In the 5th and the 9th chapter of the book of Genesis in the Bible, a geneology of Adam (the first man on planet earth) to Noah (the man whom God had called and instructed to build an ark) is given. As I studied the geneology this morning, a very interesting pattern became visible. This is what I read…
Genesis 5: (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+5&version=NASB)
5So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years (930), and he died.
So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years (912), and he died.
11 So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years (905), and he died.
14 So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years (910), and he died.
17 So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years (895), and he died.
20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years (962), and he died.
22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons
and daughters. 23So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years (365). 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years (969), and he died.
31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years (777), and he died.
32 Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 9: (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%209&version=NASB)
28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years (350) after the flood. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
The oldest man whose age was recorded in the Old Testament was Methuselah and he lived for nine hundred and sixty nine years. YES, that’s right! You read it correctly, that was 969 YEARS! And to think, no one even had a chance to eat from the Tree of Life!
Did you notice anything else? I did. Each of these men died, except for one, Enoch. Unlike the others, “he was not, for the Lord took him.” I wondered why, and when I examined the geneology again, I noticed that it also said that “Enoch walked with God three hundred years (300) after he became the father of Methuselah” and “he was not” when he was 365 years old.
Genesis 6:9 says…“Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” Although Noah lived for 950 years when he died, he lived 350 years AFTER the flood. (I don’t know why, but at this moment, it is the number of years Noah lived AFTER the flood that is significant.)
Are you beginning to see what I see? It appears as if those who walked with God died a lot earlier than those who didn’t. I pondered over this for a while. Considering the extensive length of time the other men lived, to me, dying earlier at 300 years would have been a blessing as opposed to dying much later. I have no idea what these men were like in the 900th year, but if they were listless and their bodies were so worn out by then, wouldn’t any one prefer to die at an earlier age?
Thoughts of Simeon in Luke 2:26-29 now come to mind. ” And it had been revealed to him (Simeon) by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ… Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples…” Through these verses we clearly see one, Simeon, asking God to finally let him die in peace since he had fulfilled God’s call.
Msgr. Jensen gave a sermon several years ago where he mentioned that death was a gift God had given man AFTER the original fall. He had briefly explained that God didn’t want man to remain in a deteriorated, sinfull state perpetually. That was my first “aha” moment with regards to death and through the years, the concept has helped me accept and embrace the passing of loved ones. As I continue to reflect on it, I begin to see death as God’s way of providing mankind an escape from being trapped in deteriorated bodies forever.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says… ‘No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” The word “escape” is something that needs to be examined more carefully. YourDictionary.com describes “escape” as…”to get free; get away; get out; break loose, as from a prison; to avoid an illness, accident, pain,…” The latter definition “to avoid an illness, accident, pain…” brings the thoughts of suicide and euthanasia to mind. In my opinion, I do NOT believe that either are what the Father has intended because the scripture ends with…”so that you will be able to endure it.” One would have to remain alive to be able to endure something.
2 Peter 3:9 says...”The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
Ezekiel 18:32 says...”For I have no pleassure in death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”‘.
To me, both clearly indicate that God does NOT want anyone to experience perpetual death, but to repent (turn away from sin) and to live eternally in harmony with Him.
Was it possible that God allowed the other men who refused to walk with Him to live as long as possible so that they would eventually come to repentance and live?
But what about those who appear to be snatched from this world before we are ready to let them go? The Father reminds me of Wisdom 4:7-16…
“But the righteous man, though he die early, will be at rest. For old age is not honored for length of time, nor measured by number of years; but understanding is gray hair for men, and a blameless life is ripe old age. There was one who pleased God and was loved by him, and while living among sinners he was taken up. He was caught up lest evil changes his understanding or guile deceive his soul. For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good, and roving desires perverts the innocent mind. Being perfected in a short time, he fulfilled long years; for his soul was pleasing to the Lord, therefore he took him quickly from the midst of wickedness. Yet the people saw and did not understand, nor take such a thing to heart, that God’s grace and mercy are with his elect, and he watches over his holy ones.”
Isaiah 57:1-2 teaches similarly…
“For the righteous man is taken away from evil, He enters into peace; They rest in their beds, Each one who walked in his upright way.”
And so does 2 Kings 22:20…
“Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.”‘
- No words can fully describe the pain and anguish we experience when a loved one is taken by the Father at a tender, young age. Believing that He has cheated them and us of an extended life that we could have shared together, we often become angry with Him. In truth, no human words would be able to extinguish the pain. However, could the words of God (scripture) inscribed by man appease what human words could not do? Through the grace and mercy of God, I pray so…
Does that mean that only the good die young? Let’s visit Noah once more…
“Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 5:32 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years (350) after the flood. So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.” Genesis 9:28-29
In my eyes, it is apparent that the Father continues to use many at an older age, perhaps allowing these to linger on a little longer as they willingly share the wisdom they have acquired through their life journey.
In truth, no one knows the exact day and time they will bid planet earth farewell. Nevertheless, I have come to realize that it is not the length of their life span that is relevant, but it is how one lives out his/her life.
May the Father find ALL of us ready to return Home into His bossom when our time on earth is done.
God bless,
Melissa
Additional reading: Wisdom of Solomon 5:6-16
- We, then, have strayed from the way of truth, and the light of justice did not shine for us, and the sun did not rise for us.
-
- We had our fill of the ways of mischief and of ruin; we journeyed through impassable deserts, but the way of the LORD we knew not.
-
- What did our pride avail us? What have wealth and its boastfulness afford us?
- All of them passed like a shadow and like a fleeting rumor:
- Like a ship traversing the heaving water,of which, when it has passed, no trace can be found, no path of its keel in the waves.
-
- Or like a bird flying through the air; no evidence of its course is to be found- But the fluid air, lashed by the beat of pinions,
and cleft bythe rushing force Of speeding wings, is traversed: and afterward no mark of passage can be found in it.
-
- Or as, when an arrow has been shot at a mark, the parted air straightway flows together again so that none discerns
the way it went through-
-
- Even so we, once born, abruptly came to nought and held no sign of virtue to display, but were consumed in our wickedness.”
-
- Yes, the hope of the wicked is like thistledown borne on the wind, and like fine, tempest-driven foam; Like smoke
scattered by the wind, and like the passing memory of the nomad camping for a single day.
-
-
- But the just live forever, and in the LORD is their recompense, and the thought of them is with the Most High.
-
- Therefore shall they receive the splendid crown, the beauteous diadem, from the hand of the LORD- For he shall
shelter them with his right hand, and protect them with his arm.