A set apart life for a godly inheritance

Numbers 36:8-9 (ESV)
And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. [9] So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.

Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe. God commands that not only the daughters of Zelophehad, but any daughter with an inheritance in any tribe must obey this law. The law did not mean that every woman in Israel must marry men from their own tribe. Those without any inheritance had the freedom to marry any man they wanted, as long as they were of the tribes of Israel. It was only the daughters with an inheritance that had the responsibility of preserving their fathers' inheritance. So then, these were not only forbidden to intermarry with those of other nations, but of other tribes.

Here we can learn something very important. The daughters with inheritances had an obligation to keep a law that others did not need to keep. These could not do as other daughters did. With the inheritance they had honour, but along with it came a burden to preserve their fathers' inheritance. In the same way, we who have an inheritance in the Kingdom of God have a responsibility to keep the commandments of God and to live a righteous life:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (ESV)
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, [10] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God

Just as the daughters who had inheritances were to be different from those who had not, so is the Christian to be different to those who have no part in the Kingdom of God. We must be holy, set apart from those who do not know God. As heirs, we have a law written in our hearts that we must follow, that which the children of this world do not know of. We have the Spirit of God in us, who guides our every step, that in everything we do we may be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ:
Romans 8:12-14 (ESV)
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. [13] For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. [14] For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Those who are not God's sons and daughters do not have His Spirit in them, to guide and to command them to walk in the way they should walk. They do not follow the Law of God. They are lawless, and do anything as their wicked heart pleases. Holy Spirit is not in them to restrain them and to make them do those things that are pleasing to God. They are free to do evil, and they have no shame, guilt, fear or remorse over their sins. The Word of God is not in their hearts to convict them and to reprove them. God gives them over to every wicked desire of their hearts, that they may have everything they would ever hope for:
Psalm 73:4-12 (KJV)
For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. [5] They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. [6] Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. [7] Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. [8] They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. [9] They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. [10] Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. [11] And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? [12] Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

Why are the ungodly allowed to live so freely, apart from the Law of God? Why are they allowed to have anything they want, while God does not grant everything that His children want all the time? Why do they have so much freedom, while God restricts His children from every side that they may not do all their flesh desires? Why are the children of God stricken with His rod when they sin in even the smallest things, while unbelievers can do great sins and go on with their lives with barely no chastisement? It is because the wicked have no inheritance in the Kingdom of God. It is because they do not have God as their Father, as we do. God only chastens and rebukes those he loves. The fact that one can sin his heart out and yet receive no rod is not a sign of God's love, but of His curse. Lack of divine discipline is a sure sign of God's abandonment, NOT favour:
Hebrews 12:6-8 (ESV)
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." [7] It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? [8] If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

We have to remember something here. The daughters with inheritances did not keep this particulart law in order to gain their inheritance. They already owned the inheritance, and hence this law applied to them. Likewise it is with the Christian. He is not trying to keep the Law because he wants to get an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. He is keeping the Law because he already is an heir of God. And because he is a child of God and an heir, and because he already has eternal life in him, he keeps the Law. His obedience to the commandments of God PROVES that he will inherit the Kingdom of God. The child of God cannot but keep the law of God, which is the eternal standard of God's righteousness. The righteous life of the child of God proves that he already has a part in the everlasting inheritance. In the same way, a sinful life in which is no evidence of the work of God's Spirit or Word proves that, not only that the person is not a child of God, but that he is actually the child of the devil:
1 John 3:9-10 (ESV)
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. [10] By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Let us, then, who have an inheritance, live as those who have a part in the Kingdom of God. We are children of God. We are those who are going to live and reign forever with Christ. How then can we live as those who will inherit nothing but the wind and the wrath of God? We are not to live like other people who have no eternal life. We have a law to follow, not in order to be saved, but because we have been saved. We have an inheritance from God our Father. We have an obligation to preserve this inheritance that has been handed down to us by our spiritual fathers, who died for the cause of the Gospel.

Like the daughters of Zelophehad, we are not allowed to be married to any other but to our near kinsman Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Just as Boaz bought the inheritances that had been left to widow Naomi, and also bought with them Ruth the Moabite as wife, we have also been bought by Christ to be His faithful bride. We have been redeemed, so that all that we are and have may be Christ's, that we may endure forever:
Ruth 4:9-10 (ESV)
Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. [10] Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day."
Is not this what it means to be saved? When we sell ourselves to Christ with all that we have, committing ourselves under His Lordship, will not God make our names and our lives to endure forever, that we may not be cut off from the land of the living? But if we give ourselves to another husband, we and all that we have shall be lost, like a house built upon sand in the midst of a storm. Let us entrust ourselves only to Jesus, and He will preserve us and all we have, and our names shall never be erased from His book of life.

