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| Baskett"s Illustrated 1717 Elephant Folio "Vinegar Bible", including six engraved maps. |
Alex, I will take "Things Not in the Bible but That Won't Stop Me From Saying So" for 5 Million (illegal aliens)".
In his prime-time address a couple of weeks ago he said this: "Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger--for we know the heart of a stranger--we were strangers once, too. My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too."
Earlier this week in Nashville he offered this: "The good book says don't throw stones at glass houses, or make sure we're looking at the log in our eye before we are pointing out the mote in other folks eyes." He also drew an analogy of the Christmas story of Joseph and Mary implying they were strangers in a foreign land and no one would give them refuge.
My first observation is his aversion to referring to the Holy Bible as such or simply "The Bible". Instead, he uses euphemisms like "scripture" and "good book". Why can't he call it what it is? He has no problem quoting surahs and referring to the Qu'ran as 'The Holy Qur'an'.
Moving past that, let's examine these two references. Starting with the first, I have searched for what he said and cannot find the exact wording in any verse in most of the popular translations. It is most likely from Exodus either 22:21 or a 23:9.
The first states, "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt." The second, "Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners because you were foreigners in Egypt."
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| File photo of President Obama speaking in Nashville, TN (DEC. 2014). |
To understand scripture, you must first look at the original language, in this case, Ancient Hebrew, the times of the events juxtaposed by cultural customs, the personalities of the writer(s), and compare singular verses to the entirety of the Bible. (NOTE: This is not all a serious Bible study student does. It is not my intent to be overly theological. Before any Bible study, one should begin with prayer, meditate on the scriptures, and seek God's wisdom and understanding. So please do not focus on my not including these in my overview.) With that in mind, place these two verses in context. The children of Israel, the Jewish people, moved to Egypt because of a drought. They lived there for a long time peaceably and coexisted with Egyptians. However, their numbers multiplied at a faster rate and the Egyptians became fearful of this. They then made the Jews their slaves where they lived in bondage for 400 years until Moses demanded of Pharaoh "Let My people go". Chapters 20 thru 24 take place after the Pharaoh released the Jews and they were traveling thru the desert and are camped at Mt. Sinai. Recognizing they were a free group of people or a community, they needed a set of laws to govern. The Ten Commandments were given to Moses in Chapter 20. These are moral laws. Chapter 20 thru 24 are part of the Sinaic Covenant which includes society laws (fair treatment of foreigners, widows, orphans), criminal laws (murder and bodily injury), etc.
With that in mind, let's examine two words, oppress and foreigner. The first, oppress, according to Strong's Concordance #3905 (לָחַץ Lachats) means to press, crush, afflict, force, distress. Remember, the Jews were made slaves and knew what being oppressed meant first hand. However, there is a huge difference between what 'scripture' means and the intent of his amnesty executive order. Obama is giving them medical benefits, public housing, free school lunches, workers' compensation, etc.
The second word, foreigner, or in some versions, stranger or sojourner according to Strong's #1616 (גֵּר Ger) means guest or someone living among others temporarily. Again, this is not the case. These illegal aliens came here with the intent to stay, not be a temporary guest.
Finally, addressing his second attempt referencing throwing rocks in glass houses and Joseph and Mary. His "good book" might contain this tidbit but the Holy Bible does not. To me it sounds like it should follow, "Confucius say, people in glass houses should not throw rocks, Grasshopper". As for his Christmas story, he alleges Joseph and Mary were strangers in a foreign land. Once again it is a swing and miss. They traveled to Bethlehem because they had to return to their legal city of residence to be counted in the census. They were from Bethlehem. Basically, they were going home. Not strangers.
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| Artist depiction of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem. |
For many, these little misquotes mean nothing. His supporters argue it is the message he is attempting to convey. If that is the case, then it is okay for a used car salesman to say whatever he wants just to put you in a car. How would you feel about that? Perhaps you remember, "if you like your [health insurance] plan you can keep it. If you like your doctor, you can keep him". Words have meanings. We are accountable for the words we use. If I gave the wrong words in my response (phrased in the form of a question) to a Jeopardy clue, I cannot then argue with Alex Trebek that everyone knew what I meant.
It is like, he and some on the Left are trying to sell their amnesty position by invoking God, tugging on emotions, and thinking we must do something. Perhaps they subscribe to the maxim "The Lord helps those that help themselves". I am sure this appears in a book somewhere, perhaps even a good book, but it is not in the Holy Bible. But don't be surprised if you might hear someone say it is just to sell an amnesty program.
