The Christians who are responsible to the end

“and said to them, ‘You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded.  For a long time now--to this very day--you have not deserted your brothers but have carried out the mission the LORD your God gave you.’”(Joshua 22:2–3).

Are we Christians trustworthy in the eyes of the people in this world?  Are we Christians trustworthy when we look at each other?  For some reason we don't seem to trust each other while looking at each other because we lost trust to each other.  Why did we lose trust?  The reason is because we are not keeping what we say with our mouths.  We spit out many promises in our mouths, but in reality we are not faithfully keeping those promises.  As such, we Christians now become irresponsible people without credibility.  What should we do?

                In Joshua 22:2-3, we see Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (v. 1) who went for the conquest of Canaan, the Promised Land and complimented them.  In short, the content of the compliment is that they had kept the God's commanded responsibilities to the end (v. 3).  What was the responsibility of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh that they had kept to the end?  It was to go armed over the Jordan before the Lord until He drove His enemies out before Him, until the land was subdued before the Lord (Num. 32:21-22).  Initially, Moses rebuked the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh because they discouraged the Israelites (vv. 7, 9) by asking Moses “Do not make us cross the Jordan” (v. 5).  The reason that asked Moses not to cross the Jordan was because they had very large herds and flock and the land of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock (v. 1).  So they wanted to build pens there for their livestock and cities for their women and children (v. 16).  Think about it.  The nine and half-tribe of Manasseh were about to cross the Jordan and to try to enter the land of Canaan, which God promised to give, but the the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh asked Moses “Do not make us cross the Jordan” (v. 5) for their families and livestocks.  How disheartening this was to other nine and half-tribe?  This was indeed the irresponsible request that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh made to Moses (v. 5).  But fortunately the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh heard the Moses’ rebuke and made the promise, “We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance” (v. 18) after they built pens for their livestock and cities for their women and children, for their protection from the inhabitants of the land (v. 17).  Also, they promised that they would not receive any inheritance with other nine and half-tribe on the land of Canaan 9v. 19).  Upon hearing this, Moses commanded the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to do what they had promised (v. 24).  Then they answered Moses: “We your servants will do as our lord commands.  Our children and wives, our flocks and herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead.  But your servants, every man armed for battle, will cross over to fight before the LORD, just as our lord says” (vv. 25-27).  And not only did they keep all that Moses had commanded them, but they also heeded all that Joshua had commanded who became the Israel leader after the death of Moses.  The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had not deserted their brothers but had carried out the mission the Lord their God gave them (Jos. 22:3).  They kept their responsibilities to the end, as the word of promise spoken through their mouths.  They showed their faithfulness as they made their vow.  How responsible and trustworthy were these people?

                We must keep the word of promise like the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.  And we must keep it faithfully.  The reason is because our God is faithful.  It is also because God, who has made not one of the good promises which He had made to the house of Israel failed but came to pass (21:45), is a sincere and faithful God who keeps the words promised to us in Jesus Christ to the end.  If we have faith in our God and love Him who is sincere and faithful, then we must endure and fulfill our Lord-given responsibilities to us.  I hope and pray that we be faithful to the Lord to the end.