Enoch Walked With God

Issues – September 2016 – Grace & Truth Magazine

ENOCH Walked With God

“Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch ... Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” —Genesis 5:18-24 NKJV

Enoch walked with God at a time when men were in open revolt against Him. We read in Genesis 6:5: “Then the L ORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Not only did Enoch avoid certain evils, but in the midst of such conditions he walked with God and enjoyed communion with Him.

It appears that when Methuselah was born, Enoch was concerned about bringing up his children in a world that was soon to be judged. Therefore the name Methuselah, meaning “it shall be sent,” was indicative of the great flood that God would send to judge the world. This indeed happened in the very year Methuselah died. “The world that then existed perished, being flooded with water” (2 Pet. 3:6).

What a beautiful example Enoch’s walking with God is for Christian parents. It is difficult at any time to bring up our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, but Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God. That testimony came from God Himself. Enoch’s walk and his testimony corresponded, being in agreement. That speaks loud and clear to this day.

Take note that the Bible does not say “God walked with Enoch.” Rather, it says “Enoch walked with God,” and in this we perceive that he also talked with God and God talked with him. The effect of such close communion with God made Enoch a choice vessel that God could use as His mouthpiece to warn of pending judgment while Enoch himself could go on in peace.

Hebrews 11:5 says, “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Enoch is singled out in his generation as one who pleased God. He was not looking around to please or impress men, but only to please God. He was satisfied with God’s smile of approval. He had no need to retract his steps for he walked with God.

Enoch’s walk beautifully reflects the life of the Lord Jesus in His lowly Manhood, who could say, “He who has sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him” (Jn. 8:29). In this one verse, various moral features of the Lord Jesus are clearly seen. He was the Sent One. He came to fulfill a mission that the Father had given Him – turning neither to the left nor to the right, but moving forward in a straight path to accomplish it. Isaiah 50:7 tells us that His face was set like a flint, and He knew that He would not be ashamed. The Father was with Him, and they went both of them together (Gen. 22:8). Therefore the sweetest fragrance ascended for the Father’s pleasure.

Enoch was translated, taken to heaven without seeing death – a blessed reward for his faithful walk with God that brought much pleasure to His heart. Because God had taken him, Enoch was not found. Do you think that people looked for him? Whether they did or not was not Enoch’s concern. God had in mind to set before our spiritual view the wonderful prospect that we too, who are alive and remain till the coming of the Lord, may at any moment be called away, hearing His words, “Come up here” (Rev. 4:1). This will be the crowning of His grace! Unworthy as we are in ourselves, we will be caught up in all the worthiness of Christ our Redeemer to be with Him. Yes, with Him in the Father’s house – and so shall we be forever with the Lord (1 Th. 4:17)!

In Jude, the last epistle of the New Testament, we read: “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’” (vv.14-15). Enoch, who by his godly walk brought pleasure to the heart of God, was a suitable vessel to bear an effective witness for God in addressing the consciences of the ungodly all around him. There was a great contrast between a God-fearing man like Enoch and the ungodly sinners marked by violence and ripe for judgment. Acts 14:16-17 reminds us that God has not left Himself without a witness: “Who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness.”

We have often heard it said that history repeats itself, which proves that the heart of man has not changed. The wickedness in the heart of man in Enoch’s day is no different than that at the present time. This prophecy of Enoch was given prior to the great flood that destroyed the world, but it is recorded in Jude, revealing to us that the final execution of judgment upon the ungodly of the present generation is still pending. We can rest assured that while the heart of man does not change, God, who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Hab. 1:13), will indeed bring to pass what He has said. “He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained” (Acts 17:31).

Dearly beloved friends, knowing that these things will surely come to pass, let us be diligent to walk pleasing to Him, “Who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25).

By Jacob Redekop

Enoch was translated as one who pleased God in days long before “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17). Grace having fully arrived, the church is going to be translated on the ground of the grace of God. After our translation we shall have to pass before the judgment seat of Christ, and there learn the measure in which we have pleased Him.

In the light of these two things – God’s grace and our responsibility – let us be keenly desirous of having before the judgment seat the verdict that we have pleased our Lord. —F. B. Hole