How did the people which become 900 years old age?

[xdisciplex]

When they became 900 years old does this mean that everything was in relation to their life span? Does this mean they were grown up at the age of 100 or did they age just the way we do? Because if the people became so old then why was Abraham's wife already infertile? She was only around 90 if I remember it correctly.

 

[BobRyan]

God said that IF Adam and Eve continued to have access to the fruit of the tree of life "They would live forever" -- "how could He do that"???

Answer: God "can" do it.

The 900+ years of ancient man is SEEN to decrease gradually down to 700 then 600 then 500 then 300 then down to 220 then down to about 120.

There is no way to assert that Jacob was only 12 years old when he died/

The ages are real. The same author uses the same scale for time - and records people living over 900 years AS WELL as people claiming to be "too old" to have children at 70 80 and 90 years old later on the SAME book.

You just have to accept the Word of God for what it says. Trying to shoehorn it into 2006 as if Moses MUST be limited to anythng we are limited to in terms of health - is not reasonable.

It is no more reasonable "fix it" for today's world than it would be to have Moses "explain away TV or a DVD" for his day and age.

The one thing that DOESN't work - is assuming that nothing changes.

In Christ,

Bob

 

[BobRyan]

Having said that about "Just believe it" -- I would offer this "explanation".

God created mankind "vastly superior" than his degraded form seen in recent times. The "life force" of Adam was far superior to ours in many ways and his free access to the Tree of Life resulted in regenerating strength that was passed down to his descenants for generation after generation.

So even though he eventually grew old and died at around 1000 years old -- his children ALSO lived to about that same age. But with the flood came a change in the earth's environment, a change in diet AND continued separation "generation by generation" from vigor of that "first generation" that had direct access to the Tree of Life.

That is my guess. I am not going to defend it like it was the 4th commandment or something - I am just offering it.

In Christ,

Bob

 

[Scarlett O.]

When they became 900 years old does this mean that everything was in relation to their life span? Does this mean they were grown up at the age of 100 or did they age just the way we do?

I feel like they aged in relation to their life span. They wouldn't have been old, feeble, and senile at age 80 and then stayed that was for hundreds of years.

Also, they seemed to have started having children between 80-120 years of age.

Because if the people became so old then why was Abraham's wife already infertile? She was only around 90 if I remember it correctly.

Sarah was unable to "normally" bear children, without God's miraculous help, at age 90 (and probably earlier) because by time she and Abraham came along, people were not living for hundreds of years. That extreme longevity ended after the flood. She died age 120ish.

That would be comparable to a woman today dying at age 90 and becoming unable to bear children around 50ish.

Here's a record of early biblical people and their ages and WHY they stopped living so long.

1. Before the Flood - a perfect water canopy covered the earth and the near-perfect climate contributed to extremely long lives.....that and the fact that human DNA was still close to Adam's and had not had enough time to decay to the point of genetic "disease" that has been and is so prevalent.

Adam = 930
Seth = 912
Enosh = 905
Kenan=910
Mahalalel= 895
Jared=962
Enoch=(365) God "took" him....he did not "die"
Methuselah=969
Lamech=777
Noah=950
**************************************************************

2. After the Flood - the earth was greatly changed....climates, seasons.

Shem=600
Arphaxad=438
Shelah=433
Eber=464
Peleg=239
Reu=239
Serug=230
Nahor=148
Terah=205
Abraham=175.....Sarah=127

 

[BobRyan]

I feel like they aged in relation to their life span. They wouldn't have been old, feeble, and senile at age 80 and then stayed that was for hundreds of years.

Also, they seemed to have started having children between 80-120 years of age.



Sarah was unable to "normally" bear children, without God's miraculous help, at age 90 (and probably earlier) because by time she and Abraham came along, people were not living for hundreds of years. That extreme longevity ended after the flood. She died age 120ish.**************************************************************

2. After the Flood - the earth was greatly changed....climates, seasons.

Shem=600
Arphaxad=438
Shelah=433
Eber=464
Peleg=239
Reu=239
Serug=230
Nahor=148
Terah=205
Abraham=175.....Sarah=127

Excellent points.

In Christ,

Bob

 

[xdisciplex]

I feel like they aged in relation to their life span. They wouldn't have been old, feeble, and senile at age 80 and then stayed that was for hundreds of years.

haha, this is exactly what I meant. :laugh:
This would be a bit hard to imagine and it also wouldn't have been very pleasant.
Thanks for your explanation, Scarlett. You really have a talent for this. :thumbsup:

@ Bob

You implied that Adam and Eve had access to the tree of life until God denied it to them. I don't know where you get this. Look at the text:

Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

This means they didn't have access to the tree of life. God says that if they now also ate from this tree they would become immortal. This means they haven't eaten from it.

 

[EdSutton]

The topic title and question is:

"How did the people which became 900 years old age?"

The answer is:

"V-e-e-e-r-r-r-y S-l-o-o-o-o-w-l-l-y." :thumbsup: :tongue3: :laugh:

Ed

 

[EdSutton]

That is my guess. I am not going to defend it like it was the 4th commandment or something - I am just offering it.

:BangHead: :applause: :laugh:

Ed

 

[Not_hard_to_find]

. Look at the text:

Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

This means they didn't have access to the tree of life. God says that if they now also ate from this tree they would become immortal. This means they haven't eaten from it.

Good to see you reading, quoting and interpreting.

 

[xdisciplex]

Good to see you reading, quoting and interpreting.

Yeah, I can read. :thumbsup:

 

[BobRyan]

@ Bob

You implied that Adam and Eve had access to the tree of life until God denied it to them. I don't know where you get this. Look at the text:

Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

This means they didn't have access to the tree of life. God says that if they now also ate from this tree they would become immortal. This means they haven't eaten from it.

