June 30, 2024 Reflection

I was in a meeting this week with some other United Church colleagues and we were talking in our check in about what we are preaching about this week.  I said well, I think the first thing I need to do is figure out how to pronounce the names.

The daughters of Zelophehad.  Who has heard of these women?  We know their names… Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And as I mentioned last week – that’s a bit of a big deal.  For a woman to be named in the story is to say ‘pay attention here!’  But they were not just mentioned once.  They were mentioned five times throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.  There are only two others mentioned in more books of the Old Testament than these five sisters…  and that is Moses and Miriam. 

For us to understand this story a bit better, we need to understand its context. The setting is that the Israelites having wandered around for decades through the wilderness, they are now about to enter the promised land. 

The Israelites are divided into 12 tribes according to the sons of Jacob.  The governing body over tribes is found in tent of meeting. 

In the chapter right before this one, we are told that there is a census. This census lists all the people in the tribes of Israel. 

The importance of the census is that it was taken to calculate the allotment of land for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Larger tribes would receive larger portions of land. Smaller tribes would receive smaller portions of land. What land each tribe would get was determined by casting lots. This was done to avoid complaining by the tribes but more importantly to make sure that each “tribal and family unit had sufficient and fairly distributed base of economic well being.”

The land was promised to the people of Israel. It was on loan to them given to them by their God. It was theirs to tend. It was theirs to care for as good stewards. The land was their inheritance to pass on to their sons, to their sons’ sons, to their sons’ sons’ sons’. The land was given to the people as a gift by their God. It was their responsibility to make sure that the land stayed within and sustained their tribes for generations to come. 

But as we read in the text, we realize that something unexpected has happened, something which is beyond anyone’s control, something which does not fit into the people’s box of rules and regulations. While reading this census, we realize that for one family there are no sons to pass the land onto.

All of a sudden, the promise is at risk again. All of a sudden, the people are faced with figuring out what this means. All of sudden, there is no precedent to help the people find their way and they are going to have to figure a new way to honour the promise.

In their tradition, when a man died his inheritance went to his sons.  If he had no sons, it went to his brothers.  If he had daughters, then the daughters were left to the generosity and care of their uncles. 

This is where we enter into the story of the Daughters of Zelophehad.

In this census at the end of Chapter 26, the tribe of Manasseh is mentioned more than any other tribe. It is listed out for seven generations. Then finally we are told that Zelophehad, son of Hepher, had no sons, only daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Now, of course this is a clue to us because women are rarely named in the Bible and even more rarely mentioned in genealogies in the Bible. If they are mentioned it is because they did something remarkable and note-worthy. And at the beginning of chapter 27, we discover why the five daughters of Zelophehad are mentioned. So we are paying attention to them.  They are about to do something interesting… Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah come to Moses and ask for land to be given to them in their father’s name. 

When the daughters of Zelophehad come to Moses, they are challenging the system. They are pointing out that it contradicts itself. It doesn’t work to say that only sons can inherit land from their fathers while also saying that keeping the original portions of land for each family is important. 

So like any good faith leader when faced with more questions than answers, when faced with a new reality which is filled with so many unknowns, like any good faith leader when one is expected to know what to do but really he has no idea what to do, Moses turns to God in this situation. And God agrees with the women!

God heard the voices of these women. “They are right,” God said.

What’s more shocking in this story – that 5 women had the guts to go where all the powerful men were to ask for justice, or that Moses took them seriously enough to bring it to God, or that scripture has the statement “the women were right” or that over centuries of oral tradition, this story stayed in there – with their names. 

I can’t imagine amount of determination it would have taken for them to go to the place of sacrifice, worship and power, where women’s voices were not often heard, and take a stand for justice.  They spoke, questioned, even demanded.  How hard must it have been for them who are usually unseen and unheard.  All they wanted was what was rightfully theirs… to be seen – and with that comes being recognized, valued and seen as human beings.  If unseen, you are dispensable. 

According to the law at the time, the inheritance was not rightfully theirs.  But just because it is law, doesn’t mean it is just law.  In this case, the old law was no longer suitable, so God made way for change.

Though the laws were probably quite literally carved into stone, God shows us in this text that the law is living, breathing, adaptable, and changing. Changing the law means getting the ears of those in power.  No one was more in power than Moses.  To his credit, not only did he listen, but he was willing to open his heart and wrestle with the question enough that he brought it to God.  God heard the voice of these women.  Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah were right. 

You see the beauty of this text is that the women came forward; they stood, they spoke, they questioned, and they even demanded. Any one of those actions alone is difficult but the catalyst for this moment isn’t only the women’s strength; it also took a person to listen, to open his heart, to wrestle, and to offer up an opportunity to let go of what the people knew so that something new, something life giving, something life transforming could emerge.

There are so many women in our history who have done extraordinary things, making way for something new and life giving.  Tomorrow being Canada Day, I thought it worthy to mention a few of the Canadian women who stand out to me – of course the Famous Five who fought for women’s equality and voting rights, leading to women being declared persons under law. 

Viola Desmond – the woman on our 10 dollar bill – challenged racial segregation in Nova Scotia.  Her courageous stand highlighted the importance of advocacy and led to significant societal changes. 

Agnes Macphail – first woman elected to the House of Commons, left a lasting impact through her tireless efforts for women, farmers and workers. 

Jeanne Sauve – first woman to serve as Governor General of Canada – inspired many women after her to pursue leadership roles. 

Growing up I always admired Dr. Roberta Bondar – a former Girl Guide like myself, who was the first Canadian woman in space.

And I had a pretty great example of a powerful woman in my own family.  My Grandma Wilks was a teacher in Burnaby, and she applied to be a school principal and was repeatedly turned down because she was a woman and “women weren’t school principals” then.  She was persistent and eventually she did become a school principal in Burnaby!  She was also the first woman to be elected as a member of the Burnaby Municipal Council in February 1950.  This photo is of the Burnaby Council in 1950.

The story of the daughters of Zelophehad and the legacy of these Canadian women invites us to come forward, to stand, to speak, to question, and to demand change when we experience injustice. When the powers in place don’t budge, that is not the end of the story. 

When we personally aren’t experiencing injustice, that does not mean we should sit back and relax and be thankful that we aren’t! If we are the ones in power – this story invites us to not turn our backs on the ones who need us to see them. 

There are voices in this world that are less valued.  There are bodies in this world that are not seen. 

They need us like Moses to be willing to open our hearts and wrestle with the questions and see in a new time and new moment – that perhaps ‘the way we’ve always done things’ does not work for us anymore, and be willing to adapt our laws and practices to ensure fairness and justice and reflect the ever changing, life giving and life affirming love of God.

In Canada, as we celebrate our progress, we also must continue to watch for and see the ongoing struggles for equality and justice faced by many, including Indigenous women, women of color, and women from marginalized communities. Their voices, like those of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, deserve to be heard and respected.

The story of the daughters of Zelophehad is a powerful reminder of the importance of courage, faith, and justice. As we reflect on their legacy and the contributions of significant Canadian women, let us be inspired to advocate for justice, to trust in God’s guidance, and to work towards a more equitable world that reflects the ever changing, life giving and life affirming love of God.