Women's Rights - the Bible's First Suffragettes — Ian Paisley

The Daughters of Zelophehad Claim Their Inheritance

You'll find an authorized version of the Word of God, the Bible, in your pew. Pick it up and turn with me to the Old Testament Scriptures, to the book of Numbers, at the chapter 27. The 27th chapter of the book of Numbers.

And if you're not familiar with the Scriptures, you'll find the 27th chapter of that book at page 183, in the first part of the Bible, the Old Testament. 27th chapter, the book of the Numbers, verse 1.

Then came the daughters of Salome, he said, the son of Hephaestus, the son of Gilead, the son of Macca, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. These are the names of his daughters, Macca, Noah, Hogla, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes, and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Saying, our father died in the wilderness.

He was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died in his own sin, and had no son. Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he had no son?

Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father. And Moses brought their cause before the Lord. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, The daughters of Salome had 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 unto 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.

And if he have no daughter, then he shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then he shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then he shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him, of his family, and he shall possess it.

And it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses. Ending our reading at verse 11, and God will stamp it by His own stamp of approval and blessing. In the last century, there was a very wonderful movement known as the Suffragettes.

The Suffragettes and the Five Women of Israel

Who were they? They were women who thought they were wise enough to vote. Because before that, the men were so wise, they thought their wives weren't fit to vote. And no woman was given a vote. And there started the suffragette movement.

Determine women to have the vote. So they locked themselves in prominent places, on the gates of Parliament, on the gates of Buckingham Palace. They had parades and action all over the country. And eventually, the men had to concede that the women were as wise as they, and they got the vote.

It was a long and bitter struggle. But way back in the Old Testament, I was reading to you about the first suffragettes meeting. When there were three women, five women, and they were all of one family.

And their father had no sons. And they were dividing out the promised land in possession to the children of Israel. And the men said, no, those are only women. There's nothing for them in the promised land.

And these five young women were the first suffragettes, and they said, we'll see about that. So they went to Moses, and they said, it isn't fair, Moses. We should have a heritage like anyone else. And our father's not to be blamed, because we are females.

He had nothing to do with that, that's God's order. And Moses said, you're absolutely right. So Moses became their champion. And Moses said, you will have the same possession in the land as if you were sons.

With one exception, that you have to marry into your own tribe. Lest you marry into an outside tribe, and in the possession of the heritage, they lose that part of their heritage in the promised land.

Grace Signified by the Number Five

And so we have a great story here hidden away in the book of Numbers. A story filled with gospel truth. You know, the number five in Scripture is the number of grace. How do I know? Because I've read the Bible.

And the first time that anything is mentioned in the Bible, it gives you the key to its meaning. And every other time it's mentioned. And on the fifth day, what happens? Go home and read Genesis 1. And you'll find on the fifth day, it was the first day that God blessed anything.

That's grace. Grace is the blood of God. And He blessed the fish of the sea. What God blesses He can't curse. So the fish of the sea were the only animals that did not perish in the great flood. The fish of the sea got a bigger sea to swim in when the flood came.

That's the blessing of grace. More abundant. God gives you grace. So there was five of them. Very interesting. We'll come back to that in a minute or two. But these young women knew that the Lord was a just God.

Knew that He was a God who always did what was right. So they were able to leave their case before Him. Now isn't it interesting that here are five young women. The promised land is still miles and miles away from them.

Future Inheritance and Christian Assurance

Some years have to pass before they would ever stand in the promised land. And yet they were interested in the future. And they were interested to get their possession in the land that was promised by God to the Jewish nation.

And that's a type of the Christian. We haven't got to heaven yet. Some of us have a few years to do on the pilgrimage. Some of us have still a long time to do on the pilgrimage. We don't know. I always laugh when I read the story of Isaac.

What did Isaac do? He took to his bed. He became hungry. And he said to his son Esau, Go you out and get a nice deer. And bring that deer home and roast it. And make me roast venison. And I will sit up and I'll have a good feed.

And then I'll bless you. And then I'll die. Do you know how many years he lived after he took the good feed? Over forty years. My there were some calories in that meat wasn't there? Forty years. And forty years after the old fellow is still living.

And he's still eating venison. You see we don't know what a day will bring forth. We don't know how long we have. But these five young women, they decided they were going to make sure of what was going to happen when they got to the promised land.

