Posted on 06/10/2016 7:06:28 AM PDT by Salvation
I sometimes get questions about the remarkably long lives of the patriarchs who lived before the great flood. Consider some of their reported ages when they died:
How should we understand these references? There are many theories that have tried to explain the claimed longevity. Some propose a mathematical corrective, but this leads to other inconsistencies such as certain patriarchs apparently begetting children while still children themselves. Another theory is that the ages of the patriarchs are actually just indications of their influence or family line, but then things don’t add up chronologically when considering eras and family trees.
Personally, I think we need to take the stated ages of the patriarchs at face value and just accept it as a mystery: for some reason the ancient patriarchs lived far longer we do today. I cannot prove that the patriarchs actually lived that long, but neither is there strong evidence that they did not. Frankly, I have little stake in insisting that they did in fact live that long. I think it is best just to accept that they did.
Many scoff when I articulate this solution. They almost seem to be offended. The reply usually sounds something like this: “That’s crazy. There’s no way they lived that long. The texts must be wrong.” To which I generally reply, “Why do you think it’s crazy or impossible?” The answers usually range from the glib to the more serious, but here are some common ones:
So I think we’re back to where we started: just accepting the long life spans of the early patriarchs at face value.
There is perhaps a theological truth hidden in the shrinking lifespans over the course of time in the Old Testament. Scripture links sin and death. The day they ate of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve were warned that they would die (Gen 2:17). Yet they did not drop dead immediately. And although they died spiritually in an instant, the clock of death for their bodies wound down much later. As can be seen in the list of lifespans of the patriarchs (see above), as sin increased, lifespans dropped precipitously, especially after the flood.
Prior to the flood, lifespans remained in the vicinity of 900 years. Immediately afterward, they dropped by about a third (Noah and Shem only lived to be 600), and from there the numbers plummeted even further. Neither Abraham nor Moses even reached the age of 200, and by the time of King David, he would write, Our years are seventy, or eighty for those who are strong (Ps 90:10).
Scripture says, For the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Indeed they are, especially in terms of lifespan. Perhaps that’s why I’m not too anxious to try to disprove the long lifespans of the patriarchs. What we know theologically is borne out in our human experience: sin is life-destroying. And this truth is surely writ large in the declining lifespan of the human family.
Does this prove that Adam actually lived to be more than 900 years old? No. It only shows that declining lifespans are something we fittingly discover in a world of sin. Since God teaches that sin brings death, why should we be shocked that our lifespan has decreased from 900 to 85 years? It is what it is. It’s a sad truth that God warned us about. Thanks be to God our Father, who in Jesus now offers us eternal life if we will have faith and obey His Son!
How or even whether the patriarchs lived to be more than 900 years old is not clear. But what is theologically clear is that we don’t live that long today because of the collective effect of sin upon us.
Genesis 6.
The King James bible translated “Nephilim” into “Giants”.
(”Nephil” is a Hebrew verb that means “to fall”. The Hebrew suffix “im” denotes plurality. “Im” added to the verb “nephil” and it becomes a plural noun meaning “fallen ones”.)
Nephilim are mentioned several subsequent times in the Tenach (hebrew - Old Testament).
These hybrid humans were huge! Goliath was a Nephilim.
Lot of stuff on the webb dealing with this. I studied it for decades and it’s fascinating.
You see, I believe the Almighty is seriously, seriously into genetics.
I know I am. Especially when it comes to my rare & unknown heirloom tomatoes varieties. Those darn bees will cross pollinate the fruit which will deviate from the parent plant when I’m trying to save seeds for next year..!!
Seriously, go to youtube and search on Nephilim.
We are kinda like the Almighty’s tomato plants..
Hybrids are not allowed. :-)
Very sad that you allowed the weakness of man (and only one in particular in your case) influence your faith.
Are you your own pope now?
Do you claim for yourself the understanding of “the plain meaning” of every verse in scripture?
If not for doctrine and tradition, what was the basis of faith prior to the canon being decided in the 4th century?
