One is as though nothing is a miracle. Speaking of ancient stars, Bob King takes you on a tour of globular clusters that were once part of small galaxies gobbled up by Paris Terror Attacks | Religion. Noah in a sense inherited the revelations of the godly men before him. Most bright stars you see are likely younger than the stones in your backyard. What's it called when a word that starts with a vowel takes the 'n' from 'an' (the indefinite article) and puts it on the word? Thanks for your comments. Calculating months and weeks in the Mosaic Law. Did People in the Bible Really Live for 900 Years? Methuselah's Age - Just How Old was the Oldest Man in the Bible? And then we have those who believe all the numbers of Genesis 5, including Methuselahs age, have no meaning at all. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. How to take large amounts of money away from the party without causing player resentment? In so many passages in the Bible, it is said that many figures such as Methuselah lived many many years. This tree was specifically designed to prolong the life of man. It only takes a minute to sign up. Therefore, our friend Methuselah was 969 of our years a really old man. Did Methuselah Really Live To Be 969 Years Old. But there is a second factor occurring that would show up in a few generations probably related to human breeding patterns. The year of the flood is the most detailed chronological year in the whole of the Old Testament as it represents a diary of events from Noahs completion and boarding the Ark to his getting off the Ark. })(document); Did Methuselah Really Live for 969 Years As the Bible Claims? There is a second way of checking what these age numbers mean, as not only are their life spans mentioned, but the age at which many of these patriarchs actually had their first child. His longevity is unique even among other men living almost a millennia. month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became Gary. The Bible is not alone in claiming life spans much longer than we can imagine. It also doesn't make sense of Genesis 11, when those ages gradually get smaller with each generation. Thank you Timothy for your nice comments. Thanks for reminding me of our commission here on earth. Many other scholars have since refined this idea, suggesting tweaks and trying to understand the textual influences. The old pre-flood Patriarch, Methuselah, who lived for 969 years, tells us about average life expectancy before and after the biblical Great Flood. This is the first mention of rain and it fell in such quantities that it took 40 whole days and nights non-stop for it to cease falling. Infact God may have allowed this habit to specifically shorten man's lifespan. I could go on, but that's enough speculation for one answer. Enoch taken by God The Biblical Timeline shows that Enoch's existence is from 3384 BC to 3019 BC. Did people in the Old Testament really live as long as the Bible states, or were biblical years different from ours? I think Methuselah would have died younger. Hi Paul, thanks for your comment, maybe you are right. So why did God allow Methuselah to live for so many yearslonger than anyone else in human history? (Some scholars even render the meaning of his name as his death shall bring forth. ). For instance, why does Croatia feel so safe? Why did Kirk decide to maroon Khan and his people instead of turning them over to Starfleet? var p = 'https:' == document.location.protocol ? According to the Bible, Methuselah lived to be 969 years old! Enoch lived 365 years (because he walked with God, and God took him), For more information on this topic, visit Answers in Genesis at www.answersinGenesis.org or the Institute for Creation Research at: www.icr.org. Wiki User 2013-07-26 10:46:07 Study now See answer (1) Best Answer Copy Methuselah lived in the world described in Genesis 1-9. From the two verses below (Gen 7:11 and 8:3-4) we can establish that 150 days amounted to five months. An obvious impossibility. Also Adam was commanded by God to limit his diet to vegetables (Genesis 1:29) but Noah was permitted (after the flood) to eat meat (Genesis 9:2-3). Where did Methuselah live? According to the Bible, how long did Methuselah live? In such a moist atmosphere growth would have been greatly stimulated (for both man and animals), the oxygen content could have been much higher than present day conditions, man could have been stronger with greater endurance tending to longevity. All believers should examine these further (Acts 17:11). ", The NIV translates 2 Peter 3:5 in this way They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water.. Most bright stars you see are likely younger than the stones in your backyard. Katherine, visible. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. "Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years," (Gen 6:3). After the fall, the genetic line of Adam and his descendents was very pure, so their health would have been incredible. The Bible tells us that the Earth was a very different place back in Noah's time and there were several factors which allowed people to live extremely long lifespans. Methuselah at 969 being the longest and most people lived around 900 years, with Noah being the last person recorded to live over 900 years when he died at 950 (Genesis 9:29). In Genesis 6:3 we find God abruptly shortening man's lifespan to 120 years. As for us, we have lost their strength and vigor just in proportion as we have departed from their righteousness. 