What Happened To The Longevity Of Methuselah?

By James Donahue

It is well known, probably even among non-Bible scholars, that a man in the Old Testament named Methuselah lived a record 969 years, making him the oldest recorded human in the history of the human race.

But Methuselah, the grandfather of Noah, was not the only one to live to very ripe and healthy old age, if the record in Genesis 5 is accurate and in keeping with contemporary time lines.

Methuselah was the son of Enoch, who allegedly “ascended into Heaven” when he was only 69, so that doesn’t count. But his grandfather, Jared, remained on the planet for 962 years, which was nearly as good a record as that of Methuselah.

The recorded son of Methuselah, and the father of Noah, was Lamech, who lived 777 years. In fact all of the men in the table of generations, leading from Adam to Noah, lived very long lives. Adam was 930 when he died.

These apparently were healthy and virile years for humans. For example, Noah was about 500 years old when he fathered sons. He led his family through the flood when he was exactly 600. His life span after the flood was another 350 years, giving him a total time on Earth of 950 years.

After this something happened and life spans began to rapidly drop off. The text follows the blood line from Noah through Shem, who lived 100 years before the flood and another 600 years after this. Shem’s son, Arphaxad, lived 438 years. The grandson Salah lived 433 years. Eber, the great grandson lived 436 years. Peleg, the son of Eber, lived 239 years. Eber’s son, Reu, also lived 239 years. The next descendant, Serug, stayed around 230 years. Then came Nahor, who lived just 148 years.

As you can see, the longevity scale drops quickly with each passing generation. Thus we must conclude that:

l. The ages of these people were based upon the solar year and four seasons just as we know it today, and

2. Something extraordinary occurred that caused people to live shorter and shorter life spans after the flood.

The problem we have is determining just what it was that changed the human race, making our bodies wear out faster than they did in the beginning.

Based on what we know, or think we know today about events at that time, contemporary science explores genetic, environmental and dietary differences.

Some Bible historians argue that there was an error in the translation of the text, and that lunar cycles were used instead of solar ones, thus making Methuselah only 72 when he died. But if we did this same math for Enoch, who parented a child at 65, the lunar cycle would translate to fatherhood at the tender age of about five years.

Also, as noted above, when following the genetic blood line, we find life records dropping off at shorter and shorter periods until they reach a length nearly comparable with contemporary longevity. According to the Guinness Record, the longest living contemporary human was Jeanne Calment, who reached 122 years. Other centurions have been known to stay around for up to 112 years. But these are rare cases and not the norm. 

Another proposal was that the lack of genetic diversity, forcing brothers and sisters to marry for a second consecutive time, damaged the DNA of the children, thus breeding genetic weaknesses. But the Luciferian belief, that the DNA of at least 144,000 humans that was carried forward through time to a period just following the Crustatian Period, and after the earth was inhabitable following the calamity caused by the flood, erases this argument.

This number would have given the human race the necessary diversity in DNA to carry on successfully, without damaging the gene pool.

Creationists propose that there was a change in the environment that caused the reduction. For example, the loss of the vapor canopy would allow more ultraviolet light from the sun to invade our world, and our bodies, possibly speeding the aging process. This, according to psychic viewer Aaron C. Donahue is exactly what happened. Except Donahue said there is a factor that is not clearly explained in the story.

Donahue, who has examined the Earth both before and after the flood, said the planet was cloaked at first in a vapor canopy that stabilized the weather, provided lots of natural moisture, and established a giant rain forest.

The first humans lived not only under the protective vapor canopy, but in this forest. Thus they were protected by the trees that not only shielded them from harmful ultra-violet solar rays, but provided a perfect environment with natural foods rich in all of the nutrients the human body needed to sustain a long and healthy life.

Noah and the 144,000 humans that were relocated on the planet after the flood found a much different world awaiting them. There were no trees. Donahue said he was surprised to find the landscape completely barren, with only green grasses growing. The people lived in earthen dwellings, and even underground because there was no wood with which to build.

He said the direct exposure to the harmful rays of the sun caused cellular damage that accelerated aging and death.