September 24 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Numbers 27:1–7

Devotional

Moses laid the request of the daughters of Zelophehad before the Lord. What would the answer be? These young women must have waited eagerly! They must have scrutinized Moses’ eyes when he returned from speaking to the Lord. Now they would hear the words of the Lord.

Amazingly they received an inheritance from the Lord Himself. The answer from heaven was: “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.”

“Surely,” the Lord said. He did not say maybe they could have an inheritance; He did not say that because they were only daughters they could have a partial inheritance; no, they received the full inheritance to which otherwise only the sons were entitled. All that the Lord gives is perfect. The prodigal son would have been happy with the position of a servant, but he received the portion of a child. Even a crumb of grace would have been plenty. But when the Lord comes, He supplies all things so richly that nothing more can be added.

“The daughters of Zelophehad speak right,” the Lord said to Moses. The Lord agreed with the young women. They constrained God. It was as if the Lord broke His own ordinances just for the sake of these daughters. God permitted Himself to be won over. He did great wonders in response to their cry of distress. According to the revealed will of God, they were excluded, but according to God’s secret will they were included. The Lord Himself had drawn them with cords of loving kindness; He held them with His love that draws all men to Him.

Now these daughters had an answer. Now that the Lord Himself had spoken they knew it for sure. They would receive an inheritance in the Promised Land. Who can take away what the Lord Himself has granted? Their inheritance is secure with the Lord Himself. Their inheritance in heaven is sure. It is so safe that even Satan cannot touch it.

Observe here, that these five daughters were not satisfied until they had received the answer. They were not satisfied with their prayer as such. With all their petitions, as long as they had no answer, they still had nothing. Many say, “I ask for salvation,” but they rest in their asking. They just hope that one day their petitions will be answered and that on their deathbeds they will be saved. They are content in merely asking.

But true prayer cannot rest in mere asking. An answer must be received. The Lord Himself must speak. Their hunger cannot satisfy them and their thirst cannot refresh them. Would it really be genuine distress when you pray day and night, year after year, while your spiritual condition always remains the same? People can be so complacent when there is no answer. But if there is real hunger and thirst and yet no answer, then truly penitent ones feel excluded and that will be unbearable to them. That will make it impossible for them to rest upon prayer itself. They will thirst after God. It is the same as with the deer that pants after water brooks. Only when its thirst is quenched will the deer stop panting.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.