Answer #12

           At Leviticus 19:33, 34, Israel was not to oppress an alien but was to love them as they did their brothers. Jehovah reminded them to do this because they themselves had been aliens in another country. This was in direct opposition to what the Pharisees taught the people. They taught the people a sort of hatred towards people of the nations. They could not approach a person of the nations without being ceremonially unclean. Some began to believe that it was unlawful even to approach these people. At Acts 10:28, Peter said this: "You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile." Years later, Peter, still influenced by this Pharisaic teaching, had to be corrected by Paul because of withdrawing from eating with the Gentile Christians when Jewish Christians visited the congregation where he was. (Galatians 2:11-14)