I can't tell you how many discussions I've had with "Christians" about Genesis 1. They argue we can't know how long a day was when God tells us "The evening and the morning were the first day. Then in Exodus 20:11, we are told, by God, that He created the earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th. Are we going to argue with God? If you claim Moses, or mere men wrote the Bible, then how are we to truth any of it? The Bible was dictated to Moses at the Tabernacle, as a man speaks to a friend. Moses doesn't even show up till Exodus 3. How are we to believe Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah, Joseph, Jacob and others, if we can't believe Adam and Noah?
At some point you either have faith or you are beyond grace and can't be saved. I used to have these thoughts before I was born again. After that, I have complete faith in Scripture and it has all become clear to me. The Holy Spirit authored the Bible that prophets wrote down. The same language and themes run throughout every page. God made sure His children would have His story and character for them to read for posterity.
I've even met people that won't read anything unless it is in red. Why would they believe Jesus said these things if Mathew or John wrote them down? IMO, if Genesis wasn't true, don't you think Jesus would have explained that men came from apes, or their wasn't a world wide flood, or Sodom wasn't blown off the map for sodomy? The theme of a 6 day creation is a shadow of the 6000 year history of earth and the 7th day represents the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. Even Peter explains that a day to the Lord is as a thousand years. That doesn't refer to some misconception of eon's of history passing as the atheists tell us. I prefer faith in God's Word over the rantings of an atheist.
The world is just following the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. The world is dying, not getting better. Chaos is getting greater, not healing itself. Any perusal of Scripture tells us the world is getting ready for Christ's return. Gen 1:14 tells us He put lights in the sky for signs and seasons. These aren't for spring and summer, but to tells us God's clock. Do a word search for signs of the times( Mat 16:3). Jesus is disappointed that they didn't know what time it was even though they knew the Scriptures.
It is set now that either Trump or Hillary will be God's choice for us. If we put our faith in a man, we are missing the point of Scripture. God places His choice for us as our judgement. If we are foolish enough to believe we aren't headed for judgement after 60 million dead babies and now gay marriage, we haven read Leviticus 18:22-30. From what I see here on FR, it seem people believe that Trump will be able to save America from God. It's hardly a plan to have bad and worse as our choices. 2 Chron 7:14 is the key, and I don't see that happening.
Satan seems to have a sense of humor as now he waits to see if if accept men's penises waving at our daughters at school to see if we will remove our children from danger. All of this, and I say again, ALL, comes from years ago taking prayer and God from the culture. I even give the Viet Nam defeat to the rejection of God in our country. Remember sex, drugs, and rock and roll? How far have we come from teaching billions of years of evolution, to not even being able to determine if we are men or women? I have to wonder if, when we meet Jesus he says "I never knew you" if you insist men didn't live for 900 years or we really came from apes over millions of years. He has given us Truth and nothing but the Truth, yet "believers" continue to question length of days, who did Cain marry, was there a flood, were their giants, and so on.
A Scripture comes to mind Isa 4:1, And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing; only let us be called by your name, to take away our shame. In that day( the end times) 7 women( women are always religions, Rev 2-3, these are "Christians" we are talking about) one man( Jesus) eat our own bread( make up our own beliefs, the Bible is Bread of heaven) wear our own clothing( righteousness only comes from Jesus, dirty garments won't be allowed) let us be called by your name( they want to be called "Christians even though they don't even resemble any description of one) to take away their shame( none of us want to be called Satan followers even if we blatantly do.)
Where do we get those ages from?
Is it actually in the Bible that Adam was 900?
I think if we accept the listed ages as accurate, that you give the best explanation.
The planet, the atmosphere, etc. changed over time. They lived in a different planet than we did.
Couple of quick points.
Variations of the Noah story have made it down to us from Sumerian/Akkadian literature (Atrahasis/Utnapishtim). They are extremely old. The Flood is typically dated somewhere around 3000 B.C., which is right around the time that writing developed in Mesopotamia. So it is very likely that the Flood happened in a literate society--and it is mentioned as a historical event, quite in passing, in the Sumerian King List. We are not talking a vague oral tradition from time immemorial here, but an event that could well have been observed and recorded.
Also, the Hebrews and their West Semitic ancestors were very much plugged into Mesopotamian civilization. They had access to its libraries and texts right down to the end of the Babylonian captivity. In fact, before the decipherment of cuneiform, almost all we knew about that civilization came from the Bible.
