Adam lived for 930 years. Methuselah lived for 969 years.
Lamech—his life was cut short. He died when he was ONLY 777 years old.
God took Enoch before he’d even reached middle age. He was only 365 years old.
How did these pre-flood patriarchs live so long? And why did God give them such long lives?
I’ll share three possible reasons for both of these questions.
How Did They Live So Long?
If someone celebrates their 100th birthday today, we’re not sure whether to send them a congratulation card or a sympathy card.
I don’t want to live longer than my body and mind can keep up. Their body and minds kept up for hundreds of years, though. How?
1. Original Design
We were created as eternal beings. Our original design didn’t include death. This was a gift sin gave us. Thanks, but no thanks.
When sin entered the world, it’s corruption on our minds was fast and devastating. The third person on earth was a murderer!
But it seems the degeneration of our bodies took a lot longer, so they lived a lot longer.
2. Little to No Disease
Before the flood, there was no corona virus. At least there’s no record of it. No archeological digs have scraped up fossilized masks.
In fact, there’s no record in the Bible of any disease in the beginning.
Over time, diseases began to appear and as they are want to do, they multiplied. But we don’t see disease at first. If it existed, it seemed to have little impact on their bodies. At least not on the ones in the genealogy of Adam.
3. Excellent Climate
The climate was nearly perfect.
The curse for sin involved thorns and thistles. As a gardener, I’ve seen thorns and thistles survive in weather that wipe out my beloved perennials. Nevertheless, thorns and thistles still need sun and water to survive.
Just because working the field would be hard, doesn’t mean Adam and his pre-flood descendants were gardening in a blazing desert. Certainly not in a tundra.
With slow bodily degeneration, little to no disease, and a climate that was most likely much gentler on their bodies than it was after the flood, it’s not too hard to understand how they lived so long. But why?
Why Did They Live So Long?
Why did God want people to live so long before the flood?
1. Multiply and Fill the Earth
God commanded they multiply and fill the earth. And they did.
It’s easier to fill the earth if each generation could have tons of kids. Otherwise, they had to wait for their kids to grow up to have a few kids, who had to grow up to have a few kids, and so on. It would take forever.
But, imagine having the number of kids they had.
I adore my three kids, but I don’t want to raise 103 of them. Or 203 of them. (The Bible doesn’t tell the number of kids they each had. Perhaps 103 or 203 is more than any of them fathered, but 50+ was not unreasonable.)
In Genesis 5, Moses only wrote they had “other sons and daughters.” Don’t you wish he’d recorded how many?
2. Greater Opportunity for Advancements
Long lives enabled Adam’s descendants to have greater advancements in discovery.
The older we get, the more knowledge we accumulate, but with us today, just about the time we’re smart enough to do something great with our knowledge, we die.
Okay, it’s not that bad, but imagine what DaVinci or Edison could’ve invented if they’d lived 900 years.
Our pre-flood forefathers invented music, metallurgy, and impressive enough skills that Noah and his sons were able to build an ark that could withstand a torrential flood using ancient know-how and tools.
3. First-Hand Testimony
Long lives allowed each generation to learn first-hand about the beginning of the world, the garden of Eden, and the deceitfulness of sin, Satan, and his demons from Adam and Eve.
Every patriarch before the flood—other than Noah—had the opportunity to know and hear from Adam and Eve what it was like to walk with God in the cool of the garden. And what it felt like to experience the extravagant grace of God and receive His promises.
Noah wasn’t alive at the same time as Adam, but surely he heard the stories from those who did know Adam.
The Bible doesn’t record conversations or meetings between Adam and his descendants, but it’s certainly possible that he taught each generation about God.
I taught my children about our great God, and I have every intention of telling every other generation in our family about Him. Why would Adam and Eve be any different?
I have the Bible and it is enough. But they had personal memories of walking with God in the garden. Just imagine!
Whatever purposes God had for giving them such long lives, we can be certain they were all good and right.
However many years God gives us, I pray we use them to bring Him glory and do good to others.
