Section II. Late/Older Fatherhood Corresponds To Birth Of Important Heirs The pattern of the ages at which each patriarch fathered his heir has its own trend in each of the first three eras, independent of trends in life expectancy. Basically, the closer to a new era and the more important the heir, the later in life the patriarch fathers his first son. Each era ends with a pattern of later life fathers, culminating in the birth of the men who will father or lead the people of the new era. Contrastingly, the middle years of an era tend to show patriarchs fathering heirs at relatively youthful times in their lives. One very interesting aspect of these repeating patterns is that almost the exact same pattern (curve) is repeated in era one and two, despite the fact that the first era patriarchs' lifespans were constant, whereas the second era's lifespans had a steep decline, which would be expected to produce quite different curves. Yet somehow God compensated for these differences to produce mirror image curves demonstrating the same principle in each era. Most unusual is that even Enoch's short lifespan (at 1/3 the norm) was compensated for by an earlier age of fatherhood, which then fit perfectly with the trend curve shown on the graph above. In the second era, where the actual ages of fatherhood are constant, yet in relation to their life spans, the curve is re-created. Click here to compare charts showing actual ages of fatherhood with the trend graph above. At the end of the first era, Noah's father and grandfather were both about twice the normal age before the birth of their first son; and Noah himself was FIVE times the normal age before the birth of his sons, the fathers of the next era: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Likewise, ending the second era, Terah, at 130, was more than 4 times normal age at fatherhood (which had been about 30 for generations), this pattern resulting in the birth of Abraham, the father of Israel (and the father of all who are saved by faith). Tracking the Levite succession through the Egyptian Captivity (third) era shows the most extreme pattern, as each of the Levites fathers his heir at the very end of his life, (within an estimated three years of death). In keeping with the corresponding importance of those heirs born to fathers of old age, these exceptionally aged fathers in the Levitical line led appropriately to Moses, named the greatest prophet who ever lived, and who spiritually fathered/lead the birth of the Jewish nation as God's chosen people in the wilderness. After leading them to the Promised Land (the 4th Era) the age pattern ends, remaining constant from then until this day. On a side note, it seems possible that those three levitical fathers (Levy, Kohath & Amram) fathering their heirs at near death, were not at all "aged" - but like Moses himself, were in the prime of their life when the end of their life came. Is there a message in this for anyone? God definitely has something going on, the same pattern repeats over and over. But why? If you have any insight, conjectures or comments, or are aware of writings on this topic, please let me know (e-mail).
|
