July 2005
No people group is the “indigenous people” unless we go all the way back to the times of Genesis 11...
Nations, Borders, and Immigration
by Dennis Peacocke
“And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.” (Acts 17:26)
God is the Author of nations. He is also the Determiner of history and the Judge of how long any people group ultimately will control any part of the globe called "earth" which He has created. He establishes one people and removes another. Sometimes the "why" of it appears clear; other times it appears to be a complete mystery.
When cultural sin levels become intolerable to Him, the city, or even the whole civilization, can seemingly collapse almost overnight. Sodom and Gomorrah are but one example of many. Sometimes He uses climatic or geographical "natural disasters," and sometimes He uses warring invasions. Almost without exception, the city or culture in question is already dying of internal division, corruption, and moral rot.
As Acts 17:26 states, God establishes the borders of the people groups and nations. Man can and has continuously manipulated those borders throughout history but God’s decrees ultimately stand. The ebb and flow of borders come and go just as do the ascending and decline of the people groups who inhabit them. No people group is the "indigenous people" unless we go all the way back to the times of Genesis 11 when God scattered the people of the Tower of Babel across the earth. Because a people group lays claim to the land, that claim is relative at best. "The earth is the Lord’s," says Psalm 24:1 and it is His to parcel out to man temporarily as He permits.
Virtually all land masses for the last thousands of years were "stolen" from some other people group by force. Biblically, only the Jews have a "Promised Land," and even that promise was conditioned explicitly upon their obedience to God. God disinherits people or "the land spews them out," as He puts it, when they have nauseated it with disobedience and dishonor. Few things speed up that process like shedding innocent blood, worshipping idols, gross sexual corruption, and enslaving the poor.
Today the United States is faced with a "border problem" and a terrorist problem. So what else is new? That is exactly what I have been talking about; that has been the beginning problem of every empire in history. They responded with either internal repentance or internal defiance and pride, justifying their sins and taking the stance as the "noble and rightful" possessors of the land. We can discuss this issue from an economic point of view and "relieving pressure on Mexico’s situation" or a number of other symptomatic points of view. It may sell media and move people, but none of it moves God.
Therein, my fellow Americans, is the real issue. What will move God? Iraq, Iran, and North Korea are mere pawns in the game. What moves the hand of God is really...
the bottom line.
