WORDS: for good or evil?

 

                   The Daughters of Zelophehad

                                                                 Numbers 27

Valuing your inheritance...

 

Do you have a daughter? 

   What do you wish for her future? A healthy life, a prosperous home, children, or an exciting career? Or a child to love as you age? What name did you call her, and why did you select it? Was it a family name, or did you think it suited her? Or did it roll off your tongue as pleasant to the ear? Our parents assign us a name which is ours forever, and our identity is linked to it. Surnames identify our family, heritage, and ethnicity.

 The children of Israel gave their children significant names. Zelophehad, from the Manasseh tribe, had five daughters, and he named them Mahlah, No’ah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. Although the Israelites prized sons, this father expressed joy and rejoiced at his daughters’ births. Take a moment to consider their names.

 

The eldest was Mahlah, whose name means infirmity, pardon, or harp, followed by No’ah, motion or rest, Hoglah, a festival or dance, Milkah, a queen, and Tirzah, delight, or pleasantness. I imagine he thought of gentle harp music for Mahlah, and No’ah as a dancer. When Hoglah arrived, he held a party. Milkah was the pride of his heart, and Tirzah was his beautiful daughter. If Zelophehad dreamed of a son, he didn’t show his disappointment, but rejoiced in his daughters.

 

 

The Israelites wandered through the Sinai desert for forty years. God had promised Abraham’s inheritance was Canaan, and the Israelites clung to this hope, a land flowing with milk and honey. In the desert, they relied on God to feed them with manna and water. Moses, their priest and leader, had received God’s law to guide their lifestyle and their hearts.

 

    When Moses disappeared on the mountain, the hardships of desert life rocked their faith. They turned away from the Lord and Aaron created the golden calf for them to worship.

      On a second occasion, the sons of Korah mounted an insurrection against Moses. The earth swallowed them, and their family branch vanished from Israel, but God remained faithful to lead the nation to Canaan.

     Joseph had two sons, Ephraim, and Manasseh, each of whom became half tribes. God would grant them an inheritance east of the Jordan River. Zelophehad’s daughters were the seventh generation from Joseph and the tenth from Abraham.

 

        Zelophehad and his wife died in the desert. Hebrew law stated the deceased’s brother would marry his widow and raise an heir in his name, a practice known as Levirate marriage. This option was not available to Zelophehad’s daughters.

 

         Women without close male relatives faced the prospect of dispossession and homelessness. If the Promised Land was their future, where would these women live in Israel? They mustered their courage and approached the nation’s highest court where Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and leaders stood at the Tent of Meeting entrance before the entire assembly. This was where God dwelled, and the priest made atonement for the nation’s sins.

   With true bravery, they advocated for their deceased father’s inheritance.

 

 “Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives.”

 

    By approaching Moses, they knew no one could oppose the verdict. Their leader, a man whom God considered as his friend, brought their case before the Lord and he answered in their favor.

 

   “Zelophehad’s daughters must receive property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives.”  

 

   And the Lord explained how to distribute land if a sonless father died. The inheritance should pass to his daughters and then his brothers. If he had no brothers, to his father’s brothers, or to the nearest relative who might possess it.

 

    In Numbers 36, Zelophehad’s clan approached Moses. If these women married men from outside their tribe, their inheritance would pass from Joseph’s lineage to other tribes. In the Jubilee year, Mosaic law stated land holdings reverted to the original families. They would be lost if Zelophehad’s daughters married into different tribes since their possessions became their husband’s property.

   Once again, God clarified the law. They could wed anyone they pleased within their father’s tribal clan. No inheritance in Israel could pass from one tribe to another. Inheritance rights applied to individual families, clans, and tribes and were passed down from generation to generation. The women obeyed the Lord and married their cousins on their father’s side.

    After the Jordan crossing, Israel entered Canaan, and God directed Joshua to allocate land portions for each tribe. Mahlah, No’ah, Hoglah. Milkah and Tirzah visited Eleazar and Joshua to claim their inheritance. Manasseh’s share comprised ten allotments, and the women received their inheritance among the sons. God had honored their courage and persistence and they settled east of the Jordan.

 

    These brave women hold a special position in Israel’s history, and Zelophehad’s name has been preserved in the Bible. Their father had loved them, and they preserved his inheritance by honoring the Lord with their faith. As five wise virgins, they focused on the future and prepared for it. But their influence extended beyond their circumstances by setting a precedent for women of future generations. The nation would face battles and men would lose their lives. This law provided for their widows and families, along with Levirate marriage and these men’s inheritances would be preserved.  

 

   Moses represented the Lord God to the people and, by seeking his guidance, Zelophehad’s daughters appealed to God, who affirmed their right and provided a solution. Compare them to Lot’s daughters, who faced a similar problem. They didn’t know the Lord and expanded their family through incest. If we know the Lord and teach our daughters how to love Jesus, he guides our judgement and supplies our needs.

 

   These women possessed the courage to face the limelight before the nation. While we may shrink from publicity, we must defend our faith, our God given inheritance. Our sisters in the Muslim world face persecution in Jesus’ name. We should pray for them since we all belong to the Lord Jesus Christ’s family. All Christian believers wait with huge expectation and faith for our eternal inheritance, which God has promised us.

 

    Inheritances and family legacies are fundamental to our identity. Adoptees say they suffer identity loss when their ancestry is obscure. God created us with a desire to belong, and he perpetuated it in Israel through establishing their homeland. He ruled the nation as its king until they rejected him for an earthly monarch. God gave them kings, men who led them astray. But God hadn’t forgotten his people. He sent prophets to implore them to repent and to tell them about the Messiah, who would redeem them.

  Jesus came, and his death and resurrection were an atonement for our sins, making us fit for heaven. He adopted us into God’s family and his Father is our Father. We have received the Son as our brother, our Lord and Saviour. Our heavenly Father has made us joint heirs with Christ and given us a new name, identity, and family. We share in his glory and his sufferings because God loves us as he loves his Son.

 

 What characterizes our inheritance in Christ? What will we inherit when we enter our Father’s home? He has given us a guarantee to confirm our expectations, the Holy Spirit. He gifts us with eternal life both for now and in his holy city, where the streets are paved in gold and decorated with precious stones. But Jesus’ glory, the light of the world, will shine into every corner and we will be with him forever. This inheritance will never fade, and Jesus is preparing it for us while we wait for his return.

 

   As a daughter of Eve, have you asked Jesus to forgive you? Have you received your eternal inheritance in Christ? He offers eternal life through his Son.

 Jesus said, “Here I am! Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

 

   If you are a member of Jesus’ family, he will satisfy your heart and offer you a place in his Father’s house. Zelophehad’s daughters, as members of Israel, gathered manna in the desert and dreamed about their inheritance in Canaan. Their faith opened the way to their inheritance, which could have been lost forever. Without Christ, our sin bans us from heaven, but Jesus’ blood cleanses us of sin. I pray you will ask Jesus to forgive you of your past. Do you dream about a heavenly life? You can be your Heavenly Father’s child and receive your eternal inheritance in Christ.

 

   What is the core of your identity? Is it your possessions, your career, your family, or Christ? What will you inherit when you pass into eternity? Christ’s inheritance or eternal loss? Accept him today.

Thank you for reading. My prayers are with you.