And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
Enos lived a literal nine hundred and five years and then died, with no record of illness or prolonged suffering at the end. He stands among the patriarchs from Adam to Noah who lived nearly a thousand years, the nine generations before the Flood averaging nine hundred and twelve years. That longevity came from the great vital force given to man at creation and the life-giving power of the tree of life passed down from Adam and Eve, who could not die while they ate of it. After the Flood lifespans fell steadily to between one and two hundred years by the Egyptian bondage, to seventy years in the days of Moses and David, and to about thirty years at present, because accumulated transgression and violation of the laws of life brought increasing disease and mortality.
Long Life and Decline
Genesis 5:11 records as literal history that Enos lived nine hundred and five years, and he died, presenting his death as the simple close of a long life with no mention of illness or prolonged suffering. His lifespan exemplifies the patriarchs from Adam to Noah who, with few exceptions, lived nearly a thousand years. The nine generations before the Flood averaged nine hundred and twelve years.
That longevity came from the original endowment given to man and from the life-giving power of the tree of life transmitted from Adam and Eve. The tree of life had power to perpetuate life, so that while Adam and Eve ate of it they could not die, and that vitality passed to those born after them. The nearly thousand-year lives prove the race was created with about ten times more vital force than it now possesses, together with original size, physical strength, and intellectual power.
After Noah and the Flood lifespans tapered steadily, averaging three hundred and thirty-two years across the nine generations after the Flood. They fell to between one and two hundred years by the time of Egyptian bondage. By the time of Moses and of David, about halfway from Adam to the present, the average of human life was only seventy years, and at present it is about thirty-five or thirty years in Europe and the United States and twenty years in great cities. Human lifespans shortened after Noah and continued to decline through later generations.
The shortening of life and the increase of disease, pain, sickness, and mortality through successive generations show the race falling off in size and strength in proportion to length of days. This decline was caused by accumulated transgression under the original curse and by continued violations of the laws of life and health and of natural law. Violation of God's laws of health and life cut human years down to this short length and filled them with pain and disease from birth, for otherwise those violations would have extinguished the race long ago. The decline became rapid from Noah's time when flesh began to be eaten for food.
Knowledge, Power, and Judgment
Before the Flood men lived for hundreds of years with great physical and mental vigor. Their memories were strong, able to grasp what was communicated to them and to retain it and transmit it unimpaired to posterity without books or written records. Adam was formed in God's image and pronounced good, and was instructed by God in all wisdom pertaining to the material world. He learned the history of creation from the Creator Himself, witnessed the events of nine centuries, and imparted his knowledge to his descendants. For hundreds of years seven generations lived upon the earth at the same time and consulted together, so that each profited by the knowledge and experience of all, giving them in merely human knowledge far greater advantages than modern men have through the planned, studied, and written work left by their predecessors.
The very long lives recorded in Genesis 5:3-32 let what God taught Adam be handed down directly through few links to Jacob. Adam lived until Methuselah was 243 years old. Methuselah lived until Shem son of Noah was 98. Shem lived 150 years after the birth of Abraham and 50 years after the birth of Isaac. Abraham lived until Jacob and Esau were 15 and Isaac until they were 120, so knowledge passed from Adam to Methuselah to Shem to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel.
Before the Flood human existence was still measured by centuries because only a few generations had passed since Adam had access to the tree that prolongs life, so the race still kept much of its early vigor. The people then had rare powers to plan and execute, with great stature, strength, wisdom and skill for devising cunning and wonderful works. These powers were given to serve God, to make the Creator's name a praise in the earth, and to answer the purpose for giving them life.
Enos belonged to that long-lived race before the Flood. Righteous men in that time including Seth, Enoch, Noah, Methuselah and others kept the knowledge of God continually before the world. But the people despised the truth as people despise the truth today, the imaginations of their hearts being evil and only evil continually. Secret societies were formed to work in darkness to do violence, and they gave loose rein to wrongdoing. Their guilt grew in proportion to their skill and mental ability, and the Lord destroyed that long-lived race by a flood.
