A Mandate To Provide Sanctuary For Refugees

Our neighbors from far and near are in dire need of our help.

Terrified refugees fleeing violence and desperate immigrants on the run due to famine and economic hardship are not a new phenomenon. In the seventh century BC the prophet Isaiah urged his nation to provide welcome to neighboring Moabite asylum seekers:

"Oh, how I grieve for Moab!

    Refugees stream to Zoar

    and then on to Eglath-shelishiyah.

Up the slopes of Luhith they weep;

    on the road to Horonaim they cry their loss.

The springs of Nimrim are dried up—

    grass brown, buds stunted, nothing grows.

They leave, carrying all their possessions

    on their backs, everything they own,

Making their way as best they can

    across Willow Creek to safety.

Poignant cries reverberate

    all through Moab..." *

Moabites, descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot, were neighbors to Israel, but the relationship between the two countries was anything but peaceful, marked by frequent conflict, even war. And yet Isaiah urges his people to provide refuge to the displaced men, women and children pillaged by raiding armies from the north.

“The towns and people of Moab

    are at a loss,

New-hatched birds knocked from the nest,

    fluttering helplessly

At the banks of the Arnon River,

    unable to cross:

‘Tell us what to do,

    help us out!

Protect us,

    hide us!

Give the refugees from Moab

    sanctuary with you.

Be a safe place for those on the run

    from the killing fields.’” *

It's not hard to draw parallels today to refugees fleeing gang and other forms of violence in neighboring countries like Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, as families with children ("newly hatched birds") reach the banks of the Rio Grande ("the Arnon River") unable to cross.

Aside from urging his fellow Israelites to offer help to their needy neighbors, Isaiah dreams of a day when a new government of shalom will bring an end to the violence that results in people being driven from their homes.

“When this is all over,” Judah answers,

    “the tyrant toppled,

The killing at an end,

    all signs of these cruelties long gone,

A new government of love will be established

    in the venerable David tradition.

A Ruler you can depend upon

    will head this government,

A Ruler passionate for justice,

    a Ruler quick to set things right.” *

Meanwhile, may our response to those in desperate need be guided by Isaiah's vision of the future rather than by inhumane policies of the past.

* Above quotes from Isaiah 15 and 16 are from Eugene Peterson's The Message, published by NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO, 2002.