• Dene's Blog
  • About Dene
  • Contact Dene
  • Dene's Recipes
  • Dene's Books
  • Dene's Classbooks
  • Gallery
  • Recommended Sites
  • FAQ & Tutorial
  Flight Paths

The Daughters of Zelophehad

6/20/2013

1 Comment

 
This is especially for all those young ladies who try to be righteous—they don’t dress like the other girls, or talk like them.  They respect their parents and follow the rules.  And their peers make them pay for being so different.  They often feel unpopular with girls their age, ignored by boys their age, and unimportant to anyone.  This one’s for you, girls.

The Bible is full of teenaged girls who made a difference.  When you realize that the custom was to marry at puberty, the list becomes longer than you thought:  Esther, even five years after being chosen queen, was probably no older than 19 when she took her life in her hands and stood before King Ahasuerus.  Mary traveled on that donkey (I assume she did not walk), nine months pregnant, and probably already in labor, at about 14 or 15.

And do you know about the daughters of Zelophehad?  Tirzah, Mahlah, Noah, Milcah, and Hoglah—not names we are likely to give our own daughters, but good girls, nonetheless.  We know they were not married, so, given the customs, the oldest was probably not more than 14.  Their father, unfortunately, was one of that generation that died in the wilderness, and they had no brothers; they were left alone at the end of the wilderness wandering. 

The law, that new thing they were all becoming accustomed to, said that only sons could inherit.  When  a daughter married, she was automatically absorbed into her husband’s tribe, so allowing a daughter to inherit land would have caused all sorts of confusion, with bits of one tribe now belonging to another, and on and on as it happened again and again until the whole land was a mess.  But inheritance was important to the Israelites.  It meant the name of the father would not die out as they all awaited a coming Messiah. 

So what did these young girls do?  They went to Moses and calmly presented their case.  Our father was not one of the rebels who gathered themselves against Jehovah in the company of Korah, they explained.  He was just one of the regular sinners who died in the wilderness.  Why should his name die out just because he had no sons?  Num 27:3,4.

Imagine that.  Five young girls approaching Moses, the venerable 120 year old leader.  I would never have had the courage, even if I felt my cause was just.  I might have asked someone to go for me, but by myself with only four sisters even younger than I?  Moses, and more important Jehovah, listened.  And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: you shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them, vv 6,7. But what about the problems that would cause?

Zelophehad was from the tribe of Manasseh.  When it came time to parcel out the land, “the heads of the fathers’ houses” went to Moses.  My lord was commanded by Jehovah to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.  And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.  Num 36:2,3.

Now we are back where we started, with the problem of land shifting ownership between tribes.  And once again Moses goes to God for the solution—a pretty good lesson to be learned in itself.  This is the thing which Jehovah commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married. So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe, 36:6,7.

So the problem is now solved by five teenage or younger girls, who had the courage to bring up something they saw as unfairness—not toward themselves, but toward their father and other men in his circumstance.  They went to Moses in an orderly fashion, presenting sound reasoning.  They were not riotous, disobedient or disrespectful.  When they received the inheritance they asked for, they had the maturity to realize that privilege demands responsibility.  What did they do? Even as Jehovah commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad: for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brothers' sons. they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. 36:10-12.  If there is any question at all as to their motive, surely their following of the new law concerning the marriage of inheriting daughters, then quietly going on with their lives settles it.

One wonders how many family names were kept alive because five adolescent girls had the chutzpah to speak up, the grace to do so respectfully, and the maturity to take on the responsibilities of their answered request.

Are young women important to God?  I think they are important to us all.  Let’s make sure they know it.

Dene Ward

1 Comment
Myss Lafunky link
4/14/2015 08:31:01 am

Yes sis, we are all important to God. We all just need to know when to speak and when not to speak. God expects us to speak out in relation to injustice and sharing the truth.

The daughters of Zelophehad were inspirational. They clearly were confident young women.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Author
    Dene Ward has taught the Bible for more than  forty years, spoken at women’s retreats and lectureships, and has written both devotional books and class materials. She lives in Lake Butler, Florida, with her husband Keith.


    Categories

    All
    A Wives Series
    Bible People
    Bible Study
    Birds & Animals
    Book Reviews
    Camping
    Children
    Cooking Kitchen
    Country Life
    Discipleship
    Everyday Living
    Faith
    Family
    Gardening
    Grace
    Guest Writer
    History
    Holiness
    Humility Unity
    Materialism
    Medical
    Music
    Prayer
    Psalms
    Salvation
    Trials

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly