I'm going to read two passages of Scripture. We'll begin with Numbers chapter 27, Numbers 27. And we're going to read the first 11 verses. Almost all that we read will be our text. The first seven verses will be our text. I'm not going to read that again, so just pay special attention to those seven verses. Numbers 27, verse 11. Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hefer, the son of Gilead, the son of Maker, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, and these are the names of his daughters, Mela, Noah, and Hogla, and Milcah, and Terzah. And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest, before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, 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, 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. And Moses brought their cause before the Lord. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 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. 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. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsmen 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. Now we turn unto Numbers chapter 36. Numbers 36. And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Makar, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spake before Moses and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, and they said, the Lord commanded my Lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. And my Lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad, our brother, unto his daughters. And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received. So shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance. And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received, so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers. And Moses commanded the children of Israel, according to the word of the Lord, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph has said, well, this is the thing which the Lord doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, let them marry to whom they think best. Only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry. So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe. For every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers. Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe, but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance. Even as the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad. For Melah, Terzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their fathers' brothers' sons. And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, Scripture's record of the five daughters of Zelophehad, Mela and Milca, Noah, Hagla, and Terza is a remarkable event in the Holy Scriptures and a significant one. Simply take note that this occupies the better part of two chapters of the Holy Scriptures. Consider also that mention in the scriptures of young unmarried women is rare. There are not many examples or mention in the Holy Scripture of such young unmarried women. And we know they were unmarried at the time they make this request. by the passage that we read secondly. The issue of who they marry comes out of the request that they make to Moses. So this is a rather significant passage. And we must ask ourselves, well, what's the importance of this passage? What it's all about? And there's a few things that will come to mind and that we will set forth this evening. The first is the great, great faithfulness of God to his people. That is found here in the passages. For Zelophehad is the great, great grandson of Manasseh, who is the son of Joseph. And therefore, you see here by the faith of these daughters, and that's how they made that request. It's an example of faith. You see God's covenant faithfulness and his carrying out the very blessing of old Jacob upon Joseph, that he would be a fruitful bough and that his bow would be strong in the land. You see also an example of faith. You have here an example, an illustration of godly, young, unmarried women. And we will take note of that, and their behavior, and what it's all about. Consider with me this evening the daughters of Zelophehad, And what we're going to concentrate in the first place is their courageous request. There's what is highlighted. Their courageous request. Secondly, their righteous cause. Their righteous cause. And finally, their eternal reward. These daughters of Zelophehad, Mela, Milka, Noah, Terza and Hogla. Those names are not familiar to you, but they ought to be. We have examples in scripture that we remember exactly for the very thing that we ought to remember about these five young unmarried ladies. We all know the story of Daniel. And there are songs about daring to be a Daniel. But who among us sets forth Hagla or Terza, or Mela or Milka, or who even knows that there's a female Noah, and that all five are an example of incredible courage? Their incredible courage is evident and highlighted by the Holy Spirit if one only looks and thinks about their own life as a child of God. Think, for example, of what it took you women thinking back when you were young, unmarried women, and you came to the consistory to make confession of faith. Almost all will say, I was quaking in my shoes. Look at my hands. Look how they tremble. We might even say to ourselves, after it has gone by, and we realize it wasn't as intimidating as we thought, I'm really a nice guy, and I'm not the ogre that sometimes I think the young women and men think. that I'm going to quiz them on obscure facts and doctrines, even though I tell them ahead of time, we're just here to ask about your faith. We just want to hear what's in your own heart about faith. And even then, even when someone comes who is my own child or a relative, they're scared. Now, put yourself in the shoes of these five young ladies. They have a