Then drew near 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 were the names of his daughters Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.
Five sisters step forward by name, their family line running back through Manasseh to Joseph. Their father died leaving no son, so the family stood to lose both its name and its share of the promised land.
Scripture lists their names one by one. One writer counts how often those names come up.
They are mentioned five times in the course of biblical history (Numbers 26:33; Numbers 27:1-11; Numbers 36:3-12; Joshua 17:3-6; 1 Chronicles 7:15). This proves the important place they occupy in God's thoughts. Not one of their names is forgotten; they are Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They recognized that their unusual situation was the result of their father's sin. He was not among those who banded together against the LORD in the company of Korah. Yet he died in the wilderness, and died for his own sin, and that is why he had no sons. Even so, his five daughters want to keep their father's name alive. As true daughters of Israel they value their family line, and so they value their inheritance.
They made their claim in the wilderness. Nobody in Israel had yet set foot on the land they asked for, and they asked in front of everyone.
But consider what a living and practical faith that was! It enabled these women to come forward and stand before all the priests and princes, and the whole vast congregation, to claim a portion of a land they could not yet see. How ridiculous it was, or else how sublime! It depends on how you look at it, for the same action is often sublime towards God and ridiculous towards men. What presumption — yes, that is the word! — for someone to believe he has a right to a portion in the Promised Land. And then to try to make it real, a solid thing! What presumption indeed, or what humility and faith! Is it presumption to believe God's promises?
Death had cut their visible link to a share in the land. Faith refused to treat that as final.
They were sure there was a portion for them in the land of promise. Neither death nor anything that happened in the wilderness could ever take it from them. "Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son?" Could death — could the lack of a male heir — could anything — frustrate the goodness of God? Impossible.
Moses had no ruling ready for their case.
The matter in itself was a small one. But the principle involved was so great and far-reaching that even Moses felt he could not take the responsibility of deciding it. He referred the subject to the judgment of God. So easy is it for the humblest to ask a question which the wisest cannot solve. Rulers are usually careful to protect their reputation for knowing everything. If Moses had been like that, he would never have admitted his inability to solve a difficulty that looked so simple.
No existing rule covered their case. One writer says that is where God's character shows.
There was no son left. This kind of case had never come up before. But as we see, the daughters of Zelophehad counted on God, and not in vain. God cannot be like poor human beings, who say, "You expect more good than I am prepared to give." God could not answer like that. He always gives more. Whatever the petition of faith may be, the answer of grace never fails to go beyond it. And so the goodness of God secures their place, though it lies outside the usual routine of law.
Their speaking up did not only settle their own case.
Here we have a great principle laid down about inheritance. Humanly speaking, we would have heard nothing of it without the faith and faithful conduct of these remarkable women. Suppose they had listened to the voice of timidity and unbelief. Suppose they had refused to come forward before the whole congregation to assert the claims of faith. They would have lost their own inheritance and blessing, and all future daughters of Israel in the same position would have lost their portion too.
They gained more than land, and one writer holds them up as an example for readers today.
These five young women valued their inheritance, and they received it from the mouth of the LORD. But they received something of far greater value: their names written in the Holy Scriptures… May God grant that believers today copy the zeal of these sisters. They are heirs of a much better inheritance.
- Loss — Their father died in the wilderness for his own sin and left no son. The family faced losing its name and its portion.
- Faith — They asked for a share in land nobody had yet seen, sure that death could not cancel God's goodness.
- Boldness — They brought the claim in the open, before Moses, the priest, the leaders, and the whole assembly.
- Grace — The answer of grace goes beyond what faith asks. God secured their place outside the usual routine of law.
- Reach — If they had stayed silent, every future daughter in their position would have lost her portion. Instead, their names stand in Scripture.
And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying,
The five daughters of Zelophehad bring their case out in the open — before Moses, the priest, the leaders and the whole nation. Why did a family matter belong in front of everyone, and what were they asking for that the law had not yet covered?
They stood before two audiences at once: God, and the watching nation.
Consider what a living and practical faith that was. It enabled these women to come forward and stand before all the priests and princes, and the whole vast assembly. They came to claim a portion of a land not yet visible. How supremely ridiculous it was, or else how sublime! It depends on how you look at it. The same action is often sublime towards God and ridiculous towards men.
Their stand decided more than their own case.
Suppose they had listened to the voice of timidity and unbelief. Suppose they had refused to come forward before the whole assembly and press the claims of faith. Then they would have lost their own inheritance and blessing. And all future daughters of Israel in the same position would have lost their portion too. Instead they acted in the precious energy of faith. They preserved their inheritance. They got the blessing. They received testimony from God. Their names shine on the page of inspiration.
Their case had a painful background, and nothing moved until they brought it to God themselves.
