~ Xeno (Z-No): means to be Different,
a Foreigner or Stranger ~
King David in Psalms 39:12 wrote, "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were."
King David felt unworthy to be called a Friend of the Lord. I can imagine that he
thought because of the sinful things that he had done that God could never really
accept him as one of His Children. Therefore, he thought that he was a stranger to God, even though he was trying to walk in the way of the Lord.
One thing that we cannot afford to be is a Stranger with the Lord. A Stranger will
not have any part of the Inheritance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
We read in 1st Kings 8:41-43, "Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy
people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; *(For they
shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out
arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house; *Hear thou in heaven thy
dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that
all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel;
and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy
name."
King Solomon asked the Lord to consider the Stranger even as He considered the
Children of Israel when they entered into His Presence to confess their sins and
answer their prayer as a sign of His acceptance of them.
In Zechariah 7:9-10 we read. "Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother: *And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart."
We have received a Commandment from the Lord to treat a Stranger in the same
manner in which we would treat a brother.
I think one reason for this is because the Children of Israel were ill treated as
Strangers in the Land of Egypt.
The Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 56:3-7 wrote, "Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. *For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; *Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. *Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; *Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people."
The Prophet Isaiah is cautioning the Stranger that has joined himself to the
Lord, that has sought to learn of the Lord and is endeavoring to observe the
Commandments of the Lord, to not think that God will not reward them
Righteously. Because God is not a respecter of persons and everyone that
does justly is accepted with the Lord.
We read in Exodus 12:43-45, "And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is
the ordinance of the Passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: *But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. *A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof."
The Passover is of great significance to the Lord for the People of the Lord. The
Commandments of the Lord, along with the Passover, is part of the Seal of the Lord, Exodus 13:16 that shows that a person is a Servant of the Lord. The Apostle Paul brings this out in 1st Corinthians 11:27-34.
In Deuteronomy 17:15 we read, "Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee,
whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy
brother."
God always intended that He would be the one that ruled over His People. Mankind was never intended to rule by mankind.
When the Children of Israel asked Samuel the Prophet to make them a King to rule over them, they rejected the Lord. It has always been the intention of the Lord that His Children, the Saints should not partake of or learn the way of the wicked.
We read in Genesis 28:3-4, "And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee
fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; *And
give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou
mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham."
The Children of God, the Saints may be Strangers to the world but they are no
Stranger to God because He said that He knows those that are His - 2nd Timothy
2:19.
Derwood A. Stewart, Minister
House of Prayer Sabbath Ministries
Comments: Email Us: hope@preachersteacher.org