request. They have a very serious and important request, and they have to make that request to none other than Moses, the man who will be regarded as the greatest of the Old Testament, leader of perhaps millions of Israelites at this time. They have to rebring this request directly to Moses, so serious is it, but not just simply Moses, but we read they bring the request before Eleazar, the great high priest, the man who literally stands before the people and God. and the only one qualified to enter into the Holy of Holies. And then there is all the princes, all the men who represent all the tribes and all the peoples of Israel. Perhaps you could compare the request of these five young ladies to perhaps five ladies, young ladies, young unmarried ladies, bringing a request for a special synod to make a ruling about a question that they have. Their courage is also evident in that they are persistent. We read, of course, where they bring their initial request, and that's what we're focusing on. But don't forget, they also become the subject of the effect of that request later on. That's what we read in Numbers chapter 36. By the way, I hope you noticed that that's how that entire book ends. It ends relating the story of these daughters of Zelophehad. Anyway, it comes back up again when the tribes, having heard the ruling of Moses, bring up a problem. And that problem is, what if they now marry? So they are given an inheritance. What now if they marry, say, someone from the tribe of Judah or Benjamin? What then? And they have to know that. They are the subject of that. And it comes up yet again. You could check it out. Look at the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 17, verse three. There, these same five daughters now go to Joshua. They are now in the land. The land has been conquered, and it's time to divvy up the inheritance. And again, they fear. They fear being left out. And now they dare come to Joshua, the great type even of Jesus, the one who bears Jesus' own name, Joshua. And they again repeat their request. That's some courage. The point of the Holy Scriptures is this, that courage is required to live a faithful life in the covenant. And we must all know this. And that includes the young unmarried women. Perhaps we have some sense that courage is required of the men. It is the men who go off to war. It is the men who are drafted, men who go out to the front lines of battle and take the bullets and the artillery shells. Same thing holds true in the church. It is the men, generally, who fight the battles, and battles, whether they be spiritual or physical, take courage. I hope you young men understand that. If you have any notion that you can enter into marriage as a covenant child of God and lead your wife as a godly husband is called to do and do that without courage, you have no idea what you're talking about. If you're the head of a home and you're a man, courage is required. There's no place for fear and unbelief and wishy-washiness. Just like in the physical realm, so also in the spiritual realm. And I'm afraid we've lost some of that understanding simply because even in our own physical realm, few have gone to battle. Few have seen the destruction and the devastation of war, but it's just but a picture of what goes on in the church, and the courage required to stand in the gap, to be a man, a real man, even to lead one's wife. Now, we all have a sense of that, or we should, but perhaps we say to ourselves, well, now, the young ladies, not so much. And from a certain viewpoint, that kind of understanding is conceivable, even understandable. It is, after all, even in a marriage that a man is responsible for his wife. He is responsible. When that man stands before the Lord, the Lord's going to have one question. One question. What did you do with your wife? Did you so care for her and love her that you took charge? and control of her spiritual life too? Did you lead her to the Lord? Did you live as a good example? Did you treat her as one who is the inheritance of the Lord? And that man will answer. He is responsible. And we women need to be reminded of that too. Every time we might have a hankering to be in charge, to run the show, to be the head, Be careful. That responsibility is crushing. That's a weighty responsibility. One who is responsible answers to God. But perhaps we say now, exactly because of that, such courage is required of young women in the covenant. In a passage such as we read, it says, no, That's not true. There may be, and indeed could very well be, instances such as this one in the covenant and church of God where young unmarried women are required to show considerable courage, to bring a request, to bring a request even at the highest levels, a request that would make one ordinarily and physically fear and quake in one's boots. Confession of faith is one such time. There's a reason why confession of faith isn't exactly easy. One can do it by faith, and then it is easy. But the young person that's trying to muster up the courage just in and of themselves will often find they can't do it. or they don't want to do it. It's because it's a matter of spiritual courage, the kind of courage that these young women showed. Now, their courage came about when they made a request, and that request pertained their portion in Israel. We have to understand that. At the time, The children of Israel have not exactly quite yet entered into the land of Canaan, but the census had just been taken of all the tribes and all of the peoples with a view to the inheritance being divided. God had given them the land of Canaan, and every tribe was to have their portion, and every family in that tribe was to have their portion. And these five daughters realized that they would not have a portion, not according to the strict administration of the law as it was written