(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right now Joshua chapter number 17 as we've been doing with many of the other passages. I'm not intending on Reading through every verse again now last week We saw the basically the inheritance given to the children of Ephraim and this week now is dealing with Manasseh and it's it's basically highlighting the area of Manasseh This side Jordan not on the other side Jordan the land was already divvied up and and given out to the half of the tribe of Manasseh when before they crossed the Jordan River when Moses was still alive and he gave divvied up that land on the other side Jordan and half of the tribe of Manasseh received a portion there and now the other app is receiving their portion on this side of the river Jordan and basically it goes through a lot of the towns and Gives you the boundaries and things like that But there's there's one thing in particular that comes up and we're gonna dig and kind of dive down deeper into this subject and it has to do with Zalafahad and his daughters and there's you know, a few things that we could learn about just this portion or this aspect of God's law about how the inheritance worked and Ultimately kind of boiling down again to to gender roles and and men and women and and God's big plan for for how nations should operate in in the way that he wanted things to be So there's gonna be some things that aren't politically correct But we don't care as long as they're biblically correct is what we care about here tonight. That's why we're in church That's why we're reading from the Word of God and not listening to political news Now let's jump in here look at verse number two Bible says there was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families for the children of Abiezer and for the children of Helich and for the children of Asriel and for the children of Shechem and for the children of Heber and for the children of Shemitah These were the male Children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families and it points out and says these were the men children Right, there were women children born too, but it's the men children that receive the inheritance. This is the way in God's economy and God's You know nation that he decided for things to be done is that property was going to pass down Along the male line and we're gonna get into this a little bit more and why this actually makes sense Because people today might freak out. Oh, man. I can't believe you're so, you know Misogynistic and you know, you're you're a male chauvinist and all this other stuff and you know The the feminist movement is you know hates the patriarchy which is just means, you know, that's a father-run Household right and and and a male dominated as far as leading and ruling and and and you know performing that function, but this is the job that God has given unto men and Like I said, I want to get too far ahead of myself But I just want to point out right off the bat in verse number two That it's it's specifying These were the male children that are receiving the inheritance by the Word of God that they're the ones receiving the inheritance Look at verse number three The Bible says but Zelophehad the son of he for the son of Gilead the son of Makar the son of Manasseh had no sons But daughters and these are the names of his daughters, Mala Noah, Hagla, Milka, and Tirith. So as we're going through this and he's saying okay, you know This family gets this portion this family You know this son this son this son receives this inheritance Well, we get to a man that doesn't have any male descendants in order to receive his inheritance So it's a it's kind of a special case to say. Well, what do we do here? because normally the firstborn son receives the double portion of the inheritance of the father and then the other sons receive a single portion so what that normally and you could see that with the The tribe of Israel or with the you know with the with the children of Israel when Israel is giving out his blessings and he and He ended up making Ephraim receive the double portion over Manasseh even though Manasseh was the firstborn of the children of Joseph, but Again, I don't want to get too far into that because I actually think I have that in my notes as well Keep your place here and flip over to Numbers chapter 27. We're going to look at These few places where this Instance is actually referenced as far as the daughters of Zelophehad Because this comes up and is dealt with in multiple places in the Bible It's not just a one-off thing. It actually comes up multiple times So there's something to be learned from this story and from this aspect of God's law I'm gonna read I don't think we read verse number four from Joshua 17 I'll read it again for you says and they came near Before liaison of the priest and before Joshua son of none and before the prince is saying the Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance Among our brethren therefore according the commandments of the Lord. He gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father So this particular chapter Joshua 17, it doesn't go into all the details But it references the fact that this has already been brought up. It's already been established by God Hey These daughters need to receive an inheritance as he's giving out inheritance to all the men children That the daughters need to receive an inheritance also because their father had no sons and Basically, they don't want his portion To just go away and just like never exist and that his name would just cease to exist Numbers 27 verse number one. We're going to see this reference again a Dilapahad and What is to be done with that so verse number one the Bible reads then came the daughters of Dilapahad the son of Heber