Genesis 5:1-24
The example of Enoch, who walked with God
(based on chapter 1 of ‘Heading for Heaven’ a series of sermons by J.C. Ryle, one of the outstanding evangelical preachers and writers of the 19th century.)
According to Genesis chapter 5 God created man, male and female;
we did not evolve from dinosaurs or monkeys;
but it does not say if Adam was created as a baby or a boy or an adult.
Any speculation on something the Holy Spirit has not inspired
and preserved for us over the centuries is pointless and a waste of time;
but when Adam was 130 years old, that is 130 years after Creation Day 6
he became the father of Seth and later of other sons and daughters.
By this time Cain had killed Abel and had moved away.
He must have married one of his sisters or cousins and had children by them.
When Seth, born in 130 was 105, that is in the year 235 AC,
he became the father of Enosh; and when Enosh was 90, in the year 325AC,
he became the father of Kenan.
When Kenan was 70, in the year 395AC, he became the father of Mahalel;
and when he was 65, in the year 460AC, he became the father of Jared,
and when Jared was 162 he became the father of Enoch, in the year 622AC.
People lived long lives then;
Adam died at the age of 930; Seth died at 912;
Enosh at 905; Kenan at 910;
Mahalel at the age of 895 and Jared at 962;
but Scripture records that Enoch did not die, ‘for God took him’
(as God also ‘took’ Elijah in a whirlwind in 2nd Kings chapter 2)
at the age of ‘only’ 365; a mere boy compared to his forebears,
and remember if God ‘took him’ in 622 + 365 = the year 987AC,
Adam who died at the age of 930, would only have been dead for 57 years.
The age or time in which Enoch lived is described in the Bible as being very bad.
In those days, we are told, the earth was corrupt and filled with violence.
Every sort of violence seems to have prevailed;
men walked after the vile lusts of their hearts,
and di that which appeared good to them
without fear, and without shame.
(It sounds more or less the same as the times we live in!)
Very few are reported to have showed faith in the true God,
and to have been concerned about His standards of behavior and morality;
so those who did, like Enoch and only a few years later, Noah and his family, would have found it hard.
Laughed at, mocked, jeered, for putting God first;
derided for ‘not being one of the lads’
and ‘being different’, ‘holy’, ‘pious’, ‘sanctimonious’,
they would have had few friends.
But God will not be mocked; people sow what they reap;
and the great Flood would do away with those who ignored
the handed-down stories from their elders
about what had happened as a result of Adam’s sin.
We are supposed to learn from our mistakes,
but Henry Ford is quoted as saying:
‘the only thing we learn from History is that people DO NOT learn from History’.
But in spite of all the wickedness around him,
the Bible says, ‘Enoch walked with God’.
He had no Bible to read and learn from;
no religious leaflets or tracts, no prayer books or hymn books;
no church, no minister, no Services or Sermons;
no Christ to look to,
but in spite of this ‘Enoch walked with God’,
because he obviously was in relationship with the Living God
and benefitted from His grace.
Whereas the people around him were characterized by godlessness;
Enoch’s own character must have displayed Godliness.
Q. When people look at us, whether they like us or not,
do they see people who display Godliness?
A man or woman who ‘walks with God’ is obviously a friend of God.
How else can two people walk together or take part in any activity or relationship unless they are at peace with each other;
are unafraid of each other;
are not ashamed or upset in any way by the other.
Adam and Eve were in perfect harmony with God until they sinned,
then their consciences prevented them from ‘walking with God’;
they hid behind a tree.
Enoch was obviously comfortable in the presence of God
and had no ‘guilty conscience’ which prevented him from enjoying that presence.
Enoch ‘walked with God’ because he wanted to, more than anything else,
and would not have been anywhere near so happy, walking with anyone else.
He could think of no higher or more valuable activity than ‘walking with God’
because they were of like mind, outlook and purpose.
Enoch ‘walked with God’ as a child walks with his father,
not dragging behind or running ahead;
but in step with, showing the world ‘I belong to Him’.
Some people claim ‘it is not what you know, but who you know, that counts’;
but someone also said ‘it is not who you know that is important,
but who you belong to’.
Enoch ‘walked with God’ because he belonged to him,
and he loved him and revered him and trusted him
as a good child does a good parent.
Enoch ‘walked with God’
because he wanted everyone to know whose side he was on.
His public walk was a testimony, a witness to those around him
who had different moral standards and values,
different aims and purposes,
which were all driven by the ‘flesh’ rather than the ‘spirit’.
Enoch was not ashamed to let everyone around him know
that he was a child or even a servant of the Living God.
To use words Jesus would use much later,
Enoch did not hide his light under a bushel.
He did not only walk with God when it was dark
or when there was no one else around;
he ‘walked with God’ in a way that everyone could see,
whether they liked it or not.
