The Daughters of Zelophehad

Minister:
Date: PM
Text: Numbers 27:1-11
Psalters: 320, 289, 306, 411
Confession of Faith
  1. Their bold claim.
    1. After the second numbering Zelophehad s five girls came boldly before Moses and Eleazar and the princes (2).
      1. A purpose of this numbering was to determine how to divide the land of Canaan a picture of heaven.
      2. The girls called the meeting and made a claim and a demand: Give unto us a possession (4b).
    2. These five daughters realized that their father (and they) would not have a possession of land in Canaan.
      1. Zelophehand lost his right to a portion of Canaan when he died in the wilderness without any sons.
      2. As a result Zelophehad s name would have been excluded from Canaan and blotted out of Israel.
  2. The sisters are bold because they believe that their cause is a righteous one.
    1. Moses identifies it as a cause (5), i.e., something lawful, righteous, worthy of judgment.
      1. They were seeking God s righteousness for their father, not their own self-interests.
      2. They believed that God s righteousness would have suffered if their father s name was not in Canaan.
      3. And Moses believed it to be a righteous cause because he brings it before Jehovah (5).
    2. The explanation for the fact that their cause is righteousness: they speak right (7).
      1. Zelophehad s honor was connected to his having a possession in Canaan.
      2. It is obvious that the girls did not do this for themselves and their financial gain.
    3. Negative implications because it was a righteous cause.
    4. Chapter 36 the concern of the princes of Manasseh and how it was satisfied.
  3. It is obviously faith in God which motivated these daughters of Zelophehad and gave them such boldness.
    1. Faith knows and desires what God has promised.
    2. Thus these five girls are godly examples for the girls of our congregation, for Jessica and Amy.
      1. Seek the honor of your father and mother.
      2. Know and desire the truth which describes the fellowship of God with you in Christ.
      3. Willingly comply with God s demand that you marry only in the Lord (36:6; I Cor. 7:39).