the son of Gilead the son of Makar son of Manasseh of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph and these are the names of his daughters Mala Noah and Hogg and Milka and Tirzah and they stood before Moses and before ladies are the priest and before the Princes and all the congregation by the door of the tabernacle 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 son. So basically what they're doing is they're saying look our dad was one of the people that died wandering in the wilderness right over during that 40 years and He wasn't one of the people that rebelled Against Moses, he wasn't one of those wicked, you know false prophets that were just completely contrary Opposing Moses that were the the earth opened up and devoured them and they went straight down into hell He's dude. They're like look our dad wasn't one of those people Okay, because if he was one of those people then they would have really no grounds to stand and say hey our dad's name Is gonna die out. Well, yeah the posterity of Korah and all his family They were all devoured and swallowed up and they were left with nothing So you wouldn't expect someone that was on that side to really be left with anything, but they're saying that's not the case He you know, he died in his own sin He had his own sins. He died in the wilderness, you know, he didn't make it into the Promised Land But he wasn't one of those people so we shouldn't allow his name to just just be done away Look at verse number four. That's what it says Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family because he hath no son So just because he didn't end up having a son Why should his name just go away give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father? now Having your your name not die out is You know, it's it's an important thing. You want to you want to keep your name around and be remembered, you know We don't have very much in this life, you know physical possessions come and go but your name meaning like what your name stands for who you are when someone References your name what they think about you what said about you that carries a lot of weight That's really important because it kind of defines who you are The amount of influence you have the you know, hopefully it's good. It's positive, right? You want to have a good Name when people talk about you you want them to be able to say? Oh, yeah, you know brother so-and-so or sisters also, they were really godly. They lived a righteous life They held people they gave the gospel they did you know all of these good things The Bible says in Proverbs 22 1 a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor Rather than silver and gold. It's way better to strive in this life to live a righteous Upright life to have that good name. It's way better to have that than to have you know A bunch of riches a bunch of gold, you know maybe you could earn in and get some great amount of riches and and you but you have to lie and Cheer and steal steal and cheat in order to do so, right? You have to you have to do it the wrong way But hey, you could amass all this wealth and get all this gain And if I was saying, you know, well then you're going to be known By that and those riches they're just gonna come and go it's not gonna provide you the happiness I could probably joy and it's really not gonna provide you any honor or dignity or anything worth having in this life Just by having some stupid riches. There's a lot of people that get rich by swindling others A lot of people that practice, you know, very shady tactics in order to gain to gain wealth But you know what always happens those people the things always come out in the end The truth is always revealed Their end is not as good as their beginning. They always end up, you know being taken down It's not worth risking your reputation and risking your name over just a little bit of money temporarily Or even if it wasn't temporary it's still not worth it because the money is gonna do you no good Just as a side note if you if you have problems in your life Everyone has problems in their life Don't think that your problems are all tied up in money Let me repeat that don't ever think that your problems are tied up in your money or lack thereof Because there's they're not It's a it's it's a false Projection or a false object of Your source of problems if you think that all of the problems that you experience in life have to do with money because I'll tell you what if you think that that's your problem if You think that oh man, I'm having all these issues. We're having a bad marriage. We're having this we're having that We're having all these problems because of our financial situation It doesn't matter how much money you have. You will still have problems The money will not make that go away You will continue to continually deal with with other things that come up and still think oh, man I don't know if we just had a little bit more money if we just had a bigger house if we just had this if We just had that then things would go. Well, then we'd be in better shape If that's your mindset, it's never going to be better Never Because that's not what it's all about you can be Extremely happy and have a great marriage have great relationships have everything going your way and be dirt poor You could have a great name a great reputation You can you can help people out you can have great relationships and have very little money And On the flip side there's plenty of people out there that have the exact opposite they have tons of money But they're a crook Nobody wants to be around them. You know their family despises them. They have bad relationships, and they're miserable No joy Because it's not about money. It's not about finances if you can if you can get that down in your