Abraham was a sojourner, as were Isaac, Jacob and their
children. Moses too was a sojourner. They acknowledged themselves to be “strangers
and exiles”, and thus their history provides a useful and familiar
illustration of the relationship of believers to the world in which we live. Jesus
said of his disciples, “They are not
of the world, just as I am not of the world.” The apostle Paul wrote
that “our
citizenship is in heaven” rather than in any earthly nation. The Hebrews
were urged to “go to him [Jesus] outside
the camp and bear the reproach he endured”.
That’s one side of the story. There is another.