Genesis 5 Walking with God
Genesis 5 Walking with God
- Read Genesis 5:
Thank the Lord we didn’t make any memories on this trip, though we almost did. Drew bought a new truck last Monday, and so for the past week, we went out each evening when Drew got off of work, and Drew got to drive his truck on some rocky mountain trails in Colorado, while we got to see some beautiful scenery and and old silver mines. Those were some good times, though I’m old and a Florida flat-lander, so I was nervous on most of the trails we were on. In Florida you cross a ditch and they have guard rails up. In Colorado, there can be a 1000 foot drop off 12” from the edge of the road and there is nothing between you and meeting Jesus but air.
Wednesday evening as we were heading to the mountains, Drew was tired so I was driving. Driving down interstate 70 heading west, about 70 miles an hour, I was watching the heavy traffic when all of a sudden a wheel fell from the overpass in front of me, and landed in my lane. It bounced about 30 feet back up into the air, as the car in front of me and I are swerving, trying to keep from being hit by it when it lands again.
My swerving and braking wakes Drew up in time for him to see it, and causes Gladys and Paul to look up from the back seat to try and figure out what’s going on. Now, it could possibly have been my imagination, but I’m almost certain I heard Gladys and Paul start chanting from the back seat, “No memories, no memories, no memories,” as we passed the still bouncing wheel.
Memories. Funny how they work. Some are good and some are bad. Some we want to hang on to, and others we’d just as soon forget.
In the passage we just read, we find recorded the genealogy of Adam through the first number of generations.
Some times it’s easy to get confused and to begin to think that there are a lot of generations between Adam and and Enoch, but there aren’t. Enoch is the 7th generation since the beginning of time.
Let’s walk through it together. If we begin in the beginning, we would say Adam was born in year 0, and lived 930 years.
When Adam was 130 years old his son Seth was born
When Adam was 235 years old his grandson Enos was born
When Adam was 325 years old his great-grandson Cainan was born
When Adam was 395 years old his great, great, grandson Mahalaleel was born
When Adam was 460 years old his great, great, great, grandson Jared was
born
When Adam was 640 years old his great, great, great, great, grandson Enoch was born, and Adam lived until Enoch was 290 years old.
Now, in every generation the Bible says that each man in the lineage of Adam had “other sons and daughters.” Can you imagine what the family reunions used to be like in those days? All of those folks, at least all of them in the godly lineage, getting together from time-to-time, sharing meals and talking about the good old days?
And, I imagine Enoch talking to his great grandfather Adam and asking him again and again to tell him what it was like back in the garden of Eden before the Fall and before the Lord kicked them out. Grandpa, share the memories. Grandpa Adam, please, tell us again what it was like in the Garden when you walked with God. And for the qintillenth time, Adam again tells about walking in the Garden with God. He talks about the fellowship they enjoyed, the closeness he felt, the sense of purpose he felt as he knew what God wanted him to do each day as he tended the garden, and the times of laughter and joy they had as he walked with God.
It must have kindled something in Enoch’s heart to hear the first man’s memories of walking with God in the cool of the garden. Somewhere along the way, Enoch must have said, “I want to walk with God as well.”
The Bible doesn’t tell us a great deal about Enoch, about as much as you could write on a Post-it note. We know for instance that he is the son of Jared and the father of Methuselah. Enoch fathered Methuselah when he was 65 years old and then lived another 300 years before vanishing off the face of the earth without a trace.
During the time he lived though, the Bible records, “He walked with God.” Occasionally the Bible records that a person “walked before the Lord all of his days” ; or that a person followed God. But of only Enoch, Noah, and Isaiah is it recorded that they “walked with God”.
Can you imagine what Enoch’s dad, and great grandfather, and all of the others must have thought about Enoch? They’d see him walking down the road smiling and they’d ask, “What are you doing Enoch?” He’d answer, “I’m walking with God.” They’d reply, “You’re just being silly now. No one has walked with God since we got kicked out of the Garden of Eden. If God even comes down here anymore, it would only be in the garden and we can’t get back in there, so it’s impossible to walk with God. And Enoch would just keep on smiling and the Bible records, “Enoch walked with God.”
In the entire list of his ancestors Enoch is the only one who is described as walking with God. Not only did he walk with God but he walked with Him for 300 years. What a relationship! I’m sure the others (Adam through Jared) must have thought he was nuts. They probably were quick to remind him that kind of relationship ended in the garden and it was different now. Don’t you know that you can’t do that?
Funny how that works isn’t it. Those who miss the boat always seem to find fault with those who don’t. Here is Enoch walking down the path and they cry out, Hey Enoch, what are you doing? He just smiles and replies Oh, just walking with God. We can be sure there was a great deal of head shaking going on. That’s not the way it’s done! Doesn’t the boy get it? God’s not here anymore He’s off up there somewhere. We’re just supposed to make sacrifices to Him and hope He provides for us. If He does come down here it’s in the garden and we can’t go in there!
But the Word of God seems to be pretty clear and indicates that Enoch did “get it.” So let’s look a little deeper.I am very confident that God must have spoken to Enoch many times during those 300 years. He had to have gotten direction from the Lord to do what he did. Look at what Jude has to say regarding him:
> Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15. To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Reread these 2 verses in the Living Translation:
14. Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, knew about these men and said this about them: “See, the Lord is coming with millions of his holy ones. 15. He will bring the people of the world before him in judgment, to receive just punishment and to prove the terrible things they have done in rebellion against God, revealing all they have said against him.”
I call your attention to the fact that Jude made this a quote from Enoch.
…Enoch walked with God.
