Stories of Migrants in the Bible

By Sociedade Bíblica do Brasil

Migration has been a reality since the beginning, when Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise. There are important events in the Bible which involve migration, whether for economic reasons, the desire to be near a family member, the outbreak of war, and so on. This work introduces the topic of migration in various aspects, divided into thirteen tracks, bringing together a collection of more than 50 stories of the Bible. Each story is preceded by an introduction that helps contextualize the biblical content and to understand the historical and cultural principles involved. Stories of Migrants in the Bible shows the history of each person, as a migrant, living with the expectation of reaching the heavenly city.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sociedade Bíblica do Brasil
• Release date: Dec 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9788531115257

Book preview

Preface

The Bible is full of stories about all kinds of migrants, both men and women. We read of people who emigrate because of a missionary call, others because of hunger, oppression, war, forced eviction, or death threats. There are many real-life stories, some of which move us because of their suffering, and others where we are challenged by the good they achieve. Yet the migrants in the Bible and today's migrants share similar experiences—they never forget the land of their birth for it is a part of who they are; nor do they leave behind their experience of God, because it is God who gives them strength to go on.

The stories of migrants in the Bible can be read in different ways. We can enter their world of long ago without reference to the migrants of our own day. We can also enter their world through the experience of today's migrants. We have chosen the second option, so that the Word of God would speak to us and sensitize us as Christians to the challenge of global migration today. But we especially want the story of migrants in the Bible to encourage and strengthen all migrants.

Migration today is a shocking reality. According to United Nations statistics there are 230 million migrants in the world. Waves of migrants surge from one country to another, or within the same country. However this is nothing new, the displacement of people to other places has always happened. Historical events and anthropological analysis show that it is a human characteristic to migrate. People leave their place of origin and live somewhere else as immigrants. They are now foreigners of course, and daily life has both positive and negative sides. This has been the case since time immemorial.

When we read the Bible we discover that migration has been a reality since the beginning, when Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise. The earliest confession of faith in the Bible begins with an account of migration, My ancestor was a wandering Aramean, who took his family to Egypt to live… (Deuteronomy 26.5). There are few important events in the Bible which do not involve migration, whether for economic reasons, the desire to be near a family member, the outbreak of war, and so on. Even Jesus Christ, the son of God, migrated to our planet because of love for humankind (Philippians 2.6-7). In the incarnation he became a human being to show us the true way to God, so that we might live as citizens of the Kingdom, irrespective of where we actually live. We await in faith the promised coming of the heavenly city to earth, at the end of time. This will be the eternal city where there will be no weeping, nor pain because its ruler, God, will like a mother wipe away the tears of his daughters and sons: the eternal migrants.

In the following testimony Carlos shows there is something of the migrant in all of us:

My story is like that of many other people. Twenty-nine years ago I arrived in Caracas from Argentina searching for a better future. My family and I have now been living in Israel for thirteen years. We've gone through times of joy, sadness, failure and success. I feel good—looking back there is nostalgia for the land where I was born. Looking ahead, I hope for success in our business. I believe that the need to widen our horizons is something that is part of our DNA, it's in the blood, in our time. It's part of evolution. That's how we have populated our lovely blue planet. Everything changes but we keep moving across the Earth. I dream of the day when we will able to travel wherever we wish, some day.[1]

To read the biblical stories through the eyes of today's migrants it is important to know something of their reality, so that the word of God becomes relevant and transforms lives. First of all, it is important to bear in mind what the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report on Human mobility and developmen[2] tells us. This shows that many of the ideas that people have about migrants are false, for example: they come to take our jobs, they are thieves, they're living off the taxes that we pay, or they became rich in their own countries. The same applies to the view that all immigrants are mistreated and oppressed by the people and the government of the country where they live as foreigners. We cannot deny that this does happen, but not in the majority of cases.

