What about biblical human lifespans?

[AmericanChristian91]

I don't know if this is the right section of the forum to talk about this (if it isn't im sure it can be moved somewhere else), but here it goes.


So we all know that certain biblical characters were given very old ages in how long they lived.

But i wonder, are they extremely old because they actually lived that long, or is there some other reason, maybe a cultural reason for these characters being recorded to having long life?

For Christians who accept things that modern science points to (evolution, old earth, etc), what do you think about this?

 

[gluadys]

I don't know if this is the right section of the forum to talk about this (if it isn't im sure it can be moved somewhere else), but here it goes.


So we all know that certain biblical characters were given very old ages in how long they lived.

But i wonder, are they extremely old because they actually lived that long, or is there some other reason, maybe a cultural reason for these characters being recorded to having long life?

For Christians who accept things that modern science points to (evolution, old earth, etc), what do you think about this?

I have heard two reasons for the long lifespans. One is that the ages refer to the lifespans of eponymous tribes, cities or nations rather than specific individuals.

The other is a cultural practice of honoring people by giving them a great age.

 

[Calminian]

Hay here's an idea. Maybe the Bible is actually true.

 

[juvenissun]

I don't know if this is the right section of the forum to talk about this (if it isn't im sure it can be moved somewhere else), but here it goes.


So we all know that certain biblical characters were given very old ages in how long they lived.

But i wonder, are they extremely old because they actually lived that long, or is there some other reason, maybe a cultural reason for these characters being recorded to having long life?

For Christians who accept things that modern science points to (evolution, old earth, etc), what do you think about this?

This is a very critical question. But I do not have a good answer yet.

To me, this question is of the same nature as that Noah was alive at the time of the Global Flood.

 

[Assyrian]

What glaudys said about honourific lifespans. these were normal and accepted practice in the Ancient Near East, but Moses doesn't seem to have taken them literally.

Moses had a lifespan 120 years attributed to him with Miriam and Aaron being said to have lived even longer. Their father grandfather and great grandfather were said to have had lifespans in the 130s Yet Moses said a normal lifespan was only live 70 or 80 years. Psalm 90:1 A Prayer of Moses, the man of God... 10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Notice how he includes himself in this, the years of our life.

 

[gluadys]

Hay here's an idea. Maybe the Bible is actually true.

Both of the suggestions I have heard are consistent with the bible being true just as much as a literal chronology is.

It is just that the biblical truth is not what literalists assume it is.

 

[ChetSinger]

I don't know if this is the right section of the forum to talk about this (if it isn't im sure it can be moved somewhere else), but here it goes.


So we all know that certain biblical characters were given very old ages in how long they lived.

But i wonder, are they extremely old because they actually lived that long, or is there some other reason, maybe a cultural reason for these characters being recorded to having long life?

For Christians who accept things that modern science points to (evolution, old earth, etc), what do you think about this?

What's wrong with accepting it? We were meant to live forever, after all. And we're promised eternal life in our new bodies. From that vantage point, 900 years doesn't seem like such a stretch to me. Does it to you?

 

[Calminian]

Both of the suggestions I have heard are consistent with the bible being true just as much as a literal chronology is.

It is just that the biblical truth is not what literalists assume it is.

Please expand. It's not really true, but......._______________ (fill in the blank)

 

[juvenissun]

Both of the suggestions I have heard are consistent with the bible being true just as much as a literal chronology is.

It is just that the biblical truth is not what literalists assume it is.

Me, a literalist, observed: the longevity DECREASED (at what rate?).
If we do not read it literally, what would be your interpretation on that?

Easy, isn't it? You can figure out an acceptable answer in two minutes for that. So, are literalists asked for trouble and make their life so hard without a good reason?

No. I think the longevity and the decrease of life span both have some scientific meanings. It is a treasure for us to think more about it.

 

[joeboonda]

Adam lived to be 930 years old. Interestingly when he disobeyed in the Garden, God told him in the day he ate that literally, dying he would die. Peter tells us that, one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. So Adam had to die within the thousand years since he had to die in the day he ate of the forbidden tree.

Adam and Eve were born with eternal life, they were immortal until they ate of the tree, then they died spiritually toward God, they lost their immortality and began to die physically as we all do. Because they did have eternal life and because of their genes and the pre-flood environment, they lived longer. As time progressed people began dying younger then after the flood, with a new environment and breaking down of genes from the fall, the life span went to 70-120 years tops. Years later because of the breakdown of genes, the laws were given not to marry a sibling or first cousin, etc.

 

[AceHero]

Hay here's an idea. Maybe the Bible is actually true.

Interpreting the Bible differently doesn't make it untrue.

 

[frogman2x]

I don't know if this is the right section of the forum to talk about this (if it isn't im sure it can be moved somewhere else), but here it goes.


So we all know that certain biblical characters were given very old ages in how long they lived.

But i wonder, are they extremely old because they actually lived that long, or is there some other reason, maybe a cultural reason for these characters being recorded to having long life?

For Christians who accept things that modern science points to (evolution, old earth, etc), what do you think about this?

