Remember the daughters of Zelophehad who Moses said could inherit since there were no sons? Like many solutions, that created other issues. Complex problems are seldom resolved by simple solutions. The issue raised in this case is that when these daughters married into other tribes and had children, the inheritance would go to their children who were considered part of the husband's tribe. Bearing in mind that land ownership and wealth were (are?) primary sources of conflict resulting in enmity or war, there needed to be rules for the inheritance of property that would avoid a battle between tribes. Moses resolves this new issue with another solution - they can marry who they choose, but if they marry outside of their tribe, they forfeit their inheritance. While this might seem unfair to the daughters, their rights were not the only ones of concern. The tribe as a whole, and peace among the people of God, were primary concerns.
The lesson for us in these challenging times is the value placed on the unity of the people of God over individual rights. As followers of Christ, we have not been commanded to demand our rights. We haven't been told that people will know we are believers by our zeal for justice. Instead, one of Jesus' final instructions for his disciples was, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Can you imagine how it would rock the world if all those who follow Christ set aside our ideas of how things ought to be done and trying to prove that we are right, and simply demonstrated love, grace, and kindness to those we meet? What if we thought of others more highly than ourselves? What if we loved God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then poured out the love He gives on our neighbors?
It's very tempting, when we see hate, to respond with hate. But Christ provided a better way. He met hate with love and grace. He called us to do the same.
The lesson for us in these challenging times is the value placed on the unity of the people of God over individual rights. As followers of Christ, we have not been commanded to demand our rights. We haven't been told that people will know we are believers by our zeal for justice. Instead, one of Jesus' final instructions for his disciples was, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Can you imagine how it would rock the world if all those who follow Christ set aside our ideas of how things ought to be done and trying to prove that we are right, and simply demonstrated love, grace, and kindness to those we meet? What if we thought of others more highly than ourselves? What if we loved God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then poured out the love He gives on our neighbors?
It's very tempting, when we see hate, to respond with hate. But Christ provided a better way. He met hate with love and grace. He called us to do the same.
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