“10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married cousins on their fathers side. 12 They married men from the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their fathers clan.

13 These are the commands and ordinances the Lord commanded the Israelites through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.”
Numbers 36:10-13
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In this final account of the book of Numbers, Moses records the point of the matter through a very ‘real life’ scenario. That in the accounting of their lives, the people were to first seek out God and His will, letting Him guide their decision making, their policy, their lives. And Zelophehad’s daughters had done this consistently in their seeking of their inheritance. They had come to Moses to seek out God and they followed through precisely how God had commanded them, and so they were obedient. One more signal to the people that they could indeed do the same. Obedience isn’t optional when we are walking with God. And for the Israelites, as for us, this is the only way we need to be concerned with, this walk of obedience.

The Israelites were going to experience a culture clash as they crossed the Jordan. They weren’t tempted by the Egyptian culture anymore, they had been their oppressors, and they were now on the verge of something new and discovering their identity among the nations. But as they moved in through Jericho, and on into the interior of Canaan, they would encounter peoples and their ‘gods’ that would become sources of temptation and struggle. Nobody likes to be seen as different or ‘backwards’ and monotheism was a very different idea at this time. These new heathen gods had stories and failings and passions and problems just like humans did, but YHWH was not so small and petty. YHWH is not tempted by evil, jealousy or greed, and so they would be different. YHWH does not need to share His power with a pantheon of others in order to create a culture of authority, He holds all authority on His own, and this would make the Israelites stand out. YHWH demands holiness, a sacred life, from His people, and the gods of Canaan were permissive if they were anything. YHWH stands alone, and so the Israelites would stand apart, and they must if they are to be obedient and thrive in their inheritance.

And so, as Moses closes out the book of Numbers, the final details of their travel to the Promised Land, he reminds the people of simple, daily obedience through the example of these five women who are seeking God’s will for their lives. As Christians, this should be the marker of our lives as well, that obedience, simply daily obedience and a seeking of God would make us stand apart from the world around us and the heathen cultures that seek to influence us.

The ‘Christian’ who looks like the world around them has no influence to spread or share, because their own life has not been changed. They are words without action, a dead witness. If we are to GoLove others as a part of our obedience to Christ, then we must live that separation and sacredness every day by our simple, wholehearted obedience and seeking after God. This consistency and dedication is the marker of a disciple who is concerned about what His Master does, says and thinks. And it would serve us well to serve our Master in this way, simply, daily, in the rhythms of His grace.