Wednesday, August 7, 2013

WORLD HISTORY BIBLE CHRONOLOGY PART XX LONG LIFE SPANS



Hello everyone!

Hope your week was as good if not better than mine! I was able to enjoy the company of both old and new friends. That is always a good recipe.

This week we are going to move along in world history chronology. We have touched on the subject of The Flood, dispersal of mankind (and animals), The Ice Age, and both man and animals including the dinosaurs living at the same time. And I believe we have established sufficiently that dinosaurs/dragons survived the flood and have live with mankind ever since. So what happened next?

I guess this would be the best time to address the strange but fascinating fact of long life spans. Many places in the Old Testament refer to the longevity of life for the Pre-Flood and immediate generations of the
Post-Flood people. For example, Noah was 500 years old when he began construction on the ark, which took 100 years to build. So he was 600 years old when The Flood came. He then lived another “…three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.” (Genesis 9:28-29). Adam lived a long life as well “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.” (Genesis 5:5). “And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.” (Genesis 5:8). Enos lived nine hundred and five years, Canan lived nine hundred and ten years, and there are many more long lived people written about in Genesis.

There are actually, two major factors involved in the prolonged life spans of the peoples who lived in the former world; environment and genetics.

Environmental causes:

            The Pre-Flood world was quite different from the world today. Some of these factors would aid in the longevity of life. For example:


            First, a global water vapor canopy encircled the earth as told to us in scripture in  Genesis 1:6–8, ‘And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so’ (Genesis 1:7). The bible does not say clouds or thunderheads. This is important because one of water’s properties it that it gives protection against the sun’s ultra violet rays. For example, people who work outside in hot arid environment where there is little moisture in the air tend to wrinkle faster than those who have the same amount of outdoor exposure in foggy, rainy areas such as the far north west. Wrinkles are a sign of the breakdown of epidermal (skin) cells and it is a well known fact that ultra violet rays from the sun contribute to this (thus the invention of sunscreen). With a water vapor surrounding the earth the Pre-Flood people would have been protected from the sun’s harmful rays, which in turn would promote longer life spans.

          
  Second, the topography must have been fairly level since all present mountain ranges are made up of sedimentary rocks or volcanoes attributable to the Flood. Since it didn’t rain before the Flood (Genesis 2:5), yet rivers flowed (2:10), it is reasonable to believe there were great subterranean reservoirs of water. This would have aided in an ideal temperate climate for the Pre-Flood world. It would be similar to the Mediterranean of today minus the intense rays of sun.

Third, physical evidence shows that the oxygen content was greater in the Former World than it is now. Drillings of air bubbles caught in amber and deep within Pre-Flood rock cores both indicate a much higher oxygen level than what is present today. This would
contribute to cellular health and longer life spans.

So what happened? Was the environment the major cause of decreasing life spans? As mentioned above there are other major players in reduced ages. We will take a deeper look next time!

Until then, God bless and take care!
Willow Dressel

This week in the night skies;  Thursday, August 8 The Perseid meteor shower is ramping up! It should peak late this Sunday and Monday nights. See our article Get Ready for the 2013 Perseids and make your plans.”1

References:
1http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance
            Morris, H. M. 2006. The New Defender's Study Bible. Nashville, TN: World Publishing,                             Inc.

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