These daughters were mentioned first in Numbers 26:33 “And Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.”
Because their father died without a son, they were not included in the number of those to have inheritance in the land. The roll call was for only sons. The Lord had commanded Moses to divide the land to only sons. This did not go down well with the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27:1-4). Our passage above started with “then came the Zelophehad daughters”, this shows that they were already equipped:
- They came with boldness, they stood not only before Moses but other priests even at the door of the congregation to demand for their rights.
- Through their action they caused God to amend the unrighteous human decree that disenfranchised the Girl Child of their inheritance
- They reminded everyone that their father was not among those that rebelled in the wilderness.
- They knew the story, the history and the tradition of the land. They were current and correctly informed
- They knew the implications of not having a portion of the land, it meant their father’s name would be forgotten forever in Israel.
- They insisted until God intervened and created a favourable climate for the Girl Child in Israel.
Why were they able to do this?:
- They were united.
- They were focused and determined .
- They were current and correctly informed.
- They spoke with boldness, without any form of compromise
- Even though there were obstacles, they were undaunted.
- They were willing to go for broke not caring about any negative consequences
- They realised that a closed mouth is a closed destiny
Lesson we can learn from this:
- If you keep quiet you can lose your inheritance, so you must be heard, just like the woman with the issue of blood in Matthew 9
- If you don’t speak no one will speak for you, in other words you must learn to blow your own trumpet, If you refuse to blow your trumpet nobody will blow it for you and you will not be noticed.
- You can be the one to set precedence and others will follow. Just like Deborah in Judges 4.
- God can change the unrighteous decree for the sake of a few so engage God constructively, God can suspend protocol to give answers to your request or grant you favour like Esther and Rahab.
- Accepting the status quo without making an attempt amounts to supporting and making wickedness against you permanent
- Open your mouth and demand your portion or your heritage. A closed mouth is equal to a closed destiny
- Take a stand you have nothing to lose except your rights if you do nothing.
- God is greater than all man made laws and able to overwrite unrighteous decrees
- Your case is not final until you accept it as final.
Conclusion: These are single girls according to the Scriptures who were focused, they set their priorities right and well. They reasoned that if they had the land, they would be useful and other things will follow. Serve the Lord with absolute reverence, and emulate the wonderful attributes of these daughters of faith.
Let us pray:
- Father, I thank you for making me a woman.
- Father thank you for giving me an avenue to affect my generation positively.
- Father, grant women leaders the grace and opportunity to mentor and help young girls fulfill potential
- Father, help us to impart our generation for good and leave our mark in the sands of time in Jesus name.
- Father help me to be a home builder indeed and a positive role model for both the young and old around me in Jesus name.
Bunmi Adelugba is a Chartered Accountant as well as a Pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
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One Response
The Zelophehad Daughters in the bible have always being an inspiration. They dare to tread where even Angels fear to tread.
They refused to be intimidated and God honoured their boldness.
However they were not rude in presenting their case. That is something for our young people to note.