life It's gonna make a world of difference in your day-to-day Activity or day-to-day life and just your outlook on everything That's why the Bible says in Proverbs, you know good name is rather to be chosen if you have a choice between well Should I have a good name or should I have great riches go for the good name? That's what you want to have now The children that the daughters of Zilaph ahead now, they're they're concerned they said, you know our father yeah, he's had his own sin, but he doesn't deserve to have his name just completely wiped out and to just lose all inheritance for His for his heirs and for his name just to be forgotten Because he didn't happen to have a son. I mean he had five daughters, but he didn't have a son so They approached Moses with this situation and then Moses goes to God look at verse number five there. You're still in numbers 27 Number 27 verse number 5 and Moses brought their cause before the Lord. So Moses says, yeah, you know, you got a point Let me go and ask God about this and see what God has to say about it verse number 6 and the Lord spake unto Moses saying the daughters of Zilaph ahead speak right send the right what they're asking you for is right They're they're they're bringing unto you a righteous cause it's good and it's right So now God's gonna instruct him He says 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 he shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. So this is a command of God now It's kind of a special case right because normally it passes on to the son. But in this instance, he's saying no we're gonna Have the inheritance then pass Unto the daughter and it passes unto the daughter before it ever goes to any other heir. So like if there's next of kin Right if the if the father had a brother or if you know if there's other male relatives in the family If there's no son it goes to the daughter first before any other male now, the reason why I'm pointing this out is because People can mock or have a hard time And and you'll have a lot of critics a lot of God hating critics mind you but critics of the Bible I'll say oh, you know the Bible is just against women and all this stuff It's not against women and when you understand a little bit more of the reasoning with Why like like this makes sense on so many levels for God to set things up the way that he did Keep your place here. We're gonna come back to number 27 turn if you would real quick to Luke chapter 15 So the inheritance passing unto the sons I'm gonna explain a little bit why this just makes sense in the way that God designed everything and if we could just by faith Accept the Word of God as being the best thing the most righteous thing that there is no better way than what God has Given unto us We would be way better off instead of saying. Oh, no, that doesn't make sense to me. You just hate women You just don't want women to have anything. No, no, there's a purpose for all of this and It makes perfect sense and got you know, the Bible says first of all in Jesus Christ. There's now neither male nor female Bond nor free circumcision or uncircumcision In Christ, none of that ultimately Really matters God holds the value How much a woman is worth? equal to the value of a man in God's economy they are both extremely precious and valuable and he knows the number of hairs on the head of men and women boys and girls and Loves them both equally However There is a difference between men and Women and God did not design men and women to do the same exact jobs to do the same exact things on this earth and You know, I'm not going to get too far into that but the most obvious example has to do with the way that our bodies were created and The fact that women have the capabilities of feeding children and giving and birthing children birthing feeding nurturing children that the man doesn't have So who do we think should be the primary person in? rearing the children and watching over this they're they're they're upbringing if We just go up based off of creation It seems to make sense that that would be something that a woman should be doing in handling because she's equipped for the job And when you look at the difference in the strength that men possess every man possesses over women by nature the way that God has designed men to have testosterone and Their muscles to be stronger Doesn't it make sense then well if someone has to go and physically do some labor and work Well, naturally that should be the man's job because that's what they're built to do Look, we're breaking this down to like preschool level But people today are so brainwashed and twisted around backwards That They think what we believe is nuts and it's like just open up your eyes to creation It's a way God made it and we just need to learn to accept it And I'll tell you what if you can just accept these really elementary basic truths Your lives will be better and happier when you start Striving against and trying to change the way that God designed things the way that God planned things and you you fight against that I don't want to fall. I don't want to be in that role No, I want to be the wheel the man says I want to be the one to stay home and rear the kids and I'm Gonna send my wife off to do the hard work That's not gonna be a good situation for you. You're not gonna be blessed You're not gonna be happy because you're gonna be doing things that God didn't design you to do You're fighting you're fighting a stupid battle that you You're making things way more difficult than it has to be But if we just fall in the line the way that God designed things everything would go out better now the sons The reason why one reason why it makes a lot of sense for the sons to gain the inheritance of the land because that's really What we're talking