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DAVID'S EMAIL BIBLE STUDY:
A. INTRODUCTION
...Aging is an issue from the moment we are born. Forever after we are getting older. For much of life that is an advantage. We lose our baby teeth, get our driver's license, go to college, get a job, and get promoted. We get better at golf, work, decision making. BUT, at some point we cross a line from "maturing" to just getting old. Some of it is observable: gray hair, going bald, wrinkles, and "slowing down". Some of it is imposed by society: forced retirement, condescension, less value to society or the economy. Older people/senior citizens/golden agers/elderly are not the "prized demographic" for advertisers and therefore the media. So.... are there any lessons to be learned from old people in the Bible?!? Let's find out.
C. SUMMARY: Genesis 5 quickly takes us through the first 10 generations, from Adam to Noah. For each generation it tells at what age the first born male was born, then how many years the Dads lived after, all the while having more children. And then each man dies at a ripe old age, 500, 700, even 969! Except for Enoch who, the Bible says, "Walked with God and was taken away" (verse 24). When the list comes to NOAH, in Genesis 6:5-7, we are told that the world had become so violent and evil that God decides to wipe out all creation (except for Noah, his family, and 2 of every animal). Genesis 6:1-4 provides a mysterious interlude that describes marriages between "sons of God and daughters of man" and behavior that angers God so that God caps lifespan at 120. These verses also introduce a legendary group, Nephilim, heroes of some mystery.
D.
KEY POINTS:
1.
Soylent Green
was an awful science fiction movie that suggested killing off old people, cooking hem, and turning them into an energy food (soylent green) for younger people. A Colorado Governor once had a similar idea. Why? Because the modern world views older people as non-productive, i.e. good for nothing. Not so in the ancient Biblical world. These old men were literally productive into their hundreds. How so? We can argue that such stories are fantasy, or ancient peoples counted time differently. BUT, even if time was counted differently the Bible is saying these guys lived a long time. And, fantasy is based on something that is somehow doable. A prominent scientist friend told me he had no trouble believing even Methuselah's 969 years. Go back 5,000 years, take pollutants out of the air and filth out of the rivers, eat healthy, do physical labor, walk everywhere. The story, even at extremes, is doable and believable, he said.
2. SO WHAT??!! Can we live meaningful, "productive", fun lives at the upper end of today's life span, into our 80's and 90's? How? ENOCH lived to be 365, and in that life "walked with God." His end result (like Elijah's) was a life and end of life that were wonderful, meaningful, and faithful. The practical application for us is to live our lives with an intimacy with God. Think of the people you are "intimate" with, and what it is that makes that relationship so special. Then try that with God, and bring those qualities into your daily life. Like: commitment, time, patience, listening, forgiveness, balance, perspective, openness, closeness, honesty. And two more: belief, and love. The most amazing older people I know life that list. However old you get to live, that is going to be a good life.
3.
Anonymous. A friend told me that they are working on a prayer and hope to have it done by the end of the summer. This was one of the most inspiring conversations of my life. Here is a successful person choosing a long term effort to create a most truthful expression of faith. This is "walking with God," a living prayer, something organic and dynamic and vital. Try it and you will feel better living your days, however many.
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