The Daughters of Zelophehad Speak Right

Listen to today’s passage – Numbers 27 – 29

Follow along on Blue Letter Bible – Numbers 27

Second Milers also read – Romans 9 – 12; Proverbs 25; Psalms 126 – 130

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 51

Read a previous post from this passage – “A Pastor’s Heart“

Read the “0225 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by Charles Spurgeon.

“1 Then came 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 are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, 3 Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father. 5 And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.” (Num 27:1–5)

In Numbers chapter 27, we have the story of the daughters of Zelophehad. The land of Canaan was about to be divided among all of the tribes of Israel, and within each of the tribe’s portions, the land would be divided among the families of that tribe. Zelophehad’s family was entitled to a portion of the land but because he had no sons, there was nobody to give the land to. The five daughters of Zelophehad boldly come to Moses and ask him to authorize that Zelophehad’s portion of land be given to them because there was no son to receive the inheritance. Moses didn’t know what to do. The law up until this point read that only a son could receive the inheritance. There was no previous case to use for precedence in this matter. Moses then goes to God, and asks Him what they should do. God settles the question in favor of the daughters and establishes new law that would cover unique cases like this.

“7 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. 8 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. 9 And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. 10 And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. 11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.” (Num 27:7–11)

The point of my thought this morning is not about land distribution and inheritances, however. I wanted to point out that Moses did not take matters into his own hands. He went to God when he wasn’t sure what to do. This particular question regarding inheritances was not clearly covered in the Bible up until this point and Moses wanted to be sure that he would give the right answer – God’s answer – to these ladies.

I think there is an important lesson that we can all learn from this. There are many situations in life that will come up that are not clearly dealt with in the Scripture. There may be Bible principle that deals with it generally, or partially, but often questions arise that are not specifically covered by God in His Word. That’s when we need to do three things:

  • First, we need to immerse ourselves in Scripture to see if there are any passages that deal with something even remotely similar that might apply to our situation.
  • Second, we need to go to God in prayer, just like Moses did.
  • Third, we need to seek some godly counsel from others who may have dealt with this situation before.

Parents can find out from other, more experienced Christian parents about what to do in certain situations regarding their children. Young pastors can go to the older pastors. We can to benefit from the godly wisdom of others.

Now I want to emphasize again that most of our questions that we face can be answered from the principles found in the Bible, but in those unique situations where there seems to be no Scriptural answer, seek God through prayer, and seek counsel from some godly influences in your life. Remember, in the multitude of counselors there is safety (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22; 24:6).


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