about here is the the possession the literal physical possession of the land being transferred to the sons Well, one reason why that makes sense is because the sons are going to be the ones that were out working with dad in the family on the land Like doing the hard labor that dad is doing because dad is the man going out and working the land So when the sons are then growing up They're gonna be the ones taught how to work the land and to provide for their families when they get older So since they were the ones Investing physically and working that land it would make sense that the inheritance would pass to those that are actually doing that work The Bible just a reference for that in Luke 15 we have the The this is the end of the the parable of the of the prodigal son, right? When the the one son who did right and did good he gets upset at the son that left He wasted all the inheritance. He's spending on riotous living and then he comes back and his dad throws him a party, right? He kills the fatted calf. He's all happy. So the the the son that was doing right gets disgruntled He's kind of upset. He's like, why should why should he get anything? He wasted everything, you know, what do you what are you doing this for? So in In this conversation with his father verse number 29 here in Luke 15 Bible says any answering said to his father lo these many years do I serve thee? Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment and yet thou never gavest me a kid That I might make merry with my friend. So he's basically saying look I've been doing everything, right? He says I Served thee these many years. So he's been working for his father He's been working on the land working for his father these many years I've been working for you and you didn't even like you even give me a kid and now you're giving a fatted calf to To this guy who went out and and he's he's he left us here alone to do all the work ourselves But look at the response it says in verse 30 But as soon as this thy son was come which hath devoured thy living with harlots thou has killed for him the fatted calf verse Number 31 and he said unto him son thou art ever with me and all that I have is thine So he basically, you know, hey, yeah, he wasn't here for the work. But now everything is yours. He already received his inheritance gone He's not getting that inheritance. He's not receiving any more from that. You're gonna get everything But this is just one exam this is I know this is like, you know a parable but whatever it's still describing what was normal at the time and just one example of Sons working with their father and then receiving that inheritance and it makes perfect sense That's one reason why that makes perfect sense Also turn back if you go to numbers 27. Also, the men are the providers for the family and That is by God's Word also That a man is to provide for his own especially they have his own household and If they don't do that the Bible says that they're worse than an infidel they're worse than an unbeliever If you don't if you don't work and provide for your own family So if the men are to be providers for the family The Inheritance is only going to help them in their provision for their family Wasn't it make sense then that that would transfer to the person that is Responsible, right? I'm responsible for feeding my family What would make sense then that I receive that inheritance of that land to make sure my family's fed Nowhere do we see God putting that responsibility on a woman on the wife to say? Oh, you're responsible for making sure your husband's fed Not one time It's always the man's job to do that numbers 27, let's jump down to verse number 9 there. Let's keep reading Bible says and if he have no daughter then you shall give his inheritance unto his brethren and if he have no brethren then you Shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren. And if his father have no brethren then you 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 statute of judgment as the Lord commanded Moses So he continues on down the line basically that there's no sons or daughters It just essentially is going to next of kin That they really wants to make sure that that name that that family that that tribe doesn't lose Their inheritance that they don't lose their land and then ultimately become peasants because they have no property They have no means of sustaining themselves He wants to make sure that every tribe every family has their own Portion and has their own land and then it's not just taken away from them Just by means of you know, not having children or not having a son or something like that So he keeps it within the family now flip over ahead to numbers chapter 36 God set up this system for mankind to follow and as I mentioned before God's ways are perfect but as with all of God's laws are people who will misinterpret and Or find fault with his ways and What we're going to see here in numbers chapter 36 is Another detail that's added to the rules governing this inheritance of land So it goes another step further because now it's already been decided that the daughters are going to receive This land as inheritance in order for their father's name to continue and that they don't lose that that land from their family But there's another caveat here verse number one of number 36 the Bible says and the chief Fathers of the families of the children of Gilead the son of Makar the son of Manasseh again This is all through that same line because this is the line that Zalaphahad had came from 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 My Lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zalaphahad 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 where unto they Are received so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance