Enoch – 20th April 2008 am
Hebrews 11:5-6
The Bible tells us nothing about the early years of Enoch. All we know is that at the age of 65, Enoch became the father of a child which he named Methuselah. After that child was born, we are told that Enoch walked with God for the next 300 years of his life. What was it about the birth of this child that caused Enoch to come to faith in God?
It may have something to do with the name of the child. The name “Methuselah” means “When he is gone, it will come.” If you do the math, you will find that Methuselah died the very year the flood of Genesis chapters 6-8 came. Enoch was made to understand that the death of his son would signal the destruction of the world.
At the death of Enoch’s son the world was destroyed – at the death of God’s Son the world was saved. God used the birth of that child to open the heart of Enoch and God used it to save that man’s soul! It would appear that Enoch came to God under the threat of judgment!
This is a blessing when you stop to consider that Methuselah may have been a symbol of approaching judgment; but he was also a symbol of the longsuffering, love and grace of God. How? He lived longer than any other human in history, Gen. 5:27!
God uses many events in life to touch people’s hearts to bring them to Jesus.
• People are touched when they think of Hell, Psalm. 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, [and] all the nations that forget God..
• Others react when they think of the love of God manifested at Calvary, Rom. 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us..
• Then there are those who feel guilty because of their sins and are drawn to Jesus, John 16:7-11.
The means God uses to convict a person and draw them to Jesus does not matter. The fact that He draws them to Him is what is important, John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
For Enoch, it was the birth of a son. For me, it was the thought of dying lost and of going to Hell. It may be different for you. The main thing is seeing your need for God and then coming to Him for salvation!
So what can we learn from the life of this man, and what can we apply to our own lives? What type of person was Enoch? What inspired him? What motivated him?
I. Enoch Walked With God – Genesis 5:22
We are told twice in these verses that “Enoch walked with God.” That is not Enoch’s testimony of his life; that is the testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning Enoch’s life. God looked at Enoch’s life and saw a man whose life pleased the Lord, Heb. 11:6.
The word “walk” is the biblical expression for “fellowship and obedience that results in divine favor.” It refers to a manner of life that results in a person living in nearness to the Lord. This is the kind of walk Enoch had with God. It is the kind of walk Amos refers to in Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed. It is a walk of dedication and devotion. It is a walk in which Enoch lives up to His name. The name Enoch means “Dedicated.”
The kind of walk that Enoch exhibited is the same kind of walk that needs to be seen in your life and mine.
It would seem that Enoch lived a life that demonstrated the faith that was in his heart. He didn’t talk one way and live another, but he consistently, constantly and completely walked with God. He walked with God for 300 years! Think about that! Look at chapter 5 and find anything that any of these other men did that was outstanding and remarkable. Enoch walked with God consistently for 300 years! That is quite an achievement!
That is the kind of walk we all need today! We should live a visible Christian live. We should walk consistently with the Lord. We should avoid a life that is hot and cold, in and out, up and down and we should just walk with the Lord in humility and obedience. That is the kind of life that pleases Him! 1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth inn him ought himself so to walk, even as he walked.
Do you think Enoch literally walked with someone he could see? What we call a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ? Did He walk with Enoch the way He walked with Adam in the garden? Did He appear to Enoch the way He appeared to Abraham and Moses and Joshua and others?
I believe He did. Why not? Enoch was pleasing to Him.
So you might say, Enoch had an edge. It’s easier to be close to someone you can see. Develop a closer relationship with someone who is walking beside you and you can literally hear His voice. Right?
But Christian, He is in you!
He is in you. Jesus told His disciples while standing right in front of them, that the Comforter would come and would be in them. The Comforter is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ. Himself God.
When you ignore the Holy Spirit who indwells you, when you walk through your day thinking only of and to yourself, like He’s not even there, you grieve Him. And when you have a thought of some spiritual way you should be reacting to life and you do not, you quench Him, because it is He who is speaking to your heart, saying, ‘pray’ ‘tell that person about Jesus’ ‘don’t respond to that man in anger, but in love’, and so on.
Not only that, but He gives you the power to live by faith and thus be pleasing to Him. And I am afraid to say that many people who claim to be Christians today think they can walk with God and walk with the world – that does not please God!
As a result of Enoch’s walk (Hebrews 11:5) his testimony pleased God. Does your testimony please God?
We are so anxious to put do’s and don’ts out there on a list and encourage people to follow it. A Christian acts like this, and he doesn’t act like that. A Christian is expected to be a good witness; set a good example for others to follow.
But how much simpler we could make the whole thing, if we could say we ‘walk with God’. The proper thinking and behaviours would automatically fall into line, wouldn’t they?
II. Enoch Talked About God – Jude 14-15
This passage of Scripture tells us that Enoch was a prophet. He was a prophet and he preached to the people of his generation. He preached about the coming judgment and of the need for repentance. He was a hard preacher with a hard message. He was saved and he wanted others to know about this God he served. He also knew that judgment was coming and he wanted others to miss it.
Enoch proclaimed the second coming of Christ (14).
Enoch proclaimed judgment on false teachers (15).
1. Their works ("deeds... committed")
2. Their words ("speeches" or "things"... "spoken against Him")
We find Enoch preaching a hard message for a hardened people.
As you and I pass through this world, we need to do so with the Gospel on our lips. Yes, we must live out the truth, but we must also be careful to tell others about Jesus Christ, His death and of what He can do in their lives if they will come to Him by faith.
We are commanded to witness, Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; we have been equipped to witness, Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth; therefore, let us get busy being a visible, vocal witness for the glory of the Lord! There is a dying world that needs to hear about a living Lord! Let’s tell them while there is time.
III. Enoch Gawked At God – Genesis 5:24
What God took Enoch from was an evil world and the presence of sin. What He took Enoch from was destruction and wrath. And Enoch is our type.
Sin is something that will die with this world. It has this world and those who belong to this world in its evil grasp, and it won’t let go. South American tribe – catch monkey by cutting small hole in a coconut and placing berries inside. Clenches fist can’t get it out…..
Sin has its clutches on this world, and when it passes away with a fervent heat, so will sin. Enoch was taken away to a place where sin cannot follow, and believer, he is our type.
Do you struggle? Are you often grieved in your spirit, because you recognize how far short you fall of what you think you really should be in Christ? Do temptations surround you? Addictions hound you? Past sins continue to play on your conscience and you can’t seem to find rest for long before it all hits you again?
Jesus is going to take you to a place where sin cannot follow. And He is going to take you there before the destruction, because you are in Christ and you please Him.
I find it interesting that the only quote we have from Enoch’s prophesying recorded in scripture, the one I read earlier from Jude, refers to the second coming of the Messiah, and that he, as a type of the church, makes reference to the church in it, when he says, “…the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones…”
That is a picture of the coming of Christ followed by all His saints at the battle of Armageddon, as recorded by John in Revelation 19:11-16
Before that scene, there will be much suffering and destruction as God’s wrath is poured out on this world in the tribulation.
But let’s talk about when God took Enoch, and what it means for us.
The Word of God is quite emphatic that there is coming a Day of Judgment! As revealed in the life of Enoch - (pictures the Rapture before the Judgment of the Flood) - "As it is appointed unto all men once to die, and after this the judgment." (Heb. 9:27)
The Bible teaches a Pre-Tribulation Rapture which means that the Lord Jesus Christ will come back for His Bride, the Church, made up of ALL Born-Again Believers – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
However, just as recorded in the Book of Genesis, there will follow a terrible time of judgment - The Tribulation Period! (2 Thess. 1:7-10; 2 Thess. 2:1-3:5)
