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Numbers Chapter 27

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¹ Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

² And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

³ Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.

⁴ Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.

⁵ And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.

⁶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

⁷ The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.

⁸ And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.

⁹ And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.

¹⁰ And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren.

¹¹ And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.

¹² And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.

¹³ And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.

¹⁴ For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

¹⁵ And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying,

¹⁶ Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,

¹⁷ Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.

¹⁸ And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;

¹⁹ And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.

²⁰ And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

²¹ And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

²² And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation:

²³ And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

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View All Numbers Chapter 27 Comments...

GiGi's Numbers Chapter 27 comment on 7/28/2023, 5:05pm...

Numbers Chapter 27

cont.

The 'mantle' signifies and anointing from God that empowers a leader to do the work of God. Joshua already had the Holy Spirit working in him, but to do this job of leading this people into the land and conquering the peoples that resided there, he needed the anointing that Moses had. So Eleazar laid his hands upon him for the reception of this anointing.

When the Bible says not to be hasty about the laying on of hands, this is a good example of the wisdom of this verse. Choosing people to serve the body of Christ in leadership is not just a matter of a person wanting to do it or their training or there sincere devotion to God or their talent or who the people want. It is a matter for God to select and appoint, so all involved need to be sensitive to the will of the Holy Spirit in these situations and to anoint only those they are certain God chose.

This also demonstrates that leaders cannot be self-appointed. They need to be selected by God through others, as demonstrated in this chapter, for the selection of David as king, for the selection of each apostle, for the selection of the writers of Scripture.

GiGi's Numbers Chapter 27 comment on 7/28/2023, 4:57pm...

Num. Ch. 27

cont.

Moses did not make this choice, YHWH did. Moses knew that he was just a man corrupted by sin. But he also knew that YHWH always chooses rightly. In such an important appointment such as this, it was vital for God to appoint the leader, just as God had appointed Moses as the leader.

Moses set a very good example about bringing matters to the Lord before making decisions, when the people sinned and rebelled, when God brought plagues and death to the camp for sin, and most importantly, in writing the Scriptures as the Spirit moved him. He knew he was not just writing historical accounts, but that God was inspiring him in the writings that are our Scriptures. Even above these things, Moses knew that he was called God's friend and friends foster relationship with one another. Moses must have spent much time in prayer and in the presence of God in the pillar of fire and clouds and in the tent of meeting, as it is stated that he was often there with YHWH and the people would stand and face the tent of meeting while Moses was within. Moses valued building this relationship between himself and the Great God of all. He treasured his privilege that God initiated with him 40 years earlier in the desert at Mr. Horeb. He walked with God for 40 years under tremendous strain and the burden of leading such a people so immense in number.

Moses was instructed to bring Joshua before Eleazar the high priest to be consecrated to the YHWH as Moses' replacement. All three must have been both happy and sad. Happy to know that YHWH chose Joshua and sad because they knew that Moses would soon die. But as great leaders do, they stayed the course YHWH had put before them and completed the task of consecrating Joshua and presenting him to the people when they were all assembled together.

The last thing that I noticed was that YHWH told Moses that Joshua would receive from Moses what God had placed on Moses to be a leader and prophet-often called the mantle...cont.

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