When God Speaks for You
Numbers 27:1-7a
Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad. … And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest … saying, “Our father died in the wilderness. … And he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.” Moses brought their case before the LORD. And the LORD said to Moses, “The daughters of Zelophehad are right.”
Every moment in the biblical record is a historic moment in the sense that it took place in time, and, likewise, every moment is also a historic moment in the sense that it’s meaningful, but, commonly speaking, some moments seem to us more consequential to the trajectory of history than others. Constantine’s victory over the pagan king Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge was a historic moment. So, too, was Martin Gambill’s 100-mile ride to Kings Mountain where he and his minutemen routed General Clinton in the American Revolution. So, too, was Alfred Nobel’s invention of dynamite, and Benjamin Franklin’s discovery of electricity, and the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk, and Socrates’ trial and death, and Julius Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon. Let’s place this Numbers 27:1 event in that illustrious list as well.
Consider that up to this point in Numbers, the Law of God has been laid out through meticulous, wide- ranging instructions, touching every aspect of life in the commonwealth, even down to the nitty gritty of diet, sexuality, and sanitation, as if nothing’s been left out. Yet, there’s a provision missing. And when these four sisters wait in line to bring their question to Moses, even this great prophet who’s seen the back of God as it were is gob smacked by it. As if, up until this very moment, the provision has never occurred to him nor perhaps to anyone else in history. In fact, the question proves so vital to the commonwealth that God doesn’t merely give an answer, but He gives a brand-new law to undergird it.
Friend, perhaps the reason God doesn’t answer your question right away, or eliminate all the perplexities of faith, is because He wants you to stand in a line, and seek counsel from leaders, and wait diligently for wisdom, so that many others will be blessed through your striving when the answer finally comes.