4. We can all agree upon this. His great grandfather Enoch did too. Did Methuselah Really Live To Be 969 Years Old? Did Methuselah really live to be 969 years old? : r/Christianity - Reddit References to agriculture indicate that the ancients counted years similarly to the way we do. 969 years minus 187 years---> (Methuselah age when Lamech was born) is 782 years. I was thinking about the same thing, actually how comes that in the very same year Methuselah died the flood came? Theres a footnote I love in the Recovery Version Bible on this verse that reads: The Lords heart is set not on the time of the fulfillment of His promise but on His people, whom He possesses peculiarly as a treasure.. Why did human lifespans drop after the Flood? How Did Methuselah Die? | The Institute for Creation Research People have proposed various means of adjusting the figures to more realistic values, on the assumption that there has been some textual error. So are the Genesis 1-11 ages real years or were they using a different calendar? Then the question comes, "How could someone live to be almost a 1000 years old?" How did these people live so long? Safe to drive back home with torn ball joint boot? Key Bible Verse When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. Where in the Bible can I find out? Therefore, giving the ancient patriarchs extremely long life spans was a way of understanding the many years that preceded the history of ancient peoples. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. If we cant agree on his death date (the simplest), how can we know or agree on when he was born (the complex date, because none of the people who were present at his supposed death or wrote this would have been alive when he was born.). Luther also points out that the chronology has many of the patriarchs alive at the same time, with Adam dying not long before Noah was born: 43) Truly that primeval time was a "golden age," in comparison with which our present age is scarcely worthy of being called the age of mud. In addition to producing very distinct family characteristics which would eventually give rise to the separate human racial groups, a second effect would have been to further reduce life spans. According to the Bible, how long did Methuselah live? Name of a movie where a guy is committed to a hospital because he sees patterns in everything and has to make gestures so that the world doesn't end. dried up. The original question was: What conjunctive function does "ruat caelum" have in "Fiat justitia, ruat caelum"? How was 'years' defined in the book of Genesis? The Mesopotamians were fully aware that their twelve 30-day months fell short of a year by a little more than five days. That means, in the very year Methuselah died, the Flood was sent forth like a javelin on the earth. are you sure? Was Methuselah literally 969 years old when he died? So how long were the Genesis years? Maybe do a search on 'long lives in Genesis 5'. Why did Methuselah live so long? Until when do we make Him wait? Once we reach heaven man is once again permitted to eat of the fruit of the tree of life: Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Did Methuselah literally live 969 365-day years? For the same reason, also, sin was weakened through faith in the seed. Long ages are faithfully recorded in Genesis as is a diminishing trend to the present. Equivalent idiom for "When it rains in [a place], it drips in [another place]". ghostbattery 3 yr. ago. Lamech, his son, lived 777 years. A Son of Adam. If the story of Noah has any spiritual implications related to the church, then this means that Christs second coming is directly related to the building of the church. How long did Methuselah live? Are all of these old ages supposed to have symbolic meaning? But there are also life spans after Noah that are long and show an interesting trend after the flood as man's recorded life spans rapidly diminished. All these factors would have compounded to reduce mans life span. The point was that the ark needed to be built for a new generation to be ushered in. Man has devolved not evolved. Now this is where the problem springs up; the maximum human lifespan, as shown by the Bible, diminishes swiftly after Noah, from almost 1,000 years to the 120 years of Moses. Please share this email with anyone who may be interested. I am trying to emphasize the second. Methuselah - Wikipedia Meaning, the Septuagint total ages with decimal points: 93.0 for Adam, 91.0 for Cainan, 96.9 for Methuselah and 95.0 for Noah. mountains of Ararat.". 'https' : 'http'; Your email address will not be published. In a sense, that moment defined him. Did Methuselah literally live 969 365-day years? All these conditions, but notably holiness and righteousness, the exercise of moderation, then the excellence of the fruit and the salubrity of the atmosphere - all these tended to produce longevity till the time came for the establishment of a new order by God which resulted in a decided reduction of the length of man's life. Then in Genesis 8:3-4, it records that when Noah was 600 years and 7 months and 17 days old, the Ark rested on the tops of the mountains and that this was 150 days after the flood had started. Is Jesus story of the rich man and Lazarus a parable? But were these years the same as the duration of today's 12-month duration calendar years? 10 Oldest People in the Bible All of the oldest people in the Bible are from the Book of Genesis and make up the patrilineal line that connects Adam to Noah. A very interesting question. Still others maintain that the numbers are all symbols. Early parts of the Bible depict humans living incredibly long livessome of them for over 900 years! Still a long time compared to us. METHUSELAH, Oldest Man to Live before the Great Flood - YouTube These windows opened unleashing the vast reservoirs of water that were suspended above the earths atmosphere; which were a major source of the water that caused the flood.