Numbers, chapter 27, if you have
a few Bibles, it will be on page 197. Well, it will be on page 199. Numbers,
chapter 27. I want to begin reading in verse
1 and read down through verse 11. Numbers, chapter 27, verse 1,
down through verse 11. Now, be patient with me as I
pronounce these Hebrew words. If we had somebody here that
could speak Hebrew, you would realize just how awful I am at
trying to pronounce these words. Numbers chapter 27 and verse
1. Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Heber,
the son of Gilead, the son of Machar, the son of Manasseh,
of the family of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. And these are
the names of his daughters, Mala, Noah, Hogla, Malka, and Tarza. And they stood before Moses,
and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes, and all
the congregation by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
saying, Our father died in the wilderness, And he was not in
the company of them that gathered themselves against the Lord in
the company of Korah, but died in his own sin and had no sons. Why should the name of our Father
be done away from among his family because he hath no sons? Give
unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our Father. And Moses brought their cause
before the Lord. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, The daughters of Zelophehad spake right. Thou shalt surely
give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's
brethren, and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father
to pass unto them. And thou shalt speak unto the
children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no Then ye
shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if
he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto
his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then
ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren. And
if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance
unto his kinsmen that are next to him of his family, and he
shall possess it. And it shall be unto the children
of Israel a statue forever, as the Lord commanded Moses." Now,
this book of numbers, it gets its title literally from numbering. There in chapter 1, numbers,
and here again in chapter 26, the chapter before this one we
just read to you, they numbered the children of Israel. In chapter
1 of Numbers, they numbered them when they first came out of the
land of Egypt. And now you're 40 years later
in chapter 26. They number them again. And here's
how they number them. If you want to look at this sometime,
you can. It's very peculiar the way they
did this. But in chapter 1 in verse 2 and 3, if you want to
look at this sometime, you can see how they numbered them. They
numbered the children of Israel. from 20 years old and upward. And they only numbered the males,
those that were fit to go out to war. And here's something
I thought was very, very interesting. In Chapter 1, when they numbered
them, these males, when they first came out of Egypt, there
were 603,550 males able to go out to war, 20 years and older. In the 26th chapter, when they
numbered the same age group, the second generation, there
was 601,730. In other words, they were 1,820
short of what they were when they came out of the land of
Egypt. Now, here's what's so interesting
about this. They lived in Egypt somewhere
around 400 years. And when they numbered those
males that came out of Egypt, there was 6,303,000 and some
odd number. All of that generation died in
the wilderness but two men. And yet when they lived in the
wilderness for 40 years, they still were just 1,820 men short
of what they were when they came out of the land. Now that's amazing,
isn't it? They said, you brought us out
here to destroy us. That's what they kept complaining
about. But in 40 years, the Lord multiplied the children of Israel
almost as much as He did 400 years prior to this. That's how
He took care of them and multiplied the children of Israel. Hold
that chapter and look over in Nehemiah chapter 9. Over to your
right, if you turn it past Kings, and you turn it past Chronicles,
then you go into Ezra, the little book of Ezra, and then the next
book is Nehemiah. I'll give you just a minute to
find it. Start turning over to your right,
go through Kings, and then through the book of Chronicles, the book
of Ezra. If you go to the book of Esther
or Job, you turn too far. It's 587 in the Pew Bible. Here's what Nehemiah was saying
about this time when the Lord kept His people in the wilderness. Here in verse 21 of Nehemiah
chapter 9. Nehemiah chapter 9, verse 21. Did you find it? Yea, forty years did thou sustain
them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes
waxed not old, and their feet swelled not." Now some of us
here today know something about our feet swelling. You just let
us stay on them all day. You put us out in the middle
of the desert and you are going to see some swelled feet. They
had no swelled feet. The clothes on their back didn't
wax old. Verse 22. Moreover, thou didst give them
kingdoms and nations, thou didst divide them into corners, so
that they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the
king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan. We saw
that last week. Their children also multipliest
thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them unto the
land concerning which thou hast promised to their fathers that
they should go in to possess it." So, when they took this
last census, they were just 1820 men short of what they were when
they numbered them when they first came out of Egypt. Now,
I think that's amazing to me. That's absolutely amazing. Especially
after they complained, they thought it was going to diminish so much.