and stated. For the land passed from father to son. It passed through the males and through the men, and they had a problem. Their father had died, and died without having any sons. Now whether these daughters were unique in Israel We don't know. It appears to be that that exactly might be the case. That perhaps out of all the tribes and all the people that had passed through, and don't forget, every single male over the age of 21 had died in the wilderness. This was not the unique thing, but apparently it was rather unique that Zelophehad had died and left no sons, and therefore, they would not receive a portion in that land. And so they come to Moses with great courage and they request a portion, their portion, their father's portion. This points out something important. It's sometimes hard to tell apart What is courage, and real spiritual courage, the virtue of courage, especially in women, and what's simply selfish, pride, and haughtiness? Because that too is within us, isn't it? And we all know what the scriptures say about that. God has an entirely different view of what's beautiful and what's ugly than what we do. We all have our view of what's beautiful and what's pretty, and it's especially the women who have a sense of that, that's part of that sex. It's a wonderful thing. It's a wonderful gift, this eye for beauty, this sense. of what's harmonious and right and good, but the Bible does warn that God's sense of what's beautiful is different than ours, and even says in Holy Scripture, let their beauty, the beauty of women, including young unmarried women, not be the outward adorning of plaited hair, the wearing of gold or putting on of apparel, The apostle isn't saying you may do that, but understand that's not what God considers beautiful. Your husband might, but God has a different sense. But let it be the hidden man of the heart. Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is to God of good price or great price. And one might say, well, aren't these women the opposite of that? And the answer is no, not at all. Now there are times when bold requests are confused with courage, when in fact they're nothing but pride in a haughty spirit. There have been many times in the history of the church where women have risen up in pride and demanded things. And I'm sure it took considerable courage even to do that, even a certain admirable courage, but it was unbelief and wickedness. And what always flushes that out is what is being requested. Today that's evident when women boldly say, we want a seat around the consistory room table to deny us that is unfair and not right. We women now want a 50-50 split in the power and the authority of our marriage. None of this headship stuff. We want to be in charge too. Now it might take boldness to make that request in the church, and it's been made boldly, but it's pride, it's haughtiness, and it's absolutely ugly and disgusting to God. How do you know? Because those requests are unbiblical. They are wrong. They are to deny Scripture. They are to ask that which God forbids. But that's not the case here. Notice that these young ladies make a request that concerns their eternal inheritance, their everlasting inheritance. Their request concerns that which God actually has promised. Only the law didn't quite cover their situation. Now after this, there will be a law. God makes a law. In fact, so important is this issue that it goes directly to God. But the point is that it pertains to God. It's about the promises of God. It has to do with one's eternal inheritance. Such issues as a place at the consistory table and headship in marriage have nothing to do with that. Now, we want to talk a bit about their righteous cause. Their cause was righteous. That should be evident already when talking about what they asked. When you look at what they want and what they're asking for, you have to look at the biblical picture. What motivated these young women was not simply some greed, desire for a nice chunk of property that would be soon very, very valuable. and whereby their family and families could become very wealthy. And no doubt each family got a pretty large piece of territory, enough to satisfy every family of Israel at this time throughout their entire existence. A land flowing of milk and honey, of riches, of gold and of silver, of olive oil, of game, of grass, fertile fields. That's not what they're after. They understand that this is a picture. They understand that this has to do with their father's name. They understand that this has to do with communion with God. In other words, the land is important and the inheritance is important only insofar as God has made that land his own home. that it's in the land of Canaan and only in the land of Canaan that God will dwell, that God will make His house literally in the land, in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion. And from there, He would commune with the people. And now, if they received no inheritance, because their father had no sons, then that's akin to being denied a place in the kingdom of heaven. It's akin to being kept from the communion of God, being unable to fellowship and associate with God there in the land of Canaan, for they would have no such inheritance. So their cause is righteous, and what's interesting is that the text emphasizes that. It brings before us that this story, this event, just simply isn't about some bold young ladies, and that their boldness is an example of the boldness of faith, for that's what it is. But it brings out the righteousness of their cause, and that too belongs to faith. Faith isn't concerned about land and properties and things here and now. It sees beyond that. And so, we read in verse 2 that the Lord says, in the first place, to Moses, they speak right. Moses brought their cause before the