In 27:1-11 we have the statute of judgment for the women's inheriting of the land.
The daughters of Zelophehad said, "Why should the name of our father be taken away from his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brothers" (v. 4). According to God's ordination, only males had the right of inheritance. Here, however, some females requested an inheritance. As we will see, God honored their request.
Verses 1 through 4 speak of the request of the daughters of Zelophehad. They were of one of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph. This is a type related to life and the fellowship of life. The fact that the daughters of Zelophehad were of one of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph indicates that they were in the life and the fellowship of life of the proper origin.
In the Bible, inheritance is determined according to genealogy. A genealogy is a matter of life, and this life is related to tribes, houses, and families. The basic concept in the typology in Numbers 27 is concerned with life. Everything related to us in Christ involves the life which we have received in Him.
Life has its source, and life is received by us in a certain way, through a particular channel. The way we receive the divine life is very important. As believers in Christ, we all have received the divine life, but there is a difference in the means or the channel through which we have received this life. The means of receiving the divine life involves the matter of our spiritual family.
According to the type in Numbers, which is concerned with both the source of life and the means of receiving life, who we are and what we will be depend on our family. It matters a great deal through whom we were saved and received the Lord Jesus, for the Christian life with its activities depends on the source of life and the channel of life. This is the reason we are told, in the type, that the numbering of the people was carried out according to the houses of their fathers. This is a basic requirement. Anyone who did not have a house, even though he was a genuine Israelite, did not have a genealogy and was not qualified to be numbered. In order to be numbered, an Israelite had to have a strong standing related to the source of life and the channel of life. The principle is the same with us today. We must have a strong standing in the source of life, and we must have a proper channel for the receiving of the divine life. This channel is the means by which we came into existence in the divine life.