But here was the problem. Here's the problem that this
created for these five daughters of Xelopehad. And here was the
problem. This second numbering was just
like the first. When they numbered them from
20 years old and upward, 603,550. These were the men that was to
possess the land of Canaan. The inheritance fell to these
men and through these men to their family and to these males
only. Now, that may seem strange when
we first look at this, but that's the way things were divided up
back then. It was given to the males. Well,
here's the problem. We can see the problem immediately
for these women, can't we? here presented a problem. Their
dad had no son. So they came to Moses here and
they make their plea before him and these princesses. But look
and consider the things, before we look at their plea, consider
the things that was against these five daughters of this man. First of all, the Word itself. The very word and commandment
of God seemed to be against them because he says specifically
in the first chapter in verse 2 and 3 in this book that the
males alone were to inherit the land of Canaan. They were to
be divided up between these 600 and 3,550 males. That's what
God commanded. So when they come here to plead
their cause, it seemed like the very word of God was against
them. That when they come to plead, Moses would automatically
say, listen, this is what God said. The second thing that seemed
to be against them was this. These were children of Manasseh. And you remember in the 48th
chapter of Genesis, when, I know turn to remember this, we looked
at this. when Joseph brought Manasseh and Ephraim, his son,
to his dad who was dying to bless him. Remember that? And he brought
his two sons up in front of him and he wanted his dad to put
his right hand upon Manasseh's head and his left hand upon Ephraim's
head because Manasseh was the firstborn. But what Jacob did
very cunningly, he's filling around and put his right hand
on Ephraim and his left hand upon Manasseh. And Joseph said,
Dad, wait a minute, wait a minute, you've got it wrong. You're getting
ready to bless the second barn. Manasseh is my first barn. He has to have the blessing.
And Jacob said, I know that. I know that. I know what I'm
doing. And he blessed Ephraim. And I
imagine one of the reasons he wanted to do that, and God permitted
him to do it, because he knew what it was not to have the firstborn
blessing, didn't he? That's why he stole it. So Manasseh
lost the firstborn blessing. Well, here is his descendants.
These four daughters are his descendants. The man who had
lost the blessing of the firstborn. And also the tribe of Manasseh
was getting ready to split. You remember, half of them stayed
on the east side of Jordan and possessed some land, and the
other half went on the west side of Jordan and possessed land
in that kingdom over there. So they were ready to belong
to a split tribe. So much, seemingly, against these
women. But look here now at their plight.
I guess you could add all of this to what he said there in
verse 3, that their father died. any sin. But look here, now here's
their plea in verse 3 and verse 4. Our father died in the wilderness. He was not in the company of
those that gathered themselves against the Lord in the company
of Korah. We remember that, don't we? Those
people that gathered and tried to overthrow the priesthood?
He wasn't involved in that rebellion. But he died in his own sin and
had no son. And here was the request. Why
should the name of our father be done away from among his family? Because he hath no son. Give
unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father. Now, notice first of all the
faith of these five women. Very, very important. They believed
that the promise of God to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob to give them
this land was so certain that they come here to plead for a
possession in it before they ever got there. Now remember,
they had never seen this land. They had never set a foot on
it. It was still occupied by strangers, by the natives of
that country, a mean seven strong nation. And yet they come here
and said, this land is so sure to be given us by the promise
of God. We've come here to plead our
pardon. Now that's faith in. I tell you,
that's more faith than their father had. And that's more faith
than their uncles had and the other men of that first generation
who could not enter the cause of unbelief. Boy, there's strong
faith in the promise of God. And look here in verse 5, they
got what they desired, too. And Moses brought the cause before
the Lord, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, The daughters
of Zephothahad speak right. Thou shalt surely give them a
possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren,
And thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto
them. Now, that's a blessing, wouldn't
it? That's a wonderful blessing. And you hold that right there
again, and you look in Joshua. Look in Joshua. And verse 17. Look in Joshua chapter 17. He's speaking here, they're here
now in the land of Canaan. They're dividing up the land.
Manasseh and all his sons, they're assigning to them lots. That's what they did. They assigned
each tribe different lots out of each, each family different
lots out of each tribe. And here in verse 3, look at
this. But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher,
Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Micah, the son of Manasseh,
had no sons, but daughters. And these are the names of his
daughters, Mela, Noah, Ogla, Melchah, and Tiza. And they came near before Eliezer
the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the
prince of Sam. Now, their plea, over here in
the first place we read in our text, was one of faith. They said, the Lord is going
to give us the land, and we want our part in it. We want our part. He said, alright, alright, you
can have it. The Lord spoke and you can have
it. Now, here's their assurance. Here's what they stand upon to
make sure this inheritance falls to them. The Lord commanded Moses
to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore, according
to the commandment of the Lord, He gave them that inheritance
among the brethren of their father. There was their plea. It was
a plea of faith. They plead the promise. And now
they plead here what God had commanded. God commanded to give
us the land. Here we are now to take it. Now that's a wonderful story,
isn't it? That's a wonderful story. We find such stories as
this all through the Bible. What can we learn from this?
