Pastor Roger, my best friend who really loved the Lord just died from cancer. She was only 39 years old. I thought we were promised at least 70 years on earth. Can you explain this?
I'm so sorry you lost your best friend. May the Lord give you continued strength and comfort.
To be totally honest with you, I'm not sure the Lord gave us an iron-clad promise of 70 years to live. I've heard this taught over the years, but it never rang true in my spirit. Let's go to Psalm 90:10, for I think this is probably the text from which many draw this conclusion. "As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years."
Now, let's zoom in on the word CONTAIN. A look at ancient Hebrew thinking might give us still deeper insight. Warren Wiersbe reminds us that the Hebrew word for "contain" offers this more exact meaning: "The days of our lives begin with conception and conclude somewhere between birth and 70 years of age, unless due to reasons of strength the Lord adds extra years."
Psalm 90:10 must be rendered according to the original intentions of the author. A more precise meaning of this verse reminds us that people usually live and die somewhere between birth and the age of seventy. Wiersbe explains, "A large container may hold one cup or one gallon, but either way it contains the liquid. Life is a 'container' that holds any number of minutes, days or years." In this respect, Psalm 90;10 is not a proof text or a guarantee for 70 years of life on earth.
The preacher tells us in Ecclesiastes 8:8 that "No man has authority...over the day of death..." The Scriptures also remind us that God decides the times of our birth and death.
I do believe that many people "die before their time." Poor temple (body) management can shorten lives. Doctors tell us that many deaths are attributed to poor eating habits. Sinful lifestyles that involve the use of tobacco, alcohol, promiscuity and drugs many times shorten lives. Ecclesiastes 7:17 touches upon this fact: "Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?" Also, car accidents and other kinds of accidents take lives.
The prophet Isaiah strongly implies that God calls some people home in order to protect them from future devastation. I personally believe God takes some people to heaven "when He has them." By this I mean that some people, for whatever reason, cannot stay true to God, so God calls them unto Himself when they are still in grace. This can be debated, I suppose, but I've seen this scenario play out more than once in my ministry. At any rate, Isaiah writes, "The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; and devout men are taken away (die), while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from evil, he enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walked in his upright way" (Isaiah 57:1-2).
The Apostle James lends this insight: "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away" (4:14). Rather than telling people they are guaranteed at least 70 years, I think we need to remind them that each new day is a gift from God and that we have no iron-clad guarantees for tomorrow. This is not fatalistic; it's the truth! I've stood at the caskets of stillborns, crib death babies, small children, teenagers and 96-year-old women. "It is appointed unto man once to die..." (Hebrews 9:27).
Yes, many do live beyond 70 years, and that's wonderful. Some refer to this as "living on borrowed time." In my mind, however, whether we live 20 years or 90 years, life is a gift from God. That's why we need to live every day as if it might be our last. Hug up to the Cross every day, so that when the summons comes, you find yourself ushered into Jesus' presence. What a day that will be!
