Today's Reading: Numbers 36
Zelophedad was blessed
with five daughters. He had no sons,
which caused a bit of a problem for the girls.
The LORD had commanded that the land of Israel be divided (apportioned)
among the twelve tribes and that whenever the father of a family died, his land
was to be left to his sons. In this way,
the land would always remain within the same tribe.
But the daughters of
Zelophedad felt that they had been left out.
What if dad dies and has no sons?
Who gets the land then? So, they
went to Moses to request equal rights for women. They felt that they should inherit their
father’s land. So, Moses took their
issue to the LORD, and the LORD agreed, "Those girls are right. They shouldn't
be cut off just because they're girls, so give them the inheritance too within
the land.”
Problem solved,
right? Well, not exactly. As problems go, one thing led to another. Now
some of the men came to Moses confused about the issue. What if these girls marry guys from a
different tribe than their own? Then, when everything reverts back to the
original ownership, it means that the part that is allotted to one tribe will
also be given partially to another tribe.
This would result in the criss-crossing the boundaries of each tribe and
the inability to maintain the apportionment the LORD had commanded.
Once again, Moses took
the issue to the LORD to get resolved.
And the LORD gave the solution, “Make sure the girls marry only within
their own tribe.” That became the law of
the land, in order to have the inheritance, the women had to marry within the
tribe that they were from so their land wouldn't be divided between the tribes.
Notice the girls’
response… “The daughters of Zelophedad DID as the LORD commanded Moses.” They willingly accepted the LORD’s solution
and obeyed Him. What a blessing when we
hear the things God has commanded and willingly obey Him. They trusted God’s wisdom. They trusted God’s love. And they obeyed. May we do the same.
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