One of the classic biblical questions that every preacher needs to be able to field is this one: "Why does the Bible report that our ancestors lived such incredibly long lives?"
After all, we are used to looking at recent advancements in health, science, and nutrition as contributing to longer lifespans in our modern era. How is it, then, that Genesis 5 describes people living 800+ years? (The world record holder is Methuselah at 969 years!)
There are a couple of ways to tackle this question.
Because these were the first generations after the Fall, the bodies of human beings were still in nearly pristine condition, genetically speaking (this can also help explain why marriages among family members was not as harmful then as it can be now.) The Fall triggered a physical as well as spiritual decline, but because Adam was made perfectly, the first generations of humanity closely followed his example.
Another possibility to consider is that God supernaturally engineered longer lifespans for human beings then to increase procreation. One of the earliest commands we have in scripture is to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28). Having long lives contributed to the populating of the earth in those early days. This is corroborated by Genesis 6:3 where God "adjusts" the lifespan of human beings down to 120 years, which is typically the maximum experienced today.
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