NATIONAL BORDERS & THE BIBLE

by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Suppose Jones and Garcia are "next-door neighbors." Consider this simplified map of two properties owned by Jones and Garcia:


The Jones Ranch    


   The Garcia Ranchero

Now suppose someone named "Smith" declares himself to be "the civil magistrate." He declares that a "border" exists between his "nation" and the "nation" of someone named "Castro."  Jones does not recognize the legitimacy of Smith's "nation" and Garcia does not recognize the legitimacy of Castro's "nation." Castro and Smith agree on the creation of a "national border" drawn between Garcia's and Jones' ranches. Garcia and Jones are Christians, and both consider themselves to be citizens of a "holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9), a heavenly nation (Philippians 3:20), the only legitimate "nation" on earth, and not a citizen of Smith's or Castro's pagan fake "nation."

Suppose Jones invites Garcia over to the Jones Ranch for a Bar-B-Q. Does Castro have a right to tell Garcia he doesn't have the liberty to cross the arbitrary statist fictional "border" separating his property from Jones'? Does Smith have right to tell Jones that he doesn't have the liberty to hire Garcia's son to work on the Jones Ranch? Does Smith have the right to tell 300 million Americans that they can't have certain people on their property or hire certain people in their businesses?

Who owns America: Americans, or Smith? (Substitute "Bush," "Hillary," "Biden" "Tom Tancredo," "House Republicans," or any name of your choice for "Smith.") "Who owns America" is the fundamental question here. The answer is: whoever has rights. Whoever has the right (power) to decide how property is used owns that property. Did God give unalienable rights over property to human beings like Jones and Garcia, or to "the nation" (whatever that is), to be dictated by "Smith" or "Castro?"

Non-eschatology Studies August 26, 2022 Leave a comment

 The article at left attempts to answer that question.
PMW 2022-064  
The collapsing border disaster under the Biden Maladministration is a live topic of international consequence today. Many well meaning Christians believe it is wrong to keep refugees out on a temporary basis because they believe borders are man-made constructs lacking biblical warrant. Besides the contradiction obvious in their having homes with walls and locked doors, their argument does not hold. The "border disaster" is largely a result of the Nixon/Reagan/Trump/Biden "War on Drugs," which decrees that certain drugs cannot be sold at Walmart, but can only be sold by violent organized crime syndicates, and that people who publicly admit they are addicted to drugs must be locked in a cage with a violent psychopath and repeatedly sodomized rather than being able to turn to the church for recovery. Empowering organized crime by statute makes some nations too violent for good people to tolerate, so good people flee. Unfortunately, these good people are met by violent thugs called "Immigration and Customs Enforcement." This is truly a "border disaster."

Gentry's assumption is that "man-made constructs" called "borders" are not "lacking in Biblical warrant." Watch for any Biblical proof of that assumption as we go through the article.

Gentry implies that it is a "contradiction" for Jones and Garcia to lock their doors to prevent violent thugs like "President" Smith and "Premier" Castro from entering their property if Jones and Garcia allow each other to visit their homes. How is this a "contradiction?"
Established borders are biblically warranted as we see in two clear scriptural examples. Though other arguments are available, these are quite potent.  
First, the garden of Eden.  
The garden was distinct from the rest of the world, which meant something must have distinguished it from the broader world. God created Adam then “placed” him in (Gen. 2:8) / “took” him to (Gen. 2:15) the garden. True, "garden" was distinct from "non-garden," but didn't God command Adam and Eve to extend garden-characteristics into the rest of the "world" (Genesis 1:26-28)? Where did God erect a "border" to keep Adam and Eve from exercising dominion over the non-garden world?
Then when Adam sinned, God “drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24). From this point on, Adam was not forbidden to dwell in the rest of the world, but only in the specific, guarded region of Eden. Eden had borders. Adam and Eve rebelled against God, so God kicked them out of the garden. How does this fact warrant Castro from preventing Garcia to visit Jones? How does this fact warrant Smith from threatening violence against Jones if Jones hires Garcia to work in the Jones business?
Second, the promised land.  
The promised land had God-designated boundaries (Num. 34). God’s special ritual laws for “the land” (such as the Jubilee law) prevailed within this border-defined region.  
In his commentary on Leviticus (pp. 423, 424) Gary North writes:  

