‘Methuselah’, the Patience of God


And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. (Gen 5:27)


The length of days of Methuselah reminds us of the patience of God in a situation of going grossly out of God’s created order of things in which one of the saddest statement was recorded in Scripture; ‘And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart’ (Gen 6:6). It is as though parents regretted having their children. Methuselah means ‘when he dies, it shall be sent’ which is the mark of the coming of the flood in Noah’s days. God had to grieved for as long as until He found a remnant that is just and upright (Gen 6:9).


The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2Pet 3:9)


Can Jesus find in this generation those who have the same spirit and heart as Noah for He will be returning soon to judge the quick and the dead (1 Pet 4:5)? Do we share the same grief that He has for the world? Just as important, do we share His desire that none should perish? Knowing His desire, how do we pattern our lives? Our ‘willingness’ in life tells of the condition of our heart if we live for ourselves and self-interest or for His. One of the greatest conflicts in human history is not with the devil, it is on the grounds of ‘will’. The message for us is do we fall under God's condition of being patient with us or are among those who have found ‘grace in the eyes of the LORD’ (Gen 6:8).