Brave & Faithful Daughters
Reading: Numbers 25 - 27
My Verse: "Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were; Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregations, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, 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 from his own sin. And he had no sons. Why 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" (27:1-4).
This is an amazing event describing the courageous act of these brave daughters of Zelophehad. This was not a light thing that they did. They went against all the odds. They had to be very brave and faithful to stand up to Moses and the high priest, Eleazar!
One needs to remember the kind of society that the Israelite people lived in. It was highly patriarchial and tradition was everything! The tradition was that all inheritances went to the sons, if there was no son it then went on the the nearest male kin. To ask what they did was going against tradition.
It is also interesting that they pointed out that their father was not one of the notorious company of Korah, those who "gathered themselves against the LORD." This speaks to how they felt about their father. They obviously loved and respected him. One has to think he was a good father to his daughters and so they were faithful to his memory.
They had to have great courage! Not only were they doing something unheard of but they had to stand before Moses! That alone had to be scarey. And not only Moses but they also had to stand before "Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregations, at the entrance of the tent of meeting!" This could not have been an easy thing to do! But LORD God You gave them the courage they needed because they were obviously faithful believers in You and Your promises.
The brave and faithful daughters of Zelophehad obviously believed that they were going into the land of promise. They believed that You would do as You promised, bring them into the promised land and so they wanted their father's portion in that promised land.
Moses, not knowing how to deal with this went directly to You. You told him. "The daughters of Zelophehad are right." Wow! Just like that the brave and faithful daughters of Zelophehad changed how the inheritance was to be handled in the future. In the future if there were no sons the daughters would get the inheritance. "And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule, as the LORD commanded Moses" (27:11).
You teach us a wonderful lesson here LORD God through the beautiful daughters of Zelophehad! If we see something that needs changing then we should go for it trusting in Your help and guidance! We should not be afraid to ask You for something we feel strongly about. And women do matter and can made a difference in society. Many cultures of this world make women second class citizens and that is so wrong. Thank You, LORD God for this teaching. Your Word is enlighening to all that would read and heed it!
"the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether" (Psalm 19:9).
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
Reading: Numbers 25 - 27
My Verse: "Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were; Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregations, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, 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 from his own sin. And he had no sons. Why 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" (27:1-4).
This is an amazing event describing the courageous act of these brave daughters of Zelophehad. This was not a light thing that they did. They went against all the odds. They had to be very brave and faithful to stand up to Moses and the high priest, Eleazar!
One needs to remember the kind of society that the Israelite people lived in. It was highly patriarchial and tradition was everything! The tradition was that all inheritances went to the sons, if there was no son it then went on the the nearest male kin. To ask what they did was going against tradition.
It is also interesting that they pointed out that their father was not one of the notorious company of Korah, those who "gathered themselves against the LORD." This speaks to how they felt about their father. They obviously loved and respected him. One has to think he was a good father to his daughters and so they were faithful to his memory.
They had to have great courage! Not only were they doing something unheard of but they had to stand before Moses! That alone had to be scarey. And not only Moses but they also had to stand before "Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregations, at the entrance of the tent of meeting!" This could not have been an easy thing to do! But LORD God You gave them the courage they needed because they were obviously faithful believers in You and Your promises.
The brave and faithful daughters of Zelophehad obviously believed that they were going into the land of promise. They believed that You would do as You promised, bring them into the promised land and so they wanted their father's portion in that promised land.
Moses, not knowing how to deal with this went directly to You. You told him. "The daughters of Zelophehad are right." Wow! Just like that the brave and faithful daughters of Zelophehad changed how the inheritance was to be handled in the future. In the future if there were no sons the daughters would get the inheritance. "And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule, as the LORD commanded Moses" (27:11).
You teach us a wonderful lesson here LORD God through the beautiful daughters of Zelophehad! If we see something that needs changing then we should go for it trusting in Your help and guidance! We should not be afraid to ask You for something we feel strongly about. And women do matter and can made a difference in society. Many cultures of this world make women second class citizens and that is so wrong. Thank You, LORD God for this teaching. Your Word is enlighening to all that would read and heed it!
"the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether" (Psalm 19:9).
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
No comments:
Post a Comment