Quite aside from its divine authorship, it is an invaluable source of history.
Never mind articles...I just go to the original source...and yes I know it wasn’t just the ten commandments and yes Moses did write down other pronouncements over time as He and God were in constant communion. The Bible mentions though two specific times where Moses received the law...once directly from God’s own hand and another where Moses has to write it all down. Other laws, dictates and prophecies were written down by Moses as God revealed them through out the 40 years the nation of Israel wandered!
In other words....no kidding?! Really?!
I'm aware of the wishful thinking and false interpretation there of.
I point to the existence of Israel and mention how many folks, even so called Christian learned men used to scoff that Israel would ever again become a nation, that Israel’s reemergence in prophecy was to be taken as symbolic of the eventual embrace of the church by the entire world or other symbolic prosaic prattle....but 1948 comes and poof literally against all odds with the whole of the Arab world arrayed against her in battle...and Israel is reborn. If Israel is again a nation...then perhaps other parts of the Bible need to be taken seriously. Israel is indeed a “burdensome stone” or a cup of trembling for the wicked of the world because it is a constant reminder that keeps the wicked looking over their shoulders for the judgment that God is sending our way!
Gen 5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years. And he died.
I suggest you study original scriptural teachings.
No wishful thinking on my part.
No sanitized, popularized version for mass consumption, either.
http://www.chick.com/catalog/books/images/1254.jpg
You'll find yourself nodding you head quite a bit -- and here's the important thing; The entire book is based on SCIENCE.Chapter 14 - Effects of the Flood expounds on the subject extremely well, using plausible scientific theory and scenarios. It dovetails with Chapter 4 - The Age of the Earth (Why the Earth is not millions of years old) along with Chapter 6 (Inaccurate Dating Methods.)
Let's face it -- most of us at one time or another never altogether really bought those 600-900 year old ages, but never took into account the possibility of an entirely different planet with altogether different material "laws" that changed the entire pre-Flood "laws" of nature.
Done. Washed, rinsed, repeated, I assure you.
Never arrived at you interpretation (with all due respect.)
The battle is about sin and possibly also genetics. I find it curious God uses the term “seed’ when he prophesies of the warfare of the “seed of the serpent” vs the “seed of Eve”. The fallen ones defied God,Satan tempted man to sin, interfered with our genetics by intermarrying with our women, causing much multiplied sorrow and sin until God was moved to destroy our early civilization by a great flood and cause certain of the fallen ones to be bound.(see Jude who quoted Enoch) Satan is the only one left to be dealt with and Christ defeated him on the cross and via the resurrection! The mop up action is going to be horrendous!
So what about all that is false interpretation?
Watch this first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPVRt8HaM68
Thus my belief in the Son of God, Jesus Christ as my Savior is real and proven; As is The Kingdom of God; My destination with the Lord for eternity IS as real and proven as is the existence of this keyboard I'm typing away at the moment.
The criteria for true phophets as defined in the old testament was that a prophet had to be 100 per cent accurate and that none of his prophecies could ‘fall to the grown’...the consequences were serious as such men could be stoned as false prophets. Nostradamus was not 100 per cent accurate and many of his ‘quattrains’ have been so twisted and contorted to mean anything that seems to resemble current events! Israel is now a nation which means the other prophecies concerning her regarding the latter days must also be taken seriously!
Deception designed by Satan to create the obvious seeds of doubt, ambiguity and confusion.
Hanging in and denying alternative interpretations of man's creation and remaining unyielding to the power of suggestion that Jesus is unnecessary -- it's not easy staying the course.
I’ve always assumed God instigated sleep so we wouldn’t do evil 24/7
It’s funny because many biologists say that the humans are “pre-keyed to live perpetually but for those darn “telomeres” that act like clocks winding down making us susceptible to aging, weakness, and illness finally death! An unfortunate effect of sin upon mankind. Death is a kindness even for the righteous who would other wise live forever with the multiplying knowledge of continued sin and degradation in our sinful flesh with no way to ultimately die and receive the glorified resurrected bodies that know no sorrow, no sin, and no suffering.
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