Numbers 36

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:32:34utc

III. The Conquest and Division of Israel 31:1-36:13F. Special Problems of Inheritance in Canaan 36:1-13

The book of Numbers ends with an incident that was related to a matter already brought up in ch. 27, the inheritance of the daughters of Zelophehad. This time the young ladies are the cause of another piece of legislation which became part of the Mosaic law; that is that land could not be transferred from one clan to another by means of intermarriage. The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says: "Jewish writers, however, say that this ordinance, interdicting the transference of lands from a family in one tribe to one of another, was binding only in the early period of their settlement in Canaan…. Here was an instance of progressive legislation (see also [Exo. 18; Num. 27]) in Israel, the enactments made being suggested by circumstances; but it is deserving of special notice that those additions to, or modifications of, the law were confined to civil affairs, while the slightest change was inadmissible in the laws relating to worship or the maintenance of religion."

As we have seen in relation to the matter mentioned in ch. 27, the desire of the daughters of Zelophehad to keep their father's name alive had a definite bearing upon their freedom to marry. Their inheritance in the promised land became the first priority to which all other things were subject. Marriage was not an obsession which pushed everything else in the background. Their lives were governed by the promise of God, and everything else became subservient to this.

This chapter deals with the subjects of God's promises, man's identity, and priorities. The promises are embodied in the inheritance of the land; the identity in the belonging to the tribe, and the priorities in the placement of personal desires. Matthew Henry's Commentary makes some very astute observations on this portion of Scripture. As far as the promise is concerned, he comments: "They [the heads of the tribe of Manasseh] speak of the land of their possession, and the inheritance of their fathers, with as great assurance as if they had it already in their hands, knowing whom they had trusted." Their request is proof of their faith, of which the writer to the Hebrews says: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."[ 1 ] It is the attitude Jesus recommends: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."[ 2 ]

On the subject of the marriage of the heiresses, we read in Matthew Henry: "They represent the inconvenience which might, possibly, follow hereupon, if the daughters of Zelophehad should see cause to marry into any other tribes, v. 3. And it is probable that this was not a bare surmise, or supposition, but that they knew, at this time, great court was made to them by some young gentlemen of other tribes, because they were heiresses, that they might get footing in this tribe, and so enlarge their own inheritance. This truly is often aimed at more than it should be in making marriages, not the meetness of the person, but the convenience of the estate, to lay house to house, and field to field. Wisdom indeed is good with an inheritance; but what is an inheritance good for in that relation without wisdom? But here, we may presume, the personal merit of these daughters recommended them as well as their fortunes; however, the heads of their tribe foresaw the mischief that would follow, and brought the case to Moses, that he might consult the oracle of God concerning it. The difficulty they start God could have obviated and provided against in the former order given in this case; but to teach us that we must, in our affairs, not only attend God's providence, but make use of our own prudence, God did not direct in it till they themselves that were concerned wisely foresaw the inconvenience, and piously applied to Moses for a rule in it."

We have already seen, in connection with ch. 27, that the ladies themselves had character and determination, since they were the ones that had thought through the problem of their father's death in connection with the promised inheritance. They were worthy of a good match in marriage, and they should not be married off to just any young man who cared more for the money than for the person.

We already touched upon the matter of identity, in connection with ch. 27 also, by referring to the importance of the name of a departed relative. The daughters did not want the name of Zelophehad to disappear from the annals of Israel. There is more behind this then the concept of immortality; there was the expectation of the coming of the Messiah. Even though it may have been clear from Jacob's prophecy to Judah that the Messiah would come from that tribe,[ 3 ] the hope that other tribes would play a role in the plan of salvation must have been alive among the people. Malachi's prophecy points in that direction. In his prophecy we read: "Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed."[ 4 ] We take this "godly seed" to refer to the coming of the Messiah. There must have been, in the minds of the people, a connection between the inheritance they were to receive and the promise of the Messiah who would bring complete salvation to the world. God's promise to Abraham: "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you," was an essential part of Israel's inheritance. Israel's identity as a nation, and the identity of each Israelite individually was bound up in this promise. That is why the Apostle Paul can say: "… the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen."[ 5 ]

For us, as New Testament Christians, the matter of our identity is, in the same manner, linked to the revelation of the Messiah. What Paul writes to the Galatians pertains to every human being; we will never be fully human until Christ is formed in us.[ 6 ]

Then there is the matter of priority. Zelophehad's daughters gave God's promises a higher priority than their personal happiness. The point this chapter makes is that their choice severely limited their options for marriage. We read: "This is what the LORD commands for Zelophehad's daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within the tribal clan of their father." We are told nothing more about the marriage of those five girls than that they all married their cousins on their father's side. Whether those marriages were happy ones or not is not revealed to us. As a general principle, however, we see that if a person gives priority to the things of God in his or her life, God richly compensates. A sacrifice of personal happiness seldom turns into a sacrifice. After all, God's knows more about our happiness than we do ourselves. A feeling of being in love is no guarantee of a happy marriage. If we endeavor to love God more than our spouse, we discover that we have connected to the source from which all love flows, and loving one another becomes the most effortless thing in the world. "We love because he first loved us."[ 7 ] And also, in Jesus' words: "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."[ 8 ] If we seek God's priorities, He will seek ours.

The last verse of this chapter wraps up this part of the book of Numbers which began with ch. 26, by saying: "These are the commands and regulations the LORD gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho." The book of Numbers opens in the desert of Sinai. We read in the opening verse: "The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt." Here the people have arrived at the verge of the promised land, one generation, and forty years later.

Adam Clarke's Commentary gives the following moving comment on this: "Thus ends the book of Numbers, containing a series of astonishing providences and events. Scarcely any piece of history in the sacred writings is better calculated to impress the mind of a serious reader with a sense of the goodness and severity of God. In every transaction his holiness and justice appear in closest union with his benevolence and mercy. From such a Being what have the wicked not to fear! From such a Father and Friend what have the upright not to hope! His justice requires him to punish iniquity, but his mercy inclines him to pardon all who truly repent and believe in the Son of his love.

The journeyings of this people, from the time they left Egypt, exhibit a series of providential wonders. Every where, and in every circumstance, God appears: and yet there is no circumstance or occasion that does not justify those signal displays of his GRACE and his JUSTICE. The genuine history of God's providence must be sought for in this book alone; and as every occurrence happened as an example, we have authority to conclude that in every case where his own glory and the salvation of man are interested, he will interfere and give the fullest proofs that he is the same today that he was yesterday, and will continue unchangeable forever and ever. Reader, are these matters ensamples to thee? Art thou, like the Israelites, come into the plains of Moab, on the very verge of the promised land? Jordan alone separates thee from the promised inheritance. O, watch and pray, that thou come not short of the glory of God. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death; see then that the sting of death, which is sin, be extracted from thy soul, that, being justified by Christ's blood, thou mayest be made an heir according to the hope of an eternal life. Amen, amen."

[ 1 ] Heb. 11:1

[ 2 ] Mark 11:24

[ 3 ] See Gen. 49:10

[ 4 ] Mal. 2:14,15 (KJV)

[ 5 ] Rom. 9:4,5

[ 6 ] Gal. 4:19

[ 7 ] I John 4:19

[ 8 ] Matt. 6:33