ENOCH, A MAN OF FAITH IN HIS WALK. Hebrews 11:5-6 Abel’s faith shows that the sacrifice of an innocent substitute is the entrance into a life of faith, and trusting in what God says is acceptable to Him is the most significant evidence of personal faith in God. Faith in the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf opens the way to continuing fellowship with our Lord, a walk of faith. Abel showed that death is the entrance into life. Enoch teaches us how life triumphs over death; he did not experience death. Abel teaches us that death leads to life, and Enoch speaks to a life that never dies.
In these Old Testament shadows, Abel’s sacrifice focuses our attention on Christ crucified; Enoch speaks of Christ glorified and of our eternal life in Him who is alive forevermore. We learn first from Enoch the nature of faith, the spiritual sense through which we experience the person and presence of God. Desire is the root of faith. A longing for God and the knowledge of Him moves faith to seek Him, believe in Him, open our hearts to receive Him and His word. It is then that we find where we really are and what life is really for.
Second, we learn that faith believes we can find God when we seek Him with all our hearts. He reveals Himself to us. We learn that He cares for us, wants us with Him, and rewards those who diligently seek Him. The seeking process may be hard and long because of our sinful nature, but faith continues until we find Him. Faith knows God, loves God, believes His truth, and wants to obey Him. Then we realize He has been seeking us, and our faith pleases Him. Faith surrenders to God, honors and worships Him, obeys His will, rests in confidence in Him, and loves Him.
A third thing we are taught is that faith knows when we please God. The Holy Spirit dwelling in a believer bears witness with our spirit that God speaks to us through His word, and we hear and obey what He says. Our desire, delight, and devotion to God are not merely a form but a result of vital faith.
The name Enoch means initiated, dedicated, and instructed [Gen. 5:21-24; Lu. 3:37; Heb. 11:5; Jude 14-15]. We don't know much about his early life except that he was "the seventh from Adam" and that his father was Jared. He likely knew Adam and had become accustomed to the teaching he had heard. He certainly saw the deterioration of morality and spirituality in the society he lived in. For 65 years before the baby boy was born to him, Enoch’s life is summed up in the word “lived.” A change came in his life when he had a son named Methuselah. His name now became significant because he was made aware in a special way of God and His plans for the future. He began prophetic teachings that challenged the lifestyle of the world in which he lived. He realized his son was going to die, and when he did, judgment would come on the world because of sin.
When we reflect on our sons and daughters and recognize that much of what they will believe and do in life depends on what they are taught when they are young, we are moved in our spirit to enter into fellowship with God and remain there. For the next 300 years of Enoch's life, he "walked with God."
When Methuselah was born, things changed. Now, as Enoch looked ahead to the future of his sons and daughters, he learned what really counts in life. To walk with God, even for a short time, makes a person stand out. To do so for 300 years, day in and day out, is a wonder that would leave a person with the perfume of God about him. Noah is the only other person in scripture who is said to “walk with God.” Levi did so for a short time in Mal. 2:6, but he “departed out of the way.” We find Enoch walking with God in Genesis 5:25, pleasing God in Hebrews 11:5, and witnessing for God in Jude 14-15.
Two can’t walk together unless they agree – one well-pleasing to the other. A walk with God can be maintained only through perfect reliance on God and His word. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” We come to know God when we habitually walk and talk with Him. You don’t really know a person until you live with them.
Enoch knew God in a special way, not in a vague, general way. This is not silent contemplation but performing our duty in faith as one given a direct commission, with his eye on God throughout the activity. Every act at home or in business can be a service to the Lord when we walk with Him and do it for Him. "He pleased God" indicates a state of friendship between God and him. The greatest testimony of our faith we could ask for is that we pleased God in an age of wickedness. Enoch spent his life reproving a sinful generation and warning them of the approaching judgment.
Enoch’s removal from the world was unusual. The word used means “to take” in Hebrew, with the idea of taking to oneself, as in “taking a wife.” It also means to transpose, to put in another place, transfer, or translate. His removal from the earth in this unique way occurred only in the cases of Elijah and the Lord Jesus, who were translated to heaven. Enoch's walk of faith led to his miraculous translation, in which he was "taken up." He had a marvelous deliverance. He would not see death. The missing patriarch was not found, perhaps because, when he was out walking with God, maybe in a physical walk, by His mighty power, God took him right into heaven without dying. What a magnificent walk it is when a testimony is given that he or she, "pleased God."
Some lessons we can learn from Enoch are that we should walk with the Lord, regardless of the day and age in which we live. God also recognizes the man or woman who stands against sin and is willing to warn of coming judgment. Even more significant is the fact that there is a future with God for every believer. This life is not the end of our existence. God is pleased with those who are willing to "walk the walk" despite the dark days and whatever others are doing.
I wonder what he thought on the day he first held in his arms that small baby boy God had given to him. Did Enoch acknowledge to God just how deeply he felt? Did his walk with God begin because he turned from some sin? Did he think a child would learn to talk and use the same words his father would? Did the places he went when alone change now, because his boy, like his father, would choose to walk with God instead of walking his way? Did his whole life change for fear of losing his son?
I know that when I held our first child, my first thought was that this child would live forever. Heaven or hell depends on whether I am willing to yield myself and my family to God. Was I willing to give my pledge of honor to God that day, that the choices I make that affect them would challenge them to grow in a way that both they and their God can rejoice in? The family God gave me will know whether I’m just a fake or if my faith is for real – because in my life and my walk, the real me shows.
After the first son was born, God was willing to entrust His companion, Enoch, with a heritage. As each child was born, he realized he must never take for granted that God had given him that child. God has blessed Linda and me with wonderful daughters. Their husbands and families are a great joy to us. When our children gather around us in fellowship, we bless God in prayer, letting our gratitude show. God has made us aware that all that really matters is that we will all be ready when the Lord calls us.
A walk of faith lifts us above sin and death into fellowship with the Lord of life. In the same way Enoch went to heaven without dying, believers in Christ in this church age will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” Christ has made death powerless over us by defeating and destroying Satan, who had the power of death.
Enoch’s message points to the full and final aspect of salvation. The Lord is coming. The dead in Christ will rise, and living believers will be instantaneously changed. Together, we will meet the Lord in the air at His coming. The awareness of this fact should purify us so we will not be ashamed when He comes.