A Matter of Perspective

Scripture: Genesis 47:9 – “Jacob said to Pharaoh, ‘The years of my earthly sojourn are one hundred thirty; few and hard have been the years of my life. They do not compare with the years of the life of my ancestors during their long sojourn.’” (NRSVUE)

One of the things that really throws readers of the Book of Genesis for a loop is how long people live for. Before the Flood, people lived for hundreds of years. Adam lived to be 930, Noah lived to be 950, and record-breaker Methuselah lived 969 years (and that was cut off only because he died in the Flood – I did the math). Even after the flood, Abraham lived for 175 years, and Isaac lived for 180 years. To put things in perspective, Jeanne Calment lived the longest in recorded history, dying at the age of 122 in 1997. However, if you look at other ancient mythologies, the lifespans in Genesis seem very short. Kings from the Sumerian King List lived up to 43,200 years, and according to some estimates, people living in the Golden Age in Hinduism lived to be 100,000. It’s all a matter of perspective.

So, what do we make of the quote above? It is taken from near the end of Genesis, when Joseph brings his aged father to meet the Pharaoh of Egypt. The Pharaoh asks Jacob how old he is, and Jacob says, “The years of my earthly sojourn are one hundred thirty; few and hard have been the years of my life. They do not compare with the years of the life of my ancestors during their long sojourn.”

What do you think was going through Pharaoh’s head when we heard this? Was he thinking, “How sad, my father lived to be 200.” Or was it, “That’s impossible! No one I’ve ever known has lived to be 100!” Again, it is a matter of perspective.

There is a notion found throughout various civilizations that we are living in the worst time. Back in the good old days, people lived much longer, barely had to work, and lived in peace with one another. It is easy to wish that we, too, could live for hundreds or thousands of years. But notice how Jacob describes his years. “Few and hard have been the years of my life.” Looking back on the earlier tales of Genesis, Jacob has been through many struggles and losses, especially regarding his family. One hundred and thirty years of pain doesn’t sound as good, does it?

It is easy to romanticize the past, either to complain about the present or long for a bygone time that never was. One of the things that stories like Genesis teach us is that even in the ages when people were supposed to live for a thousand years, they were still people. They still had times of celebration and times of despair. Their faith was tested and their faith was rewarded. It is the human moments in these stories that can give us wisdom, not how long our ancestors were supposed to have lived.

Today, look back on your childhood and try to see it in perspective. Those were halcyon days of innocence, but there were a lot of struggles and injustices, too. Examine how your past has shaped you into the person you are today and how it might guide you into becoming the person God wants you to be tomorrow. The past is never as great or awful as we make it out to be. But the future can be blessed regardless of what happens when you live in faith.

Prayer: God, with you, every moment is a blessing. Amen.

Image credit: The Autobiography of Methuselah (1909)