Why do we have a 70 to 80-year life expectancy?
Why do we have a 70 to 80-year life expectancy? Good question—have you thought about it? We can find answers by going to the Bible—so let’s dig in! But first, let’s look at Worldometers.info, and find some statistics for the United States. In 2020 females lived an average of 81.7 years and males lived an average of 76.6 years. This gives a combined average of 79.1 years.
Now to the Bible, let’s check the ages of some people from different time frames. Prior to Noah’s Flood (Genesis 5): Adam 930, Seth 912, Methuselah 969, Noah 950, ten patriarchs born before the Flood lived an average of 900 years. After Noah’s Flood: Shem 600, Shelah 433, Peleg 239, Terah 148, post flood patriarchs lived an average of 435 years.
Abraham’s Time: Abraham 175, Isaac 180, Jacob 147
After 400 Year Bondage: Moses 120, Joshua 110
Period of Kings: David 70, Solomon 80
Check out this verse, Psalm 90:10 reads “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away”.
What is this telling us? In context this Psalm is speaking about Israel and its people undergoing God’s judgment for disobeying the Old Covenant. This verse is not specifying an exact length of life for all human beings, rather it is remarking in a general way that most people live between 70 to 80 years, which is still true today.
Now to the nitty-gritty! God created Adam and Eve without sin. They were to live forever with God, but sin entered, Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned”. Here we see that death was not intended to be a part of the perfect world before sin entered.
What is sin? It is anything that comes between you and God. It is an outrage against God.
Death was threatened by God as a penalty for disobedience, Genesis 2:17 “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die”. This is God’s judicial part of the fallen condition—it is a punishment.
Check the years again—900 years down to 435 years down to 175 down to 120 and down to 80! And that is where we are today.
Look to the God, look to the Gospel, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Why do we have a 70 to 80-year life expectancy? Good question—have you thought about it? We can find answers by going to the Bible—so let’s dig in! But first, let’s look at Worldometers.info, and find some statistics for the United States. In 2020 females lived an average of 81.7 years and males lived an average of 76.6 years. This gives a combined average of 79.1 years.
Now to the Bible, let’s check the ages of some people from different time frames. Prior to Noah’s Flood (Genesis 5): Adam 930, Seth 912, Methuselah 969, Noah 950, ten patriarchs born before the Flood lived an average of 900 years. After Noah’s Flood: Shem 600, Shelah 433, Peleg 239, Terah 148, post flood patriarchs lived an average of 435 years.
Abraham’s Time: Abraham 175, Isaac 180, Jacob 147
After 400 Year Bondage: Moses 120, Joshua 110
Period of Kings: David 70, Solomon 80
Check out this verse, Psalm 90:10 reads “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away”.
What is this telling us? In context this Psalm is speaking about Israel and its people undergoing God’s judgment for disobeying the Old Covenant. This verse is not specifying an exact length of life for all human beings, rather it is remarking in a general way that most people live between 70 to 80 years, which is still true today.
Now to the nitty-gritty! God created Adam and Eve without sin. They were to live forever with God, but sin entered, Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned”. Here we see that death was not intended to be a part of the perfect world before sin entered.
What is sin? It is anything that comes between you and God. It is an outrage against God.
Death was threatened by God as a penalty for disobedience, Genesis 2:17 “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die”. This is God’s judicial part of the fallen condition—it is a punishment.
Check the years again—900 years down to 435 years down to 175 down to 120 and down to 80! And that is where we are today.
Look to the God, look to the Gospel, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.