They inspire me, the odds were stacked badly against them, but somehow, they stood their ground, something told them it was the right moment. As they insisted on seeing Moses, the sons of the prophets Aaron included were getting testy with them. What is so important that they had to speak with Moses directly? Was it not for cases like this that the elders council was set up? So that Moses would not have to attend to everyone? To make matters worse, they came alone. Their husbands didn’t come with them, their father is dead, and they have no brothers, exactly what can five women want with Moses? What?!
The truth is no one gave them a chance, they had tried to bring up the idea within their father’s tribe and they were told it was not only going against Moses’ leadership but against the will of God. The naysayers had legal documents to prove that they were treading on very dangerous territory. Nothing will change they were told. God doesn’t change His mind after He has decided. This doesn’t even make sense and especially as it is not about life and death! Who are these women who dare to upturn what God Himself has ordained? To put it mildly, theirs was an uphill task. But I go ahead of myself, let us go right back to the beginning…
Zelophehad, that was their father’s name. He was one of the ones that made it out of Egypt, he was such a gentleman he didn’t join in any rebellion, he was easy-going and down to earth. His name meant shadow of fear, a lot of people say he never argued or pushed for anything because as his name depicted, he was a very fearful man. That was the word on the street, we can’t prove it but if names speak to who we are in our core, perhaps the word on the street is true. While Zelophehad could not be said to be the poster boy for manliness, he had one thing working for him, he was proactively productive. The man had five daughters; in some cultures that would be a huge blessing, but in the culture he found himself, it seemed like five daughters were another reminder of how weak he was as a man. Who would carry his legacy forward, in this society, female children couldn’t do much, and it wasn’t because man said so, but God himself did, if it were not a God decree, it would not have required God’s special attention when it was brought before Moses. So Zelophehad even in death it seemed remained weak.
Regardless, he made daughters who had what we would call grit. But then, again, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me introduce them one after the other by their names and the meaning of their names; maybe we will be able to do a trace why these ladies acted so deliberately different from their father…Zelophehad’s first daughter was named Mahlah; which means sickness… who names their child sickness? Doesn’t the bible say we are ensnared by the words of our mouth? In today’s faith spewing Christianity even if one had a child who was visibly sick, we will name her healthy in the hope that as we call the child the opposite of her circumstance, she will take on the nature of our prophecy! But not Zelophehad, he called it as he saw it so he named her Mahlah (Sickness). Moving on from why a father would call his daughter sickness, what about the daughter? There had to be a day when the meaning of her name dawned on her; maybe the day the neighbourhood bully spelt it out for her. If her name bothered Mahlah, the bible didn’t mention, so maybe she didn’t react to reaction that her name engendered, maybe instead, she was focused on change beyond a name, just maybe.
Then Zelophehad had a second daughter and he called her Noa, even though it sounded like the other Noah we first saw in Genesis 6, the one that built the Ark, the similarity ended there. The first Naoh’s name meant rest, and if Zelophehad called her daughter rest on the heels of shadow of fear and weakness, it would have made sense. But no, this Noa meant, wandering… it seems like it is not getting better at all, how does one move from sickness to wandering? Shouldn’t his circumstance get better? And should the names of his children not reflect that? Instead of his path shining better, Zelophehad seems to be retrogressing. He names his second daughter Noa – wandering.
Another daughter comes along. This time he names her Hoglah. And Hoglah means Dancing… something is finally about to give. Maybe Zelophehad came to a realisation that the best life is the life that is first accepted then lived with courage or maybe he simply named his third child as it came to his mind. Whatever the reason, things are looking up. Soon after another one comes along; yes, it is another girl, and she is called Milcah and this time her name means Queen; surely the path of the righteous shines brighter to a perfect day. And even Zelophehad could not negate the word of God. Finally, Tirzah is born and she gets a name that means Delightful!
It is my opinion that somewhere along on this journey Zelophehad received perspective and decided he wasn’t going to allow his present circumstance derail or determine what his future will become. Tirzah was proof that everything had shifted or at least they were awaiting a manifestation of the shift. Unfortunately, Zelophehad would not live to see the manifestation of the day when something that had to do with him was truly a delight, he died just as they got out of the Egypt into the wilderness. Although, it is also important to point out at this time that he didn’t die as most of his peers did out of the curse on them for their rebellion. Be that as it was, he died regardless, before the inheritance of the Promised Land could be shared, consequently leaving his children with no inheritance and no viable means of livelihood, as none of them was married yet.
This is the background for what became one of the most audacious moments in the Bible. The daughters of Zelophehad by the time they realised that they had been kicked to the sidelines by life, decided not to fold their hands and watch. I am not even sure they could boast of the outcome that they wanted, but that didn’t stop them. They called a meeting of themselves, they needed to agree and be on the same page before they escalated the matter. If they are able to speak with one voice, perhaps the people will listen to them. I mean anything they can find is better than nothing at this moment. Even a No, will be better than not trying at all.