They recognised that their situation came from their father's sin. Even so, they wanted to keep his name alive; they valued their family line and so their inheritance. The Lord waits to set their situation in order until they express this need before Him. He answers them when they stand at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and when Moses "brought their cause before Jehovah" (v. 5). God says: "The daughters of Zelophehad speak right." Wherever there is zeal to take hold of God's blessings and promises, an answer is sure.
Of all the people they stood before, Moses was the one expected to rule on it. He could not.
Noble words — words that went right up to the throne and to the heart of the God of Israel. It was a most powerful testimony delivered in the hearing of the whole assembly. Moses was taken aback. Here was something beyond the range of the lawgiver.
What he did next is the model for anyone handed a question they cannot settle.
The matter in itself was a small one. But the principle behind it was great and far-reaching. Even Moses felt he could not take the responsibility of deciding it. He referred the subject to the judgment of God. How easy it is for the humblest person to ask a question the wisest cannot solve! Rulers are usually careful to guard their reputation for knowing everything. If Moses had been like them, he would never have admitted that he could not solve a difficulty that looked so simple.
Nothing in the law so far had covered daughters without brothers. They counted on God anyway.
This was a case which had not yet arisen; but as we see, the daughters of Zelophehad counted on God, and not in vain. God can never be like a poor man who says, "You expect more good than I am prepared to give." God could not answer like that. He always gives more. Whatever the petition of faith may be, the answer of grace never fails to go beyond it. So God's goodness secures the place of the daughters of Zelophehad, though it lies outside the usual routine of law.
Israel was still outside the land when the five women asked for their share in it.
In Numbers 27 we find that this gave rise to legislation in Israel, though they had not yet reached the land where the inheritance was to be. So these daughters were women of faith who relied on the promise of God. They took it for granted that the inheritance would come, and asked that their father's portion should not be lost. Faith is always right and it commands a blessing.
- Stand. Faith came out of hiding. It took its place in public — at the entrance of the tent of meeting, before priest, leaders and nation.
- Speak. God left their case open until they spoke. He waits to be asked before He gives what He means to give.
- Beyond law. The question was beyond what Moses could decide. He carried it to the Lord instead of guessing — the pattern for anyone out of their depth.
- More than asked. They had no precedent to lean on, only God's own character. The answer of grace went further than they asked.
- For all who follow. Five women refused to stay quiet, and God gave a lasting rule for every family in Israel in the same position.
Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the band of them that banded themselves together against Jehovah in the band of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons.
Five sisters stand before Moses, the priest, the princes and the whole assembly. Their case rests on a few facts about their dead father: how he died, the rebellion he stayed out of, and the sons he never had. By the law as it stood, his family line had no claim on the promised land. Everything hangs on God's answer.
The sisters do not hide their father's failure. They name it, and they also clear him of Korah's rebellion against the Lord. One writer links that sin to the position his daughters were now in.
First, they recognized that their difficult position was the result of their father's sin. He "was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah," yet he "died in the wilderness," and "died for his own sin," and that was why "he had no sons" (v. 3). Even so, his five daughters want to keep their father's name alive. As true daughters of Israel they value their family line, and so they value their inheritance.
They asked while Israel was still outside the land. No one had fought for it yet, and no one had divided it up.
But think what a living, practical faith there was in these women… They came forward and stood before all the priests and princes, and the whole vast assembly, to claim a share of a land they could not yet see. How ridiculous it was — or how magnificent! It depends on how you look at it, for the same act is often magnificent towards God and ridiculous towards men. What presumption (yes, that is the word!) for someone to believe he has a right to a share in the promised land, and to try to make it real and solid! What presumption indeed, or what humility and faith! Is it presumption to believe God's promises?
Two facts stood against them: their father was dead, and there was no son. They treated neither as final.
God always rewards a bold and simple faith. It glorifies God, and God honours it… God delights in a faith that takes hold of all He has given and keeps a tight grip on it. Even in the face of nature's weakness and death, such faith refuses to give up one hair's breadth of the inheritance God has given. What if Zelophehad's bones lay rotting in the dust of the wilderness? What if no male heir appeared to carry on his name? Faith could rise above all these things, and count on God's faithfulness to make good everything His word had promised.
The written law had no rule for this case. What God gave went beyond it.
Before Israel enters the land, the daughters of Zelophehad claim their father's inheritance. Through that claim God proves the sovereignty of grace, and makes provision in a case where the law made none… Under the law only sons could inherit. Was this inheritance to be lost, swallowed up by others? No. Grace gives these daughters their father's inheritance, and grace made it a "statute of judgment." Here already, in picture form, is the great truth that in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female. All believers are sons, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
Had they kept quiet, the loss would not have stopped with them. Their willingness to speak in public turned one family's problem into settled law.
