Here's one of the Chapters I'm always afraid of when it comes to the Bible. It's a lineage chapter. It goes into great detail about who gave birth to who, and how long they lived, and who they birthed, and on and on.
So let me detail what happens here in a nutshell. I'll list fathers to sons down the line. Adam to Seth to Enosh to Kenan to Mahalalel to Jared to Enoch to Methuselah to Lamech to Noah. That's how things progress in this chapter.
The important details to me in this chapter are the ages of the people, and how two people get described in particular. The ages stand out because these people are noted as living hundreds of years, and giving birth to sons and daughters almost a hundred years into their lives. How is that possible? Was age different before the flood, or did we get the timing wrong?
Methuselah is the main character of this age difference. He's the one who lives for 969 years before he dies. As such, his name has become a common joke for an "old man" whereas a name like Mahalalel has passed into obscurity. If only old Mahalalel had hung on for another 80 years, he'd have the title instead of Methuselah. I'm okay with that because Mahalalel is way harder to spell.
One thought is that humans were meant to live forever, but that each generation since Adam and Eve had less of the power of God in them, and as such lived shorter lives the further they get away from the original creation. While this has a mystical sounding theory to it, I think it's likely the least true. If anything, I believe that lives of humans only really change due to lifestyle changes, food and water changes, and various resources and external factors. I don't think that ancient peoples lived hundreds of years longer than us.
A more likely version to me is that years and months was an ancient mistranslation of the story to make it sound more mystical. Sort of like the ancient equivilant of a Fish Story. That fish may have been about four pounds, but by the time it gets told the 50th time, it's a 200 pound Marlin you fought off with your bare hands. Dramatic license and all that, it keeps the reader engaged. It might be the same with the ages of Noah and his brethren.
If Methuselah lived for 969 months instead of years, that would put Methuselah around 80 years old. The problem with that particular theory is that it also has people in the same chapter giving birth to kids at the supposed age of 5 years old. That doesn't really work either. Still, I think a translation or misunderstanding of true time issue is more likely than God giving people lives that were ten times longer than our own.
The second thing I noted in this chapter was the flow of each verse. Typically, it goes like this: Guy lives for this many years, fathers the next guy, after which he lives hundreds of years fathering more sons and daughters, before he eventually died. Rinse and repeat. Always repeat.
Two differences surround two men. Enoch and Noah. Enoch is different because the Bible refers to him "walking faithfully with God" and instead of dying that "he was no more, because God took him away." Why is Enoch different? What made him more special than his ancestors that the Bible felt the need to refer to him as walking with God and not truly dying?
I think the reason Enoch is noted as having walked with God is that the other men of the world at the time were very ungodly. Remember, this is a time period after man has been kicked out of paradise, and the sons of Cain are wandering the earth. It's not a fantastic time to be living for hundreds of years, toiling in obscurity. Yet, Enoch is noted for his faith, which makes him an important figure later in Hebrews and First Kings when they talk of faith in the Lord. After all, he's one of only a couple of figures in the Bible that were supposedly spared from death.
Noah is also different in that his father Lamech said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed." That's a really creepy prophesy from his father. Yes, Noah will bring comfort to the people, but only after the entire world is wiped out in a flood. Not exactly what I believe his father meant. However, Noah is central in God removing the curse from the land, and removing the curse from the remaining people as a whole. We discuss that more in the next chapter.
Study Thoughts:
1 - Do you believe people could have lived for hundreds of years? What would you do with that amount of time on the earth?
2 - What does it mean to walk with God to you? How are you living that mantra in your life today?
3 - Have you ever considered how your own ancestry has made you the way you are today?
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