Enos lived a literal nine hundred and five years and then died, with no record of illness or prolonged suffering at the end. He stands among the patriarchs from Adam to Noah who lived nearly a thousand years, the nine generations before the Flood averaging nine hundred and twelve years. That longevity came from the great vital force given to man at creation and the life-giving power of the tree of life passed down from Adam and Eve, who could not die while they ate of it. After the Flood lifespans fell steadily to between one and two hundred years by the Egyptian bondage, to seventy years in the days of Moses and David, and to about thirty years at present, because accumulated transgression and violation of the laws of life brought increasing disease and mortality.
Long Life and Decline
Genesis 5:11 records as literal history that Enos lived nine hundred and five years, and he died, presenting his death as the simple close of a long life with no mention of illness or prolonged suffering. His lifespan exemplifies the patriarchs from Adam to Noah who, with few exceptions, lived nearly a thousand years. The nine generations before the Flood averaged nine hundred and twelve years.
That longevity came from the original endowment given to man and from the life-giving power of the tree of life transmitted from Adam and Eve. The tree of life had power to perpetuate life, so that while Adam and Eve ate of it they could not die, and that vitality passed to those born after them. The nearly thousand-year lives prove the race was created with about ten times more vital force than it now possesses, together with original size, physical strength, and intellectual power.
After Noah and the Flood lifespans tapered steadily, averaging three hundred and thirty-two years across the nine generations after the Flood. They fell to between one and two hundred years by the time of Egyptian bondage. By the time of Moses and of David, about halfway from Adam to the present, the average of human life was only seventy years, and at present it is about thirty-five or thirty years in Europe and the United States and twenty years in great cities. Human lifespans shortened after Noah and continued to decline through later generations.
The shortening of life and the increase of disease, pain, sickness, and mortality through successive generations show the race falling off in size and strength in proportion to length of days. This decline was caused by accumulated transgression under the original curse and by continued violations of the laws of life and health and of natural law. Violation of God's laws of health and life cut human years down to this short length and filled them with pain and disease from birth, for otherwise those violations would have extinguished the race long ago. The decline became rapid from Noah's time when flesh began to be eaten for food.
Knowledge, Power, and Judgment
Before the Flood men lived for hundreds of years with great physical and mental vigor. Their memories were strong, able to grasp what was communicated to them and to retain it and transmit it unimpaired to posterity without books or written records. Adam was formed in God's image and pronounced good, and was instructed by God in all wisdom pertaining to the material world. He learned the history of creation from the Creator Himself, witnessed the events of nine centuries, and imparted his knowledge to his descendants. For hundreds of years seven generations lived upon the earth at the same time and consulted together, so that each profited by the knowledge and experience of all, giving them in merely human knowledge far greater advantages than modern men have through the planned, studied, and written work left by their predecessors.
The very long lives recorded in Genesis 5:3-32 let what God taught Adam be handed down directly through few links to Jacob. Adam lived until Methuselah was 243 years old. Methuselah lived until Shem son of Noah was 98. Shem lived 150 years after the birth of Abraham and 50 years after the birth of Isaac. Abraham lived until Jacob and Esau were 15 and Isaac until they were 120, so knowledge passed from Adam to Methuselah to Shem to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel.
Before the Flood human existence was still measured by centuries because only a few generations had passed since Adam had access to the tree that prolongs life, so the race still kept much of its early vigor. The people then had rare powers to plan and execute, with great stature, strength, wisdom and skill for devising cunning and wonderful works. These powers were given to serve God, to make the Creator's name a praise in the earth, and to answer the purpose for giving them life.
Enos belonged to that long-lived race before the Flood. Righteous men in that time including Seth, Enoch, Noah, Methuselah and others kept the knowledge of God continually before the world. But the people despised the truth as people despise the truth today, the imaginations of their hearts being evil and only evil continually. Secret societies were formed to work in darkness to do violence, and they gave loose rein to wrongdoing. Their guilt grew in proportion to their skill and mental ability, and the Lord destroyed that long-lived race by a flood.