AN EPITAPH WORTH HAVING
- Genesis 5:1-5, 21-24
> Hebrews 11:5 By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not experience death, and he was not to be found because God took him away. For prior to his transformation he was approved, having pleased God.
A number of years ago I went to a conference for preachers in East Tennessee. While I was there I met an old, retiring preacher who told me about a headstone he had read in his area. It said:
“Remember as you walk by, As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so shall you be. Remember this and follow me.” He said that written under it was a note that said, “To follow you I’ll not consent, until I know which way you went.” (I also found this and the following headstones on the internet)
It is funny, some of the things you can find written on headstones, or said about people after they pass.
In a Pennsylvania cemetery you find a headstone that reads: “Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake; stepped on the gas instead of the brake.”
A headstone in England reads: “The children of Israel wanted bread and the Lord sent them Manna. Old Clerk Wallace wanted a wife and the Devil sent him Anna.”
One in Chattanooga, TN says, “I came into this world without my consent and left in the same manner.”
Many things can be engraved on our headstones or said about us when we die, but I cannot imagine anything better being said about anyone than what was said about Enoch in Hebrews 11:5 … he was approved, having pleased God. Can you imagine it being said after you die, that you pleased God? Can you imagine God saying that about you?
Can you imagine, after you die, or after you leave, having God inspire someone to write about you, “He walked with Me, I approved of him and he pleased Me?
For a Christian, I cannot imagine greater praise than that.
The Bible doesn’t tell us a whole lot about Enoch. We have a couple of verses in Genesis 5. We have this verse in Hebrews and 2 verses in Jude, and that is about it. There are, however, several items we know about Enoch.
I. ENOCH LIVED IN TIMES LIKE OURS
- Genesis 4:16
1. It was a time of humanism – People often think that the reason some of the people in the Bible were able to live godly lives, and were able to live in a way that was pleasing to God is that they lived in easier days. They believe folks back in Bible days don’t face the same trials and temptations that we face and that somehow pleasing God was easier for them. That simply is not the case. Listen, people in Bible days face the same trials and temptations we face. We know, for instance, that when Enoch lived it was a time of humanism.
I imagine that after Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden, that they didn’t go far. They didn’t travel far from the garden. They didn’t want to get away from God. They might have been disobedient, but after they were things had not turned out exactly as they had planned. Even though they had sinned, they still wanted to be near God and wanted God near them. It was not that way for many however.
In Genesis 4:16 we read that Cain went out from the Lord’s presence. He didn’t want anything to do with God. He started a religion of his own. He started his own humanism and tried to use things in his life to fill the void that God had once filled.
He, and his children after him, built a city, trying to hide their loneliness, godlessness, and emptiness in the roar and busyness of the crowd. Humanism, where humanity and things take the place of God, reigned in many people’s lives.
How very similar to our day. Where Christians founded this nation and started the public school system, we are hearing with increasing frequency that our beliefs and our God are no longer welcome in the public schools. Christians are being laughed at and made fun of in many of our television shows.
Our day, like Enoch’s is a time of humanism.
2. It was a time of vice – Genesis 4:19; Genesis 2:24
God intended for one man to be married to one woman. He intended for the 2 to become one flesh, to experience a closeness, a oneness. God intended them to help one another, to be partners in life, but not with many in the world. They were ate up with appearance
- Adah – “Ornamental” She was good to look at. She looked good on his arm. She wasn’t a partner. She wasn’t a helpmeet. She wasn’t bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She was a trophy wife.
- Zillah – “Shade” or “Seductress”. She wasn’t valued or chosen because she was a good wife. She wasn’t chosen because she would be a good helpmeet to work together as a godly partner in the calling God had laid on their lives. She was chosen because she knew how do dress seductively. She had a good figure. She knew how to walk, and fix her makeup.
Man had given way to the lust of the eye and the lust of the flesh. Forget about God’s plan. Forget about what God wants. Forget about what God intended. Forget about what God says is best. This is what I want, and I will have it my way.
How very much like our perverse and perverted society. When shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” and “Sex in the City” are on during prime time for our children to see.
Oh, "the sins which once slinked along the back alleys of society now parade their perverseness down main street". (Dr. Adrian Rodgers)
3. It was a time of violence – Genesis 4:23-24
Lamech killed a man for wounding him and a boy for striking him. It was a time of violence. Life held no value. Life was not dear.
How very similar to our own time. We are living in a time when human life holds no value. Children are being sacrificed on the abortionist’s alter in the name of convenience.
People in the Middle East strap bombs to their bodies and walk into crowds killing innocent men, women and children in an attempt to advance some political agenda.
Teens, killing homeless people, street people, just because they are bored or because they want to see what it’s like to kill someone.
Talk to the area LEOs. They’ll tell you that violence is increasing, the murder rate is up, and they can’t explain it. Road rage is increasing. …
We are living in a time of violence.
4. It was a time of secularism
a. Agriculture – 4:20 There were advances in agriculture. Herding was coming into being. Trying to grow sugar cane. Do you want it for chewing, making sugar, or making molasses? Herbicide resistant cotton in Mississippi.
b. Music – 4:21 There were advances in music. Not religious music. Not music that would lead them to worship. Not music that led to God, like in David’s day. It was a growth in music that had nothing to do with God. MP3 players & Ipods.
c. Manufacturing – 4:22 Metal work. Industry was increasing. There was a technological revolution going on.
People were finding all kinds of things in the world to keep them busy, to keep them distracted, to keep their minds off of God and what he wanted.
For many alive at that time, it was more important to be admired by men than it was to walk with God.
How very much like today. …
In the midst of all of that we read in Genesis 5:22 that Enoch walked with God.
II. ENOCH OVERCAME
He changed . – Genesis 5:21-22
Before the birth of his son, he lived like the other people of Seth’s line. Not overly worldly, but not outstandingly godly either.
a. A Warning From God – Fear
Methuselah – “It shall be sent when he is dead” You find that the flood of Noah came at the death of Methuselah. God must have warned him and told Enoch that He wouldn’t continue to put up with the way man was living.
Some say that you shouldn’t fear God. Horse feathers.
> Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.
> Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Methuselah lived longer than any other person who has ever lived. Why? Because of God’s mercy.
> 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
b. A Word from God – that brought faith.
> Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Maybe he talked to Adam. Adam was still alive at this time. Maybe God allowed Adam to share with him about how great it was to walk with God.
Adam and Enoch talking. … No, no. I don’t want to hear about the sin. I’ve heard about that. Tell me about what it was like to walk with God in the Garden. Tell me what it was like before …
III. ENOCH ENDURED
- Genesis 5:22
300 years. He continued to walk with God.
Invitation. – What will they write on your headstone? What will God say about you? Will He be able to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, thou has been faithful in a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the rest of the Lord?