What can we learn to help us in the story about these five
sisters pleading this land and gaining possession of it? The
first thing we can learn is this. If an earthly inheritance was
so important to these sisters that they took such steps to
secure it for themselves, how much more should you and I seek
to secure our hope? of heaven. If they went to such concern
that they would approach unto this great prophet and these
princes and the high priests before the abundance of people
gathered you at the door of the tabernacle congregation to plead
their cause, brothers and sisters, how much more diligent and sober
should you and I be in seeking our inheritance in that heavenly
kingdom. And it doesn't matter what may
seem to be against us. I don't know about your family
tree, but mine is very corrupt. I mean, the roots of my family
tree, I can't go back in my family tree any farther than my grandfather. Because it's so corrupted with
adultery, it's so corrupted with fornication, you go back any
farther than my grandfather and you can't even find my name. And to be honest with you, my
father died in his sins just like their dad did. And there
is a sense which every one of us in here are going to die in
our sin, are we not? Our sins have been forgiven us,
but there is a sense in which our being of sin is going to
abide with us. We were born sinners, we live
poor sinners, and we're going to die poor sinners. And I'm
telling you, there's nothing you're going to do about that.
And sometimes, I don't know about you, but there have been times
in my life during dark trials when it seemed like the Word
of God itself stood against me. It seemed like it shut me out.
But whatever difficulty may present itself before us in seeking an
entrance and a hope in that heavenly kingdom, don't let it hinder
us. Let's do just what these women
did. Above everything else, let's
seek a hope in heaven. We've got a Savior who has redeemed. He has accomplished redemption.
He has opened the door of mercy. There's a heaven that God has
promised to those who are in Christ. And that being the case,
let us seek our answers in to that heavenly city. I can't imagine going to Moses,
as these young women did, and seemingly pleading when the Word
of God stood against them. I was reading Grace Abounding
to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan. He wrote his life story. He said he got in such a dark
trial that he couldn't read God's Word. He thought he had sinned
against the Holy Ghost and thought all hope was gone. He read Hebrews
chapter 10 and thought himself nothing was left but a fiery
looking for abjudgment and fiery indignation which will devour
him. And when he thought about reading
the Word of God, he said he literally began to tremble. He said, the
Word of God seemed to shut me out. And he said, all I could
do was pray. All I could do was seek the Lord
for mercy. And finally, the Lord gave that
man some light in his conscience. And he said, the very Word that
seemed to shut me out, now took me in. The very Word that seemed
to condemn me, now assured me. The very Word that seemed to
pull all hope from me, now was my hope. That's what these women
found. It seemed like first the Word
of the Lord shut them out. Just the males. Just the males. But now they come and plead their
cause. And what does the Lord do? He
gives them His Word that says, You give them the land. You give
them the land. So whatever may hinder us, wherever
we may be, let us be like these sisters. Well, let us count the
inheritance that the Lord has promised above everything, above
all things. If it's a matter of worthiness,
then you and I have no hope, would we? We'd have no hope. But you know, as we read the
Word of God, we find out it's not a matter of personal worthiness.
We have too many examples, don't we? We have the thief on the
cross. A man who was ready to die in
his sins and perish from all outward circumstances and evidence.
But you know what he did? He did just what these ladies
did. He went and pleaded. Remember me. Is there a place
there for me? You've got an inheritance. I
know you're going to give it to people. You're coming into
your kingdom. Remember me. And he obtained an interest in
that, didn't he? We have another story about this
Canaanite woman. I thought it very strange that
they was going into Canaan and was going to kill all these people.