Research shows that in general both the immigrants and the local inhabitants benefit. For example, immigrants may develop their technical knowledge, while their new country benefits from different approaches to food preparation, or the other way round. The talents and abilities of the immigrants add new resources to the country to which they have come. If they are successful they not only help themselves and their families who live far away, but also the society where they live as immigrants. Of course not everyone makes progress, for loneliness, rejection, loss of work through illness, problems with migration documentation for legal residence, and so on, are negative factors which make it difficult for them to fulfill their dreams. In some cases where the displaced people or refugees come from war zones or places where violence is rife, migration takes on a negative image. This kind of migration is a sad reality and poses different challenges. But in the majority of cases people themselves decide to move in order to improve their living conditions. As the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, put it: Migration is an ideal way to reduce poverty and create opportunities.

Some newspaper reports would lead us to believe that the large migrations take place from poor countries to rich countries. However, according to the UNDP report there are more people who migrate within the same country (740 million) than those who move from a poor country to a rich country (70 million). Not only so, the migration from one rich country to another rich country is greater than from a poor countries to rich countries (200 million). These figures give us a more balanced view of the phenomenon of migration. The majority of migrants who seek better living conditions are not those who travel from the Third World to the First World, as might be imagined.

With these factors in mind we can now enter the fascinating world of the Bible from the perspective of migrants, and listen with an open mind to the Word of God challenging us to share God's love and be salt and light in the midst of the darkness.

I People who migrate to be close to family

When children of a family grow up they often move to live somewhere far away from home. Those left behind, especially the parents, miss them and never forget them. Their longing to be with them becomes so strong that eventually they decide to migrate to be near them and to see their grandchildren grow. They are afraid that they will not see them again before they die. The same happens with children who live far away, they want to have a relative near at hand, in the land where they now live.

People find it difficult to decide to emigrate, especially if their parents are very old. Different customs, the need to learn a new language, money matters, religious practices and other things are a major challenge. People need to be really sure that they have not taken the decision lightly. Christian families pray that God will go with them, they look for something to show them that it is the right step to take.

It goes without saying that the decision should be taken when conditions are right. If people emigrate without having contacts or friends in the place where they plan to live, it is very likely that more difficulties will crop up than they can cope with. For a start, if they do not know the documentation procedures of government immigration offices, getting the papers all immigrants need will involve a lot of work, extra expense, and huge disappointments. They also need to know something about urban life, what things are called, and what customs are likely to offend or be well received. They need to be honest, intelligent and astute to obtain their residence permits and be accepted as foreigners. It is true that this does not guarantee that everything will be perfect, or that they will be happy and succeed in a strange land, but there will be more good experiences than bad ones.

Oddly enough, no matter how well many immigrants do or see their dreams come true, another dream emerges—a longing to return to the land of their forebears. They do not want to die far from their native soil, instead they want their bones to lie where their parents are buried. This is exactly what happened to Jacob, the patriarch who had twelve sons.

I must see my son before I die!

Jacob—an old man longing for a long-lost son

Joseph, one of Jacob's sons, had disappeared many years before. His jealous brothers had sold him to some merchants and Joseph ended up in Egypt. Jacob really loved him, but the brothers convinced their father that a wild animal had killed Joseph. Yet when a terrible famine hit Canaan and his brothers went to Egypt to buy food, they met him there. He had done really well and was the right hand man of Pharaoh, the Egyptian king. Joseph was a good man and he forgave them. When they returned to Canaan they told their father that Joseph was alive. The shock almost killed Jacob, but he was thrilled because his dream of being with him and holding him in his arms before he died was about to come true.

But Jacob was no fool. He needed a sign to be absolutely sure that moving to live in Egypt was the right decision. Before leaving for Egypt, God spoke to him in a vision in Beersheba and Jacob offered sacrifices to him. God assured him that moving to Egypt was the right thing to do. God would be at his side. This reassured Jacob, not only would God help him, he also had all the support necessary to get off to a good start in Egypt. After all, his son worked for Pharaoh! Nevertheless Jacob took great care to learn some important things before he arrived. He sent his son Judah ahead to ask Joseph how to get to Goshen.

Joseph had probably dreamed about one day meeting his father again, and holding him in his arms, but it was an impossible dream. As an immigrant in Egypt he had suffered such ups and downs, including false accusation and imprisonment. But now he had been vindicated, the time had come, the dream of embracing his father was about to come true.

