Adventistische Schriften über: "How is Genesis 6:3 to be understood, that God will not judge humanity forever, but will give them another 120 years? This is not meant to refer to the modern maximum lifespan of 120 years, since people after the Flood lived much longer."

The 120 years in Genesis 6:3 do not refer to a limitation of the individual human lifespan, since people after the Flood lived significantly longer for many generations. Instead, it was a fixed period of grace of 120 years that God granted to humanity at that time, to be led by Noah's preaching to repentance and contrition before the coming judgment of the Flood.

The 120 Years as a Deadline Until the Flood and Not as an Age

»The other view of this passage, which “relates it to the shortened age of humanity,” is accompanied by even greater obstacles; for it cannot be shown that this would have been applicable. One can indeed refer to individuals whose age was about or exactly 120 years, but the Bible does not indicate— and this is the only reliable authority we have on this point— that this was ever the average human lifespan. We note that human age continued long after this prediction to far exceed that limit. Shem reached an age of 600 years; Arphaxad lived 438; Shelah lived 433; Eber lived 464; Peleg lived 239; Reu lived 239; Serug lived 230; Nahor 148; Terah lived 205; Abraham lived 175; Isaac lived 180; Jacob lived 147; Joseph lived 110; Moses was 120 when he died, and Joshua was 110. Thus it appears that for about 1,000 years after this prediction the great majority, whose ages we know, achieved a much greater longevity. [...] From these considerations we cannot find justification to apply this prediction to a shortened human age; whereas for us the evidence is clear that it denoted the time span from the announcement to the Flood.«

1 - Signs of the Times [J.V. Himes], The Advent Herald, and Signs of the Times Reporter [Himes], vol. 6 (HST December 28, 1842, page 118.7)

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The 120 Years as a Message of Grace and a Time of Repentance

»Noah preached to the people of his time that God would give them one hundred twenty years to repent of their sins and seek refuge in the Ark, but they rejected the gracious invitation. They were given ample time to turn from their sins, overcome their bad habits, and develop righteous characters.«

2 - Ellen Gould White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4 (4T 308.3)

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God's Warning of Judgment

»When the wickedness of the antediluvian people prompted him to bring a flood over the earth, he first announced his intention to them, so that they would have an opportunity to turn from their evil ways. For one hundred twenty years the warning to repent sounded in their ears, so that God's wrath would not manifest in their destruction. But the message seemed to them like an empty tale, and they did not believe it.«

3 - Ellen Gould White, The Great Controversy (1888 ed.) (GC88 337.3)

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The Commission to Noah Before the Flood

»One hundred twenty years before the Flood, the Lord announced to Noah through a holy angel His intention and instructed him to build an Ark. While he built the Ark, he was to preach that God would bring a flood over the earth to destroy the ungodly. Those who believed the message and prepared for the event through repentance and turning would find forgiveness and be saved.«

4 - Ellen Gould White, Patriarchs and Prophets (PP 92.1)

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