And then over in the New Testament, we got a very good example about
a Canaanite woman, and she's seeking her inheritance. But
boy, I tell you, it was tough on her, wasn't it? The Lord called
her a dog. Woman, you're seeking after my
blessings? You're seeking after me and an
interest in me and heaven to come, and you're a dog? And it's
not right. It's just not meant to take the
children's bread and give it to dogs. Boy, that shut her out,
didn't it? Seemingly. But she kept on, didn't
she? Well, she valued mercy. And finally,
He said, O woman, great is your faith. You've got an interest. You've got an interest. You've
got a hope. I give it to you. I'll give it to you. Those in
1 Corinthians chapter 6, those open and profane people, idolaters,
remember them? Adulterers, fornicators, abusers
of themselves, homosexuals, open and profane people, and yet you
know where they are today? They're enjoying the land of
promise. That kingdom that God promised to them that loved Him
because they were washed, they were justified, In the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. So if it's a matter of worthiness,
well, let's say this, if it's a matter of real worthiness,
then that's all right. We can plead that. We can plead
another's worthiness. Can we not? If the devil says,
oh, you're not worthy, you don't have any worthiness to plead,
we say, oh, yes, we've got worthiness to plead. We can plead the worthiness
of the man Christ Jesus. He's worthy, isn't he? He's full
of merit. I noticed these women here when
they come to plead, in a way they were pleading their father's
name, weren't they? It wasn't so much about them,
but they said here in verse 4, why should the name
of our father be done away from his family? Why should our father
lose his name? Why should he lose his place
in the family? and not have that inheritance
in His name be wiped out and the family be wiped out. So they
were pleading for His sake, weren't they? Can we not plead that before
our Father? For the sake of Christ? For His
name's sake? For His marriage's sake? For
His worthy name's sake? Well, if it's a matter of worth,
we'll plead worth, won't we? His worth. His worth and not
ours. God has forgiven you all sin
for Christ's sake. These sisters, here's what they
did. Boy, they came and they sought an inheritance. They valued
that inheritance. They valued it. God promised
it, and God promised it. I tell you, we want some of it.
We want in on it. We want it. If there was no such
thing, brothers and sisters, as a heaven being populated with
humanity, then let us go on and eat and drink and be merry. For
tomorrow we die and who knows what will happen to us. But there
is a heaven. There is an inheritance. There is a world. There is a
life beyond this one. And we know that, don't we? And
let us seek it. And let us seek it in Jesus Christ
our Lord. The second thing I want to say
about these women is this. These sisters sought to settle
this issue beforehand, didn't they? I like that. They not only sought it, but
they didn't wait until they got there to see it. They sought
it long before they came there, didn't they? We know that God
has given the land of promise to a people. And we know that
soon we're coming into that land. We want the assurance now that
we have a part in it. Boy, that's good, ain't it? That's
good. You know, they didn't want to wait until they got over there.
I mean, boy, when they entered the land of Canaan, boy, sometimes
there was war. There was some bad wars. There
was decisions to be made. There was lots to be handed out. And here, here in this fresh
desert air is the place to bring their cause before Moses and
the Lord and get it settled. Right here. Get it settled. Don't
wait until we get over there and settle it. Maybe too much
turmoil going on, too much war, too much confusion. Settle it
now here in the quietness and stillness of this desert air. Boy, there's a lesson in that,
isn't there? There's a lesson in that. This issue of our face
in death and what's to come, heaven or hell, is an issue that
we want to be settled now. We want to know today, this afternoon
at 7 p.m. on this day, that it's settled
as far as I'm concerned in my interest in the Savior and that
life that's to come. I want it settled now. Brothers
and sisters, now is where it needs to be settled. We don't
want to wait and face the issue at death. We don't want to wait
and face it yonder at the judgment. There'll be some decisions to
be made there. There's where men will be assigned
their eternal destinies. There'll be some weeping there.
There'll be some screams there. There'll be some gnashing of
teeth there. We don't want to wait until we get there to try
to settle whether or not we have an interest in that place. We
want to settle now. If God will give us grace, settle
the issue now. See what I'm saying? The Bible
says that we that are in Christ, we that are in Christ, have obtained
man inheritance. Being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel
of His own will. Are you in Christ? That's the
question. That's the issue that must be
settled. Are we in Christ? The inheritance
is in Him. Then get the assurance that you
are in Him. That you are accepted in Him.
That you are complete in Him. And He abides in you. And then,
when that is settled, we don't have to doubt our interest in
that heavenly kingdom that God has promised to them that love
Him. So there's the thing. There's
one of the lessons that you and I learned. These sisters, they
came here by faith that God had promised, and they wanted an
interest in it. But they wanted an interest in
it before they ever got there. So there's one lesson. The second
thing here is very telling, I think, the last thing that we'll look
at, very interesting. And I think this shows us that
these are meant to be taken spiritually. These are lessons to teach us, not so much about some civil
duties or how we're to divide our inheritance,
but I think these are to teach us spiritual lessons. And as
I was reading these, I was amazed to find out the meaning of the
names of these people. I have one commentator that I
keep around. I don't like him at all. Larry
finally deleted him off of his computer. But the reason I haven't
deleted him is because he's the best I've ever seen on the meaning
of words. Strongs will very seldom give
you the meaning of these names. Almost all of these names have
some very important and amazing meanings. And God teaches us
something by name. The Hebrews always named their
children by a name that meant something. His name shall be
called Jesus. What in the world does that mean?
