They weren’t priests. They weren’t prophets. They weren’t kings or warriors.

But their names made the list.

Tucked into the book of Ezra, amid the roll call of returning exiles, you’ll find them—the Nethinim. Temple servants. Ordinary, overlooked, uncelebrated. A group of 392 men, grafted into God’s people (Ezra 2:58).

They didn’t start out in the temple. They weren’t born into the faith. They weren’t even Israelites by blood.

They had no right to be there.

But grace has a way of rewriting stories.

A Deceitful Beginning

Their ancestors were the Gibeonites, a Canaanite people who saw Israel’s conquest coming like a storm on the horizon. Jericho had crumbled. Ai had fallen. And Gibeon knew they were next.

So, they got creative.

They dressed in rags, tattered sandals, stuffed their bags with moldy bread, and limped into Israel’s camp, pretending to be weary travelers from a distant land. “Make a covenant with us,” they pleaded.

Joshua believed them. He never asked God, never sought His counsel. He shook their hands and made a promise.

Three days later, the truth came out. The Gibeonites weren’t from some faraway land. They were neighbors, living just a few miles down the road.

Tricked. Deceived. Scammed.

Joshua had every right to break the covenant, to wipe them out for their dishonesty. But he didn’t. Instead, he put them to work. They became servants in God’s house—hauling water, chopping wood, laboring in the temple (Joshua 9:27).

They entered by deception. But they stayed by devotion.

The Mirror of Our Hearts

Their story? It’s our story.

David tells us in Psalm 58:3, “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.”

We are the Gibeonites. Born with deceit in our DNA. Trained in the art of self-preservation. Masters of the cover-up.

We come to God like they came to Joshua—bargaining, pretending, negotiating. We put on our Sunday best, say the right words, and try to impress Him. We mask our sin. We play the part.

And unlike Joshua, God isn’t fooled.

He sees through the disguise. He knows the truth before we ever speak a word. He sees every hidden motive, every impure thought, every lie we’ve ever told.

And He has every right to send us away.

But instead, He makes a covenant.

Welcomed by Covenant

Joshua made a covenant with the Gibeonites under false pretense, and they were spared.

But God has made a greater covenant with us through Truth—not sealed with words, but with the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Joshua was deceived. God never is.

He knew exactly who we were when He called us. He saw the deceit, the rebellion, the filth. He saw the pride that keeps us from admitting how broken we are. And yet, through Jesus, He still welcomes us in.

Through Jesus, the deceivers become disciples.
The liars become loved.
The outsiders become family.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:19, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.”

Much like the Nethinim, we don’t deserve a place in God’s house. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t achieve it. But grace found us anyway.

And now? Now we get a new name.

A New Name

Joshua welcomed the Gibeonites into the household of Israel, and because of the covenant, they were no longer known as Gibeonites—hill people—but as Nethinim, a people dedicated, set apart, and holy unto the Lord.

What they once were no longer defined them. Deceivers became servants, outsiders became insiders, and those who once lived by trickery now lived by truth.

Much like them, we, too, have been given a new name through Christ. No longer defined by our past, no longer marked by our failures, but called holy, chosen, and beloved because of the covenant made in His blood.

A Life of Devotion

The Nethinim embraced their place in God’s house. They labored. They served. They never held high positions, never wore royal robes, never stood in the spotlight. But they stayed.

They made the temple their home.

Should we not do the same?

We who were once deceivers, once far from God, have been brought near by Jesus. Let’s not waste this grace. Let’s live lives of devotion, giving ourselves fully to the One who made a covenant of love with us.

We started as liars. But in Christ, we are loved.
We were once outsiders. But now, we belong.
And one day, we will serve—not in a temple made by human hands, but in the very presence of God Himself.

What a covenant.
What a God.
What a Savior.