser than God?
by Philip du Nard
The title of this article references a hot topic in current events as President Trump has called for an end to the practice of granting immediate citizenship to children born within the territory of the United States to alien parents.
It’s not my purpose to debate the present legalities of all this which others are doing, pro and con. Rather, the question is, can we extract any Divine guidance from God’s Holy Word that might point us in the direction our thinking should take on this subject?
People fret that the Bible has been used or misused to advocate whatever it is people are interested in advocating. It’s even been used to justify Communism. It’s been used to justify slavery. It’s been used to condemn slavery. The attitude we should have is not to use the Scriptures for our own purposes but to prayerfully, humbly strive to rightly divide the word of truth.
Since Christians are exhorted to pray for those in authority (I Timothy 1:1-2) and we learn in Proverbs 8:15 that it is by wisdom" kings reign and princes decree justice", it certainly seems appropriate to pray that our civil leaders be given wisdom to deal with the issues before them. In Psalm 119:98, the psalmist declares, “Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.” Might the commandments of God as recorded in the Scriptures contain some wisdom for those in government?
I know how that sounds to an unbelieving world. We live in an age in which good is called evil and evil is called good (Isaiah 5:20) “and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey” (Isaiah 59:15). This is especially true of those in government that if they depart from evil, they make themselves a target because “we wrestle...against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12.
I might add that one type of spiritual wickedness that exists in our day which God promises to deal with in His time and His way is set forth in Isaiah 29:20-21 which declares, “ For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.” “They that watch for iniquity” are people and organizations who dig up dirt on people in government to use it against them in a political way and if they can’t find any, they will make it up. “They that make a man an offender for a word” describes rather aptly the political correctness of our time. If you make some verbal slip that offends some group, apologies and explanations don’t count for anything. You’re done. If they can succeed in labeling you as racist, xenophobe, etc. rightly or wrongly, this is supposed to be the death knell of anyone serving in government and in the private sector, you’re out of a job. To “turn aside the just for a thing of nought” is a related offense: magnifying personal flaws as though they were the crime of the century to disqualify good people from serving in high positions of authority. This will come to an end according to God’s promise.
I believe that there is a Scriptural case for ending the practice of birthright citizenship if we were to apply the law of the stranger in Deuteronomy 23. Even Christian people will balk at applying the Mosaic law in various situations because there are some precepts that may seem strange or harsh or that we don’t yet fully understand how the principles behind them would be applied today. But this should not hinder us from applying what we do understand. We should trust God’s promise that He will “magnify the law and make it honorable” Isaiah 42:21 Also, when it comes to the law of the stranger specifically, some good Christian people will imagine that scriptures such as Eph. 2 where St. Paul is addressing peoples who were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel” who are now “made nigh by the blood of Christ” and are now “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints of God” make the whole notion of considering someone an alien as an outdated notion. That is not true. Paul is saying the same thing that he would later say in chapter three that the Gentiles would be “fellowheirs, and of the same body (that is, the body of Christ), and partaker of his promise in Christ by the gospel:...” In other words, in the matter of personal salvation, certainly anyone of any background can become a Christian and become a member of the same body of Christ that believing Israelites are a part of.
Paul’s discussion on who is a member of the body of Christ is not germane to our consideration of birthright citizenship in the United States but God’s civil laws are. They provide the guiding light necessary to deal with what our nation is faced with.
In Deuteronomy 23:3-4, we read that “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever: Because they met you not with bread and water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee." In verse 7, we read, “Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation.”
To “enter into the congregation of the Lord” in ancient Israel could be made analogous to gaining the rights of citizenship in our time and fully participating in the national life of our nation.
We see two classes of peoples presented here. The Ammonites and Moabites could never be naturalized because of the history of “bad blood” between them and the Israelites. However, the phrase, “even to their tenth generation” suggests that there would, nevertheless, be some living within the borders of Israel.
Because of a close ethnic relationship with the Edomites, that is, “he is thy brother,” they could be naturalized in the third generation of those born in the land. The Egyptian presents an interesting special case but they also could be naturalized in the third generation to be born in the land.
Because there are no longer any Ammonites, Moabites, or Edomites as recognizable entities does not mean the principle behind the statute no longer makes any sense in a modern setting. The names would change but the principle is the same.
And what would that principle be? God, through Moses, is telling the Israelites that the ugly truth is that people from some cultures simply cannot be assimilated, or, as we would say," Americanized", because of the group animosity toward the host culture and their total incompatibility. In other words, diversity has its limits. And since they couldn’t look into a person’s heart, He’s telling them to assume the worst for their own protection. If Israelites were instead tolook at the Ammonites, etc. through rose colored glasses and imagine they could “Americanize” anyone, it would be to their detriment. .
I’ll try not to step on anyone’s toes by speculating on who the modern day equivalent of the Ammonites and Moabites might be. But if we give everyone the benefit of the doubt and place them in the same category as the Edomites, three generations in the land were still required before gaining citizenship, if you will. This was to ensure the old loyalties and ways were forgotten and the thinking was more in line with the native population.
How much and what kind of immigration into the United States there should be is one issue, but the concept of birthright citizenship is totally at odds with what is presented in the Scriptures, even for the children of those who have entered the country legally. The present spectacle of pitting the stranger as a potential political force against native born Americans and making the latter group feel as though they are in the wrong is the result of rejecting God’s counsel for the nation. Since the apostle John identifies sin as “transgression of the law,” I John 3:4, this is a part of our national sin.
Many will say that our nation needs to “get back to God.” But it is well that Christians realize that national repentance does not merely consist of getting as many people saved as possible, but acknowledging our own defiance of the national laws for human government set forth by Almighty God. How can Christians retain their savor and shine as lights in an ungodly world if they continue to insist that “we are not under the law” means to ignore and set aside counsel from God’s own civil laws all the while we expect our government to pass other laws that we hope will confer the same blessings that obedience to God’s law would bring? Are we wiser than God?