OK Bible nerds, let’s play a quick round of Bible trivia. 4 questions, speed round:
- What’s the shortest verse in the Bible?
- Which one of the 12 disciples was not from Galilee?
- Which 2 men recorded in the Bible never died?
- Who is the oldest person listed in the Bible?
Here are the answers: 1) “Jesus wept” (Jn11:35) 2) Judas Iscariot 3) Enoch and Elijah 4) Methuselah 969yrs old
“Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.”
Genesis 5:27
Methuselah is an odd name right? (If that’s your name I’m sorry…….for you!) Did you know several names have become illegal to name your child? In Sonora, Mexico it’s illegal to name your kid: Robocop, Facebook or Burger King to name a few. In France, Nutella has been banned for a child’s name. Many celebrities have changed their names for various reasons: Bruno Mars is actually Peter Gene Hernandez. He picked up the name “Bruno” as a cute chubby baby that made his family think of a wrestler on TV named Bruno. Katy Perry changed her name from Katheryn Hudson because she didn’t want to be confused with Kate Hudson the actress. Jamie Foxx is actually named Eric Marlon Bishop. He changed his name as a stand up comedian. Due to a shortage of female comedians in the industry, women would get first dibs on stage time. Foxx chose a name that could be a woman’s name, thus earning him more gigs. Back to Methuselah. Quite often in the scriptures, names have profound meaning that reveal something about people or their God. Jacob means “deceiver” which marked much of his life. Solomon means “peace” which marked a season of unprecedented peace in Israel. One of the many faceted meanings of the name Methuselah is “when he is dead, it shall be sent”. What does that tell us? At the end of Methuselah’s long life, God sent ‘The Flood’ in judgement upon sinful humanity. It’s very telling that Methuselah lived longer than any man. God, not wanting to judge humanity, slow to anger and long suffering towards a rebellious people allowed Methuselah to live longer than any other man to demonstrate His patience toward us. May Methuselah be a reminder that God is patient but not indifferent towards our sin.
By the way, if you were wondering, my name Adam means “dirt”……….thanks mom and dad!