和你們同居的外人，你們要看他如本地人一樣，並要愛他如己。-利未記19章34節

我的教會座落在一個大型、開放的廣場中。在只有40公里長、24公里寬的新加坡島上，這樣的場地實在罕見。從前陣子開始，在我國工作的許多外地勞工，每個星期天都會聚集在教會的廣場上野餐。

這件事在我們教會中引起不同的反應。有些人對這些不速之客可能帶來的髒亂感到苦惱。有些人則將之視為神賜下的機會，讓會友不必離開教會範圍，就可以接待這些外地人。

當年以色列百姓一定也面對類似的問題。他們在新的地方定居後，就得思量該如何與其他民族相處。神明確地吩咐以色列百姓，要看外邦人如同本國人一樣，並要愛人如己（利未記19章34節）。神頒布了許多特別關於外邦人的律例：不可虐待或欺壓寄居的，要憐愛和幫助他們（出埃及記23章9節；申命記10章19節） 。數百年後，耶穌也同樣吩咐我們，要愛我們的鄰舍如同自己（馬可福音12章31節） 。

願我們擁有神的心腸能愛人如己，別忘了我們在這世上也是寄居的，而神愛我們，視我們為祂的子民。

天父，祢以祢的形象創造我們每一個人。
願我們能愛那些外地人，
以祢的愛去關心他們。

我們要有神的愛，才能去愛他人。

作者： 許文榮 

靈糧透視

摩押女子路得的故事，正是「關愛外邦人」的美好事例。異教之國摩押位於死海以東，而摩押人是羅得的兒子摩押的後裔（創世記19章37節）。在以色列人離開埃及期間，以及在掃羅和大衛作王時，摩押人經常與以色列人爭戰。

在士師時代，拿俄米和以利米勒以及他們的兒子遷居到摩押，為要逃避以色列的飢荒（路得記1章）。他們住在摩押的期間，拿俄米的丈夫以利米勒死了，她的兩個兒子娶了摩押女子（路得和俄珥巴）為妻，後來兩個兒子也死了。因為沒有人照顧她們，於是拿俄米和路得離開摩押回到伯利恆，在那裡，路得就成了外邦人（她因為具有摩押的血統而可能被鄙視）。

當她們回到伯利恆，正是「動手割大麥的時候」（22節）。路得是一個寡婦，她可以跟在收割的人身後拾取遺留的麥穗。路得「恰巧」到了波阿斯的田裡，而波阿斯是以利米勒的親族（2章3節），但這絕不是巧合。因著波阿斯的恩慈良善，他和路得在大衛王（和耶穌）的族譜中佔了一席之地（馬太福音1章5-16節）。

對你來說，你會如何向陌生人表達善意呢？

The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself. Leviticus 19:34

I worship in a church located in a large, open field—a rare commodity on the island of Singapore (we’re just twenty-five miles long and fifteen miles wide). Some time back, people from abroad who work in my country started gathering on the church property for a picnic every Sunday.

This evoked a range of responses from fellow churchgoers. Some fretted about the mess the visitors would leave behind. But others saw this as a divine opportunity to extend hospitality to a wonderful group of strangers—without even leaving the church grounds!

https://odb.org/mQ9/">May we have God’s heart to love others as ourselves.

The Israelites must have faced similar issues in their time. After they settled in their new land, they had to grapple with how to relate to other peoples. But God expressly commanded them to treat foreigners like their own kind, and to love them as themselves (Leviticus 19:34). Many of His laws made special mention of foreigners: they were not to be mistreated or oppressed, and they were to be loved and helped (Exodus 23:9; Deuteronomy 10:19). Centuries later, Jesus would command us to do the same: to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31).

May we have God’s heart to love others as ourselves, remembering that we too are sojourners on this earth. Yet we have been loved as God’s people, treated as His own.

Father, You have made each and every one of us in Your likeness. May we love those from elsewhere and seek to reach out to them with Your love.

Embracing God’s love for us is the key to loving others.

By Leslie Koh 

INSIGHT

The story of Ruth (a Moabitess) offers a moving illustration of “loving the foreigner.” The pagan nation of Moab was situated just east of the Dead Sea. The Moabites were descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Genesis 19:37). During the exodus and throughout the reigns of Saul and David, the Moabites were frequently at war with Israel.

In the time of the judges, Naomi and Elimelek and their sons settled in Moab to escape a famine in Israel (Ruth 1). During their stay, Elimelek died, the sons married Moabite women (Ruth and Orpah), and then the sons also died. With no one to care for them, Naomi and Ruth left Moab and returned to Bethlehem, where Ruth was a foreigner (who may have been despised because of her heritage).

When they arrived, “the barley harvest was beginning” (v. 22). As a widow, Ruth was allowed to gather the leftover grain after the harvesters had gone through. “As it turned out,” she ended in the field of Boaz, a relative of Elimelek’s (2:3). But it was no coincidence. Boaz’s kindness resulted in Ruth and his place in the ancestry of King David (and Jesus) (Matthew 1:5–16).

What would it look like for you to extend kindness to a stranger?

Alyson Kieda