Take examples from Zelophehad five daughters ! (1)

Wednesday July 14, 2021

Take examples from Zelophehad five daughters ! (1)

“They (the daughters of Zelophehad) stood before Moses and the priest Eleazar as well as the princes and the whole assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” Numbers 27. 2

The five daughters of Zelophehad presented themselves before Moses, the high priest, the high officials of the people and before all the people assembled in front of the tent where Moses met God. They carefully chose the right moment to present their request. The Hebrew people were then in the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan, and before entering the land of promise, had to be counted (Numbers 26), since, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb , all the men counted at the time of the exit from Egypt had died in the desert. There, too, Moses intended for the tribes of Israel a portion of the land they were to conquer (Joshua 13-20). Only the men were to be given land, which only posed a problem for Zelophehad five daughters, as Zelophehad had not had any male children. The uncles of the five daughters were therefore to receive the share allocated to the latter, which was not to the taste of the five sisters ! So should their father's name disappear from the genealogical records because he had no male descendants ? Moses did not take responsibility for deciding this matter, but asked God to reveal His decision to allow daughters to inherit from their father (Numbers 27. 6-11). Notice :

1- the five girls had the courage to stand in front of everyone, even though no one was ready to support them, especially not their uncles, who risked being the big losers if their nieces were successful !

2- They did not wait to meet in Canaan to present their request. The people were still west of the Jordan, so the conquest had not yet begun. A lesson for us today : do not wait until it is too late to present your petitions to God. David did this every morning (Psalm 5, 3-4).

3- the consequences of their request went beyond their own situation. God decreed that His decision would become a perpetual law for Israel (v. 11). Do not hesitate to fight against injustice and oppression, for God is the One who “upholds the rights of all the oppressed” (Psalm 105.6).

Source (His Word for Today)