Read Numbers 36
Questions from the Scripture text: Which family’s chiefs, from which tribe, come near to whom (Numbers 36:1)? Of what two commands do they remind them (Numbers 36:2)? About which eventuality are they concerned (Numbers 36:3)? What would finalize this (Numbers 36:4)? What does Moses answer, according to Whose Word (Numbers 36:5)? Whom does YHWH say the daughters of Zelophehad must marry (Numbers 36:6)? Who else must do this (Numbers 36:8)? What will this help to ensure (Numbers 36:7, Numbers 36:9)? What is the outcome of this instruction (Numbers 36:10)? Who marry whom (Numbers 36:11)? What remains with whom (Numbers 36:12)? How does Numbers 36:13 conclude this passage and this book?
Why conclude this book with regulations about inheritance? Numbers 36 looks forward to the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that inheritance for Israel mattered so much because YHWH Himself is our ultimate inheritance.
Why this particular passage is in this particular location. This passage serves as an inclusio (bookends) with the beginning of chapter 27, marking off chapters 27–36 as a conclusion to Numbers as a whole. The great theme of the final section has been that YHWH Himself is the inheritance of the people, even more than the land is. And this has just been emphasized in Numbers 35:33–34.
That YHWH is our true inheritance is all the more obvious in the gospel age. For, it is YHWH Himself in the flesh Who has redeemed us for Himself and given Himself to us. We receive many other things together with the Lord Jesus (cf. Romans 8:32), but it is God Himself—in the Lord Jesus, and through the Lord Jesus—that is our great inheritance (cf. Genesis 15:1, Psalm 16:5–6, Psalm 73:25–26, Romans 5:2, 1 Peter 1:3–5).
What the real problem is. Under the Mosaic administration, the inherited land is a palpable display of their inheriting the Lord Who gave it and dwells among them. This is why it was so urgent that land stay within each tribe: it is an inheritance from Him Who is their true inheritance. This is what was threatened by the possibility of a daughter of Zelophehad marrying away her inheritance (Numbers 36:7, Numbers 36:9).
What the solution is. In part, the solution is prudence in marriage choices. This applies to believers as a whole (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:39, 2 Corinthians 6:14). Contrary to contemporary marriage indoctrination, finding a spouse is not about finding the one that your heart falls for. In the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, and of every believer, a good marriage choice is much more about marrying someone by whom, and with whom, you are all the more enabled to enjoy the Lord as your portion.
At another level, the solution is the Word of God. It is His Word that came previously (Numbers 36:2), and it is His Word that speaks now (Numbers 36:5-6), and it is His Word that both prescribes and produces the daughters’ obedience (Numbers 36:10), resulting in the preservation of the inheritance of their father’s family (Numbers 36:12). Indeed, it is the Word of the Lord that is their solution not just to this but to all things (Numbers 36:13).
How has your own marriage helped you treasure YHWH as your portion (or how do you hope that it will)? What (Who!) is your great inheritance? What else will you inherit, along with Him? How is treasuring/valuing those things a part of treasuring/valuing Him as your inheritance? How are you making use of His Word to help you do whatever is consistent with belonging to Him? How does His Word help you?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for giving Yourself to be our portion. You have given Christ both for us and to us. And, by joining us to Him, You have given to us to have His inheritance, which is to have You Yourself as our inheritance! Grant unto us the ministry of Your Spirit, Who is a seal unto us of our inheritance, and Who makes us to know our adoption to the Father and our union with the Son. Bless Your Word to us, and produce in us the obedience that walks in the way of treasuring You, we ask through Christ, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the Lord” or TPH471 “The Sands of Time Are Sinking”
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