Chapter 26, the last chapter in last week’s parsha was the report of a census taken at God’s command. In this census, just prior to going into the Land, all the tribes are listed and their population of men is recorded. Note I said men, not men, women, and children. Society in those days was very much Patriarchal.
That meant that women were not regarded as being equal to men. They were little more than property, like a horse, or cow. Women had few rights. So it would appear that the land of milk and honey was available only to men and not women. That doesn’t seem fair to us today.
The daughters of Zelophehad were facing a dilemma. Their father had perished in the wilderness along with everyone else of his generation because of the sin of Israel when the 10 spy’s report was accepted over the report of Joshua and Caleb. Their father had died without a male heir. That was a big deal in ancient times. Hey, it can be a big deal in today’s world. I knew a pastor that had 4 daughters before finally getting his son. They stopped at that point. But the laws of inheritance dictated that a man have a son.
These 5 daughters of Zelophehad were at risk of losing the family inheritance and any means of support other than through marriage. So, they mustered up a good bit of courage. I don’t think we can actually comprehend how much chutzpah it took for them to go before Moses, Eleazar, and all the elders. Here were women, who had no more standing before the law than cattle, petitioning from Moses something that was not in the Sinaitic covenant. And yet they asked.
So now Moses is faced with a dilemma. The custom of the day was that women had no standing before the law and yet here they were. They had made their petition known not only to him but the High Priest, and all the elders. The easy way out for Moses was to hide behind precedent and send the women away. But Moses had more integrity than that. Perhaps he also saw the inequity of the situation. Moses had some asking of his own to do. He went before the Lord and asked what he should do.
Hashem is not a God who cannot be approached. He is not like ancient kings who forbid anyone to come before them without permission. The story of Esther is a prime example. No, we can approach God at any time.
Yeshua said in Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
What was the result of the 5 women coming before Moses? The law was changed. Women could now inherit just like a man. What would have been the situation if these women had not had the courage to ask? We can only surmise that the laws prohibiting women from inheriting property would have continued on.
There are a couple of things I want to point out today from this parsha.
1. Be Aware
2. Be Strong
3. Ask for your victory
There are three kinds of people in this world. Those that make things happen. Those that watch things happen and those the ask “what happened”. God wants us to be out there on the field playing the game, not sitting on the sidelines watching. In today’s world of sports most of us cannot participate in professional arenas. We must watch. But fortunately, as a Believer, we are not called to sit on the sidelines watching, or even worse sitting at home not being aware of what God is doing in the world.
Yeshua told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. But He didn’t stop there. That is just the beginning. He said to make disciples of all men.
Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, (20) teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember! I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Making disciples is hard work. It means that you have to first be a disciple of the Lord. Learn his ways, study His word, be an imitator of the Lord. That requires action. I don’t see anything in that great commission that allows us to sit on the seat and watch others do the work.
Making disciples requires a personal commitment. You have to spend time with people. You have love people, care about people, be involved with people. That doesn’t sound like sitting on the sidelines. No, get out of your comfort zone and do something.
At the end of every Book in the Torah there is the admonition Hazak, hazak, v’nit’chazek. Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened. Why do you suppose that is? Because our forefathers knew that we would get tired, we would lose our strength and we would sometimes feel weak. So it became a custom to cheer each other on in the Lord. How often do we do that to our brothers and sisters? Are we cheerleaders or do we shoot our wounded? There are certain people here at Tree of Life that are encouragers. They seem to know when I need a good word. They are upbeat and lift my spirit. Even though they may not be strong physically, they are strong spiritually and are advancing the Kingdom of God by strengthening someone else’s faith.
One of my friends from long ago posted this on Facebook recently. I thought it was appropriate. You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee? You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea. The point is whatever is inside the cup, is what will spill out. There, when life comes along and shakes you (which will happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it, until you get rattled. So, we have to ask ourselves, “What’s in my cup?” When life gets tough, what spills out? Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? Or does anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions come out? You choose! Today let’s work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, kindness, gentleness and love for others.
Let’s be a strong cheerleader!
1. Don’t be afraid to ask for the victory.
Yacov, the brother of Yeshua said it like this.
James 1:5-6 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all without hesitation and without reproach; and it will be given to him. (6) But let him ask in faith, without any doubting—for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
In another chapter he put it like this:
James 4:2-3 You crave and have not. You murder and you envy, yet you cannot get it. You fight and you wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. (3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives so you may spend it on your passions.
When we have difficulties, struggles, disruptions, don’t try to battle in your own strength. It will not end well. God’s word says to ask the Lord for strength, resources, peace, wisdom or whatever it is that you need. Ask in faith and with the right motives and the Lord will hear your prayers.
1 John 3:22 and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
1 John 5:15 And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have the requests we have asked from Him.
I’m not going to stand up here in front of you today and tell you something foolish such as “God will answer your hearts desire because He is obligated by His word. If you want that Mercedes or Beemer, just ask and you will receive. If you pray for that 10 million dollar mansion, God is just sitting on the edge of His throne just waiting to dispatch a thousand angels with hammers and saws in hand.” No. He doesn’t work that way. Just like you as a good parent did not or do not give your child everything they asked for because it would have been harmful to them. God knows what we need. And we need to understand and have trust in Him to supply our needs.
He still invites us to ask. If you don’t ask you will not receive. If those 5 women in ancient Israel did not ask, they would not have received their inheritance. So I encourage you today. Is there a desire on your heart? God will never rebuke you for asking in faith and asking for His perfect will in your life. He’s our Heavenly Father, the Perfect Father that knows everything about us and what we need. Trust Him today.
