Qualities of The daughters of Zelophead
1. Courage: They were bold and courageous
2. King Moving: They got Moses to intercede on their behalf
3. Loyalty: They were willing to keep their fathers name from extinction. They could have gotten married and 4gotten their dad
4. Sacrificial: They were willing to be limited to marrying from their tribe in order to preserve their lineage
5. Law Making: Because of them, God made a law
1. Courage: They were bold and courageous
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.
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,
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.
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.
Numbers 27:1-4
The daughters of Zelophead found themselves in a very difficult position. Moses was sharing the inheritance among the families and tribes of Israel and their family was also entitled to their share. Because it was during the times when women were not allowed to speak out and take a stand, they realized that they stood the risk of being relegated to the background. With no father, brother to speak for them, they decided to be courageous. They stood in front of Moses and other princes and elders to make their case known.
2. King Moving: They got Moses to intercede on their behalf
And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.
Numbers 27:5
Because of their courage and good reason, they got Moses to intercede on their behalf. Moses was a very busy man and by this time, he had delegated a lot of his responsibilities to other leaders, following his Father-in-Law’s advice. He was the overall leader and an equivalent of a king in those days. The daughters of Zelophehad were able to get the ‘king’ to intercede on their behalf because of their courage.
3. Loyalty: They were willing to keep their fathers name from extinction. They could have gotten married and 4gotten their dad
They asked ‘Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son?’. They realized that they were the only ones that could preserve their father’s lineage, even if they were not men. They could have decided to get married and forget about their Father’s inheritance. After all, they won’t be bearing their father’s name forever. But they decided to stay back, fight for their dead father before getting married.
4. Sacrificial: They were willing to be limited to marrying from their tribe in order to preserve their lineage
They were willing to sacrifice the choice of whom they could marry just to preserve their father’s inheritance forever. It did not matter to them if they like someone from other tribes, they were from the tribe of Manasseh and they will marry within that tribe if that is what it took for them to preserve their father’s inheritance.
5. Law Making: Because of them, God made a law
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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.
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.
And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.
And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren.
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.
Numbers 27: 6-11
Finally, they were able to move God, the King of kings to establish a new set of laws. Their faith was able to move mountains. They accompanied their faith with works and God moved on their behalf.
There are times when we will find ourselves in difficult positions that the only way we can get put of it is doing something that has never been done before. People will talk and say, ‘that is not how it is done in our culture, no one will take you serious, it has never worked’ etc, but we will still need to find the courage to stand out in those times. If we dare to stand out in such situations, influential people will stand for us when they see reason. Also God will eventually move on our behalf and not allow us to be relegated to the background, even if it means making new rules just for us.
Sometimes, the solution might take enormous sacrifice on our path, but if we believe in what we are standing up for, it will not be a big deal. Let us learn from the daughters of Zelophead and choose to stand up for what we believe in and what is rightfully ours.
(c) ilola
(c) ilola
