The Daughters Before the Leaders - Joshua 17:4

In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah”, and in chapter seventeen and verse three of Joshua we learn how the daughters come before the leaders where we read,

And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

The verse reads, “And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “and they came near” or “and they, the daughters of Zelophehad, drew close to and approached” “before Eleazar the priest” which means “in front and in the presence of Eleazar whose name means ‘God has helped’ and was the spiritual chief, principal officer and leader”, “and before Joshua” or “and in front and in the presence of Joshua whose name means Jehovah is salvation” “the son of Nun” which means “the male offspring and progeny belonging to Nun whose name means ‘fish or posterity’ and was the father of Joshua the successor of Moses”, “and before the princes” or “and in front and in the presence of the chiefs, captains, leaders and rulers”, “saying” which means “uttering, declaring and proclaiming” the following words. Joshua or the writer shared how the “daughters of Zelophehad” approached the leaders of Israel which include “Eleazar” who was the spiritual leader, “Joshua" who championed the defeat of the promise land and the captains and rulers. 

 

The verse continues, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.” Joshua or the writer added the words, “the LORD” which means “Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name of the One True God” “commanded Moses” or “charged and ordered Moses whose name means ‘drawn out’ and was the prophet, lawgiver and leader of the exodus’ “to give us an inheritance” which means “to grant, bestow and assign to us, the daughters of Zelophehad, a possession, property, heritage, share and portion” “among our brethren” or “in the midst and middle of our, the people of Manasseh’s, kinship, kindred and relatives”.  (See Numbers 34:17-29) “Therefore according to the commandment” which means “therefore, wherefore, then and on this account in keeping with the charge and order” “of the LORD” or “belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God” “he gave them an inheritance” which means “he, Joshua, granted, bestowed, allotted and assigned a possession, property, heritage, share and portion” “among the brethren” or “in the midst of the kinsmen, kindred and relatives” “of their father” which means “belonging to their, the clans or tribes, male progenitors and ancestors”. Joshua or the writer shared how the five “daughters” of “Zelopehad” appealed to the leaders of Israel by referring to how Moses told the people of Israel that they would receive an “inheritance” in keeping with their families or tribes within the promise land, and “Joshua" provided them with the inheritance. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how the “daughters of Zelophehad” knew to make an appeal to the leadership within Israel concerning their problem. Because they were “women”, they were not accounted for when the distribution of the promise land was named. God saw them though, and we shall see how their needs were to be supplied. God loves everyone, and regardless of their background and situation, He wants everyone to come to Him through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days. When we yield to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and to help us live in a manner that is pleasing to Him and receives everything that He desires to give us. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Revelation 4:11)

Next time we learn how, “there fell ten portions to Manasseh”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".