Mandatory Retirement?

What? Retire at fifty! That both attracts and repulses me. So why would God force the Levites who worked as Tabernacle caretakers to retire when they were still able bodied men? And what does that say about God’s view of retirement and the potential contribution of the retiree in our world today? Well, we will ultimately find that 100% of the Bible’s regulations tell us that God cares about us, even though our present understanding may be, “as through a glass darkly.” His commands are never grievous and are always for our good. As we trustingly embrace them, nothing but God’s abundant goodness will come our way. In the case of mandatory retirement in Numbers 8, even if that grates against your modern sensibilities, as John Newton put it, “God often takes a course for accomplishing His purposes directly contrary to what our narrow views would prescribe. He brings a death upon our feelings, wishes and prospects when He is about to give us the desire of our hearts.” And what is the desire of your heart as you grow older? Hopefully, it is to have greater impact. And may God give it to you!

The Journey // Focus: Numbers 8:23-26

The Lord also instructed Moses, “This is the rule the Levites must follow: They must begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty-five,  and they must retire at the age of fifty. After retirement they may assist their fellow Levites by serving as guards at the Tabernacle, but they may not officiate in the service. This is how you must assign duties to the Levites.”

What? Retire at fifty! That both attracts me and repulses me at the same time.

So why would God force the Levites who worked in the care of the Tabernacle to retire from their ministry when they were still able bodied men? And what does that say about God’s view of the retirement age and the potential contribution of those who are aging in our world today?

To begin with, no matter how we in the modern world may feel about the fairness, relevance and the wisdom of the decrees and regulations God laid down in the Pentateuch, or anywhere in Scripture for that matter, my belief is that as sincere God-followers we must forever embrace as settled law that God is all-knowing, all-wise, and always benevolent. The problem with God’s law is never with God, it is with us. We just don’t fully understand, and we can’t. Not now, anyway. We are finite and his is infinite. The Apostle Paul said it this way in Romans 11:33-36,

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?
Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

As someone wisely put it, “God is too wise to make a mistake, too kind to be cruel, and too deep to explain himself.” We would do well with trying to understand and explain God if we would accept that little piece of wisdom.

Beyond that, what we know about service in the Tabernacle was that it was hard work. It involved tedious attention to detail, careful planning and energy draining effort to tear down, pack up and haul the thousands of pieces of God’s house, pieces big and small, for miles and miles, through the Sinai desert. In an act of compassion, God knew that because of the strenuous effort and the raw brawn that it would require, this work would need to be carried out by the able-bodied men within a younger age group. This decree was, therefore, a grace.

We also know that it was a grace of God that he invited men who were above the age of retirement to continue in assisting in the work of his house. He wasn’t forcing capable people out of service or lessening their contribution, he was making a way for them to contribute in a different way. Their work wasn’t downgraded, it was just different.

And finally, what this decree, along with 100 percent of the other laws, regulations and rulings we find in the Bible, even though our understanding of them may be, at the end of the day, “as through a glass darkly,” tells us is that God cares about us. His commands are never grievous and are always for our good. As we trustingly embrace them, nothing but the abundant goodness of God will come our way.

Talk about great retirement benefits!