DID PEOPLE REALLY LIVE THAT LONG

UNION GROVE CHURCH OF CHRIST, CLEVELAND TN.

DID PEOPLE REALLY LIVE THAT LONG?

There they are in Genesis chapter five. The Bible record says that Methuselah lived for 969 years (5:27) and Jared lived for 962 years (5:20). Noah came in third, dying at the age of 950 (9:29). In our time, even though we enjoy the advantages of modern medicine and technological advances, it is rare for a person to live to the age of one hundred. For this reason, and perhaps others, some doubt what the biblical record says about the ages of the earth’s early inhabitants.

Is it actually possible that the people really lived as long as Genesis 5 and other Bible passages say they did? This is really a question of the Bible’s trustworthiness. Is its message reliable? Can we accept the message of Genesis 1:1, that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth? Can we accept the message of Genesis 1:26,27, that God created the first human male and female in His image? Can we accept the message of Genesis 2:7, that God made Adam from the dust of the earth? If we can accept these truths, then why not accept the historical statements about the ages of Methuselah and others that are mentioned in Genesis 5 and elsewhere in the Scriptures?

Hebrews 11:5 declares that Enoch did not die, but rather was translated by God. Does this not support what is said about Enoch in Genesis 5:24? There the Bible states, "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." If we can accept the truth of Genesis 5:24 about Enoch being taken by the Lord, then why would we have trouble accepting the statement that is made just three verses later, that is, that Methuselah lived 969 years (5:27)? If the message of verse 24 is true, then why would anyone want to throw out the message of verse 27?

Some, in an effort to get around the fact that folks lived for such a long time on the earth, have suggested that maybe the word "years" in Genesis 5 really means "months." Thus, if you apply this approach to the case of Methuselah, then he actually lived only 969 months. Divide 969 months by 12 (since there are 12 months in a year), and that would mean that the oldest man on record died at the age of 77. Someone might say, "Now that sounds more reasonable." Don’t be too quick to endorse such a theory. Let us now apply this same reasoning about "years" and "months" to the case of Enoch. According to Genesis 5:21, Enoch became a father when he was 65 "years" old. If we say that the "years" really means "months," then Enoch became a dad when he was 65 months old. Do the arithmetic – that would make him a whopping five months and five years old when his son was born! Are we really prepared to say that this makes mores sense than to say that he fathered a child when he was a literal 65-year old man?!

Consider also what we read in Genesis 7:11: "In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up . . ." If the "year" = "month" theory that we are examining is true, then the flood began in the 600^th month of Noah’s life. Q: In this verse, if "year" really means "month," then what does "month" mean? And, what does "day" mean? Why not just accept what the text says and leave a year to be a year, a month to be a month, and a day to be a day?!

Again, if "year" does not mean "year" when we read the ages of the pre-flood human beings in Genesis 5, then exactly where in the Bible does the word "year" begin to mean "year?" And, who gets to decide for all of us just when "year" = "year" and when "year" means something else? Make no mistake about it, the motivation for claiming that "year" in Genesis 5 and elsewhere means "month" is simply to compromise the teaching of the Bible. It is simply an effort to try to make the Bible’s message more acceptable to scoffers and unbelievers. The truth is, though the proponents of the year/month theory might be sincere, their proposal does nothing but cast doubt on the integrity of the Bible. All scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16,17). God’s word has nothing to fear. The word of the Lord will stand the tests of time, so-called science, the so-called wisdom of "scholarly" men, and anything else that Satan can dream up.

Some who think about the age of those that lived several thousand years ago may be inclined to think, "What is the big deal about how long people lived? Our business is to preach the Christ (2 Corinthians 4:5). Do you think sinners really care about how old people were when they died way back when? We are crazy if we think knowing how long somebody lived in ancient days is going to influence a lost person to become or not become a Christian. There are more important matters for us to deal with than knowing trivial facts about people’s ages." We cannot think of any Bible statement that would suggest that in order to be saved and go to heaven, we must know the ages of Bible characters. However, the very question that we are considering in this article ["Did People Really Live That Long?"], is a question that deals with the Bible’s inspiration, credibility, trustworthiness, and reliability.

If what the Bible says in Genesis 5 about people’s ages is not reliable, then why should we accept what it says in Genesis 6 about the flood? If the message of Genesis 5 is suspect, then why should we accept what it says about Abraham offering Isaac (Genesis 22)? If what Genesis 5 records is questionable, then what about the virgin birth of Jesus (Matthew 1)? What about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (Matthew 28)? What about the teaching that God will one day judge all men through His Son (Acts 17:31)? Do you not see the point in all of this? Satan attacks the Bible in a number of ways. One of his most effective means is to get people to compromise the Bible’s message or begin to doubt its credibility. He knows that if he can create doubt in the mind of a person, that person will not believe and obey God’s word. A person that refuses to believe and obey will remain lost and go to eternal perdition. That is Satan’s goal! He tries to shake man’s confidence in the Book one small portion at a time. Friends, if we compromise on one piece of God’s truth, where will the compromise end? It is like one tiny whole in a dam. It may seem so innocent, but it will eventually lead to enormous problems. God forbid that we should compromise even one small aspect of His word. Let the following two facts be a permanent part of our thinking: "For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth" (Psalms 33:4).

One final question for thought: What conditions existed on the earth that allowed the "old-timers" like Methuselah to live to such amazing ages? The Bible does not answer this question. A number of Bible-believing scientists have suggested that there may have been some kind of canopy or greenhouse effect in the atmosphere before the great flood of Noah’s day that created a very special climate and provided health conditions that made it possible for people to live so long. According to this idea, the flood, then, affected the atmosphere and environment in such a way that those conditions for such longevity ceased to exist after the flood. One thing is certain. Following the conclusion of the flood, men and women did not live to the great ages that their ancestors had in the pre-flood world.

-- Roger D. Campbell