Wondering how did Methuselah live for hundreds of years? You’re not alone! Ponder this short reflection on the man who lived the longest.
Anyone who’s ever played Bible trivia knows that Methuselah lived longer than anyone else. He died at the ripe old age of 969. But have you ever wondered why?
First, put aside all the environmental factors of a pre-Flood world, where lifetimes lasted much longer than they do today. I’m convinced the answer has more to do with God’s character than Methuselah’s physical constitution or health consciousness.
When Methuselah was born, his father Enoch began to walk with God in earnest (Genesis 5:21-22). Many commentators believe it was during the time of Methuselah’s birth that God revealed to Enoch the reality of the coming Flood. And that’s why Enoch spent the next three centuries warning the world around him of God’s impending retribution (Jude 1:14-15).
Methuselah’s name can be translated as either “man of the javelin” or “man of the sending forth.” It is likely, especially given the context of Genesis 5–6, that his name referred to the reality of God’s coming judgment. A global Flood sent forth with sudden force and destruction. The further implication is that divine wrath would not fall until after Methuselah died. (Some scholars even render the meaning of his name as “his death shall bring forth.”)
Methuselah lived 969 years. If you add up the time between Methuselah’s birth and Noah entering the ark (187+182+600), it is also 969 years. That means, in the very year Methuselah died, God sent the Flood forth like a javelin on the earth.
How Did Methuselah Live for Hundreds of Years
So why did God allow Methuselah to live for so many years—longer than anyone in human history?
I believe it was as an illustration of God’s incredible patience. The fact that Methuselah lived almost 1,000 years demonstrates the longsuffering nature of God. From the time God revealed that judgment to Enoch, it was almost a millennium before raindrops of wrath started falling in the days of Noah.