Lord, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, the daughters of Zelophehad speak right. And notice too, we read, and Moses brought their cause Before the Lord, they had a cause. Almost chuckle when you read that because everybody seems to have a cause today. Men have a cause. Women have a cause. This group has a cause. That group has a cause. Everybody has a cause. But the point of the Scriptures here is this cause is righteous. This cause is such that it stirs up these women to move, to act, to do something. It's righteous. It's evident in the fact that these ladies brought this cause, not to Moses really, but to God. Oh yes, they brought it to Moses as the intermediary to God. But even Moses recognized immediately that this case goes to God. Eleazar too, that only God could decide that which they brought, consider the matter. It must be dealt with then, not according to men. It had to be done according to God and the way God would look at it. It had to be treated in the light of the righteousness of God revealed in His Word. The righteousness of God, in fact, is at stake in this whole business. That's even emphasized when we read that they held a meeting at the very door of the tabernacle where God lived, and where God was found, and where God was camped with them. That's evident, too, in the ground upon which these daughters based their request. Notice that. When they bring this to the Lord, when they bring this to Moses, when they bring this up, they don't bring up their own personal concerns. They don't bring up their own personal considerations. but they bring up God Himself. Usually when there's a clamor for more power, a place at a consistory table, a vote in the meeting, the cause is shown to be unrighteous because the ground is all personal. I can't be fulfilled as a woman unless I also am an elder. Why I can't be fulfilled as a woman unless I'm my husband's equal in authority. Those are all selfish and personal. Notice their argument isn't even based on the ground that they wanted some land in Canaan. Now that's their request. Give us, notice that, give us. Is that courage or what? Give us our Father's inheritance. But notice the ground has nothing to do with themselves, but it has to do with God and the Word of God. What's their ground? In other words, what's the righteousness of their cause? What gives them that kind of courage? And the answer is God promised. God made a promise. God promised not just simply Jacob and Abraham to give them an inheritance in the land of Canaan, and God didn't simply promise to give the twelve tribes in some sort of generic way an inheritance of the land of Canaan, but God promised their father It was in his hearing that he heard, I will give you the land, and thou shalt have a portion. God promised. And so what's the righteousness of their cause? Is it simply this, which would have been true? That our name is going to die out? That the name of Zelophehad is going to die out? Oh, that's part of their concern, make no doubt. with them and their death, the name of their father would die out. And that would be especially true because there would be no land, no inheritance associated with that name either, but God had promised. And they knew God was the God of believers and their seed, and their seed, doesn't say male seed, but their seed. And that's the ground upon which they make that request. God promised. God said, and now even though there's no provision in the law for us to receive the land, we have a conflict. We have an issue. We have something that must be resolved. Either God's a liar, or His promises have none effect, or there's something wrong with the law, and the law has to recognize our claim. That's what they brought. Now that's kind of amazing today because the church kind of rolls over and plays dead with that today. There's little concern about the promise of God or the righteousness of God. Notice they're concerned about God here. In the end, that's ultimately only whatever gives courage and only whatever is a righteous cause. The name of God, it's always about the name of God. How does that happen today? The preacher preaches and the people spout and believe that God sincerely desires the salvation of all men. That's really what he wants. And he promises salvation to all men. There in the gospel, God promises all men, head for head, all who hear the word, that he will save them. He desires to save them. He promises them all kinds of things. but it's conditioned upon what you or I do. God makes a general promise, not a particular promise, but a general promise to all that's conditional. Now that's false. God only ever makes particular promises. Maybe all hear it, but the promise is always and ever particular. It's always to those who believe. It's always to those who are elect. It's always to his children. The promises are ever that. And how do we know that's true? Otherwise, God's a liar. Otherwise, his promises are of none effect. God is promising that which he doesn't actually deliver. God promises things that he doesn't actually give. And if you point it out to someone, they just shrug and say, oh well. But you have to understand the nature of the promise. It's at the very heart of the covenant, it's at the very heart of the courage of these five young ladies. God promised That's the righteousness of their cause. Do you understand when God promises something, it will happen? It must happen. Otherwise, God is not God. And if God is not God, then we have nothing. Do you understand that? You all look forward to heaven and the new heavens and earth. Based on what? Based on what? You've been there? You've seen it? No. You believe it. Why? Because God said so. But now if that same God who said so promises things that are true, promises salvation to those he doesn't actually save, you have nothing. You have no God. That's what these young