This chapter contains the account of the tower of Babel, as well as the genealogy of Shem through Abram (later renamed Abraham). As promised, I’d like to posit a theory about pre-flood and post-flood lifespans. Please bear with me, this will be a longer message than usual.
“This is the account of Shem’s family line. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. And… lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters. When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. And… lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters. When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. And… lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.” (v10,11,18,19,24,25)
I find it quite interesting that in the 10 generations leading up to the flood, the average lifespan was 907 years (Gen 5). Now, the average of the next 4 generations dropped to 484 years, and the 5 generations after that dropped the average to 226 years. In fewer than 20 generations the average lifespan decreased to 25% of what it was originally. Today, the average lifespan is 82 years (10% of Gen 5). What are the possible explanations?
1. The number one reason our lifespans are shorter is God commanded it: “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.’ ” (Gen 6:3) I could end the theories here, but where’s the fun in that? 🙂
2. Genetic Degradation – it’s a scientific fact that genetic information is being lost and corrupted over time, resulting in “genetic defects” or copying mistakes (this is the opposite of the theory of macroevolution by the way). Think of it like photocopying a photocopy – the more times you make a copy of a copy the more information is lost – no matter how good the scanner and printer are, eventually information degrades. Despite countless advances in medical science, corruption (cancer, disease, birth defects, etc.) is getting worse, not better.
3. The atmosphere was different. It’s a fact that preserved air bubbles found trapped in amber show the earth’s atmosphere used to be very different – it had a 50% higher concentration of oxygen than we breath today, with significantly lower carbon dioxide and other harmful gases/particulates. Some of these changes are more recent from air pollution, but a global flood would have also significantly altered the atmosphere and weather on the planet.
4. A water vapor canopy was no longer there. There’s a fascinating theory about a protective barrier around the earth that not only kept the atmosphere richer, but also blocked out harmful wavelengths. I’m not 100% convinced on this one, but it’s definitely an interesting theory to read: https://www.genesispark.com/exhibits/early-earth/atmosphere/
Despite our miraculous advances in medicine, our lifespans have pretty much peaked. We still have fewer than 0.02% of people breaking 100 years old (1 in 5,000). How can we explain that when people previously broke 900 years? Only God knows the answer for sure, but there are some decent theories (and combinations thereof) as to why our lifespans are so much shorter, regardless of which health care provider we use.
I for one am glad I won’t likely pass 100 – the reason being is this earth is very broken, and I am thankful I won’t live here for an eternity. 80 years will probably feel long enough.
In conclusion, pre-flood generations could have lived longer due to a healthier earth, fewer genetic deficiencies, and God’s sustaining power. Remember, God originally designed humans and creatures to live forever on this earth, but sin corrupted the physical creation, and it will continue degrading until Jesus comes again (Rom 8:22, Mat 24:37-39).
~ Conqueror in Training