What’s in a name? I thought of mine very little until recently when Karen became synonymous on the internet with bigot at large. I think even less about my last name.
My grandparents had three sons, and those sons had nine daughters. Like leaves on the vine, the Holman family name will quietly fade and fall without much notice from anyone.
It takes me a moment then to place myself in the position of the daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 27.
A group of five young women stood together amongst hundreds of thousands of Israelites. Every soul in Israel was gathered and anticipating the inheritance that would be theirs when their father’s clan was called. This day of joy was so thrilling because it was born out of the misery of years in the wilderness. Maybe some in the crowd looked at the parched ground at their feet and remembered the mottled scars of sin, the wounds of defeat and victory that now gave full vent to a palpable, broken-hearted joy. The Lord spoke. His people listened.
“Among these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names…according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.”
There was a stir in the crowd. The unmarried, fatherless daughters of Zelophehad drew near to Moses and the presence of a holy, fearsome God. Every eye in Israel looked on.
“Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
With the attention of Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chiefs, and all the congregation, these daughters have one request: that their father’s name would not be removed from Israel. Securing his name means securing his legacy.
But why does it matter?
All worldly reason would make them plant their feet firmly in the dust rather than approach with their plea. Barren wilderness surrounded them. Enemies encircled them. The sin of their own hearts wanted to devour them. What reasons would they have to claim an inheritance in their father’s name for land that was not conquered yet?
Their request is two fold. First, they advocated for the honor of their father. He did not rebel against the Lord like the sons of Korah who were swallowed up by the earth, and so his name needn’t be buried by the wrath of God. His name ought to be preserved in the promised land. Second, these daughters advocate for their own place in the promised land. They ask a question that no has asked yet: Can an inheritance be passed to a daughter?
Presented with a new situation, Moses does what he knew he ought to: He sought the Lord.
The Lord responded, “The daughters of Zelophehad are right.”
He commands Moses to give these women possession of their father’s inheritance. Not only that, He commands Moses to speak to Israel, giving them a new statute and rule from this point forward: If a man dies and has no son, his inheritance shall be transferred to his daughter. If he has no daughters, it will ultimately be transferred to the nearest kinsman of his clan.
It must have felt like an eternity had passed while they waited for an answer. And then relief came like a flood washing them over from the head down. There was no cruel dismissal but only God’s pleasure in approving their plea. Not only does he grant them permission, but he makes it a law and statute for all Israel. We don’t know what other paths they could have taken if they had tried to fix this problem on their own. Coming in fear, they exercise a faith in a promise not yet realized: God was going to give an inheritance of land to His people. Because they knew the character of this faithful, promise-keeping God, they hoped in what they could not see. Their great need drew them to God, not away from Him. Zelophehad’s daughters were willing to humbly submit to God’s will revealed in His word.
By faith, the daughters of Zelophehad awaited a physical place. But more than a piece of land, our inheritance is Christ Himself. This is secured by His merit, not our own. In Ephesians 1:9 Paul tells the church at Ephesus that, “In him [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the council of his will.”
He who was sinless bore our sin. The punishment was upon him. He died and rose again, and as He ascended He went to prepare a place for us with Him in eternity. By this account, those who are in Christ will worship the King of Kings alongside these sisters in glory some day.
But a question emerges. If God believed Zelophehad’s daughters were right, why didn’t He give this law before?
It was not until they asked that God affirmed the legitimacy of their request.
As we zoom out, away from this scene and into the present tableau of internet Karens, we see two extremes. On one hand, we have those who are too afraid to advocate for what is right. On the other we have those who ask but are unwilling to listen to God’s solution.
Have we not seen? Have we not heard? To the faint hearted: Remember what is already yours in Christ.
In prophesying the atoning work of Christ, Isaiah 53:12 says, “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
Though you are weak, take heart. Boast in your weakness to show the Savior’s strength. He has secured eternity for you. You can advocate for what He says is right.
To the unwilling listener: (Don’t worry, I won’t call you a Karen) Christ is now our advocate. His merit, his spotless record is our own. And it is with perfect obedience that he submits to the will of the father. This continual exchange is so much more than just a good example–this is life itself. Just as we see in salvation, God’s plans are better, higher, greater than what we could imagine. Put your hope in this faithful Father.
We don’t need another hero or another spokeswoman. We need a savior. Let’s advocate boldly and obey freely for His name’s sake.
Study Bible-ESV. English Standard Version, Crossway Bibles, 2014.
Busy Nothings 