Don't Mess with Strangers...

So we have read all about what the Hebrews have experienced under the rule of Pharaoh.  And we have journeyed with them, wandered about in the wilderness, and found them in battle with Amalek.  They set down in the shadow of Mt. Sinai, and we learn The Ten Commandments...

Have you spent much time thinking about all the laws that come after the Ten Commandments?

There are laws about slaves, laws about oxen, laws about goring, laws about sorcery.

All kinds of laws.

This is the paragraph that took my breath away.

He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the Lord alone, shall be utterly destroyed.  And you shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.  You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.  If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and my anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
Ex. 22:22-24

Check this out....it comes up again...a few verses later...

And you shall not oppress a stranger, since you yoursleves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Ex. 23:9

Don't mess with strangers, for you were once a stranger.

Todays reading in Matthew:

 But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
 Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'
 Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
 The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
Matt. 25:31-40.

The rest of that passage goes on to discuss the goats, and those who did not care for the stranger in need.

All through the ages, God tells us to care for the stranger..

"for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."

He wanted the Hebrews to remember.  He allowed them to struggle through perhaps so that they would...remember.

Perhaps that is why we struggle through, too.  Perhaps we need the struggle, so we... remember?

Don't mess with strangers.  Love them, care for them the way He has always, always loved you.