As you read this can you identify with these young ladies? Where exactly are you? What have you believed for change concerning but you have not had the guts to bring up before God, perhaps because you have been told that you are where you are because you are being punished for something you did wrong in your past? Or maybe someone had even quoted you the scripture; “the fathers ate sour grapes but the children’s teeth are set on edge”. Maybe you even believe that it is as they have said, the fault is yours… your inability to conceive is because you had an abortion, maybe because you lied about something in the past… what exactly have you been told to get comfortable with because God is not interested in changing for your sake? Or maybe this isn’t even about others; the voice you hear is all your own, and it tells you; no one has ever done this before in your family. There is no chance God will hear you, or maybe you by yourself by the woman card, you say, you are only a woman. The thing is whatever, you have heard or have told yourself, the daugthers of Zelophehad heard too and then some!
However, they did something we all must come together and learn to do. They decided not to listen to or heed the voices, whether they were external or internal didn’t matter to them, they had a goal, they will go speak with Moses, even if he didn’t give them an inheritance, he will have to look them in the eye and deny them a future. They were determined that this won’t be another issue that is swept underneath the carpet. If daughters cannot inherit, they will have to tell them what the alternative should be, considering the peculiarity of their case. So to Moses they matched…
Now, you need to appreciate that their going to Moses wasn’t as straight forward as it sounds…remember, there was the elders council? Their job was to make administration easy for Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad had to prepare their first case which they took to the elders council, who will determine if their issue is worth hearing at all. Apparently, the elders council was intrigued enough to take the matter to Moses; however, I am tempted to say, it wasn’t because they felt it would ever be resolved in their favour but simply because they were fascinated by what Moses would say to the issue at hand. They listened and concluded that deciding the matter was above their pay grade so they made an appointment for the daughters of Zelophehad. We are not told how long it took for Moses to be able to see them, just that when Moses heard the details of their matter, he had to make an appointment to see God! It was a very bold thing the ladies were asking… they had to have a lot of courage to bring a subject matter this clear to him for consideration. Just how was he supposed to decide that it was okay to contravene what has endured the test of time? This was no easy ask neither would it be an easy decision. Moses decided to take this to God, the only to come out of this unscathed is to let God be the decider. Whichever way he swung personally, someone might find something wrong with his decision, but if the people know God has decided, then it would mean no one will take offense, at least not against him.
I am almost convinced Moses was not prepared for what the Lord decided, however, let me give him the benefit of the doubt. Anyhow, Moses, gets to God and guess what He said? “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.” God decided for the ladies! It was at this point I started to look at the Bible again, did God just contradict Himself? Did He actually say daughters couldn’t inherit in the first place? Search as I did, I was shocked to see that God never expressly said that daughters couldn’t inherit. It was assumed and over time, it became the norm.
If you will pause with me and think; is it possible that we have been pushing around a burden that God didn’t put on us? Are we bowled over under the weight of religion or did God really say so? Is it possible that what we have resigned ourselves to isn’t God’s will for us at all? if you could approach heaven to change anything about your life, is there a part that in your mind is off limits to His touch because you have heard by doctrine somewhere that it is not your entitlement? I am sure if you have heard anything, the daughters of Zelophehad had heard more… the issue isn’t that they didn’t know what was said and had been said, I guess the real issue was that they wanted someone with a bit of authority to tell them. And God judged for them!
Tell me, if God judged for you concerning that matter, how different will your life be? The beautiful thing about this story is that beyond the ladies, others; people they will never even meet. Generations unborn, even the so called privileged men were going to benefit from this one grand gesture of asking the right questions at the right time with the right attitude. These young ladies didn’t come lamenting and begging off from responsibility. They didn’t come with soppy stories and tearful questions, they simply wanted to know why they couldn’t have what they perceived was rightfully theirs. They were such their father didn’t sin to deserve this, they were pretty sure that the fact that their father had no male children wasn’t his fault either and they were definitely sure, that it was not their fault they were born to who they were born or how they were born. No matter how you cut and sliced it, the Zelophehad girls were not going to settle. It was their prerogative to fight, even if in the end they didn’t get what they wanted, at least they can say they fought. Just imagine, that all the while everyone else had been quiet, God was waiting to see who will recognise that not allowing daughters to inherit was not in His character or nature at all! You tell me, what you have concluded God can’t do, is that in His character or nature?
For me this story isn’t even about righting a wrong that God had a hand in, this is a classic case of people perishing because of ignorance or a lack of knowledge. As long ago as that was, some of us still suffer today from the same fate. It is time to Arise and be bold and courageous. Receive grace and come boldly before the throne of Grace to receive grace and mercy to help in the time of need. The veil has been torn in two and we can approach our Father directly. Hear him; “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest…” Matthew 11:28, “…the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out…” John 6:37.
Just like that day, God judged in the favour of the daughters of Zelophehad, He is waiting to stand with you and lift you. Come, it doesn’t matter how hard it is, come, it doesn’t matter how messy, come, it is not important who told you, come to the father of lights, come to the one who can heal all your pain, wipe away your tears and set you on a large place… COME…
And you know the best part, it was just in time, because Moses never judged another case, it didn’t take long before God took him. Do you know how much time you may have? COME!
Don’t miss the Moment.