Women Seek Justice Due to their Gender and God Agrees.

Numbers 27:1-11 God Provides The Land Inheritance for Daughters Where There Are No Sons

Day 82. But not for New Zealand – all restrictions have been removed there.  Good for them. We’re still waiting our turn while our politicians seem to be experimenting with socialism and control. Meanwhile all over the U.S., people are demanding that their police departments either be defunded or totally eliminated. And they say after that, they’ll figure out how to keep their cities safe. People have lost all sense of right and wrong. The Black Lives Movement is causing quite a stir but more and more blacks themselves are speaking out against it with some very convincing evidence. Finally, as I watch social media each day now, I’m sensing a growing feeling of despair among many with comments like, “What’s the use?” or “It’s too late now.” Well, the Truth is that it is not too late at all. We can have a purpose, we can have hope, we can have peace, and we can love. And we do it all with God and by understanding His Word which gives us His Plan for the world. And so, we keep on trucking studying our Bible and even look for its gems in what most consider to be an otherwise uninteresting book – the book of Numbers. We discovered that it isn’t.  Read on.

The Passage

27 Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph, came near; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah. ² They stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the leaders and all the congregation, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, saying, ³ “Our father died in the wilderness, yet he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.”⁵ So Moses brought their case before the Lord.

⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁷ “The daughters of Zelophehad are right in their statements. You shall surely give them a hereditary possession among their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them. ⁸ Further, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. ⁹ If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall possess it; and it shall be a statutory ordinance to the sons of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.’”

Thoughts on the Passage

Here in this passage we have the female descendants of Joseph (you’ll remember his brothers sold him to some traders who in turn sold him in Egypt as a slave), some six generations later, coming to Moses with a complaint that involves fairness. We also note this appears, at least by this passage, that this the last dispute or concern that Moses has to deal with before dying.

These daughters stood before Moses and Eleazar pointing out the unfairness of their families not being given any land inheritance as they weren’t ‘sons’. Their father had no sons. As part of their case, they present the fact that while their father may have had his own sin, and thus rightfully died in the wilderness, he at least was not part of the company of Korah who rose up against the Lord. So, they were asking “Why then should we be punished?” And they simply asked for their “possession among their father’s brothers who had sons.” It does not sound like a ‘rocket-science’ issue for us today. These ‘daughters’ were right.

But clearly in those days, it was a patriarchal world and women only had the rights afforded to them by man. By now we should also know what Moses does when he is presented with a problem or an issue. He goes to God; and that is exactly what he did this time as well. And God responds.

Now we know that many accuse God and Christ and us Christians of not promoting the equality of women. I have always maintained that nothing could be furthest from the truth. I believe that women are honored by God, by Christ, and by true followers of our Lord’s. Many years ago I read a book that very eloquently and convincingly was able to put that argument in print. For those interested, the book is called: 

Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Culture Analysis

By Wm. J. Webb

Published by Intervarsity, 2001

 It is well worth looking into.  It shows the progression of how God started from the cultures that developed from the beginning of humanity, and move them along, pushing the envelope in the first two of these areas, right through to the New Testament church, but holding the line on the third.

With that in mind, the Lord doesn’t beat about the bush. He starts off His response to Moses by saying, “Look, these daughters are right in what they say. So, give them a hereditary possession among their father’s brothers, and transfer the inheritance of their father to them.”

God cares for what is right. He cares about these women who have no brothers to take them and their families in. Normally, brothers are responsible for their sisters. But where that is not possible, God steps in and does the job one way or another.

And God uses this opportunity to establish some other rules about how inheritance is supposed to work. He establishes the following rules:

1.     A man dies without having sons, inheritance goes to his daughter(s).

2.     If he has no daughter, to his brothers.

3.     If he has no brothers, to his nearest relative in his own family.

And the above was to be a statutory ordinance.

In my opinion, God has always been for justice and righteousness and for taking care of those in need. No woman’s lib organization or movement was needed. In an ideal patriarchal society, women were honored by being taken care of throughout their lives. In Christ’s time, He often spoke of women and with women and for women – all with high regard and esteem; and always with love and compassion. And today, the true Christian man honors his wife and loves her like Christ loves His church. The true Christian male today honors and loves his daughters. He protects them and thanks God for them. God was not a male chauvinist, neither was Christ. And neither is the true Christian male today.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Coming to Grips With Our Past

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Chasing Grace: Fooling Yourself Is Easy, Forgiving Yourself Isn’t

Starring Michael Joiner, Rusty Martin, Ashlee Payne & David Temple.

Written & Directed by David Temple.

This movie has an excellent plot that has its origin several decades earlier but gets unraveled quickly when, to the shock of the whole town, a young child is killed at her own birthday party. She is the daughter of a local pastor and his wife who have two older boys.

At the burial scene, the pastor’s brother (Carter) shows up but having been known for his extensive drinking, having to be bailed out of jail regularly, and legally carrying a concealed weapon, is not welcomed. Perceived as the modern-day equivalent of the “Prodigal son”, the family, for the most part, has rejected him. The role is played extremely well by David Temple who also wrote the script and directed the movie.

The movie is filled with great dialogue and irony including the pastor preaching a week earlier about forgiveness and saying “it’s like a hug; can’t give one without getting one in return.” But then off to the police station to bail his brother out again.