So now we see another aspect of God's laws basically is that when a woman? marries a man She goes and becomes part of that man's household the man doesn't go and join unto the woman's household the woman essentially becomes part of the man's family like that is who she becomes a part of and What they're concerned about here is that well now these women possess this property But once they get married that husband's gonna have Rightful control and ownership of the land because he's the head of the household He's the one in charge of everything he's the one who has the ownership of everything that is his wife's Wait, yes, you heard me say that right? The husband has the ownership of everything that was his wife's in the household That is the way that God designed the family To operate that is the authority that God has given unto the man We're not going to turn there, but if you remember a few weeks ago We already looked at the passage where God has given so much authority unto the man in the relationship as husband and wife that he can Disallow a vow made by his wife unto God that even when it comes to a personal Relationship between the woman and God if she makes a vow or promise saying God I'll do this I'm vowing to do this that the husband can veto that and say no you're not That is an extreme level of authority that God has given to the man and And Christian homes today every home today Christian or not Would do really well to take heed to the way that God has designed things So many fights so many breakups and separations and divorces Would not exist If people can follow these simple and I say simple because it's not complicated In our culture it's difficult for women especially to allow For this type of authority to be given unto the man that God has given to the man It's difficult because it goes against everything that women are taught in the United States of America That's why it's did but it's simple it's a very simple concept and Yes, I said to allow the man to have the authority Just because God has given that authority Doesn't mean that they automatically are Perceived and Respected and listened to as having that authority Think about this way God has given authority to human government to do certain things does that stop human government from just getting out of control And stepping over their bounds and doing things that they're not supposed to do of course not see God doesn't force that On us he gives us free will it gives us a choice to either listen to him and do what he says or to not Do what he says? And when it comes to authority and power Ultimately those are invisible things they're invisible a Man can only do so much, but if the if the wife doesn't want to be under that authority at the end of the day She doesn't have to be she can do whatever she wants by choice But by not obeying the authority given by God She is in sin and in transgression and wrong and you know again not gonna be happy Not gonna be blessed and gonna cause all kinds of problems But this is the way that God designed things to operate Within the government within the home within inheritance that this is the way it operates So their concern is that When they marry another man He's gonna have control this and that's gonna ultimately take that if they marry someone from another tribe, right? So they're from the tribe of Manasseh and they say hey, I want to get married to this guy. This guy's of Judah And I say, okay, well, let's get married because there were no other restrictions among the children of Israel It's not like you had to marry within your tribe in Israel. Like you didn't have to just marry someone of this tribe That's not that wasn't the way it was you could marry basically whoever you wanted to marry but in This particular situation because that is gonna actually have an impact as women weren't supposed to be The owners right and when and see here's the thing if he would have God would have allowed men and women to have this property ownership then you do start getting into more problems of well, who does it belong to when there's a marriage and Excuse me and who do you know when you split it up or whatever? But if it's only assigned to the men then it's always gonna stay within that realm So regardless of this intermarrying between tribes It doesn't matter because it's gonna stay within that same lineage and it keeps things pretty simple and straightforward It doesn't get all complicated and convoluted. This is the most complicated it gets As well, there's no sons and there's daughters so they have to resolve this somehow and They ultimately we're gonna read that in a minute But they just say well, you just have to marry someone within that tribe and that solves a problem But flip over real quick to Genesis chapter number five because it's in we need to see this and be reminded of this That this isn't God's Word This isn't Pastor Burzen saying yeah, Pastor Burzen just wants to have all the power at home and and power over his wife so he's just gonna preach on this and You know, whatever and it's just it's just all out of his own wicked heart that he wants to have this Dominion No We're preaching the Bible tonight, we're looking at God's Word in the way that he designed things so The man had being in charge and owning in in almost it in a sense I want to try to say this the right way Not because I'm worried about what people might think as far as being upset or offended by this but just to be pretty accurate With the level of authority that God gives in the household between the husband and the wife It's not that the man owns His wife but just about Like that's kind of the I mean that's like the level of authority that God's given The Bible doesn't use it as just as if the one just some piece of