Probably more than any other issue, immigration elected Donald Trump as President again in 2024. It was hotly debated and many people wanted change. Americans would be surprised to learn that yes, the Bible has immigration guidelines.  Before specifics, remember that life in the ancient world was very different. Travel was slow, difficult, and sometimes dangerous. Floods, robbers, wild animals, disease, and more could prevent you from arriving. You really had to believe you should go. Nations could rarely if ever afford and maintain walls and barriers.When you left your native country to move to Israel you had no sponsors. Language training didn’t exist.  There was no guarantee or even offer of housing, jobs, and certainly no medical care.  You were totally on your own. Welfare programs, fire departments, and clean water systems? Forget it. They didn’t exist in ancient times

 

But people still immigrated to Israel. Why? There were many reasons and we find many listed in Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, chapter 28. I’ll list just a few from that chapter. Other reasons can be found elsewhere in the Old Testament. After this I’ll list what Israel required of its newcomers.

 

1.Prominence above other nations: “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth” (Deuteronomy 28:1). Israel was known as a special place to live. 2. Blessings of children, food, and livestock: “The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks” (Deuteronomy 28:4)

 

3. Protection and power against enemies: “The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven” (Deuteronomy 28:7).4. Appropriate rain and favorable blessing upon their work, including freedom from debt: “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none” (Deuteronomy 28:12). This guaranteed abundant harvests, something unknown in the ancient world. No crop diseases or plagues of locusts. You could make it as a farmer. Israel was not a debtor nation but a lending nation. They had no deficits because they didn’t borrow from other nations. How different from 2025 America with its deficit bomb about to explode and destroy our economy!

 

5.Every 50 years was the Year of Jubilee, where all debts were forgiven, slaves were freed, and if you’d lost your land for some reason, it was restored to you. – Lev. 25:10 – “So you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.” This was a mind blowing benefit and made for a stable middle class.

 

OK, SO JUST WHAT DID ISRAEL REQUIRE OF NEWCOMERS?

 

First, no foreigner could become king, Deut. 17:15. Since no one was elected to any office in Israel then if you wanted any position you were out of luck. They could not eat the Passover, one of the three important annual feasts, Ex. 12:43. They could not enter the Jerusalem Temple sanctuary, Ez. 44:9. They could not marry native Israeli women, Ex. 34:16. All foreigners were subject to all the same laws as Israelis, Lev. 24:22. They had to observe the Sabbath and all other religious practices as well as all civil laws. Foreigners were able to own and bequeath property. They had to observe the one day fast of the Feast of Atonement, Lev. 16:29. Foreigners had to pay interest on loans, Deut. 23:20 but natives were exempt.

 

So in essence foreigners had to assimilate, learn the language and the customs, and convert to Judaism as much as allowed. No ghettos or enclaves of foreigners was provided. I’ve not found any regulations about serving or not serving in the army. Usually Israel did not maintain a standing army but called up all able bodied when there were threats. All in all, the requirements for foreigners were not burdensome. As long as the nation obeyed God they had tremendous blessings -- abundant harvests, no foreign threats, and a day off every week. No doubt surrounding nations envied Israel and seeing its blessings, some took the big step to become part of the nation. In time, their descendants could enjoy all the rights of citizenship.