Everyone in this house tonight should make sure what's going to happen after death comes. Are you sure of your inheritance? Is there a palace in heaven and has your name on it? The Bible tells us that there's a throne and there's a crown in heaven.

And the names of God's people are written on the palace and written on the throne. And I'm glad there's a crown in heaven. And it will fit nobody's head but mine. As not an angel can wear it for they haven't the right shape of a crown yet.

And they can't wear my crown. I'll wear my own crown. And you'll wear your own crown if you're a child of God. What a great thing it is to be able to be sure of the future years before it happens. And these women wanted to be sure of the future.

And the only thing they had for it, certainty of the future, was what? The Word of God. God had spoken. God said He would give the Holy Land to the Jewish people. He told them that way back in Genesis to Abraham, the father of the nation.

And for centuries the Jewish people suffered tragedy upon tragedy. But now they're on the march to the promised land. Because God's Word is always sure. And God's Word will always be answered. And it will always be answered according as God sees the time has come for its fulfillment.

So these women, years before, rejoiced in the fact that their heritage was sure. And there was five of them. The first one was called Machla. Would you like to be called Machla, dear girl? Think of a mother could say that.

Machla: Mildness Through the New Birth

Machla, come here Machla. I want to talk to you. What a name. But do you know what that name means in the Hebrew language? It means mildness. Now I know there's not very many mild young ladies today. But this is a type of the Christian.

The first thing that the Christian has is a new birth and gets a nature that's not wild, but mild. The nature you got when you were born into the human family was a wild nature. But when God saves you, you get a mild nature.

So you need to pray, dear, that your husband will develop the mildness of his nature. Rather than the wildness of the first nature. And of course you husbands have been working overtime for years praying for that.

And if you hadn't that to hold on to, dear knows what would have happened to your marriage years ago. So all I can say to you here is a picture of the first Christian. What does God do when God saves a person?

He takes away the wildness and he puts in the mildness. I have led many people to Christ in my ministry. In fact, this week was an interesting week because I met two people. And they both told me that over 30 years ago I had led them to Christ.

And I said, you're still going on? And they said, yes. And I said, Mr. Nicholson, just to say to me, it's like the soles of your feet. It wears well. And so it does. Great thing to be a Christian and to know the Lord as your Savior.

And God takes away the wildness and he gives the mildness. Now the next person here, think of it, was called what? Called by a man's name? Noah? Did you know there was a woman in the Bible called Noah?

Noah: Rest for the Soul

Well, this is a woman in the Bible that was called Noah. Now I leave this Noah to argue with the other Noah when they get to heaven. Who should have had this name? But they both had this name. Do you know what Noah means?

Noah means rest. And when a person comes to Christ, the second thing they get after mildness is rest. Rest. Rest from their sins. Rest from their convictions of their sins. Rest from the world, the flesh of the devil.

Sweet, perfect rest. One of the greatest blessings that you can have is rest of mind. Rest of soul. And rest of body. Rest of heart. Rest of conscience. Rest in time. Rest at day. And rest for all eternity.

Have you got that rest? That's the second characteristic of the person who has come to Christ. A very interesting thing happened to me last Sunday. When I was standing in this pulpit and I was finishing the service, the Lord spoke to me.

And He said, there's a young man and he's on your left hand side. You go down to him immediately after this service and talk to him. And I said, I'll do that. I've always known that the best thing to do with the Lord is to obey Him instantly.

For if you don't, you lose the blessing. And if you don't, you raise a wall that hinders you with Him. And so I went down after the service. I didn't tell the young man the Lord told me to go down. And I went down after the service and He took me by the hand.

Now that young man, he has a hand like a vice. He nearly broke my fingers. And you know what he said? He said, I was saved last night. Born again of the Spirit of God last night. Wasn't that good news?

And I'm glad he's sitting in this service tonight. And I hope when he shakes hands with me, he'll not be so sore of the pressure. But thank God what God can do. God can give you what? Rest! Let's skip the third name that's here.

Milcah and Tirzah: Counsel, Delight, and the Christian Life

And the third name that's here, let's skip it for a moment. And come to Melchi. Melchi means counsel. And when a person's saved, they get a counselor. Jesus is called Wonderful Counselor. The Prince of Peace.