property You know what? I mean? Like that's not trying to dehumanize the the wife or the woman But just with that level of authority that God has given over his wife and over the possessions and everything else and And even just going back to the creation of the woman You know the woman leaves the house of her family to become one flesh with her husband and to take his name So I Know we have some weird things going on today where you've got men dropping their names and taking their wives last names and Hyphenating names and doing all this stuff because they're trying to be politically correct and that is the stupidest thing ever You get people just just hyphenating names And we're gonna keep hyphenating and hyphenating and high like like what if you continue that down and say well the right thing to do Is just a hyphenate and combine names So let's hyphenate and now our kids when they get married. They're gonna hyphenate Well, the kids last name is already gonna be hyphenated, right? so What if they do that and then they hyphenate from from you know Like let's say you have a son and his name's hyphenate and then oh he meets this girl Well, now we're gonna add another hyphen to our last name and then we're gonna pass that on to our children, right? So you're gonna be end up with this this string of this is super long name. It doesn't work It doesn't work But see God gave us the example in Scripture Genesis chapter 5 look at verse number 2 the Bible says male and female created he them and Bless them and called their name Adam in the day when they were created Doesn't say he called his name Adam except calls their name Adam why in chapter 5 this is after They have already established You know therefore shall man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife and they twain shall be one flesh Husband and wife come together. They become one person one flesh and The wife takes the name of the husband That's the biblical model and it makes sense because the husband is the one in charge of everything He's the head of the household. The head of the household is known by the name The name of the father they didn't want to have get lost the name is what wants to Continue on that name. It's the name of the husband It's the name of the leader doesn't supposed to be the one directing the family and say we're gonna go this way That's why the wife was even created because it wasn't good for the man to be alone flip back to Genesis chapter 2 The woman falls under the house and authority of her husband and basically she goes from being under the house and authority of her father Because dad's in charge To leaving father and mother to going then under the authority of her husband And Her her entire identity is tied to her husband by taking his name and As it says here look at Genesis chapter 2 18 the Bible says in the Lord said Lord God said it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him This was before Eve was created the reason why God created woman Was to be a help for the man For the man not to be alone and to help the man This is what the Word of God says you don't have to like it. I love it It's not just because I'm a man. I just love it because it's the Word of God because God tells us the truth But this is also why when I was speaking this does not degrade or devalue Women at all. It's just their job It's just a job Now you say yeah, but their job isn't as You know as glamorous or or isn't as honorable or whatever well How often in Scripture do you find that the the least? Comely things the less honorable things in this world are the ones that God elevates even more and honors and exalts Those that have less abilities God exalts those that have you know that are put in a worse position. Hey God's fighting for them More than anyone. I mean that is a theme throughout all of Scripture, and if you don't know that you haven't read your Bible one time ever It's not a bad thing at all to be a woman in In God's society in a way that God planned things But I'll tell you what women if you know if you take on that role and Take on that supporting role Your marriages your relationships are only going to improve and get better and better and better and better over time Because that's the way that God designed things to be I mean think about it. It's you know it's an it's an important This isn't something to just be Overlooked or just tossed aside or whatever Not that big of a deal Because this has to do if you're married this has to do with your life For men and women how what direction are you going to go with your life? Everyone has a will women have wills men have wills right in a marriage though You Can't go to different directions That doesn't work That's not a marriage. That's not a union that is not being joined together and Acting as you as God has brought you together as one flesh when you're starting to do this That is why God put had to put one person in charge Because if you take a vote between two people there's no tiebreaker You Don't leave that up to the kids There needs to be someone in charge Otherwise what you're gonna. Have is fighting back and forth, and it's not well. Whoever is right You're both gonna think you're right But that's that otherwise you wouldn't be disagreeing otherwise there wouldn't be a problem if you both didn't think that you were right But that's also why God said no The man's in charge not as long as he's right not as long as he always chooses to do the right thing That's just it. That's the bottom line he's the one that's in charge and God created Eve God created the woman to help and to be a help meet or suitable for the man because the man's deciding direction of the family the man's in charge of the finances the man's in charge of how the home is to be operated and Doing the work