Moses informs us of a number of lies he blames the Lord for. One of these has to do with the age at which a Levite is required to go to work in "the tabernacle of the congregation."
Moses' book entitled 'Numbers' tells of three censuses allegedly taken of the Levites by Moses during their likewise- alleged forty- year wander through the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. In the precedent- setting first census taken by Moses, Moses says the LORD told him to number the Levites, "every male from a month old and upward [Numbers 3:15c, et. al.]."
In the second census of the Levites performed by Moses, Moses says the LORD told him to: "2 Take the sum of… the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers, 3 From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation [Numbers 4:2 & 3, et. al.]." Thus, in this second census, the length of the career of a given Levite is presumably limited by the LORD to twenty years.
(The third census of the Levites, as the first, numbers "all males from a month old and upward [Numbers 26:62b]:" and is of no consequence in the current controversy.)
Unlike American jurisprudence, which is supposedly precedent- based, the LORD apparently makes up the rules as he goes along. Sometime between the second and third censuses of the Levites, Moses says the LORD (in assigning the Levites their duties- by- family) told him: "24 This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation 25 And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more: 26 But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge [Numbers 8:24 - 26]." This is a pretty notable departure from the LORD's first word on this topic.
In the first census of Levites, the LORD allegedly limited the career of the Levites to twenty years: thirty years old- to- fifty years old. In assigning the Levites their several duties, the LORD sets the bounds of service from twenty- five years (five years younger than previously)- to- death, basically. Ministry (Numbers 8:26, above) is work, after all, even if it isn't what the LORD calls "service." Talk about 'bait 'n' switch.
What is the LORD– a used car salesman?
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