Chapter 2
Enoch
It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.
— Hebrews 11:5 NLT
In the early chapters of Genesis, especially chapter five, the Holy Spirit chronicles a record of genealogies—a family tree from Adam down to Noah. For many of these people, all we know of them is that they lived, had children, and died.
Men like Kenan, Methuselah, and Lamech may not seem important in the unfolding drama of human history, but these people are actually living links in the long lineage that reaches from the creation of Adam all the way to the birth of Jesus Christ. God’s promise to send the Savoir depended upon the faith of many ordinary people who—to us—are just unfamiliar, often unpronounceable, names in a withered old family tree.
One of those unfamiliar names that we come across is that of a man called Enoch. He is mentioned less than a handful of times throughout the entire Bible, and yet he was blessed with one of the most incredible distinctions ever given to man—he never died. In Hebrews 11:5, we’re told that Enoch was “pleasing to God;” so pleasing that God actually spared him the experience of death and carried him into heaven personally. How amazing is that!? We’re also told that it was because of his faith that God took him into heaven prematurely. So, let’s go back to Genesis and try to put the brief mention of his life in context.
When Jared was 162 years old, he had a son named Enoch. After Enoch was born, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. So Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died. When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son named Methuselah. After Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God 300 years more and had other sons and daughters. So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked with God; one day Enoch could not be found, because God took him. (Genesis 5:18-24 NCV).
Although we know very little about him, Enoch’s faith is revealed to us in a variety of ways in this brief account of his life. First, Enoch’s faith is demonstrated through his...
1. Attitude
Did you notice how the simple phrase, “Enoch walked with God,” is repeated twice in Genesis? Once upon a time, as the high-school prom was approaching, one young man asked his father if he could borrow his dad’s 1963 Corvette—for him and his date. His dad said, “I’ll tell you what, if you can improve one letter grade in each of your classes and if you’ll get your hair cut, I’ll let you take the car.” Well, a few weeks went by and the boy managed to pull up all of his grades. He went back to his father and showed him his progress, then asked if he could have the keys. The dad said, “I’m sorry son, but you didn’t get your hair cut.” Indignant, the boy grumbled, “Come on Dad, even Jesus had long hair!” The father smiled as he said, “Yep, and Jesus walked everywhere he went too.”
Although, Enoch lived in a day and age long before automobiles and airplanes—even before chariots or the horse and buggy—that isn’t the kind of walking the Holy Spirit had in mind here. The term walk, as it’s used in the Bible, is synonymous with a person’s way of life. How you walk, in other words, is how you live your life. Enoch lived his life in a way that was pleasing to God.
It’s interesting that the phrasing of this verse could imply that it wasn’t until the birth of Enoch’s son Methuselah that he began walking with God. Having a baby changes things doesn’t it? Remember life before children? You could do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted, wherever you wanted. You could focus on your career or your education. Something about having children, though, teaches us to look outside ourselves. Suddenly, it’s not all about me anymore! We begin to live our lives for other people—especially our children. That’s what Enoch did. He began to live his life in a way that made God smile. So, what did he do? How did he walk that made him so special?
Well, I think we find a clue in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. He writes, “I…urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV). Essentially, Paul is saying that if we want to lead a life worthy of someone whose been chosen by God, then we need to have an attitude of humility and gentleness, of patience, acceptance and love.
Humility is an attitude of the heart that recognizes our own faults and failing. It’s realizing that I’m not perfect and I don’t have all the answers. It’s acknowledging that other people—friends, family, even telemarketers with thick foreign accents—are just as important as I am and have equally valid thoughts and feelings. Gentleness is the action associated with that kind of attitude. When we have a humble heart we won’t be verbally or physically abusive, rather we’ll treat people with gentleness, kindness and respect.
Once again, patience is an attitude which we demonstrate as we “bear with one another in love.” Sometimes it’s easy to be irritated or frustrated with other people—especially the people we care about the most, it seems—but God has called us to forgive one another and to accept each other just as God has accepted us.
The prophet Micah put it this way: “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 NKJV). And that’s just what Enoch did. He walked in humility, in gentleness, in love and mercy. And he walked with God. Furthermore, in addition to his attitude, Enoch’s faith is also revealed through his...
2. Association
While Enoch’s walk—that is, his attitude—was important, even more significant was Enoch’s association. The second half of that simple little sentence should be emphasized: “Enoch walked with God.” Another translation says the he spent his life “in fellowship with God…and in constant touch with God” (Genesis 5:24 TLB). The focus of Enoch’s faith was his deep and abiding relationship with God.
It’s always been amazing to me that God could have chosen to define his relationship with us in any terms he determined, yet he chose to describe himself, first and foremost, as our Father—and that word is indicative of the kind of relationship that God wants with you and me. Now, depending on the kind of relationship you have with your natural or biological father, that may sound more or less attractive.
