Stranger גֵּר

We are in chapter nineteen of Leviticus with our word for today. גֵּר stranger, foreigner, sojourner. It is used 92 times in the Old Testament, 4 times in our chapter. We find our word used in the sense of a person who comes from a foreign country who does not owe allegiance to your country, frequently of someone who does not speak one’s native tongue. A good example of this is Abram and Moses. Gensis 23:4 I am a גֵּר sojourner וְתוֹשָׁ֥ב [This is a different word altogether] and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. Exodus 2:22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a גֵּ֣ר sojourner in a נָכְרִיָּֽה [This is a different word altogether] foreign land.” God knows that because of our sinful nature we tend to take advantage of people who are not like us. This is why he instructs his people in this way. Exodus 12:48-49 If a יָג֨וּר [This is a different word but shares the same root word as our word] stranger shall גֵּ֗ר sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native וְלַגֵּ֖ר and for the stranger who הַגָּ֥ר [This is a different word but shares the same root word as our word]  sojourns among you. This is the sense of how our word is used 4 times in our chapter. Leviticus 19:10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor וְלַגֵּר֙ and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:33-34 When a יָג֧וּר [This is a different word but shares the same root word as our word] stranger גֵּ֖ר sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat הַגֵּ֣ר the stranger who הַגָּ֣ר [again different word with same root word as our word] sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for גֵרִ֥ים you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Did you catch God’s reasoning behind this teaching? Because that is how they also started out as strangers in another country they need to remember this and let it encourage their kindness. This is emphasized specifically by God. Exodus 23:9 You shall not oppress a וְגֵ֖ר sojourner. You know the heart of a הַגֵּ֔ר sojourner, for you were גֵרִ֥ים sojourners in the land of Egypt. This theme of God loving all people regardless of where they came from is seen throughout the Bible. I’ll close with some New Testament examples. Ephesians 2:11-13 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Luke 13:29-30 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.