God declared that man's days should be one hundred twenty
years, at the time of the flood. This does not mean that
everyone lived to this age, or that no one lived over this
age -- it was a general limitation to man's life span.
Methuselah died before or during the flood, living a total
of nine hundred sixty-nine years -- longer than anyone else
recorded in the Bible (Gen. 5:27). Noah died after the flood,
living a total of nine hundred fifty years (Gen. 9:29).
Today, most
people do not live one hundred twenty years, although our life expectancy has
increased though the blessings of modern medicine. King David tells us
that we have lived a long and full life if we live seventy or eighty years, though
our years on this earth are spent in labor and sorrow (Ps. 90:10). So,
what is the normal life span of a person upon earth? Seventy or eighty years is
a good and long life. But, some people are blessed to live longer. No matter how
long we live, we should be thankful God has extended our lives (Phil. 1:21-24),
and serve Him faithfully. |