This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

Before Joshua led Israel into Canaan, the tribes
of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh

asked Moses for an inheritance in Gilead on
the other side of the Jordan in the wilderness.

Technically, Gilead is outside the promised land.
But these tribes agreed to fight in Canaan and
only then return across the Jordan

to their inheritance. Moses
agreed to the arrangement.

Their time to go home had finally come!

But something unexpected happens. The two-and-a-half
tribes build an altar to God next to the Jordan River.

The rest of the tribes are highly offended.

The Law of Moses forbade any sacrificial
altar other than the one in the tabernacle.

In fact, Israel’s conquest tore
down other altars in the land.

It looked like these tribes were setting
up a forbidden altar inside God’s land.

The leaders of Israel travel out to meet them, ready to
continue their holy war against their own people if necessary.

The Israelites believe that if they let this
altar remain, God will judge the whole nation.

But it’s all a misunderstanding.

The two-and-a-half tribes explain that they did not
build the altar for sacrifices, but as a sign.

With the boundary of the Jordan between
them, they feared that future Israelites

in the promised land would cut
them off from God’s tabernacle.

They built the altar as a reminder that the
two-and-a-half tribes across the Jordan are

still part of God’s people,
and still live in God’s land.

[music]

At the same boundary between
the promised land and Gilead—

and in the same place where the
altar was built—Jesus was baptized.

He traveled from the promised land, up to the
boundary of the Jordan, and then into the wilderness.

And it was from his place outside the promised land, beyond
the Jordan, that Jesus began to preach about his Kingdom.

Jesus chose those locations intentionally.

He was revealing a truth that the two-and-
a-half tribes hinted at with their altar—that

access to God will not be just for Israel,
but for all nations outside Canaan’s border.

Jesus is the one acceptable altar of God.

The sacrifice of his body on the cross not only
destroyed sin and death, but division and exclusion.

No matter where you are, you need not fear
that you won’t be included in God’s people

or will somehow lose access to God,
like the two-and-a-half tribes feared.

Jesus’ sacrifice is a sign that anyone who puts
their faith in God will be brought into God’s presence.

May the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God
who makes a way for all nations to draw close to him.

And may you see Jesus as the final
altar around whom all people may come.