Coheirs With Christ

Coheirs with Christ

Daughters Of Zelophehad

Read: Numbers 27:5-11

When Zelophehad’s daughters presented their petition to be granted land, Moses didn’t know how to handle the situation, so he took their case before the Lord. God affirmed that the women had a legitimate claim to the Canaanite land that would have been assigned to their father or his sons. God also made it a permanent law in Israel that when a father died with no sons, his inheritance belonged to his daughters.

Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah must have been remarkable women to boldly ask for something that went against the written law. Instead of rebuking them, God rewarded their courage. These sisters enjoyed the rare privilege of being the only females with assigned property in the Promised Land. For the rest of their lives, they must have felt thankful that they hadn’t let the laws and customs favoring males intimidate them and keep them from speaking up. Their case set a precedent for all Israelite women who would come after them.

It’s hard for our modern sensibilities to grasp how remarkable this decision was. It’s also difficult for us to grasp how remarkable our position is in Christ. Once God accepts us as his adopted children, we become his heirs. Our inheritance begins immediately, with everything we need to live a godly life and the spiritual blessings that come from being in a loving relationship with our Father. It extends to our future as co-heirs with Jesus Christ, entitled to share the riches of God’s Kingdom for eternity.

Our inheritance also includes the price of following Jesus in a world opposed to him. We are all called to endure suffering to some degree, just as he endured persecution, humiliation, and death on a cross. Even when our positions as God’s heirs cause us to suffer, we can be thankful that his inheritance goes equally to daughters and sons.

If we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Romans 8:17 (NIV)