Old Testament example of distributive justice--the sojourner

As God established a nation (Israel) through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed (with the birth of Jesus), he made a distinctive worldview and lifestyle a top priority. History showed that whenever God's people mixed Yahweh worship with that of the religions of the surrounding peoples, and/or if they began to ape their morals and some of their behaviours, the nation would rot from within and invariably crumble.

Nevertheless, God's demands for religious and moral purity never incorporated any element of racism. As long as minimum standards were met, resident aliens (or sojourners to use the old fashioned term) enjoyed many of the same privileges as did the native Israelites. As a very small minority of people of other races in a nation of Jews, they were as vulnerable to every kind of exploitation and abuse as the Israelites themselves had been while under the control of other nations. But such racism was forbidden.

Here are a few examples from the oldest part of Hebrew history as recorded in the book of Deuteronomy. My source here is Racial Peace at http://racialpeace.org/.

These [sojourners] were free foreigners who either traveled through Israel or immigrated to live within Israel's borders. They were not slaves or prisoners of war, nor were they of Canaanite background. Also, they lived in compliance with many Israelite laws. They could not share in the Passover until all the males in the household were circumcised (Ex 12:48). Many short passages in Deuteronomy are concerned with the treatment of these aliens:

- judges must judge fairly between Israelites and aliens (Deut 1:16, Deut 27:19)
- aliens must observe the Sabbath (Deut 5:14)
- God loves the alien and provides for him (Deut 10:18-19)
- aliens share in the celebration of the Feasts of Weeks and Tabernacles (Deut 16:11-14)
- foreign workers must be treated fairly (Deut 24:14-18)
- aliens share in the harvest leftovers with widows and orphans (14:28-29, 24:19-22)
- aliens share in the tithe given to Levites and widows (Deut 26:11-13)
- if Israel rejects God, the aliens in her midst will prosper at Israel's expense (Deut 28:43-44)
- aliens enter into the covenant made with Israel and must attend the reading of the Law every seven years (Deut 29:11-12, Deut 31:10-13)

From these laws, it is clear that freeborn non-Israelites were treated very well. Equality before the courts, given a share in the harvest and the tithe, allowed to participate in Feast days -- this is not discrimination. But more than insisting on mere obedience to these laws, God required a heart attitude of the Israelites:

And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt (Deut 10:19).

Note that it was not obligatory on the part of these sojourners to convert to Yahwehism to be eligible for such just treatment. If they wanted to convert, that was most welcome, of course. But it was not necessary to be Jewish to receive the protection of God. His distributive justice extended to them regardless.