Today’s Reading: Numbers 26-29; Luke 2
Family and inheritance.
How many of us are able to see our children?
How many of us are able to share our history and our beliefs with our children?
How many of us are able to know our father and mother?
How many of us are able to know our grandparents?
How many of us are able to know our great grandparents?
Sometimes we take for granted the experiences that we have with our relatives. Sometimes, we take for granted the ease of speaking to our relatives whenever we want. But for others, these experiences we would love to have just a glimpse or a whisper from my loved ones. There are so many legacies and inheritances that we receive from our predecessors, and we can give to our successors.
In Numbers we are given a glimpse of the transition of inheritance from the tribe of Israel :
“The sons of Joseph according to their clans: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the clan of the Machirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the clan of the Gileadites. 30 These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites; of Helek, the clan of the Helekites; 31 and of Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites; 32 and of Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites. 33 Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters. And the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These are the clans of Manasseh, and those listed were 52,700.”
Numbers 26:28-34
“Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
5 Moses brought their case before the Lord. 6 And the Lord said to Moses, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. “
Numbers 27: 1-8
In today’s reading in Numbers, we have a very important precedent being made. We have individuals claiming their blessing. What makes it more impressive is that these are the daughters of one of the descendants of Jacob. In this particular passage, the daughters claim their blessings. These daughters knew their blessing and they were not afraid of claiming their blessing. They did not allow the status quo to dictate how they were going to get their blessing. They knew the Spirit was with them, and took courage in that to claim the blessing.
This was such a momentous occasion that this became part of the Mosaic law of inheritance. This was one of the first documented places where women were equal to their male counterparts. It is truly amazing how these issues were addressed and settled doing this early part of biblical history. This situation also allows me to question, why can we not continue to have this strong presence of equality into today’s society?
The blessing of the inheritance was seen in two spots in Numbers. The daughters were also part of the census. The census was a historical marker of the inheritance and the counting of the individuals of each clan. Another important census that is found in our adjacent reading of Luke 2.
What has God given you or promised you that you have not claimed? God‘s blessings are not contained to who we are. God‘s blessings are not contained on what we look like. God‘s blessings are not only for one gender. God‘s blessings are not only for certain people. God‘s blessings are for all who acknowledge God and obey his word. Are you ready for your blessing? Are you ready to claim your blessing?
Be blessed