Their Father's Heirs

Zelophehad's Daughters

Ekoh

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781630879822
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Five girls born in the time of Moses to a fourth-generation first-born male struggle to survive during the Exodus in a world dominated by men. In the face of this challenge, they refuse to be suffocated by traditions and instead radiate courage, changing their world and making history.Through the eyes of Zelophehad, a disappointed father, and his five spirited daughters, we see the Israelites' brave journey to the promised land from a fresh perspective that brings life and color to one of the Bible's least-known stories. What did it mean to survive the forty-year journey with Moses through the wilderness as a family during the Exodus? Find out in Their Father's Heirs.

1

Today was Milcah’s eightieth day of life. Zelophehad, her father, stood with his wife, who was more relieved than excited, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. They were offering to YHWH a year-old lamb for a burnt offering to mark the end of her eighty-day isolation after the birth of their daughter. For her purification, she gave her preferred and difficult-to-get bird, a dove, as she always did. Zelophehad also gave an extra offering, surprising his wife. For months they had struggled to obtain a year-old male lamb without any blemish or defect for today. In addition, Zelophehad had complained so much about their dwindling livestock and so she was surprised to see the young bull handed over to her husband by his nephew. He had deliberately kept his wife in the dark about this second offering. Not because she had any problem with them giving all their livestock to YHWH, but to forestall her criticism of his motive. He had arranged with his nephew to quietly bring the young bull way behind them. From the corner of his left eye he could make out his wife’s expression of surprise and concern. He suspected his wife knew exactly what the extra offering was for. The priest motioned for his extra offering with a knowing look at his daughter that said “I understand your plight.” “Well for the love of God. This is my fourth daughter and not one son yet! It is certainly not a crime for me to be obviously desperate.” Zelophehad brooded and let off a sigh working on his facial expression. He did not want the priest to know what just went through his mind or think that he came before YHWH with an attitude other than piety. He was going through this ritual for the fourth time, each time with growing desperation but he was still hopeful. Ironically, his brother Baruch would be presenting his fourth son in a couple of days on his fortieth day of life, half the length of time they had to observe for his daughter. It seemed every time he was having a baby, his brother Baruch was right behind him just like when they were children. Only this time he could not show off greater strength as the big brother. Surely this was the true test of a man’s strength, thought Zelophehad, wishing it were possibly to switch babies like they used to exchange their wooden swords as boys.

Belonging to the fast-growing tribe of Manasseh, one of the wealthiest tribes, Zelophehad worried that he might not be able to keep his portion without a son. Since Egypt, every tribe had continued to grow and increase in number and in substance, but at this time the greatest gain was with the tribe of Manasseh. They had started out as the smallest in number but were growing so fast that the last census had them at over thirty thousand not counting their women and children. They were not the largest tribe but their growth was most significant, happening at a time when the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Gad, and even Ephraim were losing large numbers of their men. Their increasing numbers was one thing that baffled and concerned him greatly. He knew that a lot of his people would castigate him or even curse him to sleep for calling what they think is a great blessing a concern. But when they left Egypt, they had been only six hundred thousand men in number and his tribe had been a little less than half the number they were now. His wonder was how they kept on increasing every day despite the harsh conditions and several wars in the wilderness. His concern was how such a large herd of people would be safely ushered into the promised land and when they get there, would the land be enough to go round. Moreover it was getting more and more difficult for them to move these days. They were able to actually sow and harvest because the time spent at their stops has increasingly lengthened.

The God of their fathers was definitely making good the blessings pronounced by Jacob on the twelve patriarchs many years ago. As a beneficiary of the noble patriarch Joseph, a sizeable portion of the nation’s inheritance belonged to his tribe and he definitely did not want to lose out. He was a fourth-generation descendant and took great pride in his tribe. He was a firstborn just as his father, Hepher, was to his father, Gilead, the firstborn of Makir. As a matter of fact his name meant firstborn. The firstborn child was very important and the desire of every parent is that it be a male. Sons were a man’s greatest assets in Israel. They were the ones to preserve their family name and inheritance for generations. They watched the gate. They went to wars. They died with pride in defense of their people and the land. The measure of your strength and capacity as a man was in the number of sons you have. Just the other day, Moses had commanded that all the firstborn males in the camp be counted. Zelophehad had been so mortified when one of the censoring Levites came by his tent asking if his newborn baby was a male. He did not need a reminder that yet again he had failed to bring forth an heir from his loins, someone to represent his house. With a very low voice he had respectfully told the Levite that his newborn baby was not a firstborn and left it at that.

