Yes, it is possible. God has not limited human life to 120 years. This interpretation, which says that a person can only live for 120 years is a misinterpretation of Genesis 6:3:
And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
The context for the entire Genesis 6 makes it very clear that God was prophesying concerning the flood. God said, people’s sin is overwhelming so I will wipe this evil generation after 120 years.
If this statement is true that God set a limit for human`s age to 120 years, God would be a liar, because many people lived much longer than 120 years after this statement. Genesis chapter 11:10-26 record many people who live more than 120 years and also Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Ishmael and Sarah lived longer than 120 years. (Genesis 23:1, 25:7, 25:17, 35:28, 47:28).
People who are against this view often use the argument that Noah started building the ark when he was 500 years Genesis 5:32 and Noah was 600 years old when the flood came Genesis 7:6, a period of 100 years and not 120 years prophesied in Genesis 6:3. But, Genesis 5:32 says nothing about building the ark and there is no reason not to believe that Noah could very well have started to build the ark when he was 480, 20 years before Genesis 5:32, as the prophecy came two verses after Genesis 5:32 does not mean that it was prophesied immediately after Genesis 5:32 when Noah was 500 years old, a lot of things in the Bible are not in chronological order. Or which is most likely that God prophesied that flood would come about 120 years in Genesis 6:3, and that God waited 20 years before he told Noah to build the ark, then Noah’s children were old enough to help him to build the ark. This is not in any means a contradiction to the Scripture.
Another argument put forward by people who do not believe that Genesis 6:3 is a prophecy on the flood but that it is a maximum age of 120 years, it is the reduction of age after the tide. This is a very good question! But there is really no explanation on this issue. There are several different ideas for example, where people genetically cleaner during this time period and will not be affected so much of genetic diseases and weakness that has been passed from generation to generation. Another explanation is that no rain had yet fallen on the earth and “the mist above” (Genesis 1:7-8) prevent cosmic rays from reaching the earth. This made some of the factors that affect aging less noticeable. The Bible gives us no answer we can only assume. But in view of the fact that human still lived more than 120 years, and the whole context of Genesis 6:3 we can say that Genesis 6:3 is a prophecy about the coming tide, and not a man age limit. A person can very well live for more than 120 years.
More teachings with Aly-Sam Botros
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