There has been a lot of big news this week regarding President Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Present Trump’s attempt to ignore the Constitution has already been challenged by numerous federal courts.
Astonishingly, the Supreme Court was divided over the president’s attempt to disregard the Constitution, which he swore an oath to uphold and protect. Birthright citizenship has bprotected people born in America for nearly 160 years and endows them with certain rights and privileges:
- Equal protections
- Due process
- Protection from the state
- Citizenship
As an American citizen born abroad, I have experienced the ignorance, hatred, and lack of dignity propagated by the anti-American and anti-Christian MAGA movement. As soon as a proud Maga member notices I was born in Germany, I get ridiculed and harassed.
I have been told that I have voted illegally and that I need to go back home to Germany. The stupidity of many so-called Americans is mind-boggling to me. That is why I understand and empathize with those who have been insulted or attacked over their citizenship.
I don’t understand the attitude of many Americans against people who are seeking and working to achieve a better life for themselves and their families, even the ones who are in America illegally.
I don’t understand how people who claim to belong to God can ignore the basic teachings of God to care for the least of these and the foreigners among us (Leviticus 19:33-34, Numbers 15:16, Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Isaiah 1:17, Matthew 25:40).
How have God’s people forgotten that as His children, we are all exiles and foreigners in a world that is not our home (1 Peter 2:9-12)?
What Are Birthrights
We are all children in one way or another, physically, spiritually, or emotionally. Children are more than just young people; they are a reflection of their parents’ personalities, values, and attributes. Being a child comes with certain birthrights unique to each particular family: name, ethnicity, protections, provisions, and shelter.
The dictionary defines birthright as “A right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled to by birth.” Children are born with birthrights they did not earn or strive for; birthrights come automatically to children.
Children must be taught the ways of their parents and communities and how to use their birthrights. Our sinful nature causes us to do the wrong things like lie, steal, and kill, we must be taught to do what is right, especially with our birthright.
As the children of God, we live in a fallen world and have to struggle to not be part of it (John 17:14-16). That is why the Bible has a lot to say about being in living as the children of God (Hebrews 12:5-11, 1 John 3:16-18).
When we accept Jesus as Lord, we are adopted and grafted into the family of God (John 1:12, Romans 8:15, Ephesians 1: 5). Becoming children of God comes with many birthrights; relationship with God, blessings of God, power, and authority, citizenship in heaven (Romans 8:16-21, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Revelation 21:7).
While these are positive benefits, they are not the focus of becoming children of God as many believers foolishly believe. We must be growing spiritually and becoming more like God and less like this fallen world (Romans 12:2-4, 1 Corinthians 15:1-39, Hebrews 12:9, 1 John 3:2). The Apostle Paul remembered his Jewish education about what it means to be children of God.
Yeleḏ
After God called Israel out of the darkness of the ancient world, He called them his children (Exodus 4:21-23, Jeremiah 31:9, Hosea 1:10). The Hebrew word for children in the Old Testament is yeleḏ and it can also mean, “Son, offspring, youth, or descendants,” depending on the context it is used in.
God set His people apart from the world to be different as His representatives and children (Leviticus 19:2, Deuteronomy 7:6, and Jeremiah 1:5). God fulfilled this through the Abrahamic covenant and the descendants of Abraham. Below are the 12 tribes of Israel who are the children of God:
- Reuben
- Simeon
- Judah
- Dan
- Naphtali
- Gad
- Asher
- Issachar
- Zebulun
- Ephraim
- Manasseh
- Benjamin
The Gospels tell us that Jesus was a descendant of the tribe of Judah (Matthew 1:1-16, Luke 3:31-34, Mark 7:14). Jesus often called His followers children of God (Matthew 5:9, John 1:12).
Jesus taught His followers to be like God (Matthew 5:48). He emphasized doing His Father’s will and encouraged His followers to pray for their heavenly Father’s will (Matthew 6:9; 7:21, John 6:38).
One day, Jesus confronted the Pharisees because they didn’t do God’s will, but their father the devil’s (John 8:44). Scripture shows us that the children of God can act more like the world than our Heavenly Father.
Israel
In other big news this weekend, Israel has continued its assault on Palestinians in Gaza. International news media reports that many children are being killed or starving to death.
It has been two years since Hamas brutally attacked Israel, and Israel is still hell-bent on revenge at all costs, even at the cost of children’s lives.
While Israel has a birthright to the land, it has forgotten the basic teachings of God and His divine nature:
- Love
- Forgive
- Don’t seek revenge
- Compassionate
Israel has become obsessed with earthly power and revenge. God’s people have become more like the world and less like their God. Israel has been notoriously stubborn in pursuing what they want (Isaiah 48:1-8, Hosea 4:16, Ezekiel 3:7).
God’s children cannot keep pursuing our will or the ways of the world. We must become more like God if we claim the birthright as His yeleḏ!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In