The Israelites “would police the land’s boundaries, keeping stranger’s [sic] out except on God’s terms.” “To be a perfect stranger to the covenant-breaking world outside the geographical boundaries of Israel . . . “ “For as long as they dwelt within the land’s geographical boundaries under the terms of the original distribution, Israelites had to keep strangers from inheriting agricultural land.”
Consider this simplified map of the Promised Land:
Asher Naphtali Zebulun Gad
Dan Benjamin Joseph Judah
Simeon Reuben Ephraim Manasseh
It's one thing to prevent "strangers [i.e., non-Israelites] from inheriting agricultural land." It's quite another thing for the king of the Hittites to say that Manasseh cannot cross the "border" to visit Judah, or cannot allow visitors from Egypt or Assyria to visit on Manasseh's land (cp. Isaiah 19:23-25).

Who are these "tribes" today? What obligations do they have under the New Covenant toward non-tribal people?
Nations have legitimate needs for borders, just as cities and counties do for purposes of police jurisdiction, taxation determination, judicial administration, and so forth. No one in Greenville, SC, likes it when a policeman from Juarez, Mexico, pulls them over on I-385 for lacking a proper license tag. Nor are we pleased when a tourist from Gaborone, Botswana, votes in our Presidential election. "Nations have legitimate needs for borders" is like saying "Castro has legitimate rights over Garcia's ranch, and Smith has legitimate rights over Jones' property." Where does the Bible give Castro and Smith such rights?

Sure, nobody in Lexington and Concord liked it when a British policeman in a Red Coat tried to seize an arms cache inside a Massachusetts church. What gives the people of Massachusetts the right to tell Jones who he can have on his own property? Which Bible verse can they point to?
And in a world of sinners, those borders need to be protected — as we see in principle from Adam’s original expulsion from the borders of the garden. What Bible verse gives Castro the right to "protect" the Castro Regime from visitors on Garcia's ranch?
Israel had God-defined borders to a particular land area that God gave them (Num. 34:2ff). The means by which God gave it was through war (Deut. 7:1–2, 16-24). God commanded that the Canaanites driven out “shall not live in your land” (Exo. 23:33). Obviously, the Canaanite response would be to try to retake their land, against which determination Israel must protect it (i.e., the land within her borders, Exo. 23:27-31; Deut. 28:7). What Bible verse gives Smith the right to equate Garcia with "Canaanites" and violently prevent Jones from allowing Garcia to visit the Jones Ranch?

What Bible verse gives Castro the right to equate Jones with "Canaanites" and violently prevent Garcia from allowing Jones to visit the Garcia Ranch?

It's never a good idea to just assume that because a citation is given, e.g.,  "(Hezekiah 14:3)" that the verse actually proves the writer's point. So let's look at the passages cited.
Numbers 34

Theonomist Greg Bahnsen wrote of the important qualification of all three categories of law (moral, ceremonial, and judicial as well as civil, ecclesiastical, and familial):

  1. We should presume that Old Testament standing laws26 continue to be morally binding in the New Testament, unless they are rescinded or modified by further revelation.

26. "Standing law" is used here for policy directives applicable over time to classes of individuals (e.g., do not kill; children, obey your parents; merchants, have equal measures; magistrates, execute rapists), in contrast to particular directions for an individual (e.g., the order for Samuel to anoint David at a particular time and place) or positive commands for distinct incidents (e.g., God's order for Israel to exterminate certain Canaanite tribes at a certain point in history).
Whether Numbers 34 is "moral law," "ceremonial law," or "judicial law," is irrelevant: Numbers 34 is not "standing law."
Deuteronomy 7:1-2

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, 2 and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.