ladies brought. And that's always the source, beloved, of faith and courage, of faith. Understand that? When you pray, if you find yourself doubting about what you ask, then likely the problem is because you're asking something God hasn't promised. Now certainly there's things that we pray according to His will, but then let them be prayers according to His will, truly. Lord, heal me, if it be thy will. And if God makes clear it's not his will, drop it. We say to ourselves, oh, we submit to God, we're humble before God, but when God makes his will known on matters pertaining to his will, things that are up to him, then we become rebellious children. But now on the other hand, with regard to what God promises, and what now has God promised? What has He promised to you who have faith? Only to you who have faith. What does He promise? Everlasting life. Utter deliverance from every sin and every evil. And that's the source, you understand, of persistence and perseverance. A badgering, almost, if you will, of God. And the Bible points it out. Remember the parables of Jesus, where he shows, tells a story about the lady who goes before the ungodly judge, and he pesters her, and finally he grants what she wants? And Jesus' point is, if an ungodly judge will do that, how much more God who loves you? Remember the story about Jacob, the old ancestor of Zelophehad, rustling with God, literally rustling with God, and he does not let him go. does not let him go until he blesses him. Why? How could that be? Because God promised. And that you have to understand is what underlies this entire incident. That's the righteousness of their cause. And don't overlook the fact that these ladies make this entirely by faith and base it completely on God because they were taught. They were raised by a father who taught them the truth. And they even recognize that, as well as the fact that he's a sinner. An amazing part of this whole business is that when they come to Moses, they point out that their father was a godly man. He was a man of faith. They point that out by Mentioning that he did not partake of the rebellion of Korah. There was the great rebellion of Korah. Remember that? Big rebellion against Moses. Sism in the nation of Israel. And God destroyed Korah and all who stood with him. Dathan and Abiram. And many of them were from this very tribe. That's where Korah was from. And they point out he didn't partake of that. But they also point out he was a sinner. He died, they said, of his own sin there in the wilderness. Yeah, he was guilty of unbelief. He, like the others, had unbelief. He sinned. He sinned terribly. That doesn't disqualify him from an inheritance. That doesn't remove him from the equation. That doesn't take him out of the land of Canaan or the kingdom of heaven. Why? Because God promised. Because God is a righteous God. And we know why that is, because God in His righteousness provided Christ, and Christ died for the sins of their father, Zelophehad. And so God grants this request. Obviously, they're not because they requested it. God didn't grant their request saying to themselves, well, that was a wonderfully courageous request, and therefore, because of thy courage, I shall now grant you a place in the land of Canaan, whereas before I was not disposed to do so. Not so. That's not how it works. Nevertheless, God granted their request, and that request was their everlasting reward. Yes, that's what the scriptures call the inheritance, an everlasting reward. That's what they received. That's what they asked for. That's what they received. You asked for that, right? You don't go through your life not asking God, do you? For His grace and for His Holy Spirit and His sustaining hand. You do, perhaps even in the midst of a great trial, an affliction, perhaps caused by your own stupidity and unbelief, plead to God, God don't take away my inheritance because of my sin and my foolishness, do you? This is the blessing of God, this is the grace of God, this is the covenant of God, and this is what God's people love about him. No God like him, no Savior like him. Even these people that dropped like flies in the wilderness, and many did die in unbelief, pure unbelief, God nevertheless gave men like Zelophehad an inheritance, and even gave it to them when by the law, strictly speaking, his daughters had no right to that inheritance. This was the great blessedness even of Joseph, When Jacob is blessing Joseph with God's own blessing, you understand. And he says, you will be a fruitful bough, and your bough will be strong. He wasn't speaking simply about men there, but the women. This is the tribe of Joseph. These are the tribes upon which the church of the Old Testament will be built. How can God do that? And why can God do that? What explains these women? The righteousness of themselves? The sinlessness of them? Their own efforts? No. God's faithfulness. Therefore, also, it's God's reward. God gives them their place. For that place, you can be sure they were thankful. And this is the example God gives to us, not just young men, but in this very specific example here in Holy Scripture, recorded for all posterity, these five beautiful, lovely, young, unmarried ladies. Mela, and Milka, and Noah, and Hagla, and Terza, the daughters of Zelophehad. Amen, let us pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, O Lord, give us such young ladies in the covenant. We desire courageous, strong young men, but provide them with like-minded women, so that marriages and homes might be strong, and faith endures and perseveres until we arrive in our eternal home. Lord, be gracious unto us who are undeserving, and give us courage that is therefore rooted not in ourselves, but in Thee, the living God, upon Thy promises and Thy righteousness. So grant, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.