Genesis 6:3

“Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.’” (Genesis 6:3 NIV) 

To me, the most intriguing interpretation of this verse is as follows: 

We learn in Leviticus 25 that God’s calendar is built in cycles of 50. Every 50th year marks a Year of Jubilee. At the beginning of the Jubilee Year, a trumpet is sounded everywhere on Yom Kippur, and liberty is proclaimed throughout the land to all its inhabitants. Property is to return to its original owner, and the owner is to return to his property (Leviticus 25:9,10,13). For the entire year, a Sabbath ensues––there is no sowing and no reaping of what grows of itself (Leviticus 25:11). 

Reading Genesis 6:3, God numbers the days of man to 120 years. The question is, what kind of years?

Jubilee years! Because 120 x 50 = 6000! 

Genesis 6:3 may imply that God will contend with man for a period of 6000 years, after which the Messiah would return and reign as King of Israel. As King, God’s striving with man would cease for a thousand years. His millennial kingdom would call into effect a sort of Sabbath on earth. The 6000th year being a Year of Jubilee, a trumpet would be sounded, and liberty would be proclaimed throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It makes sense that Messiah would return at a time such as this. After all, He is the original owner of the world, so on a Jubilee, the land would return to Him, and He would return to it––just as the Torah says.

On the Hebrew Calendar, it is currently the year 5776. Tradition says that the calendar dates back to Adam and Eve’s creation. Interestingly, I was told by a rabbi that the calendar is give or take 300 years. If this is true, Genesis 6:3 may be very relevant to our lives. Who knows; we’ll see.