Personally, I have a less-than-ideal relationship with my father. We live in different parts of the country, we e-mail occasionally, but I haven’t actually seen him in years. I don’t have an intimate, abiding relationship with him. But I do with my son. Granted he’s only a toddler, but I love him and his sister more than words can convey. I can’t help but smile when he smiles. The sound of his laughter is infectious. Everyday when I come home, Ashley (my wife) tells me some funny or sweet story of something he said or did and it breaks my heart just little that I missed it. When he grows up and starts his own life, I still want to be a part of it. I want him to keep “in constant touch.” I want him to come to me for advice or just to talk.
That’s the kind of relationship that God wants with you and me. Max Lucado, who blesses me with his writing time and again, says, “If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart…Face it, friend. He’s crazy about you.”
Concerning our relationship with God, the Bible says, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15 NLT). The word Abba, in that sentence, is the Aramaic equivalent of the word Daddy. When we receive the Holy Spirit, God brings us into his own family and allows us to call him, not just our Father, but our Daddy. I don’t know what it’s like in your house, but in the Bayles’ household the word daddy is a treasured word. It’s a word of love and respect. I’m not looking forward to the day when my kids are too old to call me daddy. It’s a word that conveys intimacy and unconditional love.
When was the last time you thought of God as your Daddy in heaven? Do you live your life in continual fellowship with him? Do you keep in constant touch with him? Maybe it’s time you gave him a call. Open your heart; receive his love, his mercy, his grace. And don’t be afraid to call him Daddy!
Finally, beyond his attitude and association with God, Enoch’s faith is revealed via his...
3. Ascension
Can you imagine how difficult it must have been to walk with God during those years prior to the Flood, when gross immorality and godlessness were ubiquitous and only a small remnant of people were faithful to God? And Enoch was living in the shadow of God’s judgment. Did he know of the impending flood? Absolutely. In fact, the Bible says that Enoch tried to warn his generation, saying, “Look, the Lord is coming…to judge every person. He is coming to punish all who are against God for all the evil they have done against him” (Jude 1:15 NCV). Does that mean that God took Enoch into heaven in order to spare him from the judgment to come? Well, that’s definitely possible. Either way, one thing the Bible makes abundantly clear is that “It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying” (Hebrews 11:5 NCV).
Enoch’s ascension, or rapture if you would, is picture—a foreshadowing—of the rapture of the church before God’s final judgment at the end of time. You see, Christians today aren’t all that different from Enoch. Our world today is awash in depravity, dishonesty and decadence and we too are living in the shadow of God’s coming judgment. Peter tells us that God will someday flood the earth once again, not with water but with fire. Paul describes the rapture of God’s people prior to that flood:
The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And those who have died believing in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive will be gathered up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NCV)
Despite the particular brand of eschatology made popular by Tim Lahey’s Left Behind novels, the actual Second Coming will not be a secret coming followed by seven years of tribulation on earth. When Jesus comes again to rapture his followers, it will be with a loud trumpet call, the voice of God will thunder across the skies, and the Lord himself will meet us in the air. The dead will rise and then all of those who have put their faith in Jesus—past and present—will be gathered together in the clouds.
Paul’s word-picture here calls to mind the practices of ancient cities—especially Rome. When Roman forces returned from battle, the General and his men would come riding on white horses as a sign to the people of Rome that they were victorious. So when those inside the city saw the white horses, all the people would run out into the fields to greet the victorious soldiers. Then they would all come back to the city together in one long victory parade.
The Bible also tells us, though, that while we are being “caught up” in the clouds with Jesus, God will cleanse the earth with fire—as Peter writes, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Peter 3:10 NIV). Once the earth has been wiped clean of every living thing, we will all return with Jesus to the new heaven and the new earth “a world filled with God’s righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13 NLT). But, just as with the flood, it will only be those who have faith in God who are taken and allowed to inhabit the new world. The rest will be “left behind” to experience the “the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8 NASB).
In the meantime, we can all find an example to follow in Enoch. He had faith in God, walked with God, and was taken to be with God. Enoch’s life and faith demonstrate that it is possible to be faithful to God, even in the midst of a godless, good-for-nothing society. In the words of Warren Wiersbe, “No matter how dark the day or how bad the news, we have the promise of our Lord’s return to encourage us and motivate us to be godly. One day sin will be judged and God’s people will be rewarded for their faithfulness, so we have every reason to be encouraged as we walk with God.”
Invitation:
If you’re struggling in your walk with God this morning, your relationship with him isn’t what it should be, or if you just aren’t sure whether you’ll be among those “caught up” in the clouds or left behind on earth, we’d like to help...
