A shiny gold locket. A majestic grandfather clock. Grandma’s house. Wedding jewellery. Secret family recipes. A plot of fertile land on a Samoan island. A Baby Grand piano.
What do these things have in common?
These are items of property that some my students wish to inherit from their parent’s estates.
I doubt inheriting these things has much to do with a price tag.
For locked within are memories of that loved one. In some ways, to handle something that once belonged to a loved one is like connecting with them again on some level.
Take for instance, the girl who’d like to receive her mother’s gold locket. Her mother wears it every single day. Her father gave it to her mother while they were dating. The necklace is a powerful symbol of her parent’s deep and abiding love for each other.
Some of the wealthiest people on this planet are leaving a whole lot of nothin’ to their children.
Zip. Nadda.
Nigella Lawson’s cooking shows were a favourite of mine for many years. From her I learned to flip a cooked meringue base upside down to make topping a Pavlova a breeze. Genius. (And the end scenes are always entertaining—Nigella raiding the fridge where she unashamedly indulges in a midnight snack of leftovers.)
She’s made a motza as a successful journalist, food writer and TV personality, but is not leaving her three children any financial security.
She’s of the mindset that people are ruined by not having to earn their own way in life and make their own money.
On a similar note, Andrew Lloyd Webber, famed composer with 21 musicals to his credit believes that children inheriting a lot of money have no incentive to work. (Thanks Mr Webber for your creative genius, I’ve seen The Phantom of the Opera three times now.)
His wealth exceeds $US 1.07 billion, and he is leaving nothing to his five adult children.
George Lucas, film director, producer and screenwriter whose name is synonymous with Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, will leave his fortune to the education of other people’s children.
He has invested his billions in establishing the Edutopia Foundation that aims to research and improve educational practices used in schools.
So what do you do if you’re not mentioned a will and you believe that you are a legitimate heir to a family estate?
Echoes of the five Bennet daughters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice come to mind. Mr Bennet’s estate is entailed away to the male line, so that upon his death, Mr. Collins—their nearest male relative would inherit the estate.
What is a woman to do but surrender to the feelings of being cheated, dejected, and wrongfully disadvantaged? And perhaps keep a wary eye out for a single man in possession of a good fortune that must be in want of a wife.
The five daughters of Zelophehad faced a similar predicament after their father passed away. We’ll examine their story as recorded in the Old Testament book of Numbers.
In Genesis 12:7 God bequeathed the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants.
In Numbers 26, God said that the land was to be divided among the tribes of Israel in proportion to the size of their families. Each male head of the household would receive an allotment.
A census was taken of all males over the age of 20.
Zelophehad died having no sons. Clearly, his five daughters were not counted in the census, nor were they permitted to receive land as an inheritance.
So, the daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah huddle together in their tent. Each one spurting their thoughts in rapid fire. No idea was too zany; they were brainstorming. Exhausted after what felt like hours of deliberation they decide to take action. They will act in faith.
In a daring, unprecedented move, they leave their tent to approach the place where only the high-ranking men conduct official business.
These women are not only brave, but also very smart. They argue that Zelophehad’s good name and standing within the community not perish with him.
The daughters hold to the hope that such logic and reasoning would appeal to the ears of the male leaders.
Further, they highlight the fact that their father was not involved in Korah’s rebellion.
Zelophehad was a man of honour.
The current law did not account for the unusual circumstance of a man without sons, so they ask for the portion of land that would have been allotted to their father to be passed onto them—his single daughters.
Moses is undecided and takes this matter straight to the top. He consults the LORD.
The Lord tells Moses that the daughters of Zelophehad were right.
What?
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 onto them.
And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. Numbers 27:7-8
These women stepped out in faith and God gave them an inheritance.
When we step out in faith, God rewards us with an inheritance too.
Gentiles have the privilege of knowing God as their Heavenly Father, and the blessings that this relationship brings.
Christ heals our spiritual blindness, so that we can see through his eyes. He breaks the chains that enslave us to the enemy to liberate us from Satan’s power.
Jesus forgives us of our sins and we receive a spiritual inheritance that can never be destroyed.
We inherit the kingdom of God. We inherit the promise of eternity with Jesus.
For most of us, we will inherit land, property, and possessions from our parents when they die.
However, in the end a Baby Grand piano will lose its tune, a grandfather clock will lose its chime, and a gold necklace will tarnish.
2 Peter 3:10 reminds us that all things will be consumed by fire when this earth is refurbished and renewed.
Our earthly inheritance will slip through our fingers, but we can grasp onto an inheritance that will never fade away.
We can claim God himself as our inheritance like the Psalmist who said
I cried unto thee, O LORD; I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion(inheritance) in the land of the living. Psalm 142:5
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion(inheritance) forever. Ps 73:26
God is the source of all that is good, the source of all blessing, the source of all joy.
Let us remember that nothing compares to Him.
Bibliography:
Demsky, A. 2019. ‘The daughters of Zelophehad: A Historical-Geographical Appoach’, The Torah.com, accessed 28 Oct 2020
https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-daughters-of-zelophehad-a-historical-geographical-approach
Bacon, A. 2003. ‘The daughters of Zelophehad and the Struggle for Justice for Women’, The Schecter Institutes Inc, accessed 28 Oct 2020
Mwaniki, L. ‘Bible Study: The daughters of Zelophehad’, Tearfund Learn, accessed 28 Oct 2020
Edsor, B. et al, 2019, ‘12 ultra-wealthy people who aren’t leaving their fortunes to their children’, Business Insider.com, accessed 28 Oct 2020
Thankyou, Gretel.
I’ll try to post some more articles next year after the Christmas break.