Whereas those around him were evil,
Enoch was not prepared to compromise,
keep his head down and his mouth shut;
avoid confrontation and try to have a quiet life by not ‘rocking the boat’,
but ‘walked with God’
to show his disapproval of whatever sinfulness was in fashion at the time.
By ‘walking with God’ he showed that he sought not to please the world,
or make his neighbours happy;
but put God’s honour and glory at the top of the list.
He might have been living in an age of corruption, pleasure-seeking and sinfulness; he could not do anything about that;
but he was determined not to be corrupted by it.
By ‘walking with God’ Enoch showed he had separated himself from it,
and was a witness against it.
He was as a light shining in a dark place.
He ‘walked with God’ on the straight and narrow path
no matter how many people tried to get him to move over
to the popular wide one;
because he knew that only led to destruction.
Q. Are we ‘walking with God’ daily, even though for many there will be a cost?
So, what made Enoch different?
Why was his ‘walk’ not like those around him?
The answer must be ‘because he was a man of faith’.
Enoch knew, long before St Paul would write Romans 3:23
that as a child of Adam he was himself personally a sinner
and deserving of nothing but wrath and condemnation.
He knew that his first parents had forfeited all claim or right to eternal life,
and he knew, long before Jeremiah would prophecy in chapter 17 verse 9
that he, as one of their descendents, had inherited a heart
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
He knew, even before the Law was given, that he was a transgressor of it,
because his nature was exactly the same as the nature of those around him,
BUT he believed that God had graciously provided a way of salvation;
that God had provided a great Redeemer to bear our sins
and carry our transgressions
and bruise the head of the serpent who had caused Adam and Eve’s downfall.
Enoch did not look back to Adam and blame him,
and then content himself with being like everyone else;
he believed that one day Messiah would come
to pay the ransom of the sins of the world.
He believed that one day God would come to judge the world
and give to all men according to their works,
and he walked by faith in salvation by grace.
He walked with God as one unafraid of the Judgement,
but as one actively waiting for it;
for by faith he saw that heaven was his real home
and in the Lord’s presence alone was fullness of joy.
That’s what made Enoch different;
that is why he could ‘walk with God’ so confidently.
Q. Do we ‘belong’ here, or will be really only be perfectly ‘at home’ in heaven?
Q. If we knew for sure the Day of Judgement was coming soon;
would we be happy or afraid?
Enoch ‘walked with God’ with a certain goal or aim in mind,
and it was not to be rich and famous, or popular, or even to live a long life,
and that in the time when people lived for hundreds of years.
His aim was to spend eternity with God,
and God in His grace, granted Enoch what he wished for.
Scripture records ‘He was not, because God took him’.
There are no details, but God intervened in some special way
and suddenly removed Enoch from this world
without the aches and pains of old age or the pains of death.
God took Enoch to that blessed place
where all the saints are waiting in joyful expectation
for the end of all things, where sin and sorrow will be no more.
This must have had a massive impact on the people around him.
Some would be shocked at his sudden disappearance,
his father Jared, and his mother especially.
In view of the sinful times, some would be happy
that this pious, sanctimonious, ‘holy’ man was out of the way
and no longer around to make them look or feel bad.
It must have made some look at their own lives
and think about the extent of their sin and the extent of their faith
and their need to repent and get right with God, while there was still time.
God ‘took Enoch’ to show a hard-hearted unbelieving world
that He does observe the lives of men and women
and will honour those who honour Him.
God ‘took Enoch’ to show every living soul
that Satan had not won a complete victory when he deceived Eve.
God ‘took Enoch’ to show that in spite of their sinful nature and sinful actions
that all may yet get to heaven by the way of faith.
God ‘took Enoch’ to show that there is a reward for the righteous,
no matter how much critics and enemies may laugh and mock.
God ‘took Enoch’ to show that those who walk the narrow way,
what the world regards as the unfashionable way, the despised way,
will not walk into hell,
but will find rest in the loving arms of God.
Q. If we really desire to go to heaven;
if we really hope to die in peace and rise in glory;
are WE walking with God in the way that Enoch and all the saints did?
One day the Lord will come to execute judgement,
and one day this earth shall be no more
and every soul will live forever, either in heaven or in hell.
One day this church will crumble to dust
and all the cemeteries will give up their dead
and all will stand before the throne of God
to be judged according to their lives.
May the Lord, by His grace, grant that all of us will find mercy in that day;
but if we would find it, while there is time,
we must not put off anything that needs to be done
we must ‘walk with God’ now;
even from this very minute.
We must repent of ‘walking without God’
and of all things we have done which God finds hateful;
and even of trying to earn or merit salvation by our own works
instead of following His way,
which is by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
If we ‘walk with God’ we will spend eternity with Him
and have our portion with the spirits of sinners made just
through the merits and the shedding of His precious blood.
Amen.
