I was just minding my own business,
doing what I do and his name, Methuselah, came to me.
I wondered who he was and what I might learn about God
and how God allowed him to be known in the bible.
We can always learn something about God by his interaction
with any character in the bible.
The way God speaks of them or to them,
the chances He gives them all help us to understand God’s heart better
and help us to understand His patience and His justice.
Methuselah is famous for a few things.
He was Noah’s grandfather.
According to scripture, he lived longer than any man.
And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years:
and he died. Genesis 5:27
He life overlapped with Noah a few hundred years
and he died just before the flood.
He was a descendent of Adam
and he was Enoch’s son.
Enoch was taken up by the Lord without death.
Speculation is that Methuselah may have helped Noah build the ark.
The bible does not give many details about him.
The bible doesn’t say much about his character,
but it seems he was a godly man, a good man,
being Enoch’s son and Noah’s grandfather.
Sometimes people are just given a steady influence.
They aren’t more or less important than anyone else,
they just have a solid influence in life.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t unique or dearly loved by others and God.
You’ve heard of some moms being considered the glue
that holds the family together.
Some people are just there to love and to be good examples,
wise souls who share God’s love every day, day in and day out.
We need those solid ones.
There are so many of us that are not as consistent,
as well as those who never seem to make much of a difference.
The solid, strong people are foundational.
They aren’t too boisterous, but they are always there, to lend an ear,
to say a kind word, to help out when we’re overwhelmed,
to pray, to speak God’s wisdom.
We need people like that in our lives, in our world.
The solid ones. The ones we can rely on.
I suspect this was Methuselah’s style.
I have noticed many people have been dying lately in our world.
All sorts of different reasons.
Mainly illnesses and often very unexpected.
I couldn’t help but relate this fact to Methuselah,
how he died right before the flood.
I have thought often of my second mom who died not too many years ago.
She would not have been able to handle this world, to live in this evilness.
I think the Lord spared her.
As hard as it is to lose someone, you never know,
maybe they could not have been able to bear what we are having to bear.
If God chooses to take someone home,
maybe considering the rough times we are entering
might help us realize that God is sovereign
and He knows what each person is capable of tolerating.
Isn’t God the One who has our days laid out for us?
Don’t we die at our appointed time?
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Ecclesiastes 3:2
My second mom said this quote often:
Life ain’t for sissies.
She was one of the solid ones, one of the good examples,
who loved and had good, wise words to share.
That was her legacy.
And she left at her appointed time.
And looking back, it was just the right time for her.
Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee,
thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; Job 14:5