Written by: Damien Powell
What is the significance of the number 120? Is it just a number that YHWH chose as the maximum number of years for human beings to live or is it connected with what we are supposed to be doing in that time span? Let us examine.
Genesis 6:1-3 says:
“When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of Elohim saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then YHWH said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for his is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
During this time period in Genesis man was sinning upon the earth, they also taught the mixing of animals which provoked YHWH to anger, and the sons of Elohim took the daughters of men as wives; therefore, YHWH was sorry that He had made man and He was going to bring a flood to destroy His creation.
The maximum age of 120 years a human can grow to be correlates with the account in The Ancient Book of Jasher before the flood which says in Jasher 6:17-26
“And the sons of men assembled together, about seven hundred thousand men and women, and they came unto Noah to the ark. And they called to Noah saying, Open for us that we may come to thee in the ark—and wherefore shall we die? And Noah, with a loud voice, answered them from the ark, saying, Have you not all rebelled against YHWH, and said the He does not exist? And therefore YHWH brought upon you this evil, to destroy and cut you off the face of the earth.”
“Is not this the thing that I spoke to you of one hundred and twenty years back, and you would not hearken to the voice of YHWH, and now do you desire to live upon earth?” And they said to Noah, we are ready to return to YHWH; only open for us that we may live and not die. And Noah answered them, saying, Behold now that you see the trouble of your souls, you wish to return to YHWH; why did you not return during these hundred and twenty years, which YHWH granted you as the determined period?”
“But now you come and tell me this on account of the troubles of your souls, now also YHWH will NOT listen to you, neither will He give ear to you on this day, so that you will not now succeed in your wishes. And the sons of men approached in order to break into the ark, to come in on account of the rain, for they could not bear the rain upon them. And YHWH sent all the beasts and animals that stood round the ark. And the beasts overpowered them and drove them from that place, and every man went his way and they again scattered themselves upon the face of the earth.” And the rain was still descending upon the earth, and it descended forty days and forty nights, and the waters prevailed greatly upon the earth; and all flesh, that was upon the earth; and all flesh that was upon the earth or in the waters died, whether men, animals, beasts, creeping things or birds of the air, and there only remained Noah and those that were with him in the ark.”
The words of Solomon who was the wisest man on earth at one time says this in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear Elohim and keep His commandments, for this is the WHOLE DUTY OF MAN. For Elohim will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
Our whole duty in life is to fear YHWH and keep His commandments so that we might live righteous lives and in my opinion it correlates with Genesis 6 and Jasher 6 Which is why I believe YHWH chose the number of 120 years for us to live which gives us 120 years to repent. 120 years to completely devote our lives to YHWH through His Son Yeshua, 120 years to unlearn the ways of the world, 120 years obey His commandments, laws, statues, and decrees.
But often times just like in Jasher we don’t believe in Him, or we lose track of Elohim with the worries of this world, with work, with money, with our relationships, with our own personal accomplishments, and achievements. But, none of that is more important than serving and worshiping YHWH in spirit in truth and it doesn’t change the fact that He is looking down watching us every step of the way, so we must be prepared.
Yeshua spoke of this very thing about His second coming in Luke 17:26-27 which says
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son on Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.”
In other words life cannot get in the way of following our Messiah because He is coming back as a roaring Lion to destroy the enemies of YHWH so we must always be prepared. 120 years may be the maximum we have on this earth to get it right, but I would not encourage anyone to try to wait until they are older to give their lives to The Messiah because Yeshua said Himself that He will come like a thief in the night when nobody expects it, so He can come well before your 120 years is up or He can take the life of anyone on this earth long before they think they should die. An example in scripture of a man dying before he thought it was time is found in Luke 12:16-20 which says:
“The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no more room to store my crops? And he said, This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I store all of my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have plenty of goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But Elohim said unto him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have provided?”
This rich man did not have his heart set on serving YHWH and all he cared about was his abundance of crops and having enough for himself and not sharing with others. Our goal is to store up treasures in Heaven and not here on earth and that is what Yeshua was saying in this parable. Put your focus on Elohim because tomorrow is not promised.
An example of YHWH adding to one’s life is found in Isaiah 38:1-5 which says:
“In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet son of Amoz came unto him, sand said unto him, Thus saith YHWH, Set thine house in order: for you shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto YHWH, And said, Remember now, O YHWH, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. Then came the word of YHWH to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith YHWH, the Elohim of David thy ancestor, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold, I will add unto your days fifteen years.
Let us examine our lives and determine which category we fall in: the rich man or Hezekiah? In my opinion YHWH’s adding or taking away one’s life is dependent on the condition of one’s heart whether he is full of greed or if one is following YHWH with all their heart and soul. Either way we must be ready regardless, because as YHWH told Hezekiah “Get your house in order or else you will die.”
The perfect parable for this is in Yeshua’s own words in Mathew 25:1-13
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. These wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.”
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet Him! Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.” “No, they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and by some for yourselves.’
“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. Sir! Sir! They said. ‘Open the door for us!” But He replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.” Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
As I stated earlier 120 years is the maximum allotted time for us to repent, but at the same time we must ready at all times because we do not know the day or the hour. If we are prepared the like the wise virgins (the righteous) then we do not have to worry about being shut out, but if we wait until the last minute to give our lives to the Messiah like the foolish virgins, then when Yeshua comes we will miss out and the door will be shut! And I cannot imagine hearing anything worse than Yeshua saying “I never knew you!” or “Away from me you evil doers!” I’m sure nobody else would want to hear that either.
Let us not get choked out by life and all of its troubles and lose sight of what is important which is following Yeshua and serving Him with all our heart and soul. Let us not be like the virgins with no oil, let us not be like those 700,000 men and women who neglected the word of YHWH, were disobedient, and were left to be destroyed by the flood. Let us stand up and fight for The Elohim of Israel in truth and give our lives to Him today, the time is ticking for us all!