The Years of Our Life

● Nearly 3,500 years ago the prophet Moses wrote: “In themselves the days of our years are seventy years; and if because of special mightiness they are eighty years . . .” (Ps. 90:10) This situation has not changed despite the advances of medical science.

Regarding the United States, where “life expectancy has stalled around 70,” David Borenstein writes: “Modern science, despite tremendous strides, has not been able to add significantly to the average person’s life expectancy. Although the rising number of those sixty-five years and older would seem to indicate that we are living longer, this is just not the case. In fact, life expectancy at age 50 is only 3 years longer than it was TWO CENTURIES ago. . . . Dramatic advances in the first half of the twentieth century did result in the eradication of many killing illnesses. However, this means that while more people are making it to middle age than before, few, if any, can expect to live appreciably longer than their ancestors.”