Starting to see God's Heart Concerning Women

Numbers 27:1 Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph, came near; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah. 2 They stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the leaders and all the congregation, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, saying, 3 "Our father died in the wilderness, yet he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons. 4 "Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers." 5 So Moses brought their case before the LORD. 6 ¶ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 7 "The daughters of Zelophehad are right in {their} statements. You shall surely give them a hereditary possession among their father's brothers, and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them. 8 "Further, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.



Those who want to judge ancient values with today’s standards will completely miss or even denigrate what happened with the daughters of Zelophehad. Those who understand the culture out of which these writings came will see a giant leap in understanding women as co-equals with men.


Up to this moment, in the Semitic culture from which the Israelites came, a woman could not own property. In fact she was considered as property - either her father's or her husband's. These few verses tell of a revelation by God that began a centuries long process to raise the status of women to what they enjoy today.


The feminist movement has, in its extreme manifestations, gone beyond a biblical balance but we need not react to their claims that Judaism and Christianity have been oppressive forces in women’s lives.


To be sure both faiths have had radical male centered alignments which have not helped women. But these are renounced in scripture both by teaching and example. The teachings of scripture lay behind a continuous elevation of women to a place a dignity and value. We, above all people, need to continually affirm the wonderful heritage we have in our faith tradition of seeking human dignity for all.


Notice that the concept of a woman owning property was new to Moses. He had to ask God to confirm if what these young women were saying was true. God wholeheartedly agreed with them. To me this says that even the closest man to God at the time did not really know His heart about the humans that were created in His image and placed in a female body. I can't help but wonder if he had taken the moment to ask God if there were any other ways he misunderstood that heart if Moses might have found out much more.


Until this point if a man died a woman was left to the mercy of her husband’s or her own family’s care. If she returned to her own family she took nothing. If she stayed with her husband’s family she was cared for in whatever way they desired.


Allowing the daughter’s of Zelophehad the possibility to own property as an ancestral possession was something completely and radically new. And through the centuries that “new thing” that God has done for women has always been cutting edge.


Much had to be done and it would be wrong to say that people of faith all moved faithfully from a male dominated, male centred culture to one which saw women as co-equals. At the time of Jesus a morning prayer for some Jewish men was to thank God that they had not been born a Gentile, a slave, or a woman. In that context we can better understand why Paul said, “Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” What a radical statement this was. It amounts to a complete break from the popular culture of his day.


Some accuse Paul of being one of the most anti-female authors of the Bible. Again if we judge him by our present standards some of his statements might seem chauvinistic. However it is clear from history that, following Jesus' lead, Paul was one of the greatest proponents of giving dignity to women that the world knew up to that time.


Just as it has been the driving force against racism, the recognition of women’s honor, dignity and value in scripture is what has made the present emphasis on human rights for women possible. We must not be deceived to think it otherwise. A clear look at history will not allow it.