A Saintly Inheritance
I wrote a devotional on All Saints’ Day a few years ago that I thought I would share here. Who are the saints you remember and celebrate today?
Scripture: Numbers 27:1-7
Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward. Zelophehad was son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph, a member of the Manassite clans. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and they said, “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.”
Moses brought their case before the Lord. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father’s brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them.
Devotion:
Today is All Saint's Day. A day that makes me think of our spiritual inheritance, of the people who have gone before us and reached back to take our own hands and help us along the way. People like my Sunday school teacher, grandmother, and my mom's “Uppity Women Preacher” friends. The story of the daughters of Zelophehad is a story of inheritance, spiritual and otherwise, and of women who have gone before us, fighting for us.
These five women had a lot of gumption. They went before Moses, the one who set down the original inheritance laws according to God, to get him to change the law. It seems impertinent--- how dare these women question Moses? How dare they question God? But they knew something about God that Moses had overlooked. They knew God takes the side of the poor and the oppressed. Those like Hebrew slaves, or those like five poor, fatherless, brotherless women with no money and no leverage, but with a deep faith in a God of justice.
Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah stood up for themselves and all the women who followed them that they might receive their birthright, same as the men. On All Saints Day, I remember them, just as I remember the saints in my life, and just as I remember the saints of history. On this All Saints Day, I encourage you to remember those saints who have gone before you. Know that you are also one of those daughters of Zelophehad, fighting for an inheritance that is our right as women.
Prayer:
O God, our strength and our redeemer, we give you thanks for a day to reflect on those saints who have taught us faith. We pray that we may learn to be saints ourselves, cultivating the faith of our siblings, children, and friends who follow us. Amen.