Joseph arrived when Jacob and his sons were in Goshen, he embraced his father and wept. Jacob cried out, Now that I have seen you and know you are still alive, I can die in peace! Such an outpouring of emotion was easy to understand. For both men the impossible dream had come true. Then before dealing with the formalities Joseph quickly got down to the practical details, he explained to them how they should behave in Egypt in order to be well accepted. It was important information, because Egyptians did not like to live near shepherds. So they needed to develop a plan for the interview with Pharaoh.

Things went well for Jacob and his family. Thanks to Joseph they were settled in land with good pasture for their flocks. However, as happens with so many immigrants, Jacob's dream of being buried alongside his forebears grew stronger as he got older. So one day he called Joseph and said, When I die take my remains from here and bury them where my forefathers are buried… and he insisted, Swear to me that you will do it! Joseph did just that.

This is the story as it is in the Bible:

Genesis 45.25-28; 46.1-7,28-34; 47.1-12,27-31

They left Egypt and went back home to their father Jacob in Canaan. Joseph is still alive! they told him. He is the ruler of all Egypt! Jacob was stunned and could not believe them.

But when they told him all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to take him to Egypt, he recovered from the shock. My son Joseph is still alive! he said. This is all I could ask for! I must go and see him before I die.

Jacob packed up all he had and went to Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to him in a vision at night and called, Jacob, Jacob!

Yes, here I am, he answered.

I am God, the God of your father, he said. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt; I will make your descendants a great nation there. I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring your descendants back to this land. Joseph will be with you when you die.

Jacob set out from Beersheba. His sons put him, their small children, and their wives in the wagons which the king of Egypt had sent. They took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan and went to Egypt. Jacob took all his descendants with him: his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters.

Jacob sent Judah ahead to ask Joseph to meet them in Goshen. When they arrived, Joseph got in his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father. When they met, Joseph threw his arms around his father's neck and cried for a long time. Jacob said to Joseph, I am ready to die, now that I have seen you and know that you are still alive.

Then Joseph said to his brothers and the rest of his father's family, I must go and tell the king that my brothers and all my father's family, who were living in Canaan, have come to me. I will tell him that you are shepherds and take care of livestock and that you have brought your flocks and herds and everything else that belongs to you. When the king calls for you and asks what your occupation is, be sure to tell him that you have taken care of livestock all your lives, just as your ancestors did. In this way he will let you live in the region of Goshen. Joseph said this because Egyptians will have nothing to do with shepherds.

So Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king. He told him, My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own. They are now in the region of Goshen. He then presented his brothers to the king. The king asked them, What is your occupation?

We are shepherds, sir, just as our ancestors were, they answered. We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen. The king said to Joseph, Now that your father and your brothers have arrived, the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the region of Goshen, the best part of the land. And if there are any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.

Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing, and the king asked him, How old are you?

Jacob answered, My life of wandering has lasted a hundred and thirty years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings. Jacob gave the king a farewell blessing and left. Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best of the land near the city of Rameses, as the king had commanded. Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all the rest of his father's family, including the very youngest.

The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen, where they became rich and had many children. Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, until he was a hundred and forty-seven years old. When the time drew near for him to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, Place your hand between my thighs and make a solemn vow that you will not bury me in Egypt. I want to be buried where my fathers are; carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.

Joseph answered, I will do as you say.

Jacob said, Make a vow that you will. Joseph made the vow, and Jacob gave thanks there on his bed.

II People who migrate because of hunger

Hunger and poverty are amongst the most common causes of migration today. According to the World Food Programme (WFP) there are 870 million people in the world today suffering from hunger. In other words, one in every eight people goes to bed each night on an empty stomach. They do not have enough food to keep them healthy and active. The majority of those people are in poor countries, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) statistics show that in Latin America 51 million people are suffering from hunger. As a result the search to find enough food to survive is one of the most important reasons why people migrate. Many travel from one part of the country to another, or move to cities. Others struggle to travel to a neighboring country or to one further away, if it offers better living conditions.

Those who migrate because of hunger, like those who are displaced through natural disasters such as floods and droughts, or because of violence, face many obstacles that are hard to deal with.