METHUSELAH
Enoch’s Prediction of the Great Flood
by Greg
Alston
July 2020
Methuselah is the patriarch of Genesis
5:22-27; the son of the prophet Enoch who was caught up to
heaven without dying. Since Enoch was a prophet, God
gave him information concerning the future. It is stated
by many theologians that Methuselah’s name means, “When he
dies, it (the Flood) shall be sent.” And most Bible scholars
agree that he died just days before Noah entered the
ark. It is commonly accepted that Methuselah was born
687 years after Adam was created, and the Flood occurred 1,656
years after Adam. Methuselah’s lifespan of 969 years
(Genesis 5:26) corroborates this timeline (1,656–687 =
969).
Biblical chronology places the year of
the Flood in 2,344 B.C., which was 1,656 years from
Adam. God said in Genesis 6:3 (2,464 B.C.) that the
Flood would begin in another 120 years. It is widely
accepted that Methuselah was born 3,320-3,310 B.C. This
author believes the biblical genealogies point most accurately
to 3,313 B.C. which was 687 years after Adam was created in
4,000 B.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Genesis_patriarchs. Methuselah lived to be 969 years,
so he would have been 849 years old when God said that He
would flood the earth 120 years later (969-120 = 849).
A common mistake is to cite Genesis 5:32
as proof that Noah was 500 years old when God said that the
Flood would come in 120 years. Since Noah was 600 years
when the Flood began (Genesis 7:6), it would mean there was
just 100 years, not 120. The 100-year time frame is
viable ONLY if Genesis 5 and 6 are chronological in the events
described - which they are not. The whole of Genesis 5
is a parenthetical genealogy dating all the way back to
Adam. The events of Genesis 6 are NOT sequential to
Genesis 5 - the context is altogether different.
Therefore, God’s pronouncement of 120-years must have been
made sometime during the stated genealogy of Genesis 5.
I submit it was made when Methuselah was 849 years old
(969-120 = 849).
Years of a Man’s Life
Some erroneously state that the 120 years
in Genesis 6:3 refers to the life span of human beings.
If that were accurate, all the people born after the Flood
would live to 120 years. However, that did not
happen. 500 years after the Flood people were living
well beyond 120 years (Genesis 11). Arphaxad was born
after the Flood and lived to be 438 (Genesis 11:12, 13).
Many years later, Abraham reached 175 (Genesis 25:7) and
Isaac, 180. The notion that God changed man’s years to
120 in Genesis 6:3 is fabricated and not founded in fact.
Years to Build the Ark
God first spoke to Noah in
Genesis 6:13, which as explained above, was some period of
time AFTER God spoke in Genesis 6:3 concerning the 120-year
period to the Flood. The 120-year pronouncement was made when
Methuselah was 849 years old (see above), or 1,536 years from
the creation of Adam. So construction began sometime
after 1,536 F.A. (from Adam) and was completed AT LEAST seven
days before the Flood began on the 17th day of
Heshvan 1,656, which was the month of November (Genesis
7:10,11). It is unknowable the exact year that Noah
started building, but we DO know he was AT LEAST 500 years old
(Genesis 5:32). Based on the ages of Noah’s sons, we can
surmise that construction of the ark took about 70
years.
Also see: https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/how-long-did-it-take-for-noah-to-build-the-ark/