One attribute of God that comes out as clear as day in Scripture is His patience.
He is extremely patient.
R.C Sproul writes...
'...Part of the incomprehensibility of God in terms of my own relationship with Him is this: I cannot fathom how a holy God has been able to put up with me marring His creation to the degree I have for three score and five years. For me to live another day requires a continuation of God’s gracious patience with my sin…It becomes even more difficult to fathom when we see a sinless Being being more patient with sinful beings than sinful beings are with each other.'
Sadhu Sundar Singh writes...
'God's patience is infinite. Men, like small kettles, boil quickly with wrath at the least wrong. Not so God. If God were as wrathful, the world would have been a heap of ruins long ago.'
Now, I believe no one in the Bible epitomizes His patience like Methuselah.
For the oldest man who ever lived, not much is said of him.
A few lines is all we get but those few lines are all we need to understand one of God's greatest attributes, as we'll see in a moment.
Now Methuselah was Enoch's son.
Enoch was the first prophet in the Bible; popularly known as one of the only two people in the Bible who never tasted physical death.
Now the Bible tells us that Noah was 600 years old when the flood came. (see Genesis 7:11)
The age difference between Methuselah and Noah, who was his grandson, was 369 years.
We get this by adding Methuselah's age when he fathered Lamech (187 years) to Lamech's age when he fathered Noah (182 years). (see Genesis 5:25-29)
So, if Noah was 600 years in the year God sent the flood, his grandfather Methuselah was 600 + 369 = 969 years.
Now Methuselah did not get to live that long for the sake of it.
His long life actually speaks of God's grace, mercy and patience with man.
You see, Methuselah in Hebrew means 'his death shall bring' or 'when he dies, it will come' speaking of the flood that destroyed all life on earth save for Noah, his family and the animals in the ark.
I bet those who had this revelation during his time, which included his dad, were an anxious lot.
Whenever he caught a cold or a cough it probably sent them into a panic frenzy because they knew his death signified God's imminent judgement.
In keeping him alive for so long, God demonstrated His patience like Peter says in 2 Peter 3:9; that none should perish but that all should be saved.
This is why Methuselah lived longer than anyone else.
God was giving them ample time to turn away from their sinful ways but sadly, that did not happen and Methuselah's death was God's que to send the flood.
Now Methuselah like all the other antediluvian patriarchs, did not die in the flood.
Of the 10, only Noah was around when the flood came and he was saved in the ark.
Some theologians actually believe the same day Methuselah died, it started raining.
Pretty awesome, right?
Here's one more amazing thing...
I mentioned there were 10 antediluvian patriarchs.
Now antediluvian patriarchs are simply biblical characters who lived before the flood (fathers of the human race you might call them).
These included Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and Noah.
Now here’s something amazing about the Hebrew meaning of their names which are listed in Genesis 5...
Adam means 'man' Seth means 'appointed' Enosh means 'mortal' Kenan means 'sorrow' Mahalalel means 'the blessed God' Jared means 'shall come down' Enoch means 'teaching' Methuselah means 'his death shall bring' Lamech means 'the despairing' Noah means 'comfort or rest'
Putting these together, you get...
'Man is appointed mortal sorrow but the blessed God shall come down teaching His death shall bring the despairing comfort/rest'
Sounds like the Gospel, right?
Here’s the bottom line...
God is extremely patient but His patience does run out.
He's long-suffering but He's not forever suffering.
Henry Smith, a 19th century Christian Author, puts it like this…
'Mercy has a heaven and justice a hell to display itself to eternity, but long-suffering has only a short-lived earth.'
God's patience is 'earth long' so if you're not saved, you only have this life to come into the 'Ark' that is Jesus because a second 'flood' is coming...much worse than the first.
I pray the second coming 'flood' of God's judgement finds you in the 'Ark'.
Make the choice to get born again today... right now.
There are a ton of people who died thinking they had time.
Don't be one of them.
God bless you.
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