Numbers 36:12: “They were married into the families of the children of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family.”

February 15th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

In Numbers 27, the daughters of Zelophehad received a land inheritance even though their father had died in the wilderness. In chapter 36, Moses told them that they could marry whom they chose so long as the men were from the tribe of their father. This was to prevent land inheritances from being moved from tribe to tribe. These daughters were obedient to God’s command and so they continued to receive His blessings, intended for them in their inheritance. They are held up here as a model of what should be practiced by all of God’s children. We have seen this lesson of obedience to the Lord, repeatedly being stressed throughout the Book of Numbers. It was the basic lesson that obedience to God brings blessings. Zelophehad’s daughters had a constraint placed on them, and they were obedient to it.

We find in the New Testament book, 2 Corinthians, written by the Apostle Paul, that constraints are placed on us as believers.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14–15)?

Paul does not mean believers should end all associations with unbelievers. The very reason God saves people and then leaves them on earth is so that they will lead others to His throne of grace. What Paul is talking about are close partnerships, especially marriage. The Corinthian believers had become partners with the wrong people, and Paul was saying that it was time for them to make a choice. Just as Elijah forced the nation to chose in 1 Kings 18:2: “And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.’”

For those reading this who are unmarried and looking for a mate, this is especially important. These are strong words that need to be heeded. If you are involved in a relationship with an unbeliever, and are not married, please think very seriously about ending that relationship. Obedience to God’s word brings blessings and peace into our lives, but disobedience to God’s word brings both heartache and pain. The choice is simple but often not easy to carry out; nevertheless, no relationship is worth the separation from the Lord that remaining in it will bring. Obey God and be blessed today.

“LORD, we desire to be obedient to you, but we need Your grace to keep our hearts right. Give us a clean heart we ask, in Jesus’ name.”

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Numbers 36 KJV

¹ And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel: ²And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters. ³ And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance.  ⁴ And when the jubile of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers. ⁵ And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well. ⁶ This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.  ⁷ So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.  ⁸ And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance. ¹⁰ Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad: ¹¹ For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s brothers’ sons: ¹² Andthey were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.  ¹³ These arethe commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.