Title: Enoch - A Faith that Sustains
Bible Book: Hebrews 11 : 5
Author: Steve Wagers
Subject: Faith; Enoch; Reward, Faith and its
Objective:
Introduction
Surely one of the godliest, as well as, interesting characters who ever lived was a man named Enoch. He is one of the only two who lived before the flood, the other being Noah, of whom it is said that he “walked with God.” He is also one of only two individuals who never died, the other being Elijah. Little is known about him, but the Bible reveals him to be exemplary among men and special to God.
A few years ago the Star Wars craze swept our country. In fact, recently the movie has been remade, and remembered, with all sorts of games, memorabilia and costumes. The movie centered around a man named Luke Skywalker.
In Hebrews 11: 5, we learn that long before there was ever a Luke Skywalker, there was Enoch Skywalker. Before Luke Skywalker ever dreamed of sailing past the stars and planets and visiting far off worlds, Enoch walked with God and one day took a trip past the moon and stars right into the very presence of God.
As we continue our journey through the Hall of Faith, we come to one of my own personal heroes. He is a man named Enoch. Little is known of him, but of what we do know, we know that he was a man familiar with God, favored by God and faithful to God. His faith demonstrates a faith that sustains.
I. A Man FAMILIAR with God!
The first time that Enoch is found is in Genesis 5. It is there where we learn that he was a man familiar with God. In other words, as I said earlier, he is only 1 of 2 men, before the flood, of whom it was said to have “walked with God.”
More is said about Enoch in New Testament than in the Old Testament. He is described in 51 words in the Old and in 94 words in the New. One of the things the New Testament highlights about his life is his testimony. He had the testimony that he pleased God. Genesis 5 tells us how he pleased God. We read twice, that Enoch walked with God. You could say that his only claim to fame was that he walked with God. We never read about him parting a sea, raising the dead, healing the sick, or leading an army. His entire life is summed up in the words, "He walked with God."
There is nothing greater that could be said about us than that we walked with God. When we are gone, people could say, "He went to the moon, he ran a large company, he was a wealthiest man that ever lived, or that he was president of the United States." But I say unto you the greatest thing that could be said of us is that you or me walked with God.
The greatest thing a child could say about his father, is that dad walks with God. The greatest thing a church could say about a member, is that he/she walks with God. The greatest thing the people you work with could ever say about you is that you walked with, and lived for God. As we consider Enoch’s walk with the Lord, we learn:
A. The DIRECTION of His Walk with God!
Look with me at Genesis 5: 22. “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.” And, in verse 24, we read, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
Again, twice we are told that Enoch “walked with God.” It is important to note that it does not say that God walked with Enoch; but, rather that Enoch “walked with God.
Someone might ask, “What does it mean to walk with God?” G. Campbell Morgan gave the greatest definition when he said, “Walking with God means that we are going in the same direction as God.”
Thus, we gather the idea that Enoch was going in the same direction as God. It was not that God was going in Enoch’s direction; but, Enoch was going in God’s direction.
If we are going to walk with God then that means that we are going to go God’s way. We will want to go where God is going, and do what God is doing. Someone has said, “Civilized man has learned how to fly, but he has lost the art of walking with God.”
B. The DURATION of His Walk with God!
To get an idea of how long Enoch walked with God, let’s look at verse 22. “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.”
Did you see that? Enoch walked with God for 300 years. Think about that! For 109,500 days, Enoch walked with God. It is not unusual to hear about someone who has walked with God for a few years, and then back off and eventually back out. But, what a blessing to know of someone who walked with God consistently, continuously and constantly for a number of years.
To gain a better understanding we must take a closer look at Enoch’s story. As a 65 year-old man God paid Mr. & Mrs. Enoch a visit one day, and gave them a son. They called his name ‘Methuselah,’ which means, “When he shall die it shall be sent, or it shall come.” His name was in reference to the flood.
In other words, God was saying to Enoch that when Methuselah died, judgment was coming. When Methuselah died, God was going to destroy the earth with a flood. It just so happened that Methuselah lived longer than anyone else in the Bible, a total of 969 years.
