in one place,” Milcah reminded them.
“Will Moses die without giving us an answer?” we discussed that evening. It is amazing how the ancient evil one raised all kinds of doubts in our imaginings. The whole camp was aware that Moses would die before we moved over the Jordan. Moses would not set foot into the Promised Land, because of his disobedience at Kadesh many years earlier when he struck the rock for water instead of simply using speech (Num 20). Yahweh demands strict obedience and total trust, and his justice is fearful. Had we daughters of Zelophehad offended Yahweh by making an outrageous request?
Yahweh answers in Yahweh’s own time, as Moses had said. In the evening, huddled around our campfire, we wondered. Was Yahweh as near as our breath or as far away as the stars? Can we approach Yahweh directly, or only the priests? Would Moses receive word before he died? Our request began to seem rather meager in contrast to much bigger questions; would we be lost in these cosmic events?
We heard that Moses was indeed getting words from Yahweh. He was receiving multitudes of words including commands about many kinds of sacrifices and numerous festival days, and laws about crossing the Jordan and entering the Promised Land. We learned that Joshua would be anointed Moses’ successor. The scribes were busy with all the writing. Would the request of the daughters of Zelophehad be remembered in all the more important legislation?
Finally, though it was only a few days later, but seemed much longer, a messenger called us to the tabernacle. We were beyond mere fear; we were terrified until Moses opened his mouth. “My daughters, the word of Yahweh is thus: ‘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 over to them.’”
Our weak knees barely carried us back to our tent. “Imagine, out of all the words of Yahweh that Moses has received and recorded, Yahweh has not forgotten us! Of all the grains of sand who are the children of Abraham, he has heard our request,” we rejoiced together wildly. For the first time since the death of our father, we felt like we were just the width of the Jordan away from a new life in a new land.
Moses, at 120 years of age, died a short time after he delivered the message to us. We watched him ascend to the top of Mount Nebo with a spring in his step because he knew where he was going. But first Yahweh allowed him to look into the Promised Land. He never came back down. Yahweh buried him in a place that no one knows, and the Children of Israel wept for him thirty days. We, the daughters of Zelophehad, will always have this story to tell about how Moses heard our request. It was our privilege to have asked him personally. We will also learn how to plant grains, fruit trees, and vines, maybe even flowers.
Points to Ponder on the Daughters Who Asked
The daughters of Zelophehad did eventually marry. Be sure to read Joshua 17:4 to find out how this story ends. Cities named Tirzah and Hoglah are still on the map of Israel today. The other daughters’ geological areas were recorded several centuries later, but the locations have been lost since. These Bold Girls dared to approach Moses for a change in the laws that God had given earlier. As new situations occurred, adjustments in the law were occasionally made, and this is one example. The daughters received an additional requirement: they would have to marry men from the tribe of Manasseh so that their land would stay in that clan. One may think that the privilege of males to inherit was maintained in the end anyway, but note that the names of the daughters remained with the land many centuries later, not Zelophehad’s nor the names of sons they may have had later. At the time they entered Canaan, Manasseh numbered fifty-two thousand people, so their choices of husbands was not limited! Land was actually owned by families and not individuals, and the Israelites acknowledged that ultimately all the land was God’s. As this story illustrates, the great Yahweh, the Old Testament name for God, cares for women and girls, and grants their requests, not only for them, but for all the following generations.
Imagine that the only life you have ever known is wandering in a desert. The promised new land may hold a bright future for some, but for you the prospects are empty. You must survive alone with your sisters in a strange new land and, in addition, your parents are now dead. Your future is bleak if you do not find a man to marry you. Legitimate ways to earn a living are nonexistent for a woman, and you cannot inherit property. Try to find out as many details of the daily life in the wilderness travel from the biblical text as possible, and look up information in other reference books to better understand the routes the Children of Israel may have taken.
Why is this book of the Bible called Numbers? When the Israeli spies reported that the land of Canaan was inhabited by giants, the Children of Israel were afraid to go in and conquer this land. So, a census was taken at the beginning of their wanderings to count the number of fighting men.
God took very seriously this lack of trust in his power to overcome the enemy, and he sentenced the Children of Israel to wander for forty years. All people more than twenty years old died before the end of the wandering. This story is related in Numbers 13–14.
In the story of the five sisters, the constant complaining about having to eat the same food is described in the book of Numbers. Verses 11:7–9 explain how the manna appeared, how it tasted, and how the Children of Israel could prepare it in various ways. The Children of Israel often complained about conditions in the wilderness, and some even wished to return to slavery in Egypt. I tried to re-create the harsh wilderness conditions in this story. We wonder how they could have been so shortsighted as to wish they were back in Egypt, but try to think of yourself in the same situation. We are also quick to complain sometimes!
Not only were the conditions harsh with extremes of temperature, constant lack of water, and the same food every day. Constant fighting with nations that opposed them also occurred. This story brings up many questions about war, and the rightness of killing enemies. This is very hard to sort out. Is killing, even of noncombatants, ever mandated by God? In the wilderness journey and while conquering the Promised Land, it is clearly commanded by God to destroy the enemy, but this was at a time of very special circumstances in the history of Israel.
I find the story of Balaam and Balak to be one of the most bizarre in the whole Old Testament. Ancient Middle East kings engaged in the practice of using seers and diviners for advice in military decisions. Certain prophets had a reputation for special effectiveness and were much in demand for their services. Balaam was one of a profession of diviners or prophets who could be hired by kings to determine the future or call curses or blessings on command. Apparently, they must have been successful at least some of the time. Remember that Balaam was not an exclusive worshipper of Yahweh, yet Yahweh used him in this instance to convey a message to Balak, the enemy king of Moab, and give an encouraging blessing to the Children of Israel. If it was not strange enough that God used a foreign diviner to convey words of encouragement to the Children of Israel, God uses a lowly beast of burden, a donkey, to get Balaam’s attention. Yet, the talking donkey is not the greatest miracle of the story. More fantastic was the working of the Spirit of God, who turned the words of cursing, which Balaam was being paid to pronounce, into words of blessing on the Children of Israel. By very dramatic means, Balaam was made aware that he was to speak only words of blessing and not curses onto God’s people. The words that came out of his mouth were not the words he had planned to say. God will use what and whomever he will to accomplish his purposes.
Questions for Discussion
1. Look up Joshua 16:3–6. Here is the continuation of the story of the daughters of Zelophehad. They do eventually get married and have families who continue to inhabit the lands for many generations. The villages of Hoglah and Tirzah can still be found today in Israel.
2. What is the history of the Children of Israel in Egypt? How did they get there and why are they now in the wilderness? Why did their parents die in the wilderness?
3. Why does this story follow the story of Miriam Who Negotiated? Review the story of Moses. Who was this man and how did he become the leader of the Children of Israel? Put these events on a timeline.
4. Read through the book of Numbers. How many different ways did the Children of Israel disobey God? What were the consequences of their disobedience? (Rejection of authority in Numbers 21:5, complaining Numbers 14:2.)
5.