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.

As Israel takes back their ancestral
homeland, news of Joshua’s victories spreads.

The remaining kings in Canaan form
an alliance to take out Joshua and Israel.

But the Gibeonites refuse to participate.

Like Rahab, they had heard
of what God did in Egypt,

as well as to the kings Sihon
and Og across the Jordan River.

And just as Rahab’s lie protected the spies and her
family, the Gibeonites lie to save their people
and gain a place in God’s land.

They disguise themselves as emissaries from a
kingdom far in the north and outside the promised land.

They ask Israel to make a covenant with them.

They will become their servants
if Israel allows them to live.

And Joshua agrees.

But three days later he finds
out they have been tricked.

Joshua can’t break his promise. But his treaty with the
Gibeonites threatens Israel’s covenant with God.

When Joshua demands an explanation, the
Gibeonites explain that they knew Canaan was Israel’s

ancestral home, and they’re
confident God would give it to Israel.

The Gibeonites fear the true God of Canaan
and know their only hope is to ask for mercy.

Neither Rahab nor the Gibeonites are the first people
in the Bible to resort to deception to secure God’s blessing.

One of Israel’s founding fathers, Jacob
(whose name literally means “trickster”),

disguised himself as his brother and secured
the blessing reserved for the firstborn Esau.

Israel’s inclusion in God’s covenant began with a trick, and
now the Gibeonites, out of fear of the Lord, do the same.

And it works.

Throughout the rest of Scripture, Gibeon
is counted as part of God’s family.

[music]

God promised Israel the land of Canaan,
but it was never meant for just Israel.

God promised Abraham that through his offspring
all the nations of the world would be blessed.

Gibeon is one of those nations.

And just as the first father of Israel believed
God and was promised to be the father of many

nations through his offspring, Gibeon believes God
and thus becomes a part of God’s promises to Abraham.

The Apostle Paul says that when Abraham believed God
would give him his promised offspring,
he was actually trusting in Jesus,

even if he didn’t know his name.

Ultimately that’s why
Gibeon’s deception works.

When Gibeon quotes God’s promises to
Abraham and pleads for Joshua’s mercy,

they are really throwing
themselves on the mercy of Jesus.

That’s why even a group of lying
Cannanites can become God’s people.

Like the Canaanites’ land,
our lives belong to God.

One day he will take it back.

One day the grave will
demand our destruction.

God’s war path is inevitable.

But the good news is that we don't have to trick
God into accepting us into his kingdom

We do not have to act like someone we are
not or pretend we are better than we are.

We don’t have to deny our
nationality or ethnic heritage.

We become children of God
and citizens of his Kingdom.

We can own land in his new world.

These promises won’t happen by pretending
or hiding who we are, but by trusting God’s

promises are true and that Jesus
is powerful to bring them to pass.

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see the God
who keeps his promises to those who trust in him.

And may you see Jesus as the offspring of
Abraham who saves all nations from destruction.