Numbers 36

The account of the inheritance of Zelophehad is now recorded for our consideration for the third time in the book of Numbers. This time a concern is brought by men who were in the same tribe as Zelophehad. Would some of the tribal inheritance of Manasseh end up belonging to other tribes as the daughters of Zelophehad married men from other tribes?

Just as with the original request of the daughters of Zelophehad, this concern was taken very seriously by Moses, who gave instruction from the Lord on this matter. A women who held a portion of a tribal inheritance had to marry within her father's tribe, lest the connection between the territory and the people of the various tribes be completely obscured as women with property intermarried in Israel.

Why does any of this matter? Redemptive history has forward motion. It has a beginning point and it is moving toward a glorious end. The land of Israel and even the land allotted to each tribe was an important element in the plan of God.

Israel was more than a symbol. It was a land given by God to the sons of Jacob with tribal territories that would soon be established. Zeal for that inheritance was not out of place, whether in the area east of the Jordan or in Canaan itself.

People die. That is a big part of what is taking place on earth since Adam disobeyed God. Things fall apart here. Women lose the protection of husbands and fathers through death, desertion, or even abuse. Family bonds fall apart, and there is much disorder and sadness.

The Lord was not content to allow the words, “Things Fall Apart” to be the final motto over this sad world. He had other plans, and He has never abandoned His eternal intentions.

Israel and the tribal allotments were a stage in the forward movement of His purposes. If Israel obeyed the Law, they would do what could be done to keep the land and the people together.

But Law could never bring about the eternal purpose of God. We don't keep law. And the curse of death and myriad forms of decay have their own law.

We needed life, life beyond the death of people we were counting on, life beyond the loss of family land. We needed a new creation.

That new creation would begin with a second Adam, born to a poor woman from the tribe of Judah, but conceived by the Holy Spirit. The salvation that has come to us through Him would bring about not just a restored Israel, but a renewed earth. He has accomplished what the Law could not do. We who embrace the news of His death and resurrection know this now by faith. Soon all the earth will know it by sight.