A Leader and a Future for God's People
Text Numbers 27 Time 17/03/13 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
I
would like us to look this evening at Numbers 27. If you look at the
chapter you will see that there are really two main things here. The
first is to do with Zelophehad's daughters and their inheritance in
verses 1-11c and the second is to do with Moses's imminent death and
the appointment of Joshua as the new leader of God's people.
On
the face of it there might seem to be very little to learn from a
passage like this but in fact there are at least two important things
to learn at least. So I want to make two main point today
1. If you are a believer you have a
future
As
you know the Duchess of Cambridge, the wife of Prince William, is due
to give birth in a few months time. Rumour has it that the Duchess is
expecting a girl. If that is the case when the girl is born she will
be an heir to the throne. Even if she then has a little brother she
will still be next in line because the current government recently
brought a bill before Parliament that has changed an age old law that
said that it was males who came first in line to the throne then
females. So, for example, when Henry VII died, it was his son,
Edward, who became the next monarch, not his older sisters Mary and
Elizabeth. They had to wait their turn, which they did have, after
him. When our present Queen came to the throne following the death of
her father, it was because she had no brother, only a sister. So
today there is no distinction between males and females, previously
males took precedence over females. Of course, one can imagine a
situation where females were ignored completely so that no woman ever
became Queen, there were only Kings. I am talking about kings and
queens but the same rules can be applied to any succession or
inheritance situation.
Biblically, the pattern appears to
be males first then not no females but females second. That is the
pattern we see here in Numbers 27:1-11. There we are told about The
daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of
Makir, the son of Manasseh, who
belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. They
have already been mentioned in anticipation in 26:13. There were five
of these daughters, their names ... were Mahlah, Noah,
Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah. They
are unmarried. If they had husbands it is clear that things would be
different. We are told how They came forward and stood
before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly
at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, (3)
Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among Korah’s
followers, who banded together against the Lord, but he
died for his own sin and left no sons. In
other words he does not deserve to have his name forgotten and his
possessions passed on to someone else nit in his family. Because
there were no sons they were concerned that the inheritance would
pass to others and his name be lost. They say Why should
our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son?
Give us property among our father’s relatives. In
other words, where there are no males why can't females inherit
instead?
So we are told that because
this was a new question (verses 5ff) Moses brought their
case before the Lord, and the Lord said
to him, What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must
certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s
relatives and give their father’s inheritance to them. We
do not know how God spoke but Moses was under no illusion as to God's
will, it was that females in a family should not be ignored but,
where there are no males, should inherit instead. And so it became a
rule in Israel. 8-11 Say to the Israelites, If a man dies
and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter. Further
If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his
brothers. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s
brothers. If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the
nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to have
the force of law for the Israelites, as the Lord
commanded Moses. The order then
is sons, daughters, brothers, uncles, nearest relatives. Israel was
not the only one in the ANE to have such a law but theirs was given
by God. It was like this in our law for many years too though there
is no longer any order of males then females. In Israel the reason
for males taking precedence was no doubt so that land didn't pass
outside the family as would be the case if a woman married. This
story here shows what to do where there are no sons.
The
thing to learn here, though is not to do with land rights or women's
rights. Rather we need to see that, as one writer puts it, “Even if
the parents were judged for their sins, the children might still have
a future in the Lord, through his grace and mercy.” (Duguid). God
has promised the land to this second generation and the daughters of
Zelophehad are here staking their claim.
The
encouragement here is to stake our claim too. God has promised that
all who trust in Christ will be forgiven and inherit heaven – male
or female. If you trust in him you will be forgiven and you will go
to heaven. Take God at his word. Believe and act in faith! IF you do,
you have a future indeed.
2.
If you are a believer Jesus is your leader
We
don't read about Moses death until the end of Deuteronomy but here in
Numbers we are told (12-14)
Then the Lord said to Moses, Go up this
mountain in the Abarim Range (we
know from Deuteronomy that it was Mt Nebo) and see the
land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too
will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, for when
the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of
you disobeyed my command to honour me as holy before their eyes.
(These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)
Moses was going to die, like Aaron
and Zelophehad and others of their generation. So who would lead the
Israelites into the Promised Land? We read 15-17 Moses said
to the Lord, May the Lord, the God who
gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this
community to go out and come in before them, he
is thinking of a military leader one who will lead them out
and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be
like sheep without a shepherd. A
leader is needed.
18-21 So the Lord
said to Moses, Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of
leadership, and lay your hand on him. Have him stand before Eleazar
the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their
presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite
community will obey him. He is to stand before Eleazar the priest,
who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the
Lord. This seems
to be a lesser from of communication with God, less direct. At
his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go
out, and at his command they will come in.
Finally. we read (22, 23)
Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and
had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. Then
he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord
instructed through Moses.
I am sure I have said to you before that it is Joshua, the one who
has the same name as Jesus, who leads Israel into the Promised Land
not Moses, the one through whom the Law was given. Law won't lead you
to heaven but Jesus can. He is the Good Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd
and the great Shepherd, the one who leads his people safely home. In
him is the spirit of leadership. He
can lead us all the way through this life and safe into the world to
come. He will not die like Moses and his generation but ever lives to
pray for his people. He is our guide, our Captain, the one we must
always look to. Earthly leaders have their importance but far more
important than any of these is Jesus our Lord and our King, the
Captain of our salvation. How important it is that we always remember
this now and forever.
So
two simple things then
if you are a believer you have a future, a glorious future in Christ.
If you are a believer you have a leader in Jesus Christ, a leader who
will never let you down, a leader who will lead you all the way.