His wife believed that he worried too much and almost daily reminded him that they had the most beautiful daughters in Israel. His wife was a wonderful, godly woman who sought nothing but his happiness. She has borne him four beautiful daughters but he needed to prove the authenticity of his manhood. Zelophehad had never failed any test of masculinity in his life. As a firstborn male in his family he had many privileges that his brothers did not. Growing up he had been the family’s showcase. Oh how he loved those days as a boy, when he was always given the preference among his six brothers. Whether gifts, meals, opportunities, the first gets it first and most often gets the best. In Israel, every firstborn male whether of man or animal belonged to YHWH. And this identity automatically made them special, distinguishing them from their siblings. As a firstborn male, he had to be redeemed with a costly sacrifice. He smiled as he remembered taunting his brothers with that. Every time they contended with him in spiritual matters, he used to say to them, “I am redeemed, you are not, so let the redeemed of the Lord speak.” To top it all, he gets a double portion of his family’s inheritance. However, right now he did not feel that superiority. How he envied his brother Baruch who has had four sons in the same space of time he’s had his four daughters. Seemingly it appears like a pitch of beauty against brawn with him and Baruch.

Before their father Hepher died, he had called him and blessed him as the firstborn. One of the things he said to him was that his brothers were now his sons. His father’s dying pronouncement had him wondering if it was just about him inheriting his father’s role as the head of the family or was there more to it prophetically. His brothers were all grown men with families of their own. Even though he was the firstborn and head of their family, the truth was that the age gap between them was not significant. His mother had literally had babies every year. As boys and as young men, one could never tell who was the oldest or the youngest until they were told. His two sisters, the twins, who were between him and his second brother, Makir, were the ones that were mistaken for the babies of the family. Zelophehad was finding it harder as the days went by to exert himself as the head to his brothers. Not because he did not understand his role as the head of their family or did not want to live up to the role, but because he felt disqualified. Once upon a time he had been so confident and sure of himself. Where was that young man? The young man that knew he was a leader by divine design and never hesitated to be first whether in trouble or triumph. Maybe he had taken it for granted that just as he was first in everything it was also his birthright to be the first to show strength in procreation. Baruch, his youngest brother, had four sons, and each of his other brothers had more. He knew that it was only a matter of time before his brothers would begin to resent him. If he ended up without an heir, it meant that his portion of their family’s wealth would be lost. No family or tribe likes depreciation of any form. Every family and tribe wants only increase. He did not want to be responsible for taking away from his family but rather wanted to live up to his name. He did not want to be a father to his brothers either, as his dead father had suggested. He desperately wanted to be a father, but a father only to the sons from his loins. He and his brothers grew up competing and contending with one another anyway, so he could not see them looking to him as their father now. He wanted only to lead as he had always done growing up and that was his focus right now. Zelophehad returned from his reverie as he heard the priest call out, “Son of Hepher , the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” He shook himself, mouthed, “Amen,” and took his leave, wishing the priest had said “give you sons” rather than “peace.”

2

Zelophehad was not only anxious about his lack of a son but worried about many things. They had embarked on this journey to the promised land some twenty years ago when Moses returned from his self-exile with a message of deliverance from YHWH. Moses was born an Israelite but grew up an Egyptian prince in the house of Pharaoh, where he was adopted. He got into trouble trying to identify with his true people, the Israelites. That cost him his royal privileges, resulting in his exile. Many of them had thought it an irony that the very palace that caused them so much pain would be the same one from which a savior would arise to deliver them. Well that was the very meaning of the name Moses if you were Hebrew. However, Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him had given him the name Moses, which to the Egyptians meant son. So depending on what side you were looking from, he was either Egypt’s son or Israel’s deliverer. He believed without a doubt that Moses was their “Deliverer.”