Back to the funeral, Carter’s brother (Jonathan the pastor) makes it clear Carter is not wanted at the house any longer but Carter refuses to accept the edict. Subsequently, the local sheriff tells Jonathan he has ways that can teach his brother a real lesson if the pastor wanted him to. Aware of all this animosity, one of the two boys also gets aggressive and that has its own sub-plot which in itself is most engaging. Meanwhile the mother, objects to her husband not forgiving his brother. And the conflict now spreads to several fronts.

Three months later as equilibrium starts to set in the pastor gets into a mysterious car accident with a friend’s car and the older teenage is charged with speeding and DUI – but not until he discovers something that ends up being crucial to the life of the whole family, for in one sense there’s more than one ‘prisoner’ in this story.

As the family starts to fall apart, mother plans a surprise family outing – to a psychologist and there, because she’s on to her husband’s habits, she breaks down and orders her husband to “come clean or else” begging that the negative legacy stop. Ashlee Payne (with many other movie credits to her name) does a great job in that role.

Carter who wants to be forgiven by his brother, remarks, “You’re not sounding very Christian; how can you not forgive me?”  A good question. And the answer lies in Jon’s past. That leads to the revealing of more of the history between the brothers and the family they grew up in. Still no resolve and soon Carter considers taking his own life, holding his gun to his own head.

The truth has a way of coming to the surface, and it is not long before the elders of his church ask Jonathan to take a leave of absence.  The younger son starts to think about his role in his little sister’s death and once again mother comes up with the answers he and perhaps many of us who have had similar question in our own lives, need to hear.

Brother Carter is arrested and roughed up – more than was intended and ultimately is believed to have drowned.

At long last, we are allowed to see what really happened that day at the birthday party as Jonathan starts to reflect on his role in the death of his beautiful little girl.

The rest of the story and all the suspense along the way, I’ll leave for you to watch.  Suffice it to say, that with the exception of a gun being held to one’s head, while no actual shooting or death is seen on camera, this is a great family story with lots to talk about afterward.  Highly recommended.

The movie ends with a gentle reminder as follows: Most people focus on the prodigal son when they hear that story, but we should never forget the importance of the brother.

By Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, September 17, 2016. www.accordconsulting.com

·      Get the movie here: http://astore.amazon.com/accorconsu-20

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

The Difference Between Fearing God and Having a Fear of Him -- Exodus 20:20-21

--> And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain within you, so that you may not sin.”  So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.
 

One of the many legitimate roles for a priest is to reassure people that they need not be afraid of God.  And at this point in the story of the Children of Israel in the wilderness, Moses does just that.  Reassuring others with the Truth is a job given to all believers.  Each of us who has accepted Christ as Lord and Savior is a priest – I Peter 2:9 in the New Testament tells us that.

Here in this current passage in Exodus, Moses tells the people why God came down to them in this way.  It was, he said, “to test you”.  This is a common theme in Scripture and a reality in life that many do not like – God tests us.  We wish He did not.  Sometimes He tests us by allowing us to go through some very hard challenges – like the loss of our job, our spouse or child, news of a serious and potentially fatal illness, and so on.  Sometimes He tests us with opportunities that perhaps we should not take.  There is no limit to the extent of God’s ability to test us in ways we ourselves cannot image.  His way of thinking is not our way of thinking, nor His actual ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8).  When we accept God for Who He truly is, we accept His right to test us in any way He wants.  If we have trouble with that concept, then we will have trouble living a life in close relationship with Him.

In this case, God tested the people of Israel in order that “the fear of Him may remain in them”, not so they can fear Him – there is a difference.  Let me try and explain it to you in the following way.  I know some of you will disagree with my illustration given your thinking with respect to, and love for, animals, but let me take that risk anyway.

As a child, I feared pitbull dogs and I had the fear of my father in me.  It did not matter what I did or did not do, I was terrified of pitbull dogs.  The only thing that would save me from that fear was to remove myself from being anywhere near them.  With my father on the other hand, I knew that I did not need to fear him for if I obeyed his instructions, I was perfectly safe and sound, and even happy to experience the new adventures he could lead me through.  But if I went my own way, as a child, the fear of him that I had in me, would turn into real fear of him.  My dad did not change; I changed.  Through my disobedience I was actualizing “my fear of him in me” into straight “fear”.  The fear of himself that my father instilled “in me” was intended to keep me safe – from cars, accidents, etc.  When I disobeyed, his love for me turned into my real and very present fear “of him”.  When I decode that, I realize that this happened because my dad wanted me to stay alive and not get hurt.  And why was that?  I believe it was because he loved me.

And so it is with God and the Children of Israel here in this passage.  God wanted them to have “a fear of him in them” so that they would not sin.  And He wanted them not to sin so that they could have an eternal relationship with Him because He loved them.  It is as simple and as complex as that.  We may not like it, but that is how it is.

What remains is for us to ask, “Did the people hear Moses? Did they understand and accept what was happening?”  We do not know.  What is more important though is when we consider the ways and how often God tests us – sometimes for our own development in addition to the reason of wanting to instill some fear of Him “in us” – do we understand?  Do we accept it?  And do we act accordingly, or do we fight it with all we have?

The Bible says in this verse that the people continued to stand at a distance, while Moses went up to where God was.  Moses was able to go up closer to God.  He understood; he accepted.  I believe in the same way we can be closer to God if we accept His ways.  And if you think about it, it is in fact, “His way or the ‘low’-way.”

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