What a picture of the grace, mercy and longsuffering of God. God could have, and should have destroyed the earth right then, but he gave them 969 years to repent, and turn to him.
However, Enoch had no idea how long Methuselah would live. He had no way of knowing if he would live 96 years, or 969 years. All that he knew was that however long Methuselah lived was how long he had to serve God, live for God and walk with God.
Thus, as a 65 year-old man, Enoch began his journey of walking with God. And, he continued that journey for the next 300 years. I don’t know about you, but that is someone I would love to stand up and give a testimony on a Sunday night; someone who walked with God for 300 years. The song writer said:
When we walk with the Lord,
In the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way;
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with those who will trust and obey.
II. A Man FAVORED by God!
In Hebrews 11: 5, we read of Enoch’s testimony during his years of walking with God. We learn that he was a man favored by God for two reasons.
A. How He LIVED in This World!
We read in verse 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.”
A preacher was talking to a group of kids in a Sunday School Class. He was asking them question, "Why do you love God?" The best answer he got was from a young girl that said, "I don't know why I love God, preacher. I guess it just runs in my family."
Apparently, the matter of serving God, loving God and walking with God ran in Enoch’s family. He set the bar high in relationship to the matter of walking with God.
In fact, we’re told exactly how God viewed the life that Enoch lived in this world. The writer says that Enoch’s testimony was such that “he pleased God.” The English Standard Version renders the phrase, “He was commended as having been pleasing to God.”
What a testimony! I can’t think of any greater way to be remembered than having it said of you or I that we pleased God. You may have everything money can buy; but, you should desire the one thing money cannot buy; and, that is a life pleasing to the Lord.
Enoch carried an unusual testimony. He pleased God. That is significant considering the type of day in which Enoch lived. We will see, in a few moments, that Jude described Enoch’s day as “ungodly,” wicked and corrupt. Yet, in the midst of a generation that displeased God, Enoch continued to please God.
However, he also carried a unique testimony. We read that he had “THIS testimony, that he pleased God.” It doesn’t say that Enoch had “A” testimony; but, rather that Enoch had “THIS” testimony.
Every Christian has “A” testimony. In other words, every Christian can tell where God brought them from and what God has done for them. But, while every Christian has “A” testimony, not every Christian has “THIS” testimony.
That is, not every Christian is able to say that their life pleases God. Not every Christian can lay claim to the unusual, and unique testimony of Enoch. Not every Christian can look up to heaven, and say with the songwriter:
“Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
Naught of this world’s elusive dreams.
I have renounced all sinful pleasure,
Jesus is mine, there is nothing between!”
Enoch could have well sung that song. The unusual and unique testimony of pleasing God is how he lived in this world.
B. How He LEFT from This World!
God’s pleasure was extended to Enoch in a very significant way. In fact, what happened to Enoch only happened to one other man in the Bible, named Elijah. God allowed Enoch to miss death.
We’re told in verse 5 that, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him.” In other words, God gave Enoch a permission slip to miss out on an appointment with death.
First, there is Enoch’s transformation. We are told that he was “translated that he should not see death.” The word ‘translated’ is a music term. It literally means, “to transpose from a lower key to a higher key.” In other words, one day, God transformed, translated and transposed Enoch from the low key of this world to the high key of another world. However, we not only see Enoch’s transformation, but Enoch’s location. We are told that he “was not.” That is a strange description. Yet, that perfectly describes Enoch’s location.
In the 1960-70’s we learned of ‘astronauts.’ In the 1980-90’s we became acquainted with ‘cosmonauts.’ However, Enoch was neither an astronaut, nor a cosmonaut. He was a “was not.”
Enoch walked with God for 300 years. Finally, one day after walking with God, God must have said, “Enoch, you’re closer to my home than your home. So, just come on home with me!” Thus, when they begin to look for Enoch, they couldn’t find him. He was a “was not,” who had been transposed from this life to the next life.
