“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him. Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few.”

– Numbers 26:52-56

If you’re like me, reading Numbers is often a chore, boring, and seems pointless. While the book of Numbers is crucial for maintaining records of lineages, I was reading Numbers 26-27 today and caught something I never had before – semi related to Shiprah and Puah and Jael, there are some women who greatly influenced history, even though they aren’t talked about as much as Rahab, Ruth, and Esther, for example.

The Israelites were nearing the Promised Land. They had been wandering for forty years, in the wilderness and the only original ones left were Caleb, Joshua, and Moses. As one of the last things Moses did, God told him that the promised land should be divided for an inheritance unto the tribes and men within those tribes (Numbers 26:52-56).

Now that I’ve given you some background, let’s get to today’s passage:

“Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons. Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father. And Moses brought their cause before the Lord.”

– Numbers 27:1-5

These five daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah went together and did something women were not expected to ever do back in those times. They went to Moses (the leader of Israel), before Eleazar (the priest of Israel), before the princes (the leaders of the tribes of Israel), and all the congregation (all of Israel) and asked for an inheritance. Their father had died during those 40 years of Israel’s judgement. He had not gathered with Korah against the Lord (you can read more about that in Numbers 16). He had no sons, instead, he had five fiery daughters, who asked for an inheritance in the Promised Land among the brethren of their father’s tribe. These five women had just done something so shocking and what I imagine was the talk of the tribe for many many months later. Women didn’t speak up and ask for things back then in history. They would surely be laughed at, if not worse. 

But did you read verse 5? Moses brought their cause to the Lord. They’d provided evidence, made a strong case, and Moses (instead of letting societal pressures and his environment be the determination) let God be the judge. 

Let’s read on to see what happens:

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

– Numbers 27:6-11

God told Moses that they were right – they should surely get an inheritance in the Promised Land with their father’s tribe – what their father would have gotten, had he had sons, now was given to his five daughters. And this also caused new rules for Israel, no longer just having it pass down to sons. If a man died, and he didn’t have a son, his daughter would get his inheritance. If no daughter, then to his brothers, or his next relations. Imagine all the other people who found themselves in the same position as Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, but yet weren’t brave enough to bring it up or say anything about it because that’s just now how things were done. Because those five were brave and asked, new statutes in Israel were created to benefit the others who stayed silent. 

There are quite a few things we can learn from this. We can be like Zelophehad’s daughters – even though it may seem out of place, and unexpected of us, we can make a case for what is right. We can be like Moses, who (instead of letting culture guide his decisions) went straight to God. God is the ultimate judge, and we need to look to him for guidance. Because you are brave enough to speak up, to get truth from God, you may be able to change the lives of those around you, too. 

As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below or contact me here – I love hearing from you!

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All scripture taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.