80, 120, and the Last Days

I started writing this last week, but with the death of Phil Robertson at 79, I thought I would release it today.

In Genesis, we see that men lived to be nearly 1,000 years old. From Adam until the days of Noah, lifespans regularly exceeded 900 years:

"And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died."
—Genesis 5:5 (KJV)

But after the flood, there was a dramatic decline:

  • Shem lived 600 years (Genesis 11:10-11)

  • Eber lived 464 years (Genesis 11:14-17)

  • Abraham lived 175 years (Genesis 25:7)

  • Moses lived 120 years (Deuteronomy 34:7)

Each generation saw a step down in longevity.

A Prophetic Measure: Psalm 90:10

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
—Psalm 90:10 (KJV)

This verse isn’t from David, as most Psalms are. It comes from Moses himself:

"A Prayer of Moses the man of God."
—Psalm 90:1 (KJV)

Let that settle in. The only Psalm explicitly attributed to Moses is Psalm 90—a Psalm about time, aging, frailty, and the eternal nature of God. Moses didn’t just live these realities—he wrote them. He watched generations pass, burying his family and friends in the wilderness. And yet, through it all, he walked with God.

When Moses says the average lifespan is 70 or 80, he isn't guessing. He’s offering a divine measure, a prophetic benchmark. Even though he himself lived to 120, he recognized that man's strength fades long before that.

"And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated."
—Deuteronomy 34:7 (KJV)

His life proves something: It wasn’t Moses' strength that carried him. It was God within him.

Drawn from the Water

Moses was drawn from the water (Exodus 2:10). His name literally means "to be drawn out."

"And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water."
—Exodus 2:10 (KJV)

I believe the water within Moses was not just symbolic—it was prophetic. He had the water of life in him. In Genesis 1:2, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Water was always connected to life, to God's Spirit. But after the fall, and more so after the flood, the waters were corrupted.

Humanity began consuming things other than water: wine, tea, coffee, strong drink. We are the only species that drinks anything other than natural water, save for creatures like the hummingbird, who feed on natural nectar.

Could it be that by moving away from pure water, we've shortened our lives? The ailments we face—cancers, heart conditions, fatigue, decay—they may trace back to a substitution of what God intended to sustain us.

And I say all this while sipping my third cup of coffee—a former coffee company owner myself. But truth is truth.

Time Is Speeding Up

We are now living in a season where even time itself seems to be speeding up.

"Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."
—Matthew 24:22 (KJV)

Even secular sources are noticing the change:

CBS News: Earth is spinning faster – a second may need to be removed from world clocks

In my screenplay (perhaps someday it becomes a film), I explore a place where time slows down—and a character lives over 3,500 years without aging. But even in fiction, truth is buried. The eternal breaks into time when the water of life and the Spirit of God remain within a person.

Why 70? Why 80? Why 120?

Seventy is the number of completion in cycles. Seven is divine perfection, and ten is human order. Seventy may represent the completion of human life, and anything after that, according to Moses, becomes marked by labor and sorrow.

But God chose Moses at 80. Why? Because at 80, your body is failing. You can no longer claim strength. You can no longer boast in your youth. At 80, when Moses was called, it was not to show what a strong old man could do—it was to show what God could do through a vessel that had no strength of his own.

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."
—1 Corinthians 1:27 (KJV)

The frail body of Moses carried the strength of the Spirit. The water of life flowed through his veins. This wasn’t a man boasting in his endurance. This was a man carried by the Lord.

Reflections on Phil Robertson

I find it notable that Phil Robertson passed away at 79. This is not a reflection on his walk with God, but perhaps a divine timing not to let him see 80. Maybe it was mercy. Maybe it was prophetic.

I would urge his family to consider what he asked of them that they have not yet done. God sometimes removes a man before a marker as a sign. Not of punishment, but of calling.

Do what your father asked. Do what God is asking. Before the day is cut off, and we fly away.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
—Psalm 90:12 (KJV)

Moses didn’t want long life for the sake of years. He wanted it for wisdom. So should we.

—The Artist ONE

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