Making A Nation Great & Eternally Revered

What does it mean to Make A Nation Great?

With all the recent excitement about making certain nations great again (which is not a new concept, but one used in the 1930’s by Hitler in reference to Germany during the rise of Naziism, and more recently by Margaret Thatcher in 1950 with regards to Britain, and Ronald Reagan in his 1980’s American presidential election campaign), it may be instructive for those of a Judeo-Christian background to examine what the God of the Bible (which includes the Jewish holy scriptures Torah and Tanahk) had to say about building a nation.

When the God of the Torah (which forms the beginning of the Bible) set up a most favored nation, the nation of Israel, God gave them rules to live by, values to uphold, and explicitly described three specific classes of individuals that were to receive special treatment. The wellbeing of the nation was tied to the treatment of these protected classes, and the nation was cursed if it failed to adequately care for these protected classes. This is as close to a template for making a nation great as can be found in scripture, and may provide a roadmap for today as nations consider what it means to be “great” and how to achieve or re-establish “greatness.”

The first place we are given a glimpse of this is in the passage from Exodus, the second book of the Torah:

“Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt. Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.  My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.” Exodus 22:21-24   

In this passage, we are introduced to three classes of individuals who are singled out for special care and consideration by God’s people: aliens, widows, and orphans (also known as the fatherless). It is remarkable that God takes care to warn that He is attentive to the plight of these protected classes and fiercely protective of them. He also warns that their mistreatment will incite His anger, and ensure a retribution by God against such mistreatment. God does not take mistreatment of these protected classes lightly, but rather has zero tolerance for such mistreatment in his favored nation, to the point of death and harm to one’s own kin.

The mention of these protected classes in God’s favored nation is not an isolated pronouncement in the book of Exodus, but a recurring theme that appears again and again in the Hebrew Scriptures… (see also Deuteronomy 10:18, 14:29, 16:11, 16:14, 24:17, 24:19, 26:12, 27:19; Jeremiah 2:3, 7:5, Ezekiel 22:7, Zechariah 7:8, 19:34)

As we investigate further, we see that God exhibits a core value of kindness to these protected classes and takes an active role when they are mistreated: 

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.  He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.  And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:17-19  

Here, the God of the Bible ties his majesty and magnificence and the foundation of his reputation to his oversight of the three protected classes and even focuses extra attention on aliens by tending to their need of food and clothing. “Alien” in Hebrew is “ger” – which can also be translated stranger or sojourner, and refers to people residing locally who are from a different region or nation. We learn that care and protection of these protected classes are a core part of God’s character.  We see a definition of what it means to be great in God’s economy. God juxtaposes “great”, “mighty”, and “awesome” with impartiality, honesty, and care for the protected classes. He did not equate greatness with military power, economic superiority, and judicial expediency.

In God’s economy, a great nation reflects God’s character and assumes the same priorities that God promotes and demonstrates. Anything less than protecting these special classes falls short. What are the measures being used by nations aspiring to be great again to quantify their greatness?

For those who identify as God’s favored nation, treatment of the aliens among them must be tempered by self reflection and the acknowledgement that they were once aliens themselves. Aliens are not a foreign “them.” This passage of scripture demands that the “chosen” of God’s people see aliens as “us”, or at least identifying with such as part of their own history. It erases the distinction between aliens and local born. 

How does a nation practice self reflection? How does a nation acknowledge it’s past and incorporate its own history of being isolated, weak, and in need of aid and assistance at some point in its past – as it considers how to treat the current “aliens” living among them? Can a nation have sufficient humility and fortitude to embark on such a self examination? Have countries done so successfully in the past?

If we wish to identify with being part of God’s chosen and favored nation, how do we evaluate our own personal history of neediness and alienation as individuals, as well as our families and our communities? Proper reflection is the prerequisite for appropriate action. 

Appropriate action is not passive, but stems from the direct imperative God gives his people to LOVE (Hebrew – ‘ahab) those who are aliens. The root of the word for love in Hebrew means to have affection for. It is not enough to refrain from harm (no mistreatment, no oppression, no taking advantage of…), but there is a prescriptive to treat them with affection. Instead of fearing aliens, God’s people are to extend love to them. What does it mean for a “favored” nation to love the aliens found within it? Is that happening in the nations who proclaim to want to be great again? 

We see a picture of a God who leads by example by giving the alien food and clothing. Is this God’s way of teaching us the first steps toward treating them with love and affection? (There is no distinction between “legal” and “illegal” alien in the Bible. If you are not from around here, you are an alien, regardless of how you got here…) 

There are other clues as to what it means to treat an alien properly in the scriptures: Deuteronomy 27:19   “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.”  Ensuring the aforementioned specially protected classes are treated with justice – in all of its forms – is an imperative. Failure to treat them justly, denying them due process and fair hearings, and treating them as one would want oneself treated in the same circumstance (which is at the core of evaluating justice) brings on the severe consequence of a curse from the Almighty. Nations who wish to be great in the eyes of God would be wise to heed this explicitly grave warning. In light of such a clear pronouncement, it goes without saying that nations certainly should not in any circumstance create orphans, or widows (by forcefully and unjustly separating married partners or children from their families) God reserves divine violence for those who mistreat the widows, orphans and aliens. 

Lest we need even more clarity on what it means to love the alien, Leviticus 19:33-34 says  “‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

The ultimate test of whether we are treating aliens properly is really the “golden rule”. Are we treating the aliens the same as a native born? Are we loving the alien as ourselves? Do we recognize that we once (or at the very least our forefathers) were once aliens? There is no equivocation about how we are to treat the aliens and God makes it explicit that this treatment is tied to the core of who God is. If we wish to claim the Lord of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Bible as our God, we have no choice but to treat the aliens as a native-born, and to love them as ourselves.

Eternal Greatness, at least that recognized in heaven, may indeed come not through military might, but through a manger. How much are nations professing to be great at risk for incurring God’s wrath due to the mistreatment of aliens and the state’s creation of widows and orphans under their purview?

 From MAGA to MANGER. Part 1.