Is Man Supposed To Live Only For Seventy Years?
Many Christians believe that God gave man only seventy years of life and if he is stronger he may even reach to 80. Many believe they can point to the text that says that – Psa. 90:10. But is that what the Bible really says? This is a classic case of people taking the Bible out of context.
Let us see what the Bible really says and put things in perspective.
Psa. 90:10 says “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
(1) Note that the text says “The days of our years ARE ….” It does not say “The days of our years will/shall be ….” It is not a prophecy. It is a statistic. It is an observation of what was happening at a given point in time.
(2) How do I know that that is merely a statistic? Well, let us look at who wrote that Psalm. It is very revealing. At the top of that psalm is an inscription that says that Moses wrote that Psalm. Deut. 34:7 says that Moses died when he was 120 years – that is 50 years over the 70 mark and 40 years over the 80 years mark. Certainly this data in Psa. 90 did not apply to him nor his brother and sister who died after reaching over 100 years.
(3) There are many people nowadays who live 90 to 100 years. There are even those who live beyond that 100 years mark and there are countless more that do not even reach to see their 2nd birthday. In Gen. 5 we see scores of people who lived more than ten times as long as 70 or 80 years.
Without a doubt Psa. 90:10 was not meant to be a prophecy since the person writing it, Moses, started his life’s mission at 80 years of age! It is only a statistic. Eskimos do not even expect to reach 70 years of age while many mourn the early loss of friends and relativesif they die at 70 years of age.
Let us see what the Bible really says and put things in perspective.
Psa. 90:10 says “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
(1) Note that the text says “The days of our years ARE ….” It does not say “The days of our years will/shall be ….” It is not a prophecy. It is a statistic. It is an observation of what was happening at a given point in time.
(2) How do I know that that is merely a statistic? Well, let us look at who wrote that Psalm. It is very revealing. At the top of that psalm is an inscription that says that Moses wrote that Psalm. Deut. 34:7 says that Moses died when he was 120 years – that is 50 years over the 70 mark and 40 years over the 80 years mark. Certainly this data in Psa. 90 did not apply to him nor his brother and sister who died after reaching over 100 years.
(3) There are many people nowadays who live 90 to 100 years. There are even those who live beyond that 100 years mark and there are countless more that do not even reach to see their 2nd birthday. In Gen. 5 we see scores of people who lived more than ten times as long as 70 or 80 years.
Without a doubt Psa. 90:10 was not meant to be a prophecy since the person writing it, Moses, started his life’s mission at 80 years of age! It is only a statistic. Eskimos do not even expect to reach 70 years of age while many mourn the early loss of friends and relativesif they die at 70 years of age.