Many of his people had found it difficult to believe this Israelite-Egyptian in the beginning, and he believed some still doubted today because of this never-ending journey to the promised land. He sometimes wondered what would have happened had members of Moses’ family not been around to support his claims. Aaron his brother had been instrumental in convincing their people to follow Moses, and Miriam his sister had been the one who stood to prove his nativity to the doubting ones. Well they were the very ones that were closest to him and now assisted him with governing the people. Aaron his brother was the high priest, while Miriam was a highly respected prophetess and the only woman in leadership. She was a very influential woman, greatly admired by all the women, especially his wife, who wanted their daughters to be like Miriam. Though both Aaron and Miriam were older than Moses, who was their baby brother, yet they submitted to him as YHWH’s chosen leader for Israel. Moreover, they belonged to the house of Levi, the respected priestly tribe, even though Moses grew up in the house of Pharaoh. For Zelophehad and many others it was the awesome acts and supernatural interventions which led to their deliverance that authenticated and proved Moses. He had vivid recollection of the time and all the events that had led to their escape from Egypt. He still had nightmares sometimes, of walking in the midst of that Red Sea. On dry land they had walked right in the midst of that sea, with walls of trembling water on either side looking tumultuous and ready to fall back into position. It had been as if the waters were literally held apart by a mighty invisible hand on either side as they walked through. It had been both a terrifying and exciting experience, like a dangerous adventure. He remembered some families who had been too terrified and would not follow the herd of people until much pleading and of course the approach of Pharaoh’s soldiers had forced them into the waters. He remembered watching in amazement and horror as the same waters that had parted to give them passage had returned with such force. Pharaoh, his six hundred soldiers, chariots and horses had all disappeared before their very eyes. It was as if the whole of Egypt was wiped out. And it had happened so quickly, shortly after Moses had proclaimed to them, “The Egyptians you see today, you will see no more.” It had been a miracle and the ultimate payback to Pharaoh who had believed he was a god unto himself and the people. The whole event from the first plague to the last they saw of the Egyptians had been a humiliation of all their gods. It was established that their hundreds of gods were no match for the One God of Israel. They had not only escaped from their slave masters but they had left Egypt a very wealthy people. There was no family in Israel without valuables. Gold, silver, bronze, every kind of gemstones and any valuable asset that could be named, they had it. They had more than enough to buy land and anything else that they would need to settle in Canaan. Perhaps this was why he worried so much, Zelophehad thought. “Without an heir, what is the benefit of all my possessions?” It was not enough to have possessions. It was commonly believed and recited among them that the righteous leave inheritance for their children’s children, but the wicked are cut off, never to be heard of. He had reassured himself time and time again that he was no wicked man and believed he would be counted among the righteous. “Without an heir you are no better than a pauper,” his mother’s favorite line seemed to invade his thoughts. But not for long, as his wife’s sweet voice interrupted. “My Lord, I see that you have deceived me.” They were walking back home with their baby, Milcah, wrapped up so completely in swaddling clothes that he could not even see her face. He cleared his throat, buying time as he thought carefully of what to say to his wife. He did not want her to think that the reassurance he spent time giving her that morning meant nothing. He meant everything he had said to her earlier in the day when she woke up crying and worried. “I just wanted to give an extra offering to the Lord. Who knows, he just might smile down on me with a son sooner that you think.” She glanced at his face, searching his soul through his eyes as only she knew how. He was always cautious with his wife because she understood his expressions and actions more than she did his Hebrew. “I will tell you. You are desperate for a son but you are an honorable man. You intend to keep your promise to me and our daughters and I love you but . . .” She paused looking very serious. He turned to face her stopping in his track. They had taken the less busy path home, the tracks behind the tents, so he could afford the luxury of some privacy with his wife. He put his two hands on her shoulders to stop her in her track and looked into her face. She looked down smiling, too shy to look into his face directly. He had known his wife for fifteen years and yet there were still moments like this one. She looked down at his feet and continued, “. . . You can always change your mind you know and I will still love you.” “Woman, are you speaking the truth! Would you still love me when the other woman mocks and insults you for something you have no control over? Would you still love me when she makes your life miserable because I love you more than her? Would you still love me when peace no longer reigns in our home because of some strange woman? Would you . . .” They jumped as they heard footsteps creep upon them. It was a young man and a maiden holding hands. The young man waived and shouted a greeting respectfully while the young maiden snatched her hand away from his hand, obviously hiding her face behind her veils. Zelophehad took a cue from the approaching couple, grabbed his wife’s hand, and they continued their journey home. “Let’s give the young people some privacy and I hope they are pledged to be married. We have had our days.”

