Wickedness Of Man Was Great

The Matter of Extreme Longevity and Decreasing Life Spans, 
as Chronicled in the Book of Genesis.

And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, 

and breathed into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of life; 

and man became a living soul. 

(Gen. 2:7)

William Etty's “The World Before the Flood”

• Breath of Life
• Everlasting Life
• Soul Became Immortal
• Adam Fell 
• Life Span 912 Years
• Life Span Problems
• Deaden Conscience
• The Flood
• Life Span 120 Years
• Life Span 110 Years
• By Natural Laws
• Life Span 80 Years

Everlasting Life

Because man now possessed a spirit, he could live forever physically (having everlasting life, as distinguished from eternal life). This is indicated by the phrase "man became a living soul." Although man already had a soul before receiving a spirit, his existence then was only temporal. In God's eyes (Him being eternal), if a being does not have either an everlasting life or an eternal life, that being is not really living. In order to have either an everlasting life or an eternal life, a being must have a spiritual existence.

Soul Became Immortal

Due to the close bond between the spirit and the soul, man's soul became immortal when he acquired a spirit.

Adam Fell

If Adam had not fallen, he would have lived forever physically. But as we have already seen, Adam fell, causing his body to become the corrupted flesh, his soul to be controlled by the Satanic nature in his flesh, and his spirit to become darkened and deadened.

Life Span 912 Years

Even so, having a spirit offset the effect of the fallen flesh to the extent that Adam and his offspring down to Noah had an average life span of 912 years (This average does not take into account Enoch, who was translated directly by God and did not experience physical death.)

Life Span Problems

However, life span of this length soon caused problems.

And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man 
was great in the earth and that every imagination 
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 

(Gen. 6:5)

Deaden Conscience

As we have seen, because of the Fall, man's spirit was darkened to the extent that the conscience was the only function of his spirit still active. From the moment of birth, the conditions man encounters in this world begin to deaden his conscience. With their lengthy life spans, the conscience of Adam's offspring became deadened to the extent that men became utterly wicked.

The Flood 

Although it is this author's opinion that the Flood was mainly for another reason (genetic purity), the decision by God to bring forth the flood at this time seems to have been precipitated in part by this extreme extent of man's wickedness.

Life Span 120 Years

At this point, to prevent a recurrence of the problems caused by these lengthy life spans, God limited the life span of man's physical existence to 120 years.

And Jehovah said, 

My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, 

for that he also is flesh: 
yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years. 

(Gen. 6:3)

Life Span 110 Years

Therefore, immediately after the Flood, the life span of Adam's descendants began to shorten until by the time of Joseph (thirteen generations after Noah), man's life span had decreased to the limit of 120 years set by God.

So Joseph died, 

being a hundred and ten years old 

(Gen. 50:26).

By Natural Laws

By the fact that the limit was reached only after thirteen generations, we see that God did not impose the limit of 120 years instantaneously. This is exactly what we should expect, taking into account once again the ramifications of free will. The ramifications of free will would indicate not only that such a divine intervention not be instantaneous, as this would be too indicative of such an intervention, but also that such a divine intervention be carried out by means of the natural laws of the physical universe.

A very plausible substantiation of a scientifically valid cause of this decreasing life span is ably presented in the book The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch.

Life Span 80 Years

Evidently the limit of 120 years was still too excessive for man's spiritual welfare, since God later imposed a shorter limit of seventy to eighty years.

The days of our years are threescore years and ten, 

Or even by reason of strength fourscore years; 

(Ps. 90:10).

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