Expository Sermon on Numbers 27
by Maylan Schurch
Bellevue Seventh-day Adventist Church 3/8/2025
©2025 by Maylan Schurch
(To watch this entire worship service, click the link just below.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJdkWQlZfV0&t=4654s
Please open your Bibles to Numbers chapter 27.
While you’re turning there, I just want to make some grateful comments about what happened at the end of this worship service last Sabbath. I had just finished leading the closing song, which was “God Will Take Care of You,” and then given a benediction.
And then I came to the edge of the platform, and stepped off it. Except that my foot, and maybe both feet, caught on one of the microphone cords, and I simply toppled forward down onto the carpet.
First, I would like to thank the Lord for somehow allowing me to fall in such a way that I broke nothing. I banged my left knee a tiny bit, but I was otherwise uninjured. I get checked out in an emergency room, and had some x-rays taken of my knee. Nothing was broken.
I am very grateful to God for how that turned out. It could’ve been so different.
And I’m also grateful to God for the kind people who hurried up to be around me as I lay there on my left side for a few seconds. Wisely nobody tried to grab hold of me, but just let me get up on my own.
While you’re turning to Numbers 27, I’ll mention how last week I met someone who was visiting our church for the very first time. At least that’s what I understood.
So what I’d like to do right now is to mention – if anybody else is here for their first Sabbath THIS week – what we are doing back in the book of Numbers.
What we’re doing is giving everybody a chance, if they want to, to follow along in a chronological Bible reading plan. However, this plan is slightly different from the standard Bible year plan. This plan is a chronological plan, which means that occasionally chapters or even books are rearranged to make them fit with what Bible scholars believe is the chronological order their stories happen.
For example, back in Genesis, we read through the first 16 chapters, and suddenly we were taken to the book of Job. That’s because Job’s events most likely happened during that period of Genesis.
Anyway, here on March 8, we have come quite a way through the book of Numbers. Each Sabbath, in your bulletin, you will find an announcement that says “Join the Plan!” And in that paragraph you will find the Bible passages to read during the week ahead.
I really encourage you to jump into the plan. Don’t feel guilty that you didn’t started on January 1. Just jump in now, and you will feel something of the wonderful feelings that I always experience when I read the Bible through. To me, it’s a way of filling in the blanks in God’s story, finding out what led up to the events we know about.
Anyway, here we are at Numbers chapter 27.
About a mile from where Shelley and I live in south Renton is a Thai restaurant called Five Sisters. Once in a while we get food there – they have a really good order of fresh salad rolls with peanut sauce, for example. If you go to their website, they say that yes, there are indeed five sisters who grew up in Thailand, and they’re all associated with the restaurant. I think three of them actually own it, and the other two might work there too.
Well here, as Numbers 27 begins, we are introduced to another set of five sisters. I’m pretty sure these women do not own a restaurant, but they are the central stars in the little drama that will take place in the next few verses. Let’s find out who they are and what they want. I believe they are giving us a valuable tutorial on how to cause change in ways that are healthy.
Numbers 27:1 [NKJV]: Then came the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
There are a couple of pretty astonishing facts in that one verse. Here come these sisters, all five of them, stepping confidently into the book of Numbers. Maybe the most surprising part in that they are all named. Normally women aren’t mentioned by name in the earlier books of the Bible, and the ones that are, normally are famous for other reasons. Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and so on, people we name our kids after. But as far as I can tell, I have never heard anybody naming their baby girls Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, or Tirzah. These women’s names did not ring down through history the way some of the more famous women’s names have.
But the Lord knew who they were, and He let their names be recorded in Scripture. And we’ll find out why in a few minutes. Their story is one of justice, but of the character of God.
I wonder what all the Israelites thought as these five ladies threaded their way purposefully through the camp, heading toward the tabernacle. “Hey, look,” somebody says. “There go Zelophehad’s girls, all five of them.”
“Sure enough,” somebody else says. “And from the looks of it, they’re not just taking a walk. They’re headed somewhere. They mean business. We’d better go check it out.”
And if these spectators had followed along behind, they would’ve suddenly discovered that a whole lot of other people were curious.
Verse 2: And they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting . . . .:
And here is what these women have to say:
Verses 3 – 4: “Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
Here in 2025, that makes absolute sense. Remember, years before this, Moses’ father-in-law Jethro had urged Moses to choose leaders of the nation who could act as judges over the people. These leaders would help decide the minor cases, leaving the really tough ones for Moses.
But that’s not what has happened here. We don’t know whether or not the sisters have already approached their under-judge and asked him about their request. But for whatever reason, this case is now before Moses. They took it right to the top.
And God knew each of these women. God knew their father Zelophehad. God knew that their dad had not let himself be ensnared in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, but had died a natural death.
And evidently, Zelophehad had raised five daughters who trusted God and who wanted to take the proper steps to get what they knew was right.
Let’s put down this as Sermon Point One. What is one thing the “five sisters” story tells us?
Work toward justice God’s way.
I almost preached on Numbers 16 today rather than Numbers 27. Number 16 is the dreadful story of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. These men were members of the tribe of Levi, and they had responsibility for helping with the tabernacle. But they were not priests – only the sons of Aaron could be priests.
