Numbers 36:7 No inheritance in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors.
One of the hallmarks of the United States of America is our declaration of individual liberties. The rights we enjoy reside, not in the government, but in the individual. That is because we declare all people are equal because God has given us our rights. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are the enumerated rights that God has granted to each individual.
Notice that there are many other rights that are not given by God to the individual as declared in our bill of rights. This is in the news these days because of the leaked draft of a Supreme Court ruling. Even happiness is not a given right, only the pursuit of happiness.
For other cultures these rights are either greater or lesser, and often reside not in the individual, but in the state at large. The state takes the role of god, granting rights and removing them. Our constitution is very different from so many others in this way.
For ancient Israel, the laws outlined in the Hebrew Bible provide the framework for their new society. There are some things that are granted to individuals, both rights and responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is outlined in our text.
Our text isn’t about individual rights. It is about the distribution of the Land and the preservation of ownership/stewardship of that land. God is the One who provided the Land, and they must be stewards of the Land. They don’t own it. They are responsible to the LORD for what they do with it.
The Land takes a higher priority than the individual. The application in our context is about the individual freedom of women who have inherited land because their father had no sons to marry anyone they wanted. They are not allowed to do that. Land must not move from tribe to tribe. It must stay within the tribe.
This of course necessitated, on those somewhat rare occasions when there were not male heirs, for these women to marry within their tribe. This meant these women had to marry a cousin of one stripe or other. They couldn’t marry otherwise.
The Land was a central part of what the LORD had promised Israel, a land where they would live forever, if they kept the Covenant. Of course, they didn’t, and were exiled. They returned to the Land, but only in part.
In our context, there are times when the State has a greater interest in an issue than the individual. When they are putting up a new highway, individual land owners can’t stop the construction. They are forced to sell their land to the State. The compelling interest of the whole community is greater than that of the individual landowner.
We are going to see this battle between individual and state interests play out in very different ways if the Supreme Court decision follows the leaked opinion. Some states will side with the pregnant individual and allow abortion up until the moment of birth, or even after. Other states will restrict abortion almost entirely, siding with the baby’s right to life.
Life is about balancing the various interests of individuals and the society as a whole. There are very few easy answers that don’t impact various individuals to differing degrees. We are connected, and what benefits one often detracts from another’s freedom.
We must learn, as these women had to learn, that there are interests that are greater than our own, even if it means our choices are limited. As a society, sometimes the individual needs to take a back seat. Where that line gets drawn between individual and state is where all the friction happens.
The Arnold Journey 