In reading Numbers 27:1 in this week's Torah portion, we see some of the first "women's libbers" - five women who dared to speak out and claim their father's inheritance - The five daughters of Zelophehad who petitioned Moshe that they be granted the portion of the land belonging to their father (who died without sons).
YHWH Himself accepted their claim and incorporated it into the Torah's laws of inheritance, thus revealing that, in certain circumstances, inheritance CAN be passed down through women:
Numbers 27: 1 Then the daughters of Tz'lof'chad the son of Hefer, the son of Gil'ad, the son of Machir, the son of M'nasheh, of the families of M'nasheh, the son of Yosef, approached. These were the names of his daughters: Machlah, No'ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. 2 They stood in front of Moshe, El'azar the cohen, the leaders and the whole community at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, 3 "Our father died in the desert. He wasn't part of the group who assembled themselves to rebel against ADONAI in Korach's group, but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons.
4 Why should the name of our father be eliminated from his family just because he didn't have a son? Give us property to possess along with the brothers of our father." 5 Moshe brought their cause before ADONAI. 6 ADONAI answered Moshe, 7 "The daughters of Tz'lof'chad are right in what they say. You must give them property to be inherited along with that of their father's brothers; have what their father would have inherited pass to them.
8 Moreover, say to the people of Isra'el, 'If a man dies and does not have a son, you are to have his inheritance pass to his daughter. 9 If he doesn't have a daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 If his father doesn't have brothers, give his inheritance to the closest relative in his family, and he will possess it. This will be the standard for judgment to be used by the people of Isra'el, as ADONAI ordered Moshe.'" (AENT)
(Some more tidbits coming - please bear with me, because it all ends up tying together!)
Let's briefly examine that last passage, above:
In Numbers 27:8-11, we saw yet another scripture that negates the anti-Y’shua crowd’s attempts to disprove Y’shua! They are adamant that He cannot be Messiah because His lineage came through a woman (since Joseph wasn’t His biological father; just someone who "adopted" Y'shua...), and they insist the genealogy (according to Judaism), must come through the male.
Also, according to the anti-Y’shua crowd, women cannot inherit or pass on an inheritance. Hence, on several levels, Y’shua’s messiahship – according to them - is null and void.
Well, let's examine what SCRIPTURE says:
Numbers 27:8 Moreover, say to the people of Isra'el, 'If a man dies and does not have a son, you are to have his inheritance pass to his daughter. 9 If he doesn't have a daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 If his father doesn't have brothers, give his inheritance to the closest relative in his family, and he will possess it. This will be the standard for judgment to be used by the people of Isra'el, as ADONAI ordered Moshe.'"
So, there goes the idea that women cannot have an inheritance!
While we’re at it, let's move on to the genealogy thing that some traditional Jews use to attempt to negate the legitimacy of Yeshua...
Okay, so it looks like Mary should be disqualified to transfer the rights of her lineage to her son, Yeshua - except for a little known exception to the rule!
In Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38 we are presented with two genealogies of Yeshua. On the surface these different listings would appear to be a contradiction in the scriptures. Not only are the two genealogies listed in the reverse chronology from each other, but the genealogy found in Matthew's gospel is the lineage of Yeshua's mother Mary, while the genealogy found in Luke's gospel is the lineage of Yeshua's earthly father Joseph.
[Note: this is completely opposed to most teachings! But there is no doubt that Matthew's genealogy is that of Mary, and not her husband Joseph as is usually assumed.]
However, many people fail to realize or address a major problem associated with the genealogical listing found in Matthew's gospel: The lineage of Mary. Once you have established that the line is indeed Mary's you must deal with a second difficulty: The rights of the line are NOT passed through the mother; but rather, through the father.
Even though Mary, through her lineage, was of the Davidic bloodline (as was her husband, Joseph), she should be excluded from being able to pass those rights of the bloodline because she was female (Deuteronomy 21:16).
So, it is not enough to prove that Mary was an unblemished descendant of David; she had to be a male to transfer the rights. Therefore, she would be disqualified to transfer the rights to her son Yeshua - EXCEPT for a little known exception to the rule.
BUT, FIRST, LOOK AT THIS!
In Numbers 26 we are introduced to Zelophehad. Zelophehad, we are told, had no sons; only daughters. In Numbers 27, following the death of Zelophehad, the daughters of Zelophehad came before Moses and argued their plight. Because their father had died with no sons, all of their rights of inheritance were to be lost and they felt this was unfair.
So Moses prayed to YHWH and He gave Moses an exception to the rule! He told Moses that the inheritance CAN flow through a female, IF they fulfill two requirements: There must be no male offspring in the family (Numbers 27:8) and if the female offspring should marry, they must marry within their own tribe (Numbers 36:6).
Returning to Mary:
On the surface she should be unable to transfer the rights to her Son. But when you research you find that Mary had NO brothers, she was of the line of David, AND received the inheritance of her father because her father had no sons, AND Mary did indeed marry within her own tribe to Joseph.
End of argument!
