It Takes Faith (Part Three) Series

IT TAKES FAITH (Part three) Hebrews 11:5-6

As we move forward in our series on Hebrews 11, we come to the account of Enoch. We'll see that Enoch was quite a fellow who experienced something pretty extraordinary. In part three of our series on what it takes faith to do we will see that it takes faith to please God.

1) Enoch walked with God.

Heb. 11:5, "By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God."

Here we learn a little bit about this guy named Enoch. We learn that he didn't die; which is amazing in and of itself. There's only one other person who experienced this kind of departure and that was Elijah. I'll touch on that later on. We see that Enoch was commended as one who pleased God.

We find out more about Enoch from Gen. 5:18-24, "When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."

In this genealogy (which starts in vs. 1 with Adam) you see how it says, "so-and-so lived 'x' amount of years and then he died". But with Enoch it says something different. It replaces "lived" with "walked with God". And instead of "then he died" it says, "and then he was no more because God took him away".

Obviously there was something different about Enoch. He didn't just live, he walked with God. I'm not saying none of the other people in this list were godly but there was something more to the life of Enoch than there was for the others in this list. The text doesn't make this statement for no reason.

If you read on in the genealogy, you'll find Noah. And you will see that Noah was Enoch's great-grandson. We already know that Enoch walked with God but did you know that Noah is the only other person in the bible that this phrase is attached to (Gen. 6:9). Even though Noah was born after Enoch's departure I'd like to think there was some pretty special lessons and stories handed down by his father and grandfather regarding the character and example of great-grandpa Enoch.

It's interesting that while Hebrews 11:5 says that Enoch pleased God, Genesis 5:24 says that he walked with God. So which is it? It's both. The Septuagint (a Greek translation of the OT from the 2nd-3rd century B.C.) translates the Hebrew for "walked with God," as, "pleased God". So the two phrases are one and the same; it's just that the one in Genesis was written in Hebrew and the one in Hebrews was written in Greek. I know, it sounds a little confusing but at least the mystery is resolved.

But what does it mean that Enoch walked with/pleased God? Let's see.

2) To walk with God is to be in agreement with God.

Amos 3:3, "Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?"

Family Bible Notes commentary states, "He [Enoch] had confidence in him, lived in communion with him, opened his heart to him, and consulted him as his bosom-friend."

Enoch had faith so he had confidence in God. Confidence in his ability, his wisdom, his love. Since Enoch walked with God he shared communion with him. If he walked with God I'm sure he also talked with God. Probably not in the literal sense, just a spiritual sense since the fall pretty much removed that possibility.

But this is what Enoch was doing in walking with God. Enoch wouldn't have been walking with God if he wasn't in agreement with God; the two go hand-in-hand. I might be able to be obedient without agreeing to that which I'm obeying but I doubt I would be able to maintain it for very long. However, it is so much easier and successful to obey when I understand and am in agreement with the command I'm obeying.

And it's not just agreeing to his commands it's also being in agreement with his will. When God allows things to happen in our life we may not understand and we may even think certain things aren't fair but we accept that God's ways are higher than ours and that we don't know all that is going on. We believe that God still loves us and wants us to be close to him.