In Genesis 6:3 God says that man's days are going to be 120 years. The question is what is God referring to with this very precise statement about the length of man's life.
This statement is made in the context of the flood about to be announced by God. There are a couple of possible interpretations. One of these interpretations is that God is declaring that man's life span is going to be 120 years from now on. In the previous chapter, Genesis 5, a genealogy of men records life spans of 900+ years. God is now declaring that He is shortening man's lifespan to 120 years in light of the corruption that is on the earth.
The problem with this interpretation is that for several centuries after the flood men lived much longer than 120 years although lifespans gradually decreased. On the other side, in Psalm 90:10 the writer says that man's days are 70 to 80 years. Even now those numbers are quite common with many people living much longer but virtually no one is living to be 120 old. The bottom line is that the number 120 as a life span is a number that is virtually never achieved either because life spans were longer or shorter.
The other interpretation of this announcement of 120 years is that this number represents the number of years left before the judgment of a flood comes. God is telling mankind, "You have 120 years left before I destroy everything". This interpretation fits with the context. Throughout the rest of chapter 6 the author is describing the corruption and violence on the earth and God's decision to wipe out all life on the earth. So, I believe that this is the most likely interpretation of the declaration of 120 years.
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