Little is written about Enoch in the Bible, and yet, God placed him in the chapter of great men and women of faith in Hebrews 11. Enoch’s life caught God’s attention. As you study his life, look at your own. Consider how God would sum up your life today.
Hebrews:11:1-2 1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2: For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Hebrews 11:5-6 5: By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Here we are told that Enoch was known for three things. First of all, he had a testimony that he pleased God, secondly, that he was in faith, and third that he was translated. Now let us look at the story in Genesis.
Genesis 5:21-24 21: And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Here it tells us two things…first that Enoch walked with God, and second that he was translated, or was not. It does not tell us here that he had faith, but in Hebrews it says that one cannot please God without being in faith. Therefore it is implied in the fact he walked with God…or he was in faith and pleased God. This is shown in several things given in the Bible about Enoch. First of all he named his son Methusalah Methusalah means “his death shall bring judgment” Enoch was a man that knew God’s timeline. If you add up Methuselah’s years, you will see he died the year of the flood. Enoch had a vision from God, and knew about many things in the future. This is seen in the name he gave to his son, and is also seen in the book of Jude.
There is only one other time that Enoch is mentioned in the Bible, and that is in Jude, where there is a quote from his prophecy. This was in chapter 1of his book. For a long time, the book of Enoch was lost, but recently there have been copies of the book found. And Jude quotes several verses. This shows that Enoch was in faith. He was looking toward the time that the Lord would come with the saints to execute judgment.
Jude:1:14-15 14: And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 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.
Enoch 1:3 Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them: The Holy Great One will come forth from His dwelling, 4 And the eternal God will tread upon the earth, (even) on Mount Sinai, [And appear from His camp] And appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens. 5 And all shall be smitten with fear And the Watchers shall quake,And great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth.6 And the high mountains shall be shaken,And the high hills shall be made low, And shall melt like wax before the flame 7 And the earth shall be wholly rent in sunder, And all that is upon the earth shall perish,
So by these verses it shows us that Enoch was a man who pleased God. He was translated because of this faith. Now let’s study how we can be pleasing to God .
First of all, let’s look at what does not please God, and that is walking in the flesh.
Romans 8:6-10 6:For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8: So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10: And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
So we cannot please God if we walk in the flesh. If all of our thinking and actions are fleshly, or relating to only our five physical senses, then we are not pleasing God. But if we walk in the Spirit we have life and we please God. This Paul says again in Timothy.
2Timothy:2:4: No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
In other words, we see that Enoch was a good soldier. He did not entangle himself with what was happening in the world at his time. Let’s look at some of the things that happened while he was alive.
Genesis:6:1-8 1: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them. 2: That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.3: And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4: There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.5: And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6: And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.7: And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Now you may say but this was a lot later, when Noah was on the earth. But it was also in the time of Enoch…let me read from the book of Enoch. In chapter seven it says,
Enoch 7:1 It happened after the sons of men had multiplied in those days, that daughters were born to them, elegant and beautiful. 2And when the angels, the sons of heaven, beheld them, they became enamoured of them, saying to each other, Come, let us select for ourselves wives from the progeny of men, and let us beget children.10 Then they took wives, each choosing for himself; whom they began to approach, and with whom they cohabited; teaching them sorcery, incantations, and the dividing of roots and trees. 11And the women conceiving brought forth giants, 12Whose stature was each three hundred cubits. These devoured all which the labor of men produced; until it became impossible to feed them; 13 When they turned themselves against men, in order to devour them; 14And began to injure birds, beasts, reptiles, and fishes, to eat their flesh one after another, and to drink their blood.15Then the earth reproved the unrighteous.
So Enoch kept himself from the fleshly things. In fact, our greatest example of pleasing God is Jesus.
2Peter:1:17: For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
John 8:28-29 28: Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. 29: And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
So Jesus gives us here the example of how to please God. It is to do nothing of yourself. It is to ask God for his word and work and then do them. As long as we are speaking and doing God’s word we are pleasing him. It is very important to seek God. He wants us to seek him and this pleases him.
1 Chronicles 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 12: Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.13: And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
The second term used in the verses on Enoch tell us that he walked with God. Let us go into further depth on that. Walking and pleasing God are actually the same thing.
1 Thessalonians. 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
2 Corinthians 5:6-10 6: Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8: We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9: Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
It shows us here that our walk is by faith, not by sight, or by the physical, or flesh. We are to labor to be accepted or to please God. Our number one goal in life should be to please God, or to walk by faith.
Colossians 1:9-12 9: For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10: That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11: Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12: Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
This shows us where we get the knowledge we need to walk worthy, to please God. It is by knowing his will, his word. The more we get into God’s word, the more we will please him, the closer our walk will be to him. That is what happened to Enoch, he walked with God so close, that one day he was no longer here but in God’s presence.
There is only one other person in the Bible that walked so closely with God, that he was taken into heaven.
2King:2:1-12 1: And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2: And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. 3: And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. 4: And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. 5: And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. 6: And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. 7: And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. 8: And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. 9: And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10: And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. 11: And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12: And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
Could this have been what happened to Enoch also? It does not say in Genesis how he left the earth. In fact, we may not have known about Elijah’s departure, if Elisha was not so persistent. All the sons of the prophets knew he was going to go, but they did not follow Elijah, only one man did, Elisha.
It should be our goal to walk so closely to Jesus, that we see him, we look like him, we walk like him, and we talk like him.
1 John 2:6: He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
We should do as Paul instructed the Christians in the New Testament about our walk.
Colossians 2:6-7 :6: As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Ephesians 4:1-3 1: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2: With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3: Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Ephesians 5: 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
And finally as we close follow Enoch’s example and meditate on Jude 24-25. Spend some time praising Him.
Jude:1:24-25 24: Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25: To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Goode Christian: learning how to be a good Christian in today's world. 