Ages Of People In Scripture

[newchristian99]

Hello Everyone

I'm a new christian and i'm sure i will be annoying plenty of people with lots of simplistic questions over the coming months.

However i am looking to improve my knowledge and understanding and bring up any confusions i have about scripture and christianity. Hope this is okay!

Anyway i was in church recently and the pastor mentioned that Noah was 600 years old when he built the ark and another man possibly named "methusala" was like 750 years old. Excuse my vague information but how can this be? Surely people don't live to these extraordinary ages? Can someone help me out here.

 

[tapero]

Hello Everyone

I'm a new christian and i'm sure i will be annoying plenty of people with lots of simplistic questions over the coming months.

However i am looking to improve my knowledge and understanding and bring up any confusions i have about scripture and christianity. Hope this is okay!

Anyway i was in church recently and the pastor mentioned that Noah was 600 years old when he built the ark and another man possibly named "methusala" was like 750 years old. Excuse my vague information but how can this be? Surely people don't live to these extraordinary ages? Can someone help me out here.

Hi, It does say in the bible in Genesis (may also be elsewhere) and is in more than one place in Genesis about how old people lived till, but here is one reference:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=5&version=31

It's from www.biblegateway.com an excellent tool for finding things using key word search and other available such match all words, match any word, etc, choose your bible, and then choose where to look in, listed as genesis thru revelation, ot, nt, and other choices.

Man indeed did live those long years, as we know because God said such did occur. People might speak of DNA being purer or such; I really don't know why; I think God ordained so many years, and so they lived long lives in the beginning.

In chapter 6 of Genesis it says this:

Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with [a] man forever, for he is mortal [b] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."

So God did change the number of years man would live to. I have also heard was to 70 or so years of age, but have never located such in the bible.

So, I only stick with what I know, but keep an open mind as well. We know few live to 110+ years, and average age I guess is 65 maybe, not sure.

He numbered mans days as shown in above verse and so now men no longer lived to those older ages.

But God is able to do anything, so what I do when I hear things that baffle, intrigue, interest me, is try to research more about the subject staying only in the bible. (I don't like to read commentaries, etc., I just use the bible.) But commentaries do and can help but since are mans thoughts on scripture; I don't desire such. I want to form my own thoughts on scripture.

Biblegateway has topic headings also where can look up topics.

So God bless you and I know I really didn't answer your question except to say that God is able.

In Christ's love,
tapero

 

[Macca]

Hello Everyone

I'm a new christian and i'm sure i will be annoying plenty of people with lots of simplistic questions over the coming months.

However i am looking to improve my knowledge and understanding and bring up any confusions i have about scripture and christianity. Hope this is okay!

Anyway i was in church recently and the pastor mentioned that Noah was 600 years old when he built the ark and another man possibly named "methusala" was like 750 years old. Excuse my vague information but how can this be? Surely people don't live to these extraordinary ages? Can someone help me out here.

The major reason for people living so long in genesis is that sin had not had much time to take effect on people's bodies.

 

[ryangrom]

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the Lord! In my opinion, I think the answer to your question is found in the verses surrounding the verse Tapero gave you.

Genesis 6:1-5
When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with [a] man forever, for he is mortal [b] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

I can look at these verses a few ways and draw a few different conclusions. This is my opinion on it, so i could be wrong. I think in verse 1, God did not like the fact that the sons of God took any woman they wanted for their wife. The Nephilim were giants.
I think the giants were a result of the Sons of God just taking any woman they wanted. A race of giants no longer exists like it did in Biblical times, so I think they were more of an abomination and not a blessed super man type thing. I think that because the only giant I remember in the Bible was from the story of David and Goliath. Goliath was a Philistine which were enemies of the Hebrews in those times. And like I said, they aren't around today so they didnt make the "final cut" like a blessed race of men should. This is just my opinion. But the next 2 verses after talking about giants were "5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." I think the sons of God were commiting great sin in the eyes of the Lord, and so was everyone else. I think that is why God shortened the human lifespan. So he wouldnt have to watch the same man sin profusely for 900 or so years. Like I said though, this is just my take on it.

 

[newchristian99]

Thanks for your answers guys, it was just a bit confusing when someone mentioned this phenomenom to me. I have never been able to locate this person "methusala" in the bible either.

Another query was Sara as i was told by our pastor that she had a baby at 90. Now i can see what you are explaining it makes me understand a little better.

 

[tapero]

Thanks for your answers guys, it was just a bit confusing when someone mentioned this phenomenom to me. I have never been able to locate this person "methusala" in the bible either.

Another query was Sara as i was told by our pastor that she had a baby at 90. Now i can see what you are explaining it makes me understand a little better.

Here is the correct spellng so you can do a key word serch and pull up all posted of him:

Methuselah

Keep or change toggle at genesis thru revelation for this one, as i believe also mentioned in nt, tho not sure.