Suppose they had listened to the voice of fear and unbelief. Suppose they had refused to come forward before the whole assembly and press the claims of faith. Then they would have lost their own inheritance and blessing. And every later daughter of Israel in the same position would have lost her portion too. Instead they acted in the precious energy of faith. They kept their inheritance. They got the blessing. God bore witness to them. Their names shine on the page of inspiration, and by God's own authority their action became a pattern for all future generations.
One writer carries this over to believers now:
In all of this it is taught that there is to be no difference as regards the inheritance of men and women. There are differences in responsibility and order in family life, in the church and in public life. Yet all believers share alike in the great blessing God gives them: an inheritance "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4).
- Honesty. They name their father's sin and clear him of Korah's revolt. Faith need not hide the past to make its claim.
- Loss. Death and the lack of a son left them, by law, with no title to anything in the land.
- Claim. They asked for a share of a land no one had seen yet. Weakness and death did not cancel God's promise.
- Grace. God made provision where the law had made none, and His answer went further than what they asked.
- Reach. Five women spoke up, and their case became a standing rule for every family in Israel.
Why should the name of our father be taken away from his family, because he has no son? Give unto us a possession among the brethren of our father.
Israel is about to divide the land. Five sisters step forward with a case the law had never covered. Their father Zelophehad is dead, he left no son, and his name looks set to vanish. Can death cancel what God has promised? And what does God do when faith asks for more than the rules allow?
The sisters were not disputing a known rule. There was no rule to dispute.
Up to this time there had been no provision for such a case. The son or sons were to inherit the family property, but nothing had been said about daughters where there were no sons. Moses did not act on his own view of the case. Nor did he act on what others might think fair and reasonable. He admitted that he had no wisdom of his own, and he laid the matter before the Lord. I wish we would all do the same when we cannot find the mind of God in a hard case. The Lord answered at once: "The daughters of Zelophehad are right." He told Moses to give them "possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers," and at the same time He announced a standing rule for the people of Israel to cover every such case that might arise.
To human eyes, death had cut their link to the land. The sisters refused to treat that as final.
Here were those daughters of Joseph, robbed of their father, helpless and desolate as nature sees it. Death had snapped the link that seemed to tie them to the inheritance of God's people. What then? Were they content to give up — to fold their arms in cold indifference? … They were sure there was a portion for them in the land of promise. Neither death nor anything that happened in the wilderness could ever deprive them of it. … Could death, or the lack of a son, or anything else, frustrate the goodness of God? Impossible.
The daughters themselves trace their strange position back to their father's sin. It did not lessen their care for his name.
First, they recognised that their unusual position was the result of their father's sin. He was not among those who banded together against the Lord with Korah. Yet he died in the wilderness, and he died in his own sin, and that is why he had no sons (v. 3). Even so, his five daughters want to keep their father's name alive. As true daughters of Israel they value their family line, and so they value their inheritance. The Lord waits to put their situation in order until they express this need before Him.
This was new ground for Israel. The way God met it shows what He is like.
There was no son left. This was a case which had not yet arisen; but as we see, the daughters of Zelophehad counted on God, and not in vain. God can never be like poor man, who says, "You expect more good than I am prepared to give." God could not answer like that. He always gives more. Whatever the petition of faith may be, the answer of grace never fails to go beyond it.
Their courage did more than secure their own portion.
Suppose they had listened to the voice of timidity and unbelief. Suppose they had refused to come forward before the whole congregation to assert the claims of faith. Then they would have lost their own inheritance and blessing. And all future daughters of Israel in the same position would have lost their portion too. Instead they acted in the precious energy of faith. They kept their inheritance; they got the blessing; they received testimony from God; their names shine on the page of inspiration. Their conduct supplied, by divine authority, a precedent for all future generations.
Later the heads of these families raised a second worry. If the sisters married outside the tribe, the family inheritance would be split up.
The faith of the daughters was most lovely. But there was a danger. Faith had lifted them to a high place, and there they might forget the claims of others and move the landmarks which guarded the inheritance of their fathers. … We need guarding on every side, so that the integrity of faith and the testimony stay whole. We are not to force things through with a high hand and a strong will, however strong our faith may be. We should always be ready to submit ourselves to the adjusting power of the whole truth of God.
- Ask — the portion was theirs by promise. The Lord still waited until they asked before He put their case in order.
- Inquire — Moses met a question the law had not covered. He took it to the Lord instead of judging it himself.
- Receive — God gave more than they asked. Grace never stops where faith stops asking.
- Extend — God turned their case into a standing rule. One bold asking won the portion of every daughter after them.
- Guard — faith's high place must still bow to the whole truth of God. It never presses its own claim at the cost of others.