Savior, doesn't it? Savior. Well, these names here
mean something. As you look at them, it teaches
us something about how the Lord saved sinners. Now here in chapter
27, look in verse 1 and let me show you what I mean. Numbers chapter 27. Then came
the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Heber. And you know
what this Heber means? Pit of shame. And you may want
to write these down if you can, if you've got a pencil. Heber.
That was these ladies' grandfather's pit of shame. Zilophihad, that
means shadow of fear or dread. The first sister's name, Mela,
that means sickness or infirmity. Noah, the second sister, of course
we all know what Noah means. It means wandering, to wander. Hogla, that means dancing for
joy. Malka means Queen, Tarza, well-pleasing,
acceptable. Now notice how this graduates.
Notice how it begins with these names and then notice how it
ends. And by seeing these very names,
the Lord is teaching us something about salvation. First of all,
pita shame. Isn't that our birth? Is that
the way we're born? Aren't we born in shame? The
wicked go astray. When? As soon as they be born. Speaking lies. I was shapen in
iniquity and sin did my mother conceive me. You know what a
mother's womb is? It's a pit of sin. It just houses
little sinners. And then, because we are born
in a pit of shame, the next thing, because of this, we live in the
shadow of death and dread. Dread of the tomb, the song says.
All our lifetime subject to bondage. First thing we see, a pit of
sin. The second thing, we live in
the shadow and fear of death and dread. The third name, we
begin to know this. We begin to find out our sickness. We begin to see our sickness,
our infirmity. They that are whole need not
a physician, but they that are sick. From the top of our head
to the sole of our feet, we're full of bruises and wounds and
putrefied sores. We're sick, aren't we? We have
a plague and it's in our heart. Have you ever seen that? Have
you ever seen your sickness? And what happens when we begin
to see our sickness? And that brings us to the name
Noah, which means wanderer, wandering. And Psalms 107 says they wandered
in the wilderness. hungry and thirsty, and their
soul fainted within them. And then, in their distress,
they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, in their sickness, and
He delivered them from their distresses." See how He is graduating? We started out with a pit of
sin. Because of that, we lived in dread and fear of the tomb
and death and the judgment to come. And then we saw our sickness. Our sickness was made known to
us. And then we wondered. We kept wondering from one place
to another, looking for rest and finding none. Our soul hungry
and thirsty. And finally, what do we do? Oh,
Lord, heal me, and I shall be healed. Save me, and I shall
be saved. And then what happens? That brings
us to the fifth name, doesn't it? Augla. We dance for joy. Dancing for joy. Oh, God. Oh, God. Dancing for joy. When the Lord saves us, that's
what we do, isn't it? He saves us from our distress, and we
rejoice in the Lord. And then the sixth name was this.
The sixth one. Nelka, Queen. What happens when
the Lord saves us? He marries us, doesn't He? He marries us. We are married
to the King of nations. We're married to the King of
kings and Lord of lords. We're the bride of Christ. We're
the Lamb's wife. In Psalms chapter 45 and verse
9, this says this to the Lord. Upon your right hand did stand
the Queen in gold arfar. He's taken us to be His bride. We're the queen of the king. And the last name, Tarza, well-pleasing,
accepted. Well-pleasing, accepted. We are
accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption, even
the forgiveness of sins. Listen to Colossians 121. And
you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind, you
were a pit of shame. yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in his sight." Listen to Ephesians chapter 5
and verse 25, "...Christ loved the church, and gave himself
for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word, that he may present it to himself a glorious
church." Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Jude 1.24, Unto him that is able
to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory, accepted, well-pleasing in his sight. Now that is wonderful, isn't
it? What a wonderful lesson that we have just learned from the
very names of these ladies and their dad and their grandpa. Old Hart wrote a song, I think
it was Hart, and he said, When I shall stand before the throne,
dressed in beauty not my own, when I shall see thee as thou
art, and love thee with an unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully
know, but not till then how much I hold. Brothers and sisters,
my exhortation would be to you this afternoon. above everything else, let this
be our aim, let this be our goal. If God has promised a kingdom
to them that love Him, then let it be our aim and goal to live
the rest of our lives with a God-given assurance that He, by His grace
in Christ, has given us an entrance in that place. Any questions?