Numbers 36

We close out the book of Numbers today, and as we do, we join with the Israelites in eagerly anticipating their imminent entry into the land that God had promised to their ancestors long ago. Before we get there, however, we read of a problem that arose from a resolution to an issue posed back in Numbers 27. You may recall from that chapter that the daughters of Zelophehad approached Moses and Eleazar, requesting that their father’s inheritance be transferred to them because there was no male descendant to give the land to. God declares that the daughters were right in their interpretation, but in chapter 36, the question of what happens to the land when the daughters of Zelophehad marry someone outside their tribe is posed (v. 3). 

This doesn’t take God by surprise, as He responds:

Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance (vv. 6-9).

In other words, the daughters who held rights to land in Canaan could not transfer their inheritance to another tribe. Although this decree from God may have come across as restrictive to those females who possessed territory, it actually protected them and their families. Not only did this edict help keep their clans from experiencing dwindling blessings from God, but it also ensured the men who married these land-possessing women did not do so for selfish, greedy reasons. Yet again, we are reminded that all of God’s commands are for our good.

Our reading today ends with the following statement: “These are the commandments and the rules that the LORD commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho” (v. 13). It had taken forty years for Israel to journey from Egypt to the edge of Canaan, and God used that time to prepare His people to enter the Promised Land. Unfortunately, most of that time was spent in the wilderness, as God was “essentially waiting until the generation of unbelief had died and a generation willing to trust [Him] for big things had come to maturity…By spiritual analogy…many Christians live more in the wilderness than on the threshold of the Promised Land.”[i]

What will it take for you to shift your focus away from the temporary, fleeting things of this world (i.e., the wilderness) to prepare yourself for the Promised Land (i.e., new heaven and new earth)? Have you made yourself ready for the Bridegroom’s return, or will you be counted as one of those five virgins who were not prepared for His coming to take His bride? “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13).  

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Journal responses to the following prompts:

·       Has there been a time when you viewed something God commanded you to do as restrictive, but later realized it was for your good? 

·       Do you find yourself living more in the wilderness than on the cusp of the Promised Land? If so, what needs to change? 

[i] Study Guide for Numbers 36. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved May 28, 2026, from 

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/numbers/numbers-36.cfm