That would have been the headline in the Israel Daily Times, printed during the Wilderness Wanderings. The article would have been written by Moses some forty years after he lead the Jewish nation out of Egypt.
Odd headline, right? Five sisters must marry cousins? Yes, odd, but it's not fake news.
Okay, here's the history. The twelve tribes were promised an inheritance in the new land, and they were now on the border, ready to enter. These five sisters had no husbands and their father had died. Well, guess what? Women couldn't inherit land, animals, money, etc. If anything came to them, it automatically went to their husbands.
These ladies had no men in their lives, so they gathered their skirts together and boldly went to Moses. They asked him why they couldn't have the inheritance. If they received none, there would be no allotment due to their family.
Moses took it to the Lord, and the Lord agreed with the ladies!
Yay! Chalk one up for women with courage and a sense of fairness.
God told Moses to "give them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and turn their father's inheritance over to them." Numbers 28:7.
These ladies were descendants of Joseph and were of the tribe of Manesseh, Joseph's son. Now get this. The family heads of the Manesseh clan went to Moses. They had begun to worry. Together, they voiced a legitimate concern. "What if the sisters marry men other than an Israelite? Then their inheritance will be taken away and given to a non-member of the nation." Numbers 36:3.
So Moses made another trek to speak to God. God says the daughters may marry whomever they want as long as they marry withing the tribal clan of the father.
So the ladies married cousins on their father's side, and everyone had a happy ending.
Great story, right?
These noble women obeyed the Lord. I wonder if they had happy marriages? Relatively speaking, of course.
All my books have happy endings. Have you enjoyed any yet? I hope you will.
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