События в четвертом столетии второго тысячелетия

Enos, son of Seth, grandson of Adam and father of Cain, died in the year from the beginning of the world - according to Russian Bibles 1240, and according to chronographs in 1340. All the years of his life were nine hundred and five. Someone will ask: where did the first forefathers have such long-term health and life? I answer: in the explanation of this, various reasons are indicated by those who have reflected on this issue. The first reason is that from the beginning man was created by God Himself with a good structure of the joints, members and veins of the body, with good health and blood, destined (if he had not sinned) to be immortal and to live forever, like the angels. When he sinned, although he destroyed his immortality, a certain part of his former health still remained in him, which was then passed on from him to his children. The second reason is that the forefathers lived soberly, eating moderate food: they had no alcoholic drinks, but only water; They also did not know sweet gluttony, but ate only bread, herbs and vegetables (we exclude giants). The third reason is that they observed themselves in chastity and purity, did not marry quickly, kept their marriage pure, did not often unite and did not touch the wife conceived in the womb; for they remembered well that marriage was not established by God for fornication and carnal passion, but only for the birth of children. They used marriage purely and honestly, as the angel later taught Tobias the younger, saying: “Take a virgin with the fear of the Lord, rather for the sake of fruit than for the sake of fornication” (Tov. 6:18, 8:7). Those who live incontinently in marriage and indulge in their fornication “like a horse and a horse, having no understanding” (Ps. 31:9), they damage their bodily health and shorten the days of their life, and also (as it is written in the Book of Tobias) drive God away from their minds and from themselves. Abstinence from carnal intercourse preserves a person’s health and increases the days of his life. The fourth reason for the former longevity of the forefathers is pointed out by some in earthly strength: the earth, initially after its creation by God, was more capable and strong of producing healthy fruits, and the fruits it produced were more capable of strengthening human nature and preserving the lives of people than those of today. When the whole earth was exhausted by the flood, then its strength decreased, and the fruits it produced no longer became as strong and effective for maintaining human health as before. The fifth reason is the insight of the mind of Adam, who knew the healing power of all herbs and was more skillful in healing than all subsequent wise doctors; he shared his knowledge with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and thus they learned how to maintain their health for longevity. The sixth in a row, but in terms of action, the primary and truest reason is God's blessing and this mysterious action, which miraculously preserved the longevity of the lives of the first people for so long, partly so that the human race would multiply more quickly, partly for the faster invention of various arts and crafts necessary for human life, partly because in subsequent generations, that is, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Adam, the knowledge of God, the Creator of all creation, would be established. For Adam conveyed to his children, and his children to their children and grandchildren to their grandchildren, how God created man from the dust of the earth, and a helper for him from his rib, how he brought him into paradise and commanded him not to eat from the tree, and how the transgression of God’s commandment and expulsion from paradise occurred. Telling all this with tears, they taught the knowledge of the Creator of all God and faith in Him, instructed to worship Him, ask Him for everything and hope in Him. Therefore, God miraculously preserved the life of the holy forefathers for so many years. You might be interested in: