Question:
I noticed that the age of Methuselah was 969 years old. I figured out Noah’s age and it shows that Methuselah died that same year as the flood. Did He die in the flood?
Answer:
Some people do think that Methuselah died in the flood, but I think that he died just before the flood came.
I say this because Methuselah is the oldest recorded man to ever live in the Bible. The Bible gives a promise for long life. Ephesians 6:1-3 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, AND THOU MAYEST LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.” With this very specific promise in the Bible, I believe that Methuselah must have been a very good example of honoring his parents, because God allowed him to live to be the oldest.
His dad, Enoch, obviously had a very close spiritual walk with God. Genesis 5:22-24 says, “And ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD: AND HE WAS NOT; FOR GOD TOOK HIM.” The New Testament assures us that God did not take him in anger one day when he got out of line — quite to the contrary. Hebrews 11:5 says, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for BEFORE HIS TRANSLATION HE HAD THIS TESTIMONY, THAT HE PLEASED GOD.”
What did Enoch do in his life that pleased God so much? Jude 14,15 tells us, “And ENOCH ALSO, the seventh from Adam, PROPHESIED of these, saying, BEHOLD, THE LORD COMETH with ten thousands of his saints, TO EXECUTE JUDGMENT UPON ALL, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Enoch was a preacher of righteousness. He preached that men better repent of their sin and get right with God, because judgment was going to fall.
If Methuselah honored his dad, he would have had to take heed to his dad’s message, and get right with God.
We know that Noah’s message was one like that of Enoch, warning men to repent and get right with God, because judgment was coming. II Peter 2:5 says, “And spared not the old world, but saved NOAH the eighth person, A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.” Would Methuselah have honored his dad’s very similar message, and then reject Noah’s? It is possible, but it does not seem very probable to me.
Isaiah 57:1 says, “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that THE RIGHTEOUS IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE EVIL TO COME.” I think this was the case with Methuselah, that he was “taken away,” that is, he died, just before the flood, and thus was kept from the judgment that took away the ungodly. These are my thoughts when considering all of the Scripture, but we know that Solomon did not listen to the Lord when he got old, and that is a possibility with Methuselah as well. I Kings 11:4 says, “For it came to pass, WHEN SOLOMON WAS OLD, THAT HIS WIVES TURNED AWAY HIS HEART…”
The life of Methuselah is a good challenge to our generation. To young people — honor your parents. To elderly people — faithfully serve God all of your days.