The Stranger Within Thy Gates. Part [2] 07/31/2025 (Evening thought)

Genesis 6:3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Again, during the times of the Antediluvians, God provided food and drink for the rebellious, up until the very day of the flood, for as was stated before, there are some basic fundamental mercies that God dispenses to all of humanity, including the stranger within thy gates. This will also be manifested when the seven plagues of Revelation 16 are being poured out. They will not be universal in nature, for then all the inhabitants of earth would be destroyed.

[The Great Controversy pp 628] These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be wholly cut off…. Just because Cain turned his back on God, it did not mean that he and his offspring would be deprived of the essentials for daily living. Yes, it is true that the natural consequences of his choices and actions will produce a natural curse as time went by, but Cain would have access to food and drink.

God does not starve sinners into submission as the devil would attempt to do in Revelation, chapter 13. Instead, The Lord gives to persons a lot of grace and mercy, even where sin abounds. Thus, God sets the gold standard for the treatment of the strangers within our gates, and it is of critical importance for us Christians to reflect the goodness and character of God, for His character is magnified or reproached by what the professed Christian does or does not do.

Isaiah 43:11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Savior. 12 I have declared, I have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore, you are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!

The Stranger Within Thy Gates. Part [1] 07/30/2025 (Morning thought}

Exodus 22:21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. 23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry. 24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

The law of kindness is all pervasive as it is dispensed by God to everyone and it includes all members of the human family, whether or not they are believers in God. Therefore, in harmony with the decalogue, Jesus always made provisions for the strangers who lived amongst His people, so that they would be treated with respect, courtesy, and kindness. God deals kindly with all people, whether they are Christians or of other persuasions because there are some fundamental mercies that pertain to everyone wherever and whoever they might be.

For instance, He makes His sun to shine on the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just, and the unjust. It is true that by a wrong course of action persons or nations can bring upon themselves natural curses as a result of deliberate sins, but it is very rare, if ever, that God would entirely deny food and drink to any person or nation. Even in times of great apostasy, such as took place when Ahab and Jezebel ruled, the land was never entirely devoid of water for then, the entire nation would have perished.

Yes, it is true that Elijah was sent to prophesy that there would be no rain for a period of three and a half years, but there was still some water and food to be found….. 1st Kings 18: 5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

1st Kings 17: 2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!