There is a theory that before the flood there was a vapor canopy of water over the earth that kept the harmful ultra-violet rays from getting to earth and aging men.

This canopy was part of the waters that flooded the earth. When it was gone, men started dying at earlier ages. You will notice that after the flood, the age of dying kept getting shorter.

For what it's worth.

kermit

 

[frogman2x]

Both of the suggestions I have heard are consistent with the bible being true just as much as a literal chronology is.

It is just that the biblical truth is not what literalists assume it is.

How do you know that? Do you have perfect theology? Are you omniscient?

kermit

 

[mindlight]

I don't know if this is the right section of the forum to talk about this (if it isn't im sure it can be moved somewhere else), but here it goes.


So we all know that certain biblical characters were given very old ages in how long they lived.

But i wonder, are they extremely old because they actually lived that long, or is there some other reason, maybe a cultural reason for these characters being recorded to having long life?

For Christians who accept things that modern science points to (evolution, old earth, etc), what do you think about this?

This was traditionally interpreted as literal lifespans. The view changed with the theories about the age of the earth and macroevolution.

It is not clear that mankind can by themselves exist forever even in their pre fall format. They were expelled from the garden so that they could not eat from the tree of life. So it is possible that the act of feeding and the closeness to God Himself is what guarantees eternity rather than an intrinsic ability to continue regardless of environment.

Just as Eden was so much superior for the support of life than the world into which Adam and Eve were cast out so also was the pre Noahic world superior to the world that followed the flood. The flood ripped the old world apart almost definitely reducing genetic bio diversity even though the primary species were saved through the ark. Plant life biodiversity was probably radically reduced and much that existed before the flood was simply destroyed. Effectively we live in what is a biological desert compared to the pre flood world.

The Bible also talks about a water vapour canopy that might have protected against cosmic rays and preserved certain ideal atmospheric conditions. Apparently their were no rainbows before the flood which might say something about rainfall but also something about the amounts of impurities in the atmosphere. Some of the most polluted places in the world give good sunsets.
It talks of the deeps being opened and rain for 40 days and night sufficient to submerge the entire surface of the planet- such rainfall would have utterly destroyed the old configuration of the planet.

Life spans declined suddenly after the flood but it is interesting that Noah himself still had a lifespan similar to his ancestors. So I would surmise that being born in the new world conditions was the thing that marred a persons survivability and that fully mature adults were able to cope with it better.

Scientifically it appears clear that the human brain is both barely understood but that from what we do know we are not really using it to its full potential. We were designed for a longer life and richer life than we currently enjoy and there is a considerable underutilisation of resources going on with human beings. Occasionally geniuses come and go with perhaps a window into these extra possibilities in our humanity. But most of us live and then die having never reached our created potentials.

 

[juvenissun]

This was traditionally interpreted as literal lifespans. The view changed with the theories about the age of the earth and macroevolution.

It is not clear that mankind can by themselves exist forever even in their pre fall format. They were expelled from the garden so that they could not eat from the tree of life. So it is possible that the act of feeding and the closeness to God Himself is what guarantees eternity rather than an intrinsic ability to continue regardless of environment.

Just as Eden was so much superior for the support of life than the world into which Adam and Eve were cast out so also was the pre Noahic world superior to the world that followed the flood. The flood ripped the old world apart almost definitely reducing genetic bio diversity even though the primary species were saved through the ark. Plant life biodiversity was probably radically reduced and much that existed before the flood was simply destroyed. Effectively we live in what is a biological desert compared to the pre flood world.

The Bible also talks about a water vapour canopy that might have protected against cosmic rays and preserved certain ideal atmospheric conditions. Apparently their were no rainbows before the flood which might say something about rainfall but also something about the amounts of impurities in the atmosphere. Some of the most polluted places in the world give good sunsets.
It talks of the deeps being opened and rain for 40 days and night sufficient to submerge the entire surface of the planet- such rainfall would have utterly destroyed the old configuration of the planet.

Life spans declined suddenly after the flood but it is interesting that Noah himself still had a lifespan similar to his ancestors. So I would surmise that being born in the new world conditions was the thing that marred a persons survivability and that fully mature adults were able to cope with it better.

Scientifically it appears clear that the human brain is both barely understood but that from what we do know we are not really using it to its full potential. We were designed for a longer life and richer life than we currently enjoy and there is a considerable underutilisation of resources going on with human beings. Occasionally geniuses come and go with perhaps a window into these extra possibilities in our humanity. But most of us live and then die having never reached our created potentials.

When Abraham fought the four kings, he was over 75 years old. And Gen 14:14-15 describe how he fought in that war.

Is there any historical analogy for an "old" man fight a war in that capacity? How did Abraham do it?

 

[yeshuasavedme]

Me, a literalist, observed: the longevity DECREASED (at what rate?).
If we do not read it literally, what would be your interpretation on that?

Easy, isn't it? You can figure out an acceptable answer in two minutes for that. So, are literalists asked for trouble and make their life so hard without a good reason?

No. I think the longevity and the decrease of life span both have some scientific meanings. It is a treasure for us to think more about it.