There is no question that AFTER the fall they did not have access to the Garden of Eden, the did not have access to the tree of knowledge of good and evil and they did not have access to the tree of life.

But in Gen 2 there is nothing saying that they did not have access to the tree of life. In fact we are explicitly told that they had access to "ALL but ONE" tree.

I am sticking with that point to show that although they DID have access to the tree of life BEFORE the fall - they did not have access to it afterwards. Given that the tree of life would cause them to "live forever" one has to suppose that it has something to do with the genetic properties of living beings so that they can "live forever". If that is the case and the very nature of mankind changed at the fall -- it could well be that the instrusive aspects of the sinful nature would have been both imprinted and eternally sustained if they had been given the same access to the tree of life in their fallen form that they had in their unfallen form.

In Christ,

Bob

 

[BobRyan]

Another point - in Gen 3 when God shows a plan to "protect against a plan" we can easily assume that the plan God is defeating - is Satan's plan.

 

[Deacon]

Here's a record of early biblical people and their ages and WHY they stopped living so long.

1. Before the Flood - a perfect water canopy covered the earth and the near-perfect climate contributed to extremely long lives.....that and the fact that human DNA was still close to Adam's and had not had enough time to decay to the point of genetic "disease" that has been and is so prevalent.[snip]

Recognise that this is just a theory and not absolute biblical fact.
...and I don't believe DNA is mentioned anywhere in the bible (but I may be wrong...:smilewinkgrin: )
This link is from a young-earth creationist origanization "Answers in Genesis" [LINK]
What arguments are doubtful, hence, inadvisable to use?

"Canopy theory"

"This is not a direct teaching of Scripture, so there is no place for dogmatism. Also, no suitable model has been developed that holds sufficient water, but some creationists suggest a partial canopy may have been present. For AiG’s current opinion, see Noah’s Flood—what about all that water? ..."

Regarding the age of the Patriarchs; there is no harm in questioning the account.
The ages certainly seem unusual.
The accounts are ancient; we may not have a full understanding of the customs relating to genealogical record keeping during the time they were recorded.

Rob

 

[Scarlett O.]

Recognise that this is just a theory and not absolute biblical fact.

"Canopy theory"

Alright.....I will agree that what I stated was my opinion based on theoretical teaching of a young earth.

 

[BobRyan]

Adam = 930
Seth = 912
Enosh = 905
Kenan=910
Mahalalel= 895
Jared=962
Enoch=(365) God "took" him....he did not "die"
Methuselah=969
Lamech=777
Noah=950
************************************************** ************

2. After the Flood - the earth was greatly changed....climates, seasons.

Shem=600
Arphaxad=438
Shelah=433
Eber=464
Peleg=239
Reu=239
Serug=230
Nahor=148
Terah=205
Abraham=175.....Sarah=127

Scarlet makes the obvious point -- Abraham was not 17 when he died!!

In Christ,

Bob

 

[Eliyahu]

On this issue I would recommend reading Genesis Study by Henry Morris, the True Believer in Jesus who was called by Lord in February this year.

Shortly speaking, the human life time has changed many ways.

After the sin came into this world, we have the limited life time.
Before the flood of Noah, the water-layer in the sky prevented the UV's from penetrating very much.
After the collapse of the layer of the water mist in the sky, UV was increased enormously on this earth, which deteriorated the human genome very much.
Even after the Noah's era, the human life time was still long, because it took some more time after generations, until the human life time was shortened remarkably.
This required the people to avoid the marriage between the relatives as the genome deterioration caused the problems.

After the Flood, the life time was reduced continuously, related to UV's and Genome deterioration.

On the other hand this leaves us the hope that our life can be extended quite a lot when we obey God, even before we reach the Kingdom of God.

 

[xdisciplex]

There is no question that AFTER the fall they did not have access to the Garden of Eden, the did not have access to the tree of knowledge of good and evil and they did not have access to the tree of life.

But in Gen 2 there is nothing saying that they did not have access to the tree of life. In fact we are explicitly told that they had access to "ALL but ONE" tree.

I am sticking with that point to show that although they DID have access to the tree of life BEFORE the fall - they did not have access to it afterwards. Given that the tree of life would cause them to "live forever" one has to suppose that it has something to do with the genetic properties of living beings so that they can "live forever". If that is the case and the very nature of mankind changed at the fall -- it could well be that the instrusive aspects of the sinful nature would have been both imprinted and eternally sustained if they had been given the same access to the tree of life in their fallen form that they had in their unfallen form.

In Christ,

Bob

So you mean that even before the fall they would not have lived forever if they had not constantly eaten from the tree of life???
Why is that? I mean did they decay automatically and all the time they had to go to this tree and eat from it in order to stay normal? This seems a bit strange to me. Before the fall everything was perfect then why should they have depended on this tree?

 

[BobRyan]

So you mean that even before the fall they would not have lived forever if they had not constantly eaten from the tree of life???
Why is that? I mean did they decay automatically and all the time they had to go to this tree and eat from it in order to stay normal? This seems a bit strange to me. Before the fall everything was perfect then why should they have depended on this tree?

Read the text of Gen 2 and 3 it is pretty much glaringly obvious.

But your question raises another very good point. We often "imagine solutions" about what God did or did not do that is often contrary to the explicit statement in the text - simply because we like to think of things that way.

God makes it appear that the Tree of Life is "significant" when it comes to "living forever" but we "don't want to believe that" so it is easy to ignore. Then our own predisposition becomes a defacto kind of "proof" against the text we are reading.

I see that all the time on this board.

Join the club.

in Christ,

Bob