Focus

As you quiet yourself for this brief time, be willing to be open to God in whatever way that may take place.

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Read

Numbers 27:1-11 (NRSV)

Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward. Zelophehad was son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph, a member of the Manassite clans. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and they said, “Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin; and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”

Moses brought their case before the LORD. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father’s brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them. You shall also say to the Israelites, “If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall pass his inheritance on to his daughter. If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. It shall be for the Israelites a statute and ordinance, as the LORD commanded Moses.”

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Reflect

As the Hebrews prepared to enter the Promised Land, Moses and the other leaders held a meeting to divide the promised inheritance among the people. The five daughters of Zelophehad crashed the meeting, insisting that they were entitled to a piece of the promise. Since their father had died in the wilderness, these five women had no male family members left to give them any hope of standing, status, or voice in their community. However, they believed and knew that they were a part of this people God had called and to whom God had promised a land and a future. They were determined to live into that promise, to live into their call. It could not have been a simple decision, a leisurely stroll, to enter that meeting. Yet they knew that in order to survive, to prosper, to live the lives they believed they could as children of God, they had to take bold steps.

We, too, are children of God, inheritors of a promise and a call. What bold steps must you take to live into that promise? How can you be a voice with those our society tries to silence and stand with them as they take their own bold steps?

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Pray

Holy God, in your strength and wisdom, help me to discern your call. Help me to believe your promises. May I be empowered and assured by your presence to step boldly into the fullness of the life you have for me so that I might serve others wholeheartedly. Amen.

Go with God.