February 4

February 4, 2012

 

As we read through the Bible this year we will encounter some apparent discrepancies. It's important to dig deeper for possible explanations and not take the short cut that says it is an error. Here's an example from today's reading.  

 

Numbers 4:3  Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work in the Tent of Meeting.  (Feb 6^th reading)

 

Numbers 8:24  This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting.  (Feb 4^th reading)

 

What is the age for the priesthood?  Is it 25 or 30? These verses are only 4 chapters away from each other. Either someone has made a tremendous mistake or there is another explanation. Skeptics quickly point out the difference and say the Bible cannot be trusted. But I think there is a good explanation of the age difference. The Jamison commentary suggests: "They entered their work in the 25^th year as pupils and probationers, under the superintendence and direction of their senior brethren; and at 30 they were admitted to the full discharge of their official functions."

In other words, this was a 5-year apprenticeship that preceded the actual service of the Levites. Is that too great a leap of faith?  I don't think so.

If the skeptics are right and this is just a man-made book, even an elementary school child would have been able to point out the error in the text and correct it.

Some read the Bible looking for things to be wrong and others read it looking for reasonable explanations.

 

Another example ... Numbers 8:25 says that at the age of 50 the Levites must retire. That would mean I would be out of work today and spending my days chasing a little white ball around a golf course. But the very next verse says, "They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites."

F. LaGard Smith says concerning these verses, "Just as there might be other duties after the age of 50, so there might be duties under the age of 30. The point for us is to read the scriptures to get the full picture – looking first for the obvious, then looking again for the not so obvious."

 

Isn't this a lot of fun!!!  

 

The next 30 days are when most people drop out of the race. Think of these days as a college level course in Jewish culture and history.  Do not even think of quitting the race now!!!