Daughters Of Genuine Faith

One day a petition was presented by the daughters of Zelophehad —Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. Their father, Zelophehad, was a descendant of Hepher son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph. These women stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the tribal leaders, and the entire community at the entrance of the Tabernacle. “Our father died in the wilderness,” they said. “He was not among Korah’s followers, who rebelled against the LORD; he died because of his own sin. But he had no sons. Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan just because he had no sons? Give us property along with the rest of our relatives.” Numbers 27:1-4

ZELOPHEHAD HAD DIED during the forty years the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness —and he had died without any sons to carry on his name and inherit his stake in the land allotted to his family in Canaan. Having a name that endured through your descendants was a vital part of being a partaker in the promises of God. As it was, Zelophehad’s name would be forgotten, and his land would be absorbed by another clan. But Zelophehad had five daughters —women who were convinced that the promises of God were valuable enough to fight for. So they went to Moses and appealed their case. In spite of their father’s sin, by God’s grace and mercy, these daughters were given a stake in the land.

What these daughters wanted was an inheritance that was promised by God but not yet possessed. Unlike the men in the family’s previous generation, who had lacked the faith to enter into the land God had promised them, these daughters declared by their actions, “We believe what God has promised, and we want all that he has promised to give!”

If there’s anything we want in our children, it is bold faith like these daughters of Zelophehad —children who, despite the sins of their parents and the doubts their parents might have had about the goodness of God, want everything he has to give and are willing to do whatever is required to take hold of it.

Lord, won’t you fill ________ with the same passionate desire for what you provide, the same rugged confidence in your goodness, the same bold intention to take hold of all you have to give? Help me to rest in the truth that my failures to trust and obey you do not determine the future inheritance of my children in your Promised Land.