“The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730” (Numbers 26:51)
“The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahla, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.” (Numbers 27:1)
College induction and orientation was this week and classes begin next week. It can seem so overwhelming starting out on this new phase of life, particularly for those who have been out of school or study for a while. Navigating unfamiliar systems within an academic institution for the first time can be bewildering, especially when your name disappears and instead you become temporarily reliant on passwords made of random strings of characters and multi-digit numbers. Others seem to make sense of it all so much more quickly and seem far more confident, while you can feel so lost.
So, our college prayer time in this first week has centred on the daughters of Zelophehad: five young, unmarried and orphaned sisters. We meet them at the beginning of Numbers 27 immediately after the second census of Israel in Numbers 26. That census counted only the men of fighting age and puts the figure at 601,730 – the old, the young and the women and these five sisters literally didn’t count. How wonderful then that the first story following this census focusses on these five young women whose names and identities would disappear according to the inheritance laws as they stood at that point. On the brink of the nation entering ‘the Promised Land’ their independent identity and family name will be swallowed up. They have no inheritance rights simply because of their gender and their family name will disappear. They just don’t count.
With great courage they speak up. Moses takes their case to the Lord and discerns a clear decision that becomes a Midrash – a case study that resolves their problem and turns it into a principle for the whole Law. These five girls are granted full and equal rights of inheritance, and the identity of their family will be preserved. In God’s eyes…they count. They matter. They are seen and heard. We know them now by name.
No matter how big a problem is, our God is always bigger. No matter how insignificant and unimportant we might feel, we matter to Him. When it feels like we simply don’t count, He knows us by name and is watching over us. We might be one in a vast number or enmeshed in systems that reduce us to a number, but we count with God. “Be bold. Be strong. For the Lord your God is with you.”