Funny how that works isn’t it. Those who miss the boat always seem to find fault with those who don’t. Here is Enoch walking down the path and they cry out, Hey Enoch, what are you doing? He just smiles and replies Oh, just walking with God. We can be sure there was a great deal of head shaking going on. That’s not the way it’s done! Doesn’t the boy get it? God’s not here anymore He’s off up there somewhere. We’re just supposed to make sacrifices to Him and hope He provides for us. If He does come down here it’s in the garden and we can’t go in there!
But Enoch walked with God.
What does it mean to “walk with God? What does it mean thought “walk with God”?
Billy Graham was once asked that question. He was once asked what it meant to “walk with God”, and he said,
To walk with God one must:
1. To walk with God one must spend time with God.
The key is to understand what happens to us when we commit our lives to Jesus Christ. By nature, we are separated from God because of our sins—but when we open our hearts to Christ, He forgives us and comes to live within us by His Spirit.
In other words, we now have a personal relationship with God. We have become God’s friend—and He has become our friend too! But like any other friendship, our friendship with God needs to be nurtured. If it isn’t, our relationship with God will grow cold, and we’ll no longer see God as our friend. We may even become like the people of Jeremiah’s time: “My people have forgotten me, days without number” (Jeremiah 2:32).
How do we strengthen our friendship with God? How do we walk with Him every day? We do it the same way we strengthen our relationship with a friend, or with our spouse: we spend time with them—talking and listening to each other, sharing our concerns and joys, even helping and encouraging each other. In other words, we “walk” with them, enjoying their company and sharing our lives.
The same is true with God. Because He is with us, we can turn to Him in prayer at any moment, sharing our concerns and expressing our love for Him. We also can listen to Him, as we read His Word, the Bible, and hear others preach and teach from it. Make sure of your commitment to Christ, and then walk with Him every day.
Let me ask you my friend, “Do you spend time with the Lord each day?” How in the world can use expect to walk with God, to impact the world, to live different lives, to rear our children to be God-fearing adults, if we don’t spend time with the Lord each day?
I remember when I was a youth pastor in Arkansas. Norm . . . how do I help my son . . . Had not sent time with the Lord that morning. . . . Son later committed suicide. How do we gain counsel from the Lord if we don’t spend time with Him?
You want to walk with God? Spend time with Him.
2.You want to walk with God, spend time in His word. Spend time reading your Bible. David says in in Psalm 63, “
> Psalm 63:1-8 O God, thou art My God; early will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness Is better than life, My lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, And meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, Therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: Thy right hand upholdeth me.
If you want to walk with God, spend time in His word. Spend time reading your Bible.
Do you remember our Bible verse from a month or so ago?
> Deuteronomy 6:6-7These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
If you want to walk with God you must Spend time with God, talking to Him and praying. If you want to walk with God you must, spend time with God in His word. Third, if you want to walk with God you must obey Him.
3. To walk with God you must obey Him.
> Amos 3:3 Can two walk together without agreeing to meet?
If we are going to walk with God we must obey Him. How often do we forget that?
> Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?
> John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep[a] my commands.
> John 14:23 Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
I believe with all my heart that God is just waiting for all the Enochs in this world to step out in faith and say, “God, I want to know you more.” How His heart must soar when one of His children sets out on the journey to discover who He is. Each one of us can experience the same walk Enoch had with God. We can enjoy Him to the fullest every minute of the day if, like Enoch, we ignore the unbelief of those around us and look up to the God of Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, you and me. Remember that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6). Sounds too simple doesn’t it? But that is the foundation of anyone’s walk with the Lord.
Is it possible for us to be translated like Enoch? Why not? Many believe that what happened to Enoch is a foreshadowing of the rapture or snatching out of the church before the last days. I will go out on a limb and suggest that God does not change and it is certainly possible for any one of us to be taken home like Enoch, if not like Isaiah (what a hearse he had). So why haven’t we seen it happen in our time?
The hunger we have toward God gets clouded and covered up by all of the pressures and struggles of this world. We get so focused on ourselves that we overlook the reason that we were put here in the first place, for thy pleasure they are and were created (Rev 4:11); also Ps 147:11/149:4, Luke 12:32, Eph 1:5/1:9, and Phil 2:13. We need to take time and just reach out to the Lord with a hungry heart. That is all it takes to set God’s heart leaping with joy. Did you know that God has joy? We are His joy and every time we take time away from our selfish interests to pursue Him it brings Him joy.
This life we have been given is all about discovering that joy and experiencing the real, living, true and only God. He is the one who created us, nurtures us, loves us, watches out for us, listens for us and gave His Son for us. We need to take a look at who we are and whose we are by studying what God has revealed to us in His Word. Along the way we need to spend time with the Holy Spirit so He can reveal the real Jesus to us. We need to be just like Enoch and hunger to find out who Jesus is and what He is like. The only way to do that is walk with Him. Unlike Enoch, however, we have a number of things going for us that he didn’t:
We have a personal Savior who gives us a bridge back to God;
We have an assurance of eternal life in Jesus;
We have the forgiveness of sin initiated in our life by faith;
We have the Holy Spirit to teach us about God and lead us to Him; and
We have His written Word to reveal who He is through His Son.
Let’s begin building a foundation with Jesus as the Chief Cornerstone. It is an exciting opportunity to get to know the creator of the universe, the one who knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb. It only takes desire on your part and a willingness to spend time with Him. The Holy Spirit will accomplish all the rest in God’s time and on His schedule. He will show you things you never dreamed of and allow you to experience the fullness of life as He intended it to be.
The primary goal of the bride of Christ in life should be to have the testimony that she pleased God and to leave this life just as full of Him as she can be. We can all get there, each one in his or her own way and own time. We can all Walk Like Enoch if we just reach out with a hungry and repentant heart and let the creator love on His creation. As the bride we need to be with Him in the Holiest Place and all we need to do to get there is use the same secret that Enoch used — faith.
