So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not from the Israelites. Instead they were a remnant of the Amorites. Although the Israelites had made a pact with them, Saul attempted to destroy them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.
For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will in no way enter the kingdom of heaven.
When they heard this, they glorified the Lord. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who believe, and they are all zealous for the law.
as even the high priest and the council of elders bear witness of me. From them I received letters to the brothers in Damascus, where I went to take even those who were there and lead them in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.
that you may be blameless and harmless, sons of God, without fault, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world.
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God on the basis of faith,
Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he tore down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”