Deuteronomy 7:16-24
16 Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
17 “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’— 18 you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed. 21 You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you. 22 And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 23 But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. 24 And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

 Although we can learn something from every passage of the Bible, Deuteronomy 7 is not "standing law." Nothing in this portion of Scripture gives Trump or Biden the authority to threaten violence against me if I allow a visitor from another "nation" access to my property. That's not acceptable "casuistry," or as Gary North calls it, "the lost art of applying biblical principles to real-world situations."
Exodus 23:33
They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”		 This is not "standing law." Further, in the New Covenant the passage certainly does not allow Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from being a missionary and visiting anyone in order to carry out "The Great Commission."
Exodus 23:27-31
“I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. 31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.		 Again, this is not "standing law." Further, it shows that all the "immigration laws" and "border controls" put in place by the Canaanites were to be utterly disregarded by the Israelites. God's Law trumps the "national security" of unbelievers. Their "gates" will not stand up to our "invasion." God's Kingdom overrules the kingdoms and borders of autonomous man.
Deuteronomy 28:7
“The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.		 Again, how does the citation of this verse authorize Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to threaten violence against me if I allow Garcia onto my property?

At some point in time, the endless citation of Bible verses which do not prove a point renders one guilty of trivializing Scripture.
Israel’s borders were God-defined, she was given a particular land, and no other. Therefore, she was not to engage in foreign wars of land acquisition. But her warning from God was that if she did not obey God’s covenant: “The LORD shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth” (Deut. 28:25). These would be invading enemies, enemies from outside the land (Deut. 28:32-33, 47-50). Therefore, Israel would be in danger of being taken from her God-defined land (Deut. 28:36, 41, 63-65). Her danger of being conquered would be a danger “throughout your land” (Deut. 28:52) in “all your towns” (Deut. 28:55, 57). Israel's borders were deliberate violations of Canaan's borders.

If I fail to invite Garcia or Hussein or anyone to whom God commands me to show hospitality, I run the risk of losing my property in God's judgment. Once again, none of the verses cited by Gentry give Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping any authority to create an arbitrary "border" and threaten violence against me for carrying out God's standing laws on hospitality. Humanistic "National Borders" represents the sin of xenophobia.
Just as Israel would have her own borders, the Bible recognizes that other nations have borders, such as the Edomites (Num. 20:23), the Amorites (Num. 21:13), and the Moabites (Num. 21:15). The Israelites recognized those borders and sought permission to “pass through your land” (Num. 21:22). Israel would expect the same for her borders. The citations here are egregious. Let's look at the actual text, and do some "casuistry," and not be bluffed by mere citation of references.
Numbers 20:23
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying: 24 “Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah.		 This verse cannot legitimately be used by Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from showing hospitality to those they declare to be "illegal aliens."
Numbers 21:13
From there they moved and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.		 This verse cannot legitimately be used by Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from showing hospitality to those they declare to be "illegal aliens."
Numbers 21:14
Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord:

“Waheb in Suphah,
The brooks of the Arnon,
15 And the slope of the brooks
That reaches to the dwelling of Ar,
And lies on the border of Moab.”		 This verse cannot legitimately be used by Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from showing hospitality to those they declare to be "illegal aliens."

Yes, all these verses contain the English word "border." But none of them prove Gentry's point.

In fact, the entire narrative of these passages goes directly to the heart of the matter, and conclusively condemn Gentry's point. These nations attempted to "protect their borders" against the "invasion" of Israelites -- and God cursed the Edomites and the Ammonites for doing so. How could Gentry miss the whole point of these passages?
Numbers 21:22 “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.” Israel only wanted access to the public infrastructure that citizens of Sihon had access to. Not "welfare."
Numbers 21
23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 Then Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the people of Ammon; for the border of the people of Ammon was fortified. 25 So Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore those who speak in proverbs say:

“Come to Heshbon, let it be built;
Let the city of Sihon be repaired.

