Lifespans from Ancient Times till Today

The first several generations of humans
lived very long lives--to the tune of nearly
1,000 years. But the Great Flood--which
covered the whole earth and brought much
destruction, which took place some few thou-
sand years ago--took its toll on man's
longevity. Peoples’ lifespan after the Flood
barely halved that of Adam’s (the first man
on earth, who lived till 930 years). None,
whose birth occurred after the Flood, ever
lived quite as long as him.

The oldest man who has ever lived was
Methuselah, who was recorded to have
lived 969 years! He lived before the
Flood.

Biblical records show those
born after the Flood (about three
generations) lived some 400+ years.
The next 3 to 5 generations only lived
till around 200+ years, after which
lifespan scaled right down to 100+.
For interest’s sake, Abraham, former-
ly known as Abram (who lived some four
thousand years ago), the father of
many nations, and a man of faith, and
for that he was reckoned as righteous
by God Almighty, died when he was 175
years old. His wife, Sarah or Sarai,
passed away at 127, nearly five decades
before him (this may be an exception
rather than the rule during her time,
I don't know, although my first inclination
was to believe this is so; her earlier demise
certainly runs counter to present-day
trend when women tend to live longer than
men. The fact was, until the advancement
in medicine, women died earlier because
a high rate of them died in childbirth).
Several hundred years later, another
man stood out in history: Moses is his
name. Moses--the central figure featured
in the classic film, The Ten Commandments
(remember that character?)--died at 120.
Following Moses' death, some 240 years
later, came King David (c. 1037 - 967 BC)
who observed average lifespans of 70 to 80
(these dipped for various reasons, but crept
back up again in recent times¹). Except for
the age of specific people referred to, the
above life spans are of course ballpark fig-
ures but they do give us a clear indication
of the rapid decline of the length of human
life after what must have been massive
changes in the environment as a result of
the Great Flood that destroyed mankind on
planet earth, save only eight persons who
lived to tell the story².

Of course, there are exceptions to the
above trend, but the good news is, with
the advancement of knowledge, expected
lifespan has been climbing back up! Yes,
we are indeed living in an exciting age
when we are actually going against the
above down-spiraling trend.

In Japan, for instance, the number of
people living beyond 100 years has been
increasing since the 1970s. This acceler-
ated since the mid 1990s.

In September 2006, the Japanese government
proudly announced,


“The number of Japanese living beyond
100 has almost quadrupled in the past 10
years, with the once-exclusive centenarian
club soon expected to surpass 28,000”
(according to a January 29, 2007 Associated
Press article).


This number has since gone up, and will no
doubt, continue to escalate. As a matter of
fact, let me quote the following, again
from the same article:


“Its (Japan’s) centenarian population
is expected to reach nearly 1 million —
the world's largest — by 2050, according
to U.N. projections.”


But it's not just happening in Japan alone!


“The longest unambiguously documented
lifespan is that of Jeanne Calment of
France (1875–1997), who died aged
122 years and 164 days.” –Wikipedia


Beyond any doubt, the number of people
worldwide, who will live over a hundred
years will rise at a significant rate,
given the explosion of knowledge and the
opportunities available to help oneself.

Who knows, we might even live as long
as 1,000 years (back to Methuselah’s age)
with the right knowledge and wisdom, of
course, and with a simulated environment
that can equal, if not almost equal, that
enjoyed by the first man. That may sound
impossible, but who would argue against
that possibility? With God, everything
is possible, isn't it?



¹ During the Classical Greece (4th-5th
Century B.C.) and Classical Rome (founded
in the 9th century B.C.) periods, people
expected to live 20-30 years. As recent
as 1900 A.D., the life expectancy of
Americans was less than 50 years of age
(while human life expectancy worldwide
was 30-40). This short life expectancy
apparently was mainly due to infectious
diseases such as typhoid and poliomyel-
itis. The high rate of infant mortality
also contributed to this. But the intro-
duction of public health facilities and
modern medicine changed all that, espec-
ially in industrialised nations, where
only a few die from such causes today.
Presently, life expectancy varies from
country to country depending on such
factors as the standard of public health
amenities, the availability of modern
medicines like antibiotics, and standards
of living (which determines the level of
nutrition, for example). Today's estimated
worldwide life expectancy is about 66
years, according to Wikipedia.

² Well, you know who they were! One of
them of course was Noah. Noah, his wife
and three sons (Japheth, Shem and Ham),
and their wives survived. In obedience
to God’s command, Noah with his family's
help, built an Ark. From these families,
we all descended. The rest of the people
living at the time unfortunately did not
heed Noah's warnings to enter the Ark,
and so they all perished. The Flood
was God's judgment upon the wickedness
in the land. Noah, born 600 years
before the Deluge lived another 350
years after It, till the ripe old age
of 950.