while the wife is Raising the children and keeping the home and doing the things that God has designed her to do and when you have a husband and a wife joined together in Acting as one flesh so much more can be done for for the glory of God This is why it's so important to find a good spouse If you're unmarried Find someone who wants to serve God women find a man that's going to that loves God's Word That's going to be the provider that's going to look out for you That's going to want to serve the Lord and lead your family that way Then you have to worry about well, which way are we gonna go in life find the man? That's gonna be going the right way that you want to go and Then once you find that man, you have to follow him Once you make that vow there's no there's no turning back and saying well, no I changed my mind I actually don't want to do this anymore. I Mean you you have you'll have the choice to do it, but you know, it's gonna lead to More fights more problems Do you know it causes more damage? Just nothing is going to be Happy joyful or whatever. It's it's like flushing your life life down the toilet It's a it's a large Theme or doctrine or teaching in the Bible that As this world gets more and more wicked can be harder to deal with Because of all the brainwashing because of the culture But it is so important, I mean your family unity your family strength That is ultimately what's going to keep you going and serving God. Anyways, I mean, it's gonna you know, the church Yes, the church is important. Yes, everything else important, but at the end of the day your family is is your your core of Of strength and if your family's screwed up, it's gonna be so much harder To even make it to church to even start to do the right thing when everything is just backwards at home Let's go back to or actually where are you number numbers 30? We're still number 36 or Genesis go back if you had numbers 36 real quick Numbers 36 In verse number three they were expressing their concern saying wait a minute You know if they if they marry other people of other tribes Then the inheritance is going to be removed from us So verse number four it says and when the Jubilee of the children of Israel shall be then shall their inheritance be put into the inheritance of the tribe where unto 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 Hath said well, so he's saying that's another good point that's brought up and that's going to be dealt with also verse number six 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 now And then it's saying that that's going to solve this problem. The inheritance is going to be removed go back to Joshua chapter 17, but One last point on this because people will have a wrong impression or understanding of the Bible Even though the things that I already mentioned are enough to make people just make their head explode these days There's also a lot of false accusations and just not understanding of the Bible at all that it gets thrown out there Like so someone might say oh, well the Bible says, you know, it believed in like arranged marriages and stuff, you know things like that It's like no it doesn't When you see when Abraham sent out his servant to find a wife for his son Did he go and like buy a wife Or did he go and just say that's it you're coming with me no, she had the choice To go and they talked to her family about it. They talked to her about it say, okay Well, do you want to go and do this? Yes, it was up to her. She went and did it It wasn't forced upon anyone and even in this situation They say well let them marry who they think best and it's talking about the women let them marry who they think best Isn't just saying you just have to marry this person and this is all arranged and women have no right and no say and who They get married to yes, they do Yes, they do Let them marry who they think best the only condition that's being put on this scenario is just you got to find someone In the tribe of the house your father The tribe is pretty big. I mean it's like in an entire State or region or city right like you've got this big area. Like can you find one guy? In this in this whole pool someone in community to marry. I mean that that's it And those are given a lot of Liberty and even in the New Testament we have the same concept taught I'll just read this for you first Corinthians 739 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth, but if her husband be dead she is at Liberty I mean she has the freedom to be married to whom she will Whoever she wants, but then again the only limitation or restriction according to God's Word says only in the Lord So God gives men and women freedom to marry who they want to marry Not to get involved in something. They don't want to give up No marry who you want, but as a believer marry someone else who's saved Marry another believer only in the Lord that's what's being taught and You know, there's a lot of freedom that God gives just overall and in general and you know at the end of the day We're free to make up any of our choices. We're free to disobey every single one of God's laws and commandments We're free to do that But that's not how I'll tell you where it now. It's not advisable. It's not a good thing to do It's not something that's going to reap you any positive benefits Bible says, you know all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient You know, we're free we're free from the curse of the law through Jesus Christ, but There's nothing not recommended to go out. Yo, what shall we say there shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid God forbid of course not we should use our liberty wisely and Choose to do right and when you choose to do right God will bless you for that Let's jump down now to Joshua chapter 17 verse