by Anna Ressler
This week we’ll be looking at the story of Zelophehad’s five daughters (Malah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah) whose bold petition for inheritance resulted in an addition to God’s law for all of the Israelites.
(You can read all about it in Numbers 27:1-11)
Because of these sisters, the Israelites end up with a rule about what to do with the inheritance of a man who has daughters but no sons. This law is essentially obsolete for us (we tend to let women inherit all the time, not just if they don’t have any brothers) so what might we learn from this story? How can we read a story like this, not just as vaguely-interesting history, but as scripture?
Let’s talk about it on Sunday.
-Pastor Anna Ressler