Zelophehad's daughters

“So Moses brought their case before the Lord, and the Lord said to him, ‘What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and turn their father’s inheritance over to them.’” Numbers 27:5-7
Inheritances in the Bible were not dealt with as they are today, where all the children (usually) receive an equal share. Women generally did not receive any inheritance, since they were expected to marry and become part of their husband’s family. Only the sons received an inheritance, with the firstborn son receiving a double portion. Here we have an interesting case of a man who had five daughters and no sons. These daughters went to Moses to ask what would happen to the inheritance. Moses in turn asked the Lord, who instructed him that the inheritance was to pass to the daughters if there were no sons, and if there were no sons or daughters, then it would pass to the man’s brothers; if there were no brothers, then to the next male relative in the family (Num. 27:8-11). In this way, by the inheritance passing to the daughters before the man’s brothers, God was instituting something that was extremely unusual in that culture.
Zelophehad’s daughters had nothing to lose by asking. If Moses or God said ‘no’, they were no worse off. But there was a chance that a provision might be made for them, and as we know, there was. You see, God cared for them. He isn’t bound by society’s norms. And the same is true today. We might think that God can’t bless us, or use us in ministry, because we grew up in an undesirable neighbourhood, or we failed in our past – things that people would write us off for. But God doesn’t see those things. He sees us for what He can do through us, now and in the future.