God shortened the life span of Adam kind and divided the one land mass so as to scatter the tribes, beginning at the tower of Babel fall.
The history book of Jasher tells us Eber named his two sons prophetically, for the happenings of that period.

To Eber were born two children, the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the sons of men were divided, and in the latter days, the earth was divided. And the name of the second was Yoktan, meaning that in his day the lives of the sons of men were diminished and lessened.

 

[yeshuasavedme]

When Abraham fought the four kings, he was over 75 years old. And Gen 14:14-15 describe how he fought in that war.

Is there any historical analogy for an "old" man fight a war in that capacity? How did Abraham do it?

Abraham still lived to the age of 175, and married Keturah, after Sarah died, and had 6 more sons -after the age of 137!

 

[yeshuasavedme]

In the millennial reign, no one will die, except sinners, and at that, at age 100!
Not one human being born in the millennial reign will die, except willful, unrepentant, sinners; but all will live to be translated to glory at the end of that "Day", just like Adam would have been if he had not fallen.

Because we were all the seed in Adam's loins, we all fell in him, and he was cast out of Eden above [which the Word of God states is in the third heaven, where the Tree of Life is], and back down to the earth below, so that he could be redeemed and live forever in the regenerated, born again flesh body of the New Man name -and each of the seed of Adam come to fruit has that same cursed flesh and need to be regenerated in flesh body and born again in Spirit so as to enter Paradise where our first father got cast down from.

The word is clear that there is no more death for the righteous and no more resurrection of the righteous after Jesus returns to rule the earth for the Sabbath Rest of its Peace. The first resurrection is ended when those last souls who died in the tribulation are raised from the dead at the return of Jesus, and they are raised as the gleanings of the first harvest of sons of God from earth. All who enter that Millennial reign on earth as the "Blessed of YHWH" and who marry and give in marriage and have children for that thousand year period will be transformed at the end, without dying.

Adam would have lived a thousand year day, says the ancient Jewish writings, and then have been translated to glory, and so would all his offspring have, but we all died in his loins, as the godly seed to come forth as sons of God [Malachi 2:15].
Jesus' redemption of the seed and the earth gives Him the right to regenerate it when He reigns for the millennial reign; and the curse will be removed from the earth and it will be like it was to have been, when Adam was created to reign over it, and have sons for the Glory of YHWH to indwell.

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

The Millennial Reign:
Isaiah 65
17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. [the sinner is yet a child who is accursed to die at age 100]

21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord/YHWH, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.

 

[Aman777]

I don't know if this is the right section of the forum to talk about this (if it isn't im sure it can be moved somewhere else), but here it goes.


So we all know that certain biblical characters were given very old ages in how long they lived.

But i wonder, are they extremely old because they actually lived that long, or is there some other reason, maybe a cultural reason for these characters being recorded to having long life?

For Christians who accept things that modern science points to (evolution, old earth, etc), what do you think about this?

Dear AmericanSoldier, The people who lived long lives were direct descendants of Adam. When the pure blood of Humans was mixed with the sons of God (Prehistoric people) whose common ancestor was the same as Apes, we lost some 90% of our lifetimes.

6.1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,2 That the sons of God (prehistoric man) saw the daughters of men (Hebrew-Adam) that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

The 120 years is maximum. Human Blood today has been contaminated with the blood of animals, which Science falsely calls "Human." Prehistoric, Caveman was NOT Human because he did NOT descend from Adam, the first Human. That's God's Truth.

In Love,
Aman

 

[ChetSinger]

I've been reading Josephus and came across this passage that I think is relevant to this thread. Josephus is defending the ages of the antediluvian patriarchs, and is calling upon additional contemporary witnesses that he says agree with him.

Here it is, from Antiquities of the Jews: Chapter 3 - The Works of Flavius Josephus

Now when Noah had lived three hundred and fifty years after the Flood, and that all that time happily, he died, having lived the number of nine hundred and fifty years.

But let no one, upon comparing the lives of the ancients with our lives, and with the few years which we now live, think that what we have said of them is false;

or make the shortness of our lives at present an argument, that neither did they attain to so long a duration of life, for those ancients were beloved of God, and [lately] made by God himself;

and because their food was then fitter for the prolongation of life, might well live so great a number of years: and besides, God afforded them a longer time of life on account of their virtue, and the good use they made of it in astronomical and geometrical discoveries, which would not have afforded the time of foretelling [the periods of the stars] unless they had lived six hundred years; for the great year is completed in that interval.

Now I have for witnesses to what I have said, all those that have written Antiquities, both among the Greeks and barbarians;

for even Manetho, who wrote the Egyptian History, and Berosus, who collected the Chaldean Monuments, and Mochus, and Hestieus, and, besides these, Hieronymus the Egyptian, and those who composed the Phoenician History, agree to what I here say:

Hesiod also, and Hecatseus, Hellanicus, and Acusilaus; and, besides these, Ephorus and Nicolaus relate that the ancients lived a thousand years. But as to these matters, let every one look upon them as he thinks fit.