We can also briefly here talk about the idea of a believer marrying with an unbeliever. This whole chapter clearly advises to us that a believer should marry with a believer. We are not to find our spouses outside the tribe of Christ, that our inheritance may continue, that we may not lose God our inheritance. Yes, it may be possible that God may bring a believer to marry an unbeliever according to His sovereign will. But we who have an inheritance in the Kingdom of God should not go out of our way to seek for an unbelieving spouse. We should seek a believing wife or a husband as much as possible. For why should an unbelieving spouse care for the precious inheritance that has been given to the believer from God the Father? They are not of the same tribe. The unbeliever is of the tribe of the devil, who is their father. How can then the two have true and deep union? How can they, who have polar opposite worldviews, be truly be one? It is not possible. But when the believer marry a believer, then the couple both care about the inheritance that has been given to them, for they both have the same Father. Read what this passage says:
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (KJV)
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? [15] And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? [16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing ; and I will receive you, [18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Believing couples can also hand down their inheritance of the Gospel to their next generation without hinderance. How can a Christian who is married to a non-believer freely bring up his children in the admonition of the Lord, when what the two desire to teach their kids are so vastly different? The non-believer only cares that his children find a good job, make lots of money, live and die comfortably, without getting into too much trouble. The believer desires that his children firstly to be saved, to glorify God in all they that they do, to love the Lord and to live a committed life to the Gospel of God, no matter the cost. So how can the two with such different views agree peacefully how they will educate their children? And since the child is born naturally sinful and opposed to the ways of God, he will more likely listen to the ungodly counsel of the unbeliving parent, rather than to accept the believing parent's teaching. Unless God miraculously intervenes, the inheritance will be lost. And when that child grows up, what will he teach his own children, but what he learnt from his unbelieving parent? In that case inheritance has been lost forever. Thus when a believer considers marrying an unbeliever, he must know the dangers of having his godly legacy perish forever in the hands of the unbeliving spouse.

Not only marriage, but any unequal friendship, association, confederacy with unbelievers can be dangerous for our souls and for our future generations. Indeed, like Christ we are to be called the friends of sinners, but this only applies if we are in a place where we are influencing them for holiness and righteousness. If we are being tempted and pushed into sin because of them, we are better off to stay away from them altogether. This is not because we are more righteous than they, but it is because we don't trust our own wicked hearts. We are not all perfect like Christ, to be perfectly able to keep our faith even in the company of sinners. Let us not be so sure of ourselves. Though we live among unbelievers, there is a sense that we must be separate from them. This does not mean that we build ghettos and live apart from them. By no means. It rather means that our actions must be separate from them. It means we must do differently than unbelievers. It means we must not join them in their sinful ways. It means when they tell a vile joke, we must not laugh along with them. It means when they entice us to do evil, that we must not follow them, but rather that we must expose and rebuke their evil deeds:
1 Peter 4:4-5 (ESV)
With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; [5] but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
Psalm 1:1 (ESV)
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

In doing this, we preserve our inheritance from being taken away from us. We must keep salt in our selves, as Christ commanded us, lest we lose our saltiness, and be trampled by men as useless things. Unless we refrain from having sinful unions with unbelievers, our power to influence them with the grace and the holiness of God will fade, and we Christians will become nothing but a joke to the world. We remember how weak Lot's influence was in Sodom, even to his own sons-in-law:
Genesis 19:14 (ESV)
So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, "Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
Lot tried to warn his sons-in-law, but because he had for so long lived in sinful fellowship with unbelievers, and had not lived a set apart life, his preaching was powerless. He was salt that had lost its saltiness. If Lot had always lived a holy life, in sober devotion to the Lord, separate from sinners, being serious of the things of God, then his sons-in-law may have taken more notice of this warning. But they perished, because to them the fearful preaching of Lot sounded just like a comedy act of Sodom. Perhaps the sons-in-law were used to that kind of jokes from Lot. If Lot had lived in holiness and purity, he could have saved his sons-in-laws, and he could have preserved his godly inheritance for the next generation. But instead what happened to Lot's legacy? He became the father of idolatrous nations Ammon and Moab. His godly inheritance perished in the ashes of Sodom and Gommorah. Do we want to be like Lot? If not, we must break our fellowships, agreements, concords with sinners. We must destroy any friendships with sons of Satan that makes us to sin and be defiled. Let us live a holy life that is different from the unbelievers, not because we hate them, but FOR their sake, that we may save some of them, and that we may save our children. Let us live a holy life that helps our testimony of Jesus Christ.