Having left the confines of Egypt, the Israelites are on their way to the Promised Land and to their formation as a nation. At the base of Mount Sinai, Moses received the first of God’s laws for the people of Israel. As they continue their travels, God continues to reveal new laws to them, laws that will set the people apart from the other nations and that will serve as reminders of the covenant between God and His people.
One of the laws that most interested me concerned the treatment of aliens, or foreigners, who lived amidst the Israelites. “And if a resident alien dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The resident alien who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord you God,” (Leviticus 19:33-34). Those foreigners who live permanently with the Israelites are to be treated just as if they were one of their own people. And, what interested me most, the reason they do as such is because they had once been foreigners as well.
This law reminded me of a portion of The Odyssey. During his travels, Odysseus continually tells his men to be hospitable to those they encounter so that when they arrive someplace foreign, they might be received well. Again it happens when Odysseus returns home disguised as beggar but finds only torment at the hands of his wife’s suitors. After he reveals himself, there is fatal retribution for having not given courtesy to a traveler. It is interesting to see God’s principles of hospitality and love towards one’s neighbor apparent even in those centuries that we usually distance from any sort of godly influence. Only goes to show how God’s truth has been imbedded across time.
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