number 14 is one of the point I wanted to make that was kind of the main The main thrust of the sermon tonight and what I wanted to focus on was the the daughters of Zelophehad But in verse number 14 the Bible says in the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua saying why is thou given me But one lot and one portion to inherit seeing I am a great people For as much as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto So now we see and this is it's kind of funny, but there's you know Manasseh and Ephraim they're going hey, why did you only give us one lot or you know? Manasseh specifically but saying why did why did you give us only one portion? Like there's a big portion And you're only half the tribe and the other half is on the other side Jordan like that They have a pretty big area as it is But firstly verse over 15 and Joshua answered them If thou be a great people Then get thee up to the wood country and cut down for thyself there in the land of the prisites and of the Giants if Mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee and the children of Joseph said the hill is not enough for us So they're saying well, that's not even enough for us Anyways, we need we need something more and there's going and you say now we just need we're such a great people We need even more than that but see then the real reason comes out why they don't want to take the hill country because then it says and All the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron Both they who are a best she and in her towns and they who are of the valley of Jezreel So saying yeah, well, you know, we're too big for that Can you just give us another area because that's really not enough for us to inhabit and They've got chariots of iron. Yeah, they've got strong defenses there. It's not gonna be an easy victory It's not gonna be a fun battle. Can you just give us something easier? I mean, we're such a great people We just need more room anyways Well, like Joshua's answer it says in verse number 17 and Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph Even to Ephraim and the menasseh saying thou art a great people saying you're right. You are a great people There are a lot of you and that's great power you're really powerful Thou shalt not have one not only. Yep. I agree with you. You are a great and a mighty people So no, we'll we'll give you even more. I Agree with you, but then he says first on my team, but the mountain shall be thine But that's what you're gonna get you're gonna get that hill you're gonna get that mountain that wooded area that I told you at the beginning For It is a wood and thou shalt cut it down You say no You're gonna go do this and the outgoings of it shall be thine for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites Though they have iron chariots and though they be strong You saying I don't care if they have chariots of iron You're a great people you go up there and defeat those Canaanites and you get them out of that land and you inherit that land You were coming to me asking for more you better go and fight for it I mean there wasn't a greater people than then, you know Ephraim Banasi combined, right? They're the they're the tribe that was blessed and his great multitude and great people and deserve all this land Go and stink and fight for it But they want to have everything and not Do the battle and we already saw I preach on this a little bit last week with with Ephraim, you know allowing the people of the land to remain and just become a thorn in their flesh and Because they didn't have the full desire to just go out and do it Their heart wasn't completely in it. I mean if their heart was if they if they really had full faith they would say like Joshua Joshua knew they could do it. He's saying go do it. I Don't care if they have chariots of iron. I don't care if they're Giants. I don't care what the land is Like I don't care if it's difficult. I don't care if they're well-defenced You go and do it Joshua had that attitude all throughout And that's why there's so many victories wrought by Joshua But not everyone followed his lead Many of them just said I don't only want to do it You choose you this day Whom you will serve? We're gonna get to that. I'm waiting for that but That's the attitude of Joshua. Hey You decide for yourself who you're gonna serve I'm gonna serve the Lord as for me and my also, I'm gonna serve the Lord and You know, we know that that we can do all things through Christ we're strengthened with me and And we need to remember that and not be afraid not back down Stay in the fight All right, so I read that board of prayer dear Lord, we thank you so much For these stories and and for your scripture dear God I pray to you please help us in these dark times to be able to be beacons of light and to exalt your word and to live by your words Lord and and to treat them as precious in our sight and to to value your words and your instruction and to just just Cling to your words and and apply them in our lives Lord that that we can be in in the best situation the best position possible and be blessed and and have joy and have peace and have comfort and also Just bring honor and glory unto your name as a people that that truly Does believe and and doesn't just pick and choose the areas of the Bible that we want to follow We want to listen to and and just chooses to not not and not apply the areas that that might make us look weird or That are not politically correct these days Lord, but that we're gonna we're gonna take the whole thing and we're gonna have integrity with your word and and treat it with with the care that we ought to and God we love you, but it's asked for your strength and And help us to just continue to learn evermore and it's in Jesus name We pray amen