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Numbers 36:5-9. Moses decrees that the daughters of Zelophehad, who have received his inheritance, must marry within the family of the tribe of their father. That way, the inheritance allotted to Zelophehad will remain in his family, and not get transferred to another tribe through marriage. Moses says this is the rule for all daughters who possess any inheritance - they must marry within their tribe. "So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall cleave to its own inheritance."

 

This decree from Moses was the result of a tricky legal question presented to him in the preceding verses. The heads of several tribes came to him and pointed out that the Lord himself apportioned the land among the tribes of Israel, so obviously he wanted those tribes to keep their inheritance. But the law also said that when a woman married, her husband became entitled to her inheritance. So if a woman with any inheritance married outside of her tribe, her tribe's allotted portion from the Lord would be diminished.

 

Just like all laws, there are pros and cons to the rule that the Lord decreed through Moses, it took away the freedom to marry any fellow Jew, but it preserved each tribe's inheritance. God obviously came down on the side of preserving the uniqueness and the gifts that he gave to each tribe. So these are clearly important and meant to be kept within individual tribes.

 

There is a big push these days towards globalization, and also a lot of resistance to it. Both Brexit and the election of Donald Trump were two big examples of such resistance, but there are many more if you just look around. Our "elites" believe that this resistance is wrong and "on the wrong side of history." It even seems they believe that resistance to globalization is immoral in some way (I think that is because they do not have true faith - politics is their god). But Brexit and Donald Trump happened, so they clearly were part of God's plan. I think this passage might give us some idea as to what God is thinking, it gives us some insight into how God might see the idea of globalization, and I don't think he's necessarily in favor of it.

 

God wants us to be united in him, not in worldly governments, or worldly cultures, or worldly ways of doing things. In fact, God clearly likes diversity, he likes his people to be different, and he has given us each different gifts, just like the tribes of Israel. When we were all one people, with a common language, united but fallen, we ended up building the Tower of Babel and thinking ourselves gods. Every time we build the Tower of Babel God knocks it down and scatters us. Globalization is just another Tower of Babel.

 

Even God's chosen people were divided into tribes and given particular inheritances and gifts. They were not all given equal gifts, they were not promised or given equal outcomes, nor did he mean them to be. In fact, here he removes an equalizing tendency - inter-tribal marriage and inheritance.

 

God made us different, both individually and tribally. It is okay to acknowledge our differences and preserve them as gifts from God - our inheritances. It is not okay to become proud in our gifts, or judgmental of those who have not been given what we have, nor is it okay to be jealous of other people's gifts, or try to find ways to take their gifts (their differences) from them. The push towards globalization does both of these things: it is evidence of a pride in our own differences to the point of imposing them on others - we become judgmental - looking down on those who don't agree with us; and it and encourages people to give up their own gifts, their own differences, and accept our way of life, our "allotment" from God, as what is right and good for them. God begs to differ, I fear.

 

The push towards globalization necessarily creates conformity and uniformity. This author worries it is creating a very bland planet, and I tend to agree. It is becoming clear that God does, too. He does not seem to be a fan of globalization, and is in the process of knocking down that Tower of Babel.