And when I was saved, I got a counselor in my heart. The Spirit answers to the blood that I am born of God. His Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God. So I become, when I'm a Christian, a Makla, I get maintenance.

A Noah, I get rest. I get, I'm a Milka, I get counsel from the Lord. Becomes my counselor. He becomes my guide, my pilot, and my shepherd. And then last of all, Tersah, which means delight. And when you're a Christian, you get delight.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. You get delight. A Christian is a person delighted with the Lord.

Now, you'll not be delighted with some Christians. And you'll not be delighted with things that happen to you. But one thing you will be always delighted with, Jesus. He never changes. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hogla: Seeking Christ, the Shining Treasure

Now, hold it. Think of these words. Mindless, rest, counsel, and delight. But I left one out. Hogla. Hold on to your seats. You know what hogla means in the Hebrew? A magpie. A magpie. What's this bird doing among all these things about the change in our hearts?

I sat at my desk, and I said, Lord, what did you put the magpie into it for? You might have put a nice dove, a nice pleasant dove into it, but why the magpie? And I said to my wife, because she is a great lady, with birds.

We have a bird table in our garden, and all the birds of the neighborhood come to be fed. And we have two beautiful doves that come to see us. We have beautiful little robins that come to see us. We have blackbirds, and we have big magpies that come to see us.

All the birds of the neighborhood. And my wife instructs her grandchildren about what these birds are. So I said to my wife, you're a bird specialist. That's why you've got a bird like me. And you just tell me now, what am I?

She says, a magpie is a bird that always goes for shining things. You put out some glass or something to shine on a table, and there's a magpie about. It will come down, and it will bite that glass. In fact, magpies break windows in houses when they see jewelry on the table in the room.

And they smack their beaks against it to get in to get the shining thing. And I said, Lord, I see it. In the center of these names, there's a shining thing. Christ is the light of the world. And wants to continue to meet them every step of the way.

So we have a perfect picture here of the child of God. A perfect picture. The child of God is mild, resting. He's looking for the shining thing. He has counsel, and he's a delightful person. Now these five ladies said to Moses, you must give us our heritage.

Christ the Heavenly Bridegroom and Sure Salvation

And Moses acknowledged it. With one exception. And the exception was that when they married, they must marry in to their own tribe. And there is one exception to us all if we're going to get to heaven.

And that is we have to meet the heavenly bride. We're to be wedded to Christ and to Christ alone. The church can't save you. Baptism can't save you. Nothing you can do can't save you. But thank God, Jesus can save you.

So you need to come. And you need to be married to the heavenly bridegroom. Our Lord Jesus Christ. I would like to commend the Lord Jesus Christ to you. I am 71 years on the road to heaven. Now 71 is a long time.

The church officer hopes he'll be longer on the road than that. But I have made my 70. I'm ready for the celestial pension to pay out when you're 70 to the children of God. You get a concordance and look at all the people who became 70 in the Bible.

Have a look at them. And then think of me, this poor critter here in the pulpit. Think of me. 71 years. The Lord never left me down. The Lord knew the worst about me. But he loved me just the same. He was always ready to forgive me for my rebellion and my sins.

He was always ready to renew his love. To take away the fears and the tears. And the sorrows and the darkness. And the shadows. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

Oh what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. I would like to commend the Lord Jesus to you. And these young women, they gave their word.

And sure enough, when they came into the promised land. They all married husbands in their tribe. And were able to keep their inheritance. What a wonderful story this is. Of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Inviting Jesus Into the Heart

What a wonderful Savior is Jesus. Jesus my Jesus. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord. Dear sinner friend, I commend Christ to you. Take him home with you. Say tonight as we tell our young people in Sabbath school.

This prayer, come into my heart. Lord Jesus. Come in today. Come in to stay. Come into my heart. Lord Jesus. And some of you young people who have not prayed that prayer. I was preaching in Bellarmine yesterday.

At the opening of the addition to the Bellarmine church. And a little boy came up to me. A little boy, I think he was six or seven. And he said, I would like to be sealed. And he came to Christ. Little boy, wanting to be sealed.

I was only six when I took Christ as my Savior. And he is a wonderful Savior. So you young people tonight. If you have not Christ in your heart. Take him tonight. Call upon him. And he will save you. Hallelujah.

He will save you.