Numbers 27:9-11

What God did is that He set up a table of progression or priority. If there were no sons, it automatically went to the daughters. If there were no daughters, then the next step, then the third, and then the fourth.

You might wonder why God was so concerned about land. There is a very logical reason why He was concerned about land and why He wanted it to remain in the family. The principle is shown in other parts of the Bible. It is a very simple principle, and that is that land is the source of wealth. If a person (male or female) has land and he is able to work it then he is going to be able to produce some measure of income.

Think what a blessing that would be today—if every family owned land. Do you realize this would solve one of our country's major problems today? There would be almost no welfare, because nobody would need to get welfare from the State except in very small amounts, because every family would be able to produce at least their own food (or something along that line).

It kept a major welfare system from developing. Besides that, there were the psychological benefits of owning land—because then a person has something that is tangible, something to which he can give himself, something he can maintain, develop, use to create wealth, develop a sense of self-worth. Land gives a person a stake in the community, and with that comes a sense of responsibility to the entire community.

Numbers 27:1-11

In Numbers 27:1-11 is where the daughters of Zelophehad came to Moses and said, “Look, we don’t have any brothers. We’re going to lose our inheritance.” And Moses said, “You just wait right there. I’ll go ask God.” And so he does and God tells him that these women—the daughters of Zelophehad—should inherit, like sons. Of course, there were a few caveats—that they were to marry within the tribe of Joseph, so that Joseph would not lose the lands that they had inherited, but they were to be inheritors just like sons. Though it is not a complete equity there that was shown (like I said, there were caveats; if there are no sons, then the daughters should inherit), but there was a sort of equity between the sexes.

We might think “Oh, that’s not fair. They should always be able to inherit.” But, truth be told, Israelite law concerning women’s rights and such as that were far advanced over their neighbors. That is why there was a question. Because, normally, everybody else would say: “No, women have no place in this at all.” But this was brought to God’s attention and He made sure it was incorporated into Israelite law that women could inherit. So there is a sort of equity there too.

Numbers 27:1-11

So pretty clear here. If a man has no sons, it goes to his daughters; and if he has no daughters, then it is told very clearly where the inheritance is supposed to go. Okay, that is fine. It is good.