Numbers 27:1-11
1 Then came the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: 3 “Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers.” 5 So Moses brought their case before the LORD.
6 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father's brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. 8 And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the relative closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it.’ ” And it shall be to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
1 Then came the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: 3 “Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers.” 5 So Moses brought their case before the LORD.
6 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father's brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. 8 And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the relative closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it.’ ” And it shall be to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
Inheritance customs in Israel only allowed for sons to receive possession of land given by God to each family tribe. Five daughters of Manasseh line lost their father and came to seek a part in God’s provision of the promised land. They pointed out that their father was not in the rebellion against the LORD while wandering in the wilderness, but died in his own sin. They did not try to make him look good beyond what he was in order to gain an inheritance, but were honest and sincere in their desire to perpetuate their lineage among God’s people. The LORD instructed Moses to do what they requested because it was right. He then clearly spelled out all the conditions of inheritance to avoid further problems, including the next of kin or nearest next of kin as possible. This became law among His people. We base our inheritance laws in the earthly realm in western society, but must look further to our spiritual inheritance. What heavenly country we are promised comes only from Jesus Christ, not our earthly parents. No, not even others outside our family can provide this eternal inheritance, though through evangelism and witness of the gospel we seem to create children (1 Corinthians 4:15, Philemon 1:10), but ultimately they are begotten by God who uses us as His instruments (1 Peter 1:3). Our inheritance is therefore from Christ alone (Colossians 3:24, 1 Peter 1:4), and not given by earthly parents or relatives of any sort. This of course also means that we cannot become Christians, His children, by any other familial inheritance. An encounter of God’s Spirit by His work alone to give us a regenerated understanding and resultant new birth is necessary. None of us is a true believer because we are raised in a Christian home or attend church; God must work in our spirit by His Spirit to transform us, though He certainly can and does use those families and places as His instruments of grace to bring the gospel into view for Him to apply to us. Spiritual inheritance, then, is of God alone through Christ alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment