Genesis 6:3 and Human Extinction?

Someone made a thread recently about some doom and gloom in 2008 over in the Predictions and Prophecies forum. Some kind of bizarre reference was made to Genesis 6:3 that was taken out of context, but suddenly I had an epiphany.


In Genesis 6:3 G-d makes a declaration about humanity. Here's the quote: "And the Lord said, "My Spirit will not abide with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."

This has always been interpreted to mean that humans will only live 120 years.

Well I have to say that the Bible itself says that interpretation is wrong.
There were a number of people who lived over 120 Lunar Years. ( Note: The Bible uses Lunar not Roman Julian-Gregorian Solar Calendars)

Here's some of the 120 plus:

Shem= 600 years
Abraham= 175 years
Ishmael= 137 years
Isaac= 180 years
Jacob/Israel= 147 years


This is when I had my epiphany. Those 120 years are not Lunar or Solar. The reference to humanity doesnt mean each human will live individually no more than 120 years. That reference is to the entire species' existence.
This could be seen as a type of Saeculum, a Roman term meaning time appointed by the gods for the existance of a people or civilization.

My interpretation is the verse refers to a "Celestial" year, which I'm still trying to figure out how long that is, and that G-d would be with humanity for 120 of these years. In other words Humanity will exist for 120 Celestial Years and then become extinct. Even stranger is this descision is made after the Bnai Elohim mate or breed with the humans.

The question now is how to figure how long one of these Celestial Years are. Are they 1,000 lunar years long? I highly doubt it has anything what so ever to do with a Julian Solar Year. Could it be a Platonic Great year or an Astrological Age that make up the Platonic Year? A number of cultures around the world also reference a type of Great Year that is around 12,000 solar years each.



[edit on 1/1/08 by MikeboydUS]

reply to post by MikeboydUS


For years I also thought it meant that our lifespans would be limited to 120 years. Even after this declaration from God the Bible continued to list lifespans in the hundreds of years. I justified this contradiction by thinking when Moses transcribed the oral tradition of Genesis to writing, it was because this decree had come into effect by his time.

It even seemed true in modern times when in spite of all of our medical advancement no one lived longer than 120 years if we counted their ages by biblical years. Then after getting some help from another Bible student it dawned on me:

Our years are not limited to 120 years. This is nothing more than a warning to the pre-flood inhabitants that they would have 120 years to repent or else the deluge would come. They didn't so 120 years later the flood destroyed them. When we take the entire context into consideration, this makes perfect sense.

Some end times scholars add 120 years (what they believe to be the time of advanced warning) to 1897 for the first Zionist meeting. Because Israel is a major end time sign, adding 120 years to 1897 (the first "warning sign") brings us to the year 2017 as the end of this age (not the world). This harmonizes with about half a dozen other calculations bringing us to 2017-2018.

[edit on 1/2/2008 by AshleyD]

I watched a show on Discovery Channel about the Temple mount. They went inside the Dome of the Rock and it is the bare rock as the floor, inside. They looked at the rock and found what they thought was the marks from the foundation of the Holy of Holies. It fit the dimentions perfectly. So, I believe we do not have to worry about End Time calculations, as long as that mosque still stands. Zion and Jerusalem, without the throne of God, is of no importance.