Slices
Prepare
Is today just another day, or part of something bigger (see 1 Corinthians 2:9)?
Bible passage
Inheritance of Zelophehad’s daughters
36 The family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the heads of the Israelite families. 2 They said, ‘When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. 4 When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our ancestors.’
5 Then at the Lord’s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: ‘What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: they may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within their father’s tribal clan. 7 No inheritance in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. 8 Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. 9 No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.’
10 So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Zelophehad’s daughters – Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah and Noah – married their cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father’s tribe and clan.
13 These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Explore
What a strange ending! An obscure legal ruling is hardly the resounding dénouement we might have hoped for. But maybe that is the point. When Zelophehad’s daughters raised the question of their family inheritance, it took up only half of chapter 27. The rest was to do with Joshua succeeding Moses after his death. But we have heard nothing further about this. The story cannot end here – read on into Deuteronomy and Joshua to see how it concludes.
Today, marriage has become a public expression of a very private affair, ‘our special day’. Marriage has also become an issue of individual human rights. This incident frames marriage very differently. The choice of marriage partner had huge implications for these women’s family and tribe. Ultimately, their choice would impact on the fulfilment of God’s promise in Genesis 17:8: ‘The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.’ All the characters of this chapter are part of a story that is far bigger than them. ‘My story’ becomes significant when I learn to see it as part of God’s story. If we don’t, we may find ourselves back in the wilderness of self-preoccupation.
Respond
Are we so preoccupied with our own story that we are preventing not only ourselves but others entering into the fulness of God’s blessing? How does your story fit into God’s story?
Deeper Bible study
Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage … lend a helping hand.’1 Seek God’s grace to cultivate this attitude.
In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) set out basic rights and freedoms universally applicable to all human beings. Fifty years later, the recognition that ‘the effective enjoyment and implementation of human rights and fundamental freedoms are inextricably linked to the assumption of the duties and responsibilities implicit in those rights’ gave rise to the Declaration of Human Duties and Responsibilities.
In a question relating to land rights, God had upheld the right of Zelophehad’s daughters to inherit (v 2),2 but it didn’t take 50 years to recognise the necessity for the responsible exercise of this right! While ‘they may marry anyone they please’ (v 6), this is constrained by the requirement to ‘marry within their father’s tribal clan’ (v 6). This would safeguard the inheritance of every Israelite, a consideration so important that it is repeated three times (vs 7–9).
Paul echoes this mindset when he reminds the Corinthian church that gifts given to ‘each one’ must be used for the ‘common good’.3 As a consequence of Covid-19, many countries experienced lockdowns which restricted individual freedoms. Such restrictions were necessary to protect whole communities from infection. Given that the inheritance of a whole clan was at risk (vs 3,4), women who enjoyed special land rights were required to be responsible in their exercise of marriage rights. In a narrative marked by repeated acts of disobedience, the women’s obedience blesses the whole community and forms a refreshing conclusion to the book of Numbers.
‘...do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love.’4 How does this shape your attitudes and decisions regarding rights and responsibilities?
1 Phil 2:3,4, The Message 2 See also Num 27:7 3 1 Cor 12:7 4 Gal 5:13, TNIV
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ecclesiastes 12; 1 Timothy 3
Pray for Scripture Union
Praise God for opening the hearts of the children at Believe Club and Worship Wonders, most of whom are not from Christian homes, to receive Jesus’ message of hope and love. (This week's prayers relate to this article)