It was not unusual to find young lovers along the paths behind the tents. This was one of the largest camps they have ever set, yet they seemed to have not enough space. You were always sure to bump into people anywhere and everywhere around the tents even on the Sabbath. If you wanted privacy, you remained in your tents or went to the mountains, hills, or bushes surrounding the camp. The only people with complete privacy, which of course was not by choice, were the offenders and the lepers. As much as he coveted some more privacy, he cringed at the thought of such complete isolation from the camp. Such had been the fate of the greatest woman in the camp—Miriam. Some years ago she had been isolated for leprosy, a curse that had come upon her for daring to challenge her brother Moses. They were a people governed by laws given to Moses directly by YHWH. They were different from the surrounding nations who envied their organization and culture. They had courts and judges to settle their disputes. They had a good system of justice that worked well for the people. Moses elected elders from all the tribes who were assigned to oversee the people in divisions of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands just like their army was structured. The overall judge, however, remained Moses, to whom difficult cases were presented. For the Moabites, the Amorites, the Amalekites, and the Cushites—the nations surrounding them—it was different. It was survival of not only the fittest but the roughest. Barbaric and unclean, they called them and were forbidden by the law to marry from these nations. Over the years they had had families come from these nations to beg for citizenship in Israel. Some qualified and many were rejected based on a number of conditions required by their laws. It was good to live in a community with laws. Egypt had been lawless. The Pharaohs were the law. They maimed, killed, and did about anything at their whims and wills. Israel had laws and regulations regarding every aspect of living. Food, drink, housing, marriage, birth, genders, death, diseases, crimes, slavery, farming, inheritance, and the list goes on. They had restitution and death penalty depending on the offense. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Life for a life. Even their animals were not exempted. He had once watched his brother Makir’s leg deliberately broken as payment for his neighbor’s fractured limb, which he had been responsible for in the course of a fight. His friend Ramah, a Cushite turned Israelite, often argued that their people were no better than the other nations but were forced by the laws to behave. Zelophehad’s comeback was always that it did not matter which came first, whether the law or the good behavior. It was peace that mattered. At least he was sure that a man could not kill him and go free. He was sure that no man would encroach on his territory and get away with it. He was sure no priestess would demand for one of his daughters to be burnt in a fire as a sacrifice to a worthless idol. He was sure no man could forcefully take his wife from him. He was a man who loved predictability. At least they were not likely to wake up one day and be told that they were no longer bona fide members of their community. They were a nation now. They were God’s special people, they were Israel! The mention of their name terrified many nations. Clearly they had heard of the dread they left in Egypt and their dealings with the Amalekites. Only their destination Canaan troubled him. They were informed that giants filled the land and great walls surrounded their cities. For twenty-five years now they have been waiting on this promised land. The land they were to claim was extensive. It included the land of the Amorites, Hitittites, Hivittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and of course the focus—Canaan. Maybe if they had at least conquered the extensions by now he would worry less. But here they were, it seemed, stranded in Paran for now. Maybe the several wars they had faced so far was part of YHWH’s plan to prepare them for the giants of Canaan, only Moses could tell him he believed. His thought focused on Moses at the moment as he tried to understand the person he was made of. He was in awe of this man. There was just something about Moses. He thought of his calm, his carriage, his courage, his humility, his conducts, his intimacy with YHWH, even his looks. He looked the same as he had over twenty years ago when he began to lead them. His brother, Aaron, the high priest, was not so lucky. The four years between them seemed more like forty years. Yet all the weight and burden of their nation was on this man. To be fair to Aaron, he had undergone a lot, losing two sons at the same time and having to live a very restricted life as a high priest.

3

Zelophehad smiled as he approached the entrance of his tent and heard his daughters’ loud chatter and his mother’s nagging voice asking them to be quiet so she could hear the footsteps approaching their tent. He did not know how she did it, but his mother could tell with almost perfect precision the person approaching their tent by their footsteps. She knew when it was his or his siblings. She could tell if it was bad or good tidings that was coming with a footstep. He often took advantage of her forecast. He was always prepared for every visitor. His mother came out of the tent with his daughters and the first thing she said to him was, “Any word from the priest?” A feeling of annoyance began to well up inside him as he understood exactly what she was talking about. She had asked him this same question three years ago when he had returned with his wife and Hoglah, his third daughter. She could at least have started with welcoming them or asking how it went. But that was his mother, never one to waste time on pleasantries. She seemed to have gotten worse with age. His wife kissed his mother and quickly vanished into their tent, ushering the girls in with her as she mumbled something about feeding the baby. He knew how much his wife hated such confrontation, especially in the presence of their daughters. He schooled his expressions and scooped up his third daughter, Hoglah, laughing as she shouted in glee. He was always careful not to get into any heated argument with his mother in the presence of his children. He did not want them growing to think that they can talk back to their mother and him. He waited for them to enter the tent and then he turned to his mother with his wor...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13
• 14
• 15
• 16
• 17
• 18
• 19
• 20
• 21
• 22
• 23
• 24
• 25
• 26
• 27
• 28
• 29
• 30
• 31
• About the Book