‘They’re taking all our jobs!’

You must have heard this line. You may even have said it. Or thought it, even if you have not voiced it aloud. It’s a natural human instinct to feel threatened by the outsider coming in and settling in our land and taking our resources and jobs……….a natural animal instinct in fact, as witnessed by the reaction of our two cats to the arrival of a new puppy in our home not so long ago. Whilst it is natural though, it is not OK. It is not OK to vilify these groups in the press, to exaggerate individual stories of prosperity (at out expense) to justify prejudice and mistreatment. It is not OK to share posts on Facebook (many by Britain First – I’ll get Andy to write a separate piece on that by the end of the day as it’s something he’s researched and is passionate about) that promote intolerance towards ‘the outsider’ with their different religious traditions and cultural practices. It is not OK to feel resentful towards the Polish girl who is doing well in your department at work or the Iraqi lad who has been rewarded a bigger bonus than you. It’s not OK to gossip with neighbours when a Pakistani family moves into the biggest and nicest house on the street.

It is not OK because throughout the Bible, God challenges us to welcome the stranger with open arms, just as he does. Hospitality is of utmost importance. Cities were destroyed because of lack of hospitality (have a look at Hell fire and damnation, just what had they done wrong? that Andy wrote the other week). We are called to welcome the stranger in the power of God’s love and God will take care of the details.

Anyway, you may be wondering where that rant came from. Well, it was Exodus chapter 1. You will recall that Joseph and his brothers and their families had settled in Egypt during the famine. They ended up staying 430 years! (Exodus 12:41) The Israelites multiplied and prospered and did very well for themselves……and the Egyptians (naturally) didn’t like it. They tried to make life hard for this Hebrew population who were taking over their land and taking all their jobs. They changed the rules and made sure it was hard for the Hebrews to succeed.

they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labour……  Exodus 1:11

It didn’t work. So the Egyptians worked them harder and harder and ‘used them ruthlessly’ –

They made their lives bitter with hard labour in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields.  Exodus 1:14

See, very little has changed. We still hear about the terrible injustices in the building industry where particularly Polish workers are exploited and treated unfairly. Then there’s the Romanians and Hungarians who are known to be made to work in appalling conditions in some of the fruit picking farms across our land today. (‘But it’s their choice…..they can go back to where they came from if they don’t like it………and then we can get on with our lives and make Britain British again……’ – that’s what the tabloid newspapers seem to whisper in our ears).

‘And they need to stop having so many children…..’

Isn’t that another fear prevalent in our society today? It was the same for the Egyptians. They tried to do something pretty drastic about it in the end. The king of Egypt ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill every newborn boy – which they would not and could not do – and their reason brought a smile to my face! –

Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.  Exodus 1:19

This may or may not have been true. Probably not, at a guess. But how would the Egyptians know? They didn’t know any Hebrews personally. These two groups lived in the same country but did not mix. And when groups are completely separate, then rumours about how the other group lives can abound with no way of knowing how much truth is in the stories. This happens in Gateshead with the large Jewish community in the Bensham area. I have heard all sorts of weird and wonderful stories about how they live and then a young Jewish man comes into the store to buy a lovely necklace for his wife’s birthday or a family buy thank you presents for all their teachers and I realise we are not so very different after all.

So the king of Egypt, the Pharaoh, has to turn to his own people for obedience. They will do what he says, however inhuman it seems, if it means reclaiming their own country for themselves –

Every boy that is born, you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.  Exodus 1:22