Chapter 27

The first part of chapter 27 relates to an interesting incident if you are a student of ancient history, especially the history of the Hellenistic world. This is the term we give to the “Greek” (actually mostly Macedonian[1]) culture that pretty much took over the world in the last part of the BC era.

Background: in the Hellenistic world, a woman basically had few legal rights. A citizen woman’s rights were exercised through her “Kurios” (Lord – usually her father, her husband or her eldest brother).

In the Hellenistic world, the answer to the daughters of Zelophehad would have been “Too bad, so sad, tough luck.” Their situation was unfortunate, but little or nothing would have been done for them.

In this we see a stark contrast between the God of the Bible and the gods of most of the ancient world – He saw EVERYONE, male and female, as important. And sure enough God grants the daughters their inheritance.

A lot of people see the Bible as misogynistic. There’s an idea that women are seen by the Bible as second class citizens.

To be sure, by today’s standards they were; but an historical source must be judged by contemporary standards, and here we see that a woman among the Israelites was able to gain access to some level of rights, whereas in other [typical] cultures of the day, she would not have had that opportunity.

It is true that this part of the Bible was written many years ago. But God is in the business of breaking chains, and the chains one receives as the freight of their culture’s attitude to their gender are no exception. We get further confirmation of this concept when we read Galatians 3:28 – “In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, MALE NOR FEMALE.”

Where does this put us in dealing with that most contentious of issues, the so-called “Womens’ issue”? The question of how a woman may participate in worship?

It’s a thorny issue, with good biblical arguments on both sides. I do not intend to get into the discussion of this issue right now, but there’s one thing I CAN tell you. It is this. God cares about women, and if we wish to honour Him, it is vital that we understand this. This may or may not mean that they have the same role in worship as men, but the point is that when discussing this issue we must remember that care. Whatever one’s view on this issue (and many others), the important thing is that to God, freedom is more important than traditions of people! So we must bear this in mind – with all its complications.

But at the end of this chapter, God gives Moses the bittersweet news – that he is going to die, and that he’ll not see the Promised Land.

I’m guessing that Moses secretly hoped God would forget the crime he committed at Meribah, where he lost his temper against his people. But God did not. So it is now time for Moses to pass the baton of leadership on.

We saw yesterday that the Israelites had been in the desert a significant amount of time. Joshua was Moses’ deputy for the bulk of this time, and had real zeal and enthusiasm, combined with a very long apprenticeship!

Joshua would go on to become an excellent leader in his own right. And here we see the transition of leadership.

Strong leadership is something that God values among his people. And strong leadership is made stronger when there is clarity about whom comes next in order.

It’s almost a proverb – the ministry that does brilliantly, then falls apart under its second leader. Do you know one of these situations? This is precisely what God wishes to avoid – the plan of the Messiah DEPENDS on these people. So God cannot afford to allow them the squabbling that would inevitably follow. Rather He cuts it off at the pass by ensuring that Joshua is not only Moses’ successor, but importantly seen by the people as Moses’ successor.

By doing this, God ensures an orderly and smooth transition.

Now, you may or may not end up in a position of leadership. Maybe you’re already there. If you are (or if you will be), I am going to put it simply – one of your important duties is to train your successor! Godly leadership, especially, is more about service than actually exercising power. That’s not a natural thing for humans – we’re big on power, small on service. But as a Christian, you and I are called to better things.

A simple way to honour God in whatever your ministry is to make sure that you SERVE rather than simply exercise power – and that you teach others to serve too!

What would become of your ministry if you were hit by a bus tomorrow? Of course, you cannot really prepare for everything. But ideally, the next leader(s) should already be selected, as much as that depends on you.

That way you might be able to avoid or minimize the cost of the burned-out leader. God doesn’t want you so overwrought by years of leadership that we can’t move any more. God wants you to be able to lead wherever you do, for many years yet!



[1] Macedonian culture resembles Greek culture in much the same way a Scotsman speaking English resembles an Englishman speaking English; rustic and incomprehensible!