The Exception to the Norm

 “And the Lord said to Moses, “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them.”

‭‭Numbers‬ ‭27‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

There is often a way that we tend to do things. There is often an established order that is the basis of this tendency. There is, in fact, often a rule that informs it.

However, that being said, there is often an exception to that rule. There is often an exception to that established order. And there is always an exception to the norm.

We, however, tend to dismiss these exceptions. We pretend that they don’t exist. And we do so in an effort to protect or preserve the established order.

But how do we discern God's will in such cases? How do we determine what we’re to do? We receive some guidance as we look at an example in Numbers 27.

In this chapter, inheritance rights were the issue. And, typically, it was the sons of a man who received the inheritance. But we encounter, in this passage, the daughters of a man who had no son.

They came to Moses asking why his name should be taken away from his clan. They asked why it should be taken, simply because he had no son. And they asked to be given a possession among their father’s brothers.

As we look more broadly at the Old Testament, we see that God was concerned for the individual. He was concerned for the name of the individual. We find that he did not want a man’s name blotted out of Israel. Even in exceptional circumstances, like this one, he wanted the man’s name to be preserved.

This was also the basis of God's commands when a man died, leaving no children. His brother was to marry his widow. And the first son was to succeed to the name of his deceased brother. 

Although there was an established order, there would be exceptions to the rule. There would be situations that didn’t fit the rule or the practice. But this was addressed by God's concern that a man’s name should not be blotted out of Israel.

When we, then, encounter exceptions to the norm, this is a good place for us to start. As we pray about the situation, we should look for the underlying principle behind the rule. And this will typically lead us to the answer.