10/09/2023
Today Sermon
Why were our lifespans shortened compared to the people of the earliest generations?
In Genesis 5, Adam lives to be 930 years old; his son Seth, 912 years; Seth’s son, 910 years; Methuselah, the oldest, 969 years; and Noah, 950 years. Then after the flood, Noah’s son Shem lives 600 years; his son, 438 years; then Shelah, 433 years; then Peleg, 239; and then Terah, the father of Abraham, 148 years. And then the age of the patriarchs: Abraham, 175 years; Isaac, 180 years; Jacob, 147 years.
And then after the four-hundred-year bo***ge in Egypt: Moses, 120 years; Joshua, 110 years. When we get to the period of the kings, David died at 70, Solomon at 80, which is where things have stood, I suppose you could say, for three thousand years — 70 or 80 years at best.
Why did Death reign?
Now, as far as I can see, the Bible does not state explicitly why God ordain that early mankind to live so long. But I think if we ponder what the Bible says about why our lives are so short, we will get a clue as to why the early generations lived so long.
We know from the story of creation in Genesis 1–3 and in Romans 5:12–14 that death was not intended to be a part of the perfect world before sin entered the world — and with it. Death was threatened by God as a penalty for disobedience (Genesis 2:17). Therefore, the presence of death in the world is not a natural part of the original plan, perfect creation but a judicial part of the fallen creation. It’s a punishment.
Deuteronomy 34:7
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.
Genesis 6:3
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
The scriptures tell us over and over that sin leads to death and destruction because there are consequences of going against the grain regarding how God designed us to live and obey him.
Physically – Sin can cause an internal conflict with God and us, leading to health issues and taking a physical toll on our body.
Psalm. 90:7 For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath, we have been dismayed.
Psalm. 90:8 You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins, in the light of Your presence.
Psalm. 90:9 For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh.
Psalm. 90:10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. (Why labor and sorrow if our ways are righteous in the presence of God?)
Psalm. 90:11 Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?
Psalm. 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Above all
Isaiah 57 :: NIV. The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.
