Biblical hospitality is the act of sharing a meal or providing a place to spend the night for strangers or outsiders who are in need. It is more than hosting friends or family. For many, starting with friends and family is a good way to develop a hospitality skill set. But the Lord’s people have always been under an obligation to share with outsiders and those in need (Leviticus 19:34, Romans 12:13). As such, hospitality is the fruit of love for others and is one facet of the manifestation of God’s grace. When we practice hospitality, our guests receive a glimpse of undeserved favor which comes from God and is channeled through us. As Christians we gradually learn to love the Lord our God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). Hospitality is an expression of love toward others and should be done without obligation. So eventually we should get to the point where we extend the same generosity to those outside our circle of friends and family as we would with those within our circle of friends and family. If we get to that point, we are hitting the mark of Biblical Hospitality. An invitation to provide a meal or a place to spend the night is a warm offer to someone who has that need and knows that they don’t have the standing to expect it. And especially if they lack the means to reciprocate.
Now that we have established this definition we can turn to the Scriptures for guidance on this principle and the rewards that are in store for us when we do it properly.
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
and he will reward them for what they have done.
Proverbs 19:17
We can use the example of the Shunammite woman as recorded in the Book of 2 Kings (2 Kings 4:8-37). She was wealthy in their society and was married but her husband was old and they had no son. This was in the 9th Century BC and Elisha was the Prophet of the Lord and apparently traveled throughout the land at times. The Shunammite woman began by offering this man of God a meal and whenever he passed by that way again, he had an open invitation to return to her home. She eventually asked her husband for permission to build guest quarters for him. The husband agreed and it became a regular place for him to stay when traveling. She expected nothing in return and even when specifically asked, she declined any notion of reciprocation. This is a great example of Biblical Hospitality.
In those days it was important to have a son so there would be someone to help take care of you in your old age. This woman had no son. (In their culture, men generally married women younger than themselves and ideally the wife would care for the husband until his death, then the son would care for the mother until she passed on). She had probably given up hope on the prospects of becoming pregnant. Elisha summoned her and prophesied that in about a year she would bear a son (2 Kings 4:16). In time, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy and she had a son just as the prophet announced.
Several years passed and the boy became sick and died suddenly. The woman was filled with bitter disappointment and left her son in the bed where he died and traveled hastily to find Elisha. She pleaded with him and he immediately did all he could to raise the boy back to life. The Lord miraculously gave life back to the son and he was reunited with his mother. A powerful miracle indeed.
Some time later, Elisha warned the woman that a seven-year famine was coming to the land and that she should take her family and find someplace else to live for survival. She heeded his advice and went to the land of the Philistines for the next seven years. After the famine passed, she and her family returned to their home. Apparently her land was being used productively by others in her absence so she was required to make an appeal to the king to get her property back. Though not stated in the Biblical narrative, this was probably an unlikely ruling. After all, she had abandoned the property and was gone for seven years. But as it turned out, the Lord had arranged a set of circumstances that would lead to a favorable result. Gehazi, Elisha’s long-time servant, was speaking with the king that day. The king was inquiring about the great things Elisha had done and Gehazi was running through some of the highlights. Just as he mentioned that Elisha had brought a dead boy back to life, the woman appeared to make her appeal to the king. Gehazi recognized her and said, this is the lady, and there is the boy I just mentioned. The king spoke with her and was moved by her story so he assigned an official to her case with instructions to get her land back plus to also recover all the income the land produced over the years she was away. What a result! We can imagine this was more than she ever expected to receive. But God was aware of her faithful hospitality given without expectation of anything in return. He arranged for Gehazi to be there at just the right time, having the exact conversion he was having with the king and gave the king a disposition of generosity. We must recognize that God works behind the scenes in all our circumstances as well, for better and for worse.
The Shunammite’s Land Restored
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.
At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land. The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.
Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”
2 Kings 8:1-6
A generous person will prosper;
whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
Proverbs 11:25
Some New Testament Perspective
The New Testament teaches us to love others, to practice hospitality and to know that the Lord will reward us for what we do. The reward should not be the motivation, obedience to God and love for others should be the motivation. But we should have full confidence that God sees and will reward us for things done while in the body, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). Our rewards may be seen on this side of heaven or they may be delayed until the other side, but regardless of when we receive them, we can be assured that God keeps the books and he will make everything right in the end. Here we can review several passages related to the subject.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Luke 6:38
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Romans 12:13-16
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
1 Peter 4:8-9
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
Hebrew 13:2
The Judgment at the Second Coming of Christ
The New Testament also looks ahead in time to the Second Coming of Christ. At that time, which follows the seven years of tribulation, Christ will judge the Gentiles left as to how they treated the Jewish believers who never took the mark of the beast during the tribulation period. These brothers and sisters to Christ were not allowed to buy or sell and were desperately in need of assistance. For those who showed them hospitality, they will be allowed to enter the Millennial Kingdom. For those who didn’t, they will suffer eternal punishment. From this passage we can see that the practice of hospitality is important to God. As Christians, his priorities should become ours. Hospitality is high on his bullet list and in bold print. Therefore, it should be high on our list too!
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46
Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice.
Psalm 112:5
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:10
All Scripture quoted from:
New International Version (NIV)
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