“One day a petition was presented by the daughters of Zelophehad—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. Their father, Zelophehad, was a descendant of Hepher son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph. These women stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the tribal leaders, and the entire community at the entrance of the Tabernacle. “Our father died in the wilderness,” they said. “He was not among Korah’s followers, who rebelled against the Lord; he died because of his own sin. But he had no sons. Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan just because he had no sons? Give us property along with the rest of our relatives.” So Moses brought their case before the Lord. And the Lord replied to Moses, “The claim of the daughters of Zelophehad is legitimate. You must give them a grant of land along with their father’s relatives. Assign them the property that would have been given to their father. “And give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If a man dies and has no son, then give his inheritance to his daughters. And if he has no daughter either, transfer his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. But if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan. This is a legal requirement for the people of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.””
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Numbers‬ ‭27‬:‭1‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

One of the many inane complaints about the Old Testament God is that he is patriarchal, in the most negative sense. This is because he expects the created order to be preserved. However, a quick review of scripture will pull out passages such as this. Here we see that God is a reasonable God. He favors the reasonable rather the gendered. He listens to the plight of the downtrodden, underprivileged and oppressed. In the ancient world, this was often women. These five women made a bold claim to their father’s land that was reasonable. God not only honored it but structured it in such a way where it became law. Evidence of his agenda is only furthered by the complaint of the men afterwords that they might lose their inheritance. Here we see that not only was God’s response reasonable but his knowledge of the women’s heart in asking. His clever solution was to marry only in the tribe. The women complied. It is clear that they too cared about the inheritance. All parties worked together to accomplish a better kingdom life. It started with reasonable advocacy before a reasonable God. All people, no matter their social status, have a right to approach God this way. He will not scorn us for doing so.

God’s Nature: God is reasonable and listens to the plight of the downtrodden, underprivileged, and oppressed.

The Women’s Claim: Five women made a reasonable claim to their father’s land, which God honored and structured as law.

God’s Response: God’s response to the women’s claim and the men’s concern was reasonable and demonstrated his understanding of their concerns.