Methuselah Lived for a Long, Long...Long Time...So...Who Cares!!

Why did Methuselah live such a very long life?  What does that possibly have to do with our lives today?

He was the oldest man of whom we have any record. This very ancient man lived before the Flood, and died at the age of 969 years. Very interestingly the year of his death was the year of the Flood. How about that!  Think that was a coincidence?  Maybe.but possibly there were other reasons.

Methuselah's name is mentioned seven times in the Bible: Genesis 5:21,22 , 25,26,27 ; 1 Chronicles 1:3 ; Luke 3:37 .  The meaning of the name of Methuselah is somewhat uncertain.  Some scholars state that the name of Methuselah means "man of the spear".  Enoch, the man who walked with GOD and was taken to heaven alive, was the father of Methuselah.  It is hard to believe that Enoch, who was also a prophet, would name his son in such a way.  Many ancient and modern scholars have interpreted the name of Methuselah to denote "when he dies it shall be sent".  If this suggestion is correct the inference is that Enoch knew about a coming judgment on man and named his son accordingly.  If Enoch knew a flood was coming he knew it almost 1000 years before it actually occurred.  Did GOD give Enoch a prophetic warning?  Did God give a promise to Enoch that the judgment would not come, as long as Methuselah lived?  Did Enoch give his son, Methuselah a name to commemorate the prophetic warning?

It is interesting to contemplate exactly what Methuselah might have thought about the coming judgment as he watched his grandson, Noah, building an ark for so many years.  Did he believe he would die before judgment?  Did he and Noah discuss the subject?  Did Methuselah have a keen interest in the project plan and building schedule?

Methuselah lived for almost 1000 years.  Was that significant? 

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden God told them that if they took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that "in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die". But Adam lived on until he was 930 years old before dying. It seems that Adam and Eve did not die "in that day".  When meditating on scripture it is useful to compare scripture with scripture and then listen to GOD.  In the New Testament Peter said the following

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day 2 Peter 3:8

When overlaying this scripture with Adams long life we can see that Adam died some 70 years before that "day" of a thousand years was terminated. Was this what GOD meant?  You be the judge.  It is an interesting subject for meditation.

There may be an even greater reason Methuselah lived longer than anyone else in recorded history.  Peter, again in the New Testament, makes some astounding statements as to the character of GOD.  The first is as follows:

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Peter also states that GOD was patient and longsuffering in the days of Methuselah as well as now.

.Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.  1 Peter 3:20.

If God really did give Enoch some insight to coming judgment (almost a thousand years ahead of time).and if Enoch named his son to commemorate, and highlight to the world, GOD's prophetic warning, then the length of time Methuselah lived on this earth (more than anyone else) is a testament to the longsuffering that GOD has towards man on earth.even evil men on earth, even me, even you. 

GOD waited in the days of Noah, not willing that any should perish.  If the days today are like the days of Noah then it follows that GOD is waiting now, still not willing that any should perish.  The fact that Methuselah lived longer than anyone else could very well be a testament of GOD's longsuffering and love towards us today as we live in the last days before another coming judgment.