But rather than be satisfied with this, those three men went about trying to change things in a way that was far different than the path chosen by the five sisters.
What the three rebels did was to do what Lucifer had done in heaven – go from person to person sharing their grievances and stirring up anger, so that when they finally did confront Moses at the tabernacle, they had 250 leaders of the nation on their side. And rather than doing as the five sisters did, the rebels challenged Moses and accused him of taking too much power on himself.
And God, who certainly remembered the heavenly rebellion very clearly, took decisive action to quell that rebellion. Because the rebels were dangerously wrong, and Moses was right.
So now, it must’ve been very refreshing to God, and very delightful, to see these five sisters working toward justice God’s way.
And when Moses hears their request, he doesn’t simply say, “Oh, no problem, ladies. Great idea. We’ll make that happen for you.” No, Moses cautiously decided not to issue his own ruling.
Verse 5: So Moses brought their case before the LORD.
I wonder if any of the five sisters was worried about God getting involved in this case. After all, they may have been eye-witnesses of the Korah-Dathan-and-Abiram rebellion, and what its result was. They made it very clear that their father had no connection to that rebellion.
But should they be a bit leery, a bit scared, of the God who dealt out such vigorous justice in that case?
Well, evidently, these women trusted Moses enough that they could trust him to present their case properly before God.
And again, Moses evidently knew that this was a case for God. Because normally, property passed from father to son, not father to daughter. Later, when Jacob’s two wives, Leah and Rachel, gave him children, it was the boys (and none of the girls) who became the 12 tribes of Israel.
How did the five sisters work toward justice God’s way? They used ways God Himself worked toward what was fair and right. When God created Planet Earth, He didn’t program every living thing to do exactly what He wanted them to do. He gave choice to animals and birds and human beings.
One of the joys of walking through our neighborhood is that quite often you see someone walking their dog. And you can always tell when a dog is young and untrained. They strain at the leash. When I walk by on the other side of the street, they began to strain toward me, wanting to come over and see who I am, wanting to get acquainted.
The older dogs, the ones who have realized this is not an energy-effective way to take a walk, stroll calmly along beside their owners. They’ve finally made the choice not to try to fight the leash.
Yesterday as I was about to leave for our local library, I stepped out onto the front porch and saw a huge bald eagle sailing along high in the sky. He was catching the currents and just gliding, turning first one way and then the other. Finally he sailed higher into the sky and went behind some tall trees so I couldn’t see him anymore. That eagle was making choices, moment by moment, because God had given him that ability.
So God’s way is the way of giving choice. When God first introduced Adam to the animals, the Creator didn’t put Post-it notes on them telling Adam what their names were. Instead, God told Adam to figure out what to name them. Some of those names must’ve been hilarious. In heaven, we’ll have to ask Adam if he remembers those names.
So seeking justice God’s way involves giving people choice. I always love it when somebody comes to me with a suggestion of something our church should get involved in. If I can see that the project is worthwhile, and if I see that the person heading it up his someone of experience, I will help them write a letter to the board. I will also strongly suggest that they get a team of people around them who believe in what they want to do.
I’m going to offer you one more sermon point which I think fits here. Here comes Sermon Point Two.
As these women brought their case, they not only knew how to work toward justice God’s way. They also knew how to ask within God’s will.
And again, the five sisters’ request was squarely in the center of God’s will. Soon the entire nation would take up residency in the Promised Land. And every tribe would be assigned a large section of the country, and every family within that tribe would get farmland. But if the five sisters weren’t allowed to put the property in their name, their future generations wouldn’t have an inheritance in the land.
So they were thoroughly within God’s will when they made this request. Korah, Dathan and Abiram, by contrast, were asking something that wasn’t within God’s will.
So how do you know if a request you might make, or just as you might be thinking, it is within God’s will? You keep in touch with your Bible. You review the 10 Commandments.
On 116th Ave. in south Renton, just north of the Fairwood post office, is a huge metal power pole. It’s one of those poles which has several powerlines attached to its top. And the base must be about 3 feet in diameter, very wide.
Whoever put that pole in place mounted it on a cement base, and then positioned eight heavy vertical iron pipe around it. You see this kind of barrier-pipe at gas stations, or in front of stores – mounted in cement so if somebody rams them they can’t get by. As I say, that power pole has eight pipes anchored in the ground around it, to protect that power pole from being toppled.
I think those eight pipes are something like the 10 Commandments. If we remember that the 10 Commandments are barriers to keep us from casting doubt on God’s reputation, or mistreating other people, then we will treat those commandments with respect. Because breaking them can cause serious tragedy.
And when we ask God for something, we’ll remember what His fatherly wishes for us are – to treat Him and each other with respect and love, and – as Jesus said – to give truly good gifts to us.
Because behind God’s commands to us, and His wishes for us, is His great heart of love. And if we resolve to seek justice God’s way, not Lucifer’s way, and ask our requests within God’s will, the closer we’ll come to the heart of God.
That’s what our closing song reminds us of. Let’s stand and sing it together.
Closing Song: “Near to the Heart of God” – #495