Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward. Zelophehad was son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph, a member of the Manassite clans. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and they said, 3“Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin; and he had no sons. 4Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.” 5Moses brought their case before the Lord. 6And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 7The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father’s brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them. 8You shall also say to the Israelites, “If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall pass his inheritance on to his daughter. 9If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. It shall be for the Israelites a statute and ordinance, as the Lord commanded Moses.” (Numbers 27:1-11)
The heads of the ancestral houses of the clans of the descendants of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, of the Josephite clans, came forward and spoke in the presence of Moses and the leaders, the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelites; 2they said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3But if they are married into another Israelite tribe, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our ancestors and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so it will be taken away from the alloted portion of our inheritance. 4And when the jubilee of the Israelites comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they have married; and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.” 5Then Moses commanded the Israelites according to the word of the LORD, saying, “The descendants of the tribe of Joseph are right in what they are saying. 6This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, ‘Let them marry whom they think best; only it must be into a clan of their father’s tribe that they are married, 7so that no inheritance of the Israelites shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for all Israelites shall retain the inheritance of their ancestral tribes. 8Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the Israelites shall marry one from the clan of her father’s tribe, so that all Israelites may continue to possess their ancestral inheritance. 9No inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for each of the tribes of the Israelites shall retain its own inheritance.’” 10The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 11Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married sons of their father’s brothers. 12They were married into the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan. 13These are the commandments and the ordinances that the LORD commanded through Moses to the Israelites in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. (Numbers 36:1-13)
Let me ask you a question – Are there times when you suspect that God is not fair? That is an underlying concern of Numbers 27:1-11 and Numbers 36:1-13.
These two texts are extracted from the narrative of Israel’s journey toward the Promised Land. At the time of these events, the Israelites were being judged for an earlier decision (Numbers chapters 13 and 14) to affirm the suggestion to return to Egypt.
During this season of rebellion and judgment, a man name Zelophedad passed away, leaving to mourn five daughters and no sons. The sociological significance of this situation was that Israel observed a patrilineal descent system and a patriarchal authority system. The daughters were at risk of losing the family inheritance; the existing laws only recognized male heirs.
In these two texts, we see two questions raised: (1) Is there any way that Zelophedad's property could be transferred to the daughters and (2) not be transferred to another tribe if they married?
But in addition to this point of interpretive difficulty in the Law, there is also a point of interpretive difficulty concerning what we should believe about the fairness of God.
From the call of Abraham to the united Davidic kingdom, the message that we hear from God about the Israelites is that He loves them and will bless them if they follow Him exclusively. But in these passages, we seen five Israelite women, through no fault of their own, at risk of losing their inheritance. They did not ask to be born. They did not ask to be born females in a male dominated society. They did not pray that their father would not have a son to protect their inheritance. There is no evidence of them committing a sin worthy of disinheritance. Is the God who loves Israel the same God who gave them a raw deal by having them born female? Is God fair?
If you listen closely, you will hear the fears of these women. Without an inheritance, their economic futures are uncertain. Without an inheritance, they will not have a tribal identity as descendants of Abraham. Because they were born women, they have been left out, locked out and marginalized. The land of milk and honey was only available to men. They were seemingly being disenfranchised for having the wrong set of chromosomes.
Moreover, how do they make sense of the God they are told to worship? What kind of God plays favorites? What kind of God rewards one gender and punishes another? How is this one true God superior to the pagan gods if He treats His children this way?
The answers to this dilemma comes in two parts. First, the law was changed to allow property to pass on the daughters if there were no sons. Second, the daughters had to marry men related to their father (male cousins most likely) to retain rights to the property. God’s grace made space for the daughters of Zelophedad. And that is the message I want to share today. The law of God stands firm. But His grace makes space for His children.
Look at Israel’s history. Time after time, in one fashion or another, either the leaders or the people rejected the ways of God, Did they suffer punishment? Yes – without question. The Assyrian conquest in 722 BC and the Babylonian captivity in 387/6 BC were judgments from disobedience. Yet God has not cast Israel off forever; His grace will make space for them.
Look at us. Our hands, feet, mouths and hearts are not clean; what we do, where we go, what we say and what we cherish often vary from the perfect will of God. We are sinners. If someone tells you that they 'live above sin', what they mean is that they have an apartment that sits over a strip club. All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But through the blood of Christ, God’s grace has made space for us. For we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest anyone should boast.
Look at Calvary. God’s law declared that the sin of humanity must be judged. God’s love said that all of humanity was too precious to perish. So God’s grace mandated that Christ pay a debt that He did not owe for people who were too poor to pay. In like manner, these two texts reassure us today, that God’s laws do not negate His love. His grace makes space.
If there is anyone here today who feels left out, locked out and marginalized. If there is anyone here today who feels like God is not fair. If there is anyone here who wonders if God even knows that you exist. Please know that God is ready, willing and able to receive you and care for you. For 2000 years ago, God’s grace made space for you. Come now and claim your inheritance. Amen.