28 “For fire went out from Heshbon,
A flame from the city of Sihon;
It consumed Ar of Moab,
The lords of the heights of the Arnon.
29 Woe to you, Moab!
You have perished, O people of Chemosh!
He has given his sons as fugitives,
And his daughters into captivity,
To Sihon king of the Amorites.

30 “But we have shot at them;
Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.
Then we laid waste as far as Nophah,
Which reaches to Medeba.”

31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

 Sihon's "border security" was punished by God! This is the example Gentry wants us to follow today?

Woe to those who protect their borders from God's People.

Who should have the support of Christians today:

  • Christians crossing arbitrary borders, fleeing drug cartels in Mexico, or
  • atheists in Washington D.C.?
And I did not even mention heaven’s “gates,” an image demonstrating God’s keeping intruders out while his people are safe within (Matt. 7:13–14; 16:18; Rev. 21:12-15; 22:14). Nor the gates of the temple walls (Eze. 10:18; 40:5-8). In a world filled with sinners, borders, walls, and gates are essential for well-being. How do we extend the borders of Christ's Kingdom if we build walls to keep unbelievers away from us while we sit "safe within?"

Again, trivial Bible citations follow.

Matthew 7:13-14
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

 How can this verse be legitimately used by Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from showing hospitality to those they declare to be "illegal aliens?"

Matthew 16:18
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

 How can this verse be legitimately used by Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from showing hospitality to those they declare to be "illegal aliens?"

Revelation 21:12-15
12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

 How can this verse be legitimately used by Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from showing hospitality to those they declare to be "illegal aliens?"

Revelation 22:14
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

 How can this verse be legitimately used by Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from showing hospitality to those they declare to be "illegal aliens?"

Ezekiel 10:18
18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.

 How can this verse be legitimately used by Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from showing hospitality to those they declare to be "illegal aliens?"

Ezekiel 40:5-8
5 Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man’s hand was a measuring rod six cubits long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth; and he measured the width of the wall structure, one rod; and the height, one rod.
6 Then he went to the gateway which faced east; and he went up its stairs and measured the threshold of the gateway, which was one rod wide, and the other threshold was one rod wide. 7 Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide; between the gate chambers was a space of five cubits; and the threshold of the gateway by the vestibule of the inside gate was one rod. 8 He also measured the vestibule of the inside gate, one rod.

 How can this verse be legitimately used by Trump or Biden or Xi Jinping to prevent me from showing hospitality to those they declare to be "illegal aliens?"
At the height of the advance of the kingdom or in the eternal realm people will be able to leave their gates open and unattended: “Your gates will be open continually; They will not be closed day or night, So that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, With their kings led in procession” (Isa. 60:11). But until then . . . gates and borders are a necessity in a fallen world. How does the Kingdom advance -- how do we get to "the height of the advance of the kingdom" -- if we allow humanists to tax us and build walls?

"Your gates will be open continually" is a present command. This phrase negates the interpretation of the previous six Bible citations.

Matthew 25: Mercy to "strangers" is a deal-breaker. You can be a "5-point Calvinist," and if you miss this, you miss the boat.

This Discussion of Immigration Continues Here:

1. Introduction to the Immigration Issue
2. Immigration in a Division of Labor Economy
3. Why Immigration Enhances Our Culture
4. Why Immigration Increases Our Technology
5. Positive Effects of Population Growth through Immigration
6. The Case for Free Immigration
7. Refutation of the Arguments Against Free Immigration
8. Why Immigration Increases Capital
9. Why Immigration Raises Real Wage Rates
10. Legalized Immigration Does Not Destroy Our Culture
11. A Biblical Discussion about Immigration with Chuck Baldwin
12. The Downward Shift in the Libertarian Party Platform, 2002-2006
13. Why Anti-Immigration Laws are Unconstitutional
14. Questions on Immigration

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