The Number Of God’s Grace

In the book of Genesis Moses states that the oldest person in history died at 969. His name was Methuselah.

Methuselah had a lineage of spiritual giants. His father was Enoch, one of only two people in scripture to never die. Moses simply says that Enoch walked with God and “then he was not” because God took him. Enoch was so righteous he did not die, something true of only one other person, Elijah.

Methuselah’s grandson was one the most well known people in all of history. We are told when his grandson Noah was born, Methuselah was 369.

These numbers are not so mysterious, nor are they recorded for informational purposes only. It is important to remember that Enoch was a prophet, and as a prophet he had revelation of things to come. In that revelation he purposefully named his son “Methuselah” for reasons that will become evident.

Genesis 7:6 tells us that Noah was 600 years old when the flood came. If Methuselah was 369 years old when Noah was born, that means that Methuselah was 969 years old when the flood came.

To reiterate, Methuselah was 969 years old when the waters came upon the earth, and Methuselah was 969 years old when he died. In short, Methuselah died when the flood came. Herein lies the picture of God’s grace.

The word Methuselah means “when he dies, the flood will come.” People often think of Noah preaching about the coming flood, but in reality long before his message there was the person of Methuselah, a living, breathing metaphor for people to see. He was a spiritual picture of the call to trust in God’s grace and turn from sin.

God proclaimed that there was a consequence to sin, the flood, but he also said if people would turn from sin they would be saved. How long did he give people to recognize this message? He gave them 969 years to see and believe, watching Methuselah century after century.

Peter sums it up like this, “God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Why hasn’t Jesus come back yet after 2000 years? So people can turn to God for forgiveness. Why did the flood take almost a thousand years to come? So people could turn to God for forgiveness.

God said, “when he dies, it will come.” Methuselah did not died at 20, or 75, or 500, he died at 969. It is a picture of mercy. From the beginning of scripture to the end of scripture, we find the answer to the mess of the world in one word, grace.