Yet, thank God, Enoch is a picture of what will happen to every believer who is alive when Jesus returns. In the moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, we will be caught up in the air to meet the Lord Jesus.
Those left behind may send out a search and rescue team, but they will not find us, because we will become “was not’s” who have been translated from the low key of this world, to the high key of another world.
III. A Man FAITHFUL to God!
The final time Enoch is mentioned is in the little epistle of Jude. In two verses, 14-15, we find man whose life was marked by his faithfulness to God. We see:
A. His Faithfulness REVEALED!
Enoch’s faithfulness is revealed, first, in his birth. We read in verse 14 that Enoch was the “seventh from Adam.” That is significant because it reminds us that the godly line was restored through Enoch.
When Cain rose up and slew his brother Able, the godly line was destroyed. Through the process of time, the plan and purpose of God was continued by the birth of Seth. The name Seth means, “he is appointed.” Enoch was the great, great, great, great, great-grandson of Seth. Thus, God appointed Seth to restore the godly line, and to bring Enoch through that line. God had a will, a way, and a work specifically for Enoch.
However, the faithfulness of Enoch is not only revealed in his birth, but by his behavior. We read in verse 14, that Enoch “prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.” In verse 15, we read, “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.”
The word “ungodly” is used 4 times to speak of the day in which Enoch lived. In fact, Enoch lived in the days preceding the flood, which were days filled with wickedness, corruption and ungodliness.
Thus, Enoch lived a godly life in the midst of an ungodly day. He was a preacher and proclaimer of righteousness, who stayed true and was faithful to God by his behavior.
B. His Faithfulness REWARDED!
I believe that we see the faithfulness of Enoch rewarded in our text of Hebrews 11:5. Again, because of familiarity with God, his favor by God, and his faithfulness to God, Enoch received a benefit only rewarded to one other man, named Elijah.
Because he honored God with his life, God honored him by not allowing him to see death. God gave him a personal escort to the glory-world, not by way of a casket, but by way of a cloud.
Personally, I believe that Enoch’s reward will be continued in the tribulation period. In other words, I believe that Enoch will be one of the “two witnesses” described in Revelation 11 for two reasons.
One, because he will prophesy, with Elijah, that the Lord is going to come with “ten thousand of his saints,” referring to the millennial reign. And, two, because he never died a physical death. Some believe that the two witnesses will be Moses and Elijah. But, Moses has already died a physical death, and it is “appointed unto man once to die.”
I am not suggesting that to live a life of faith means that God will do the same for us as he did, and will do for Enoch. But, I am suggesting that if we will honor God, God will honor us. If we live a life of faith, we will be living a life which is pleasing to Him, and God will reward it.
A little 5-year old boy was obviously worried as he looked down the long aisle of the church where his aunt was to be married the following day. His grandmother had an idea. "I think I'll give a prize to the person who does the best job tomorrow," she told him. Everyone was holding their breath the next day, but when it was time, the ringbearer performed without a hitch.
When his grandmother told him he had won the prize, he was both excited and relieved. He said, "I was pretty sure I had it, until Aunt Dana came in wearing that white dress and the horn was blowing. Then I started thinking—‘Oh no, she’s going to win!’”
Conclusion
I once heard a story about a father who inquired of his son when he planned to purchase a much-needed automobile. "When God sends my one hundred fold," the son replied. Then he explained, "Recently I gave a gift of $50. When God sends my reward I'll have $5000 and can buy my car." When he realized his son was serious, the father responded, "God is already sending you your reward. It comes every two weeks, and it is called salary."
We often think of our spiritual rewards in terms of prosperity, possessions and prominence. However, a life lived for the glory of God is its own reward. Martin Luther put it into perspective when he said: “Our office is a ministry of grace and salvation. It subjects us to great burdens and labors, dangers and temptations, with little reward or gratitude from the world. But Christ himself will be our reward if we labor faithfully.”
What an example Enoch has lain before us. May we seek his familiarity with God, his favor by God, and his faithfulness to God. And, may God give us the faith of Enoch: a faith that sustains!
