Text: Genesis 5:21-24, & Jude 1:14-15
Theme: Prophet Enoch
Greetings: The Lord is good and his love endures forever!
Introduction:
The prophetic ministry is one of the five-fold ministry in the church. Ephesians 4:11: "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers." Ephesians 4:12-13 explains that the purpose of the five-fold ministry is "to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
Today, we will meditate on the prophet Enoch. Enoch pleased God, he preached repentance, he prophesied Parousia.
Life of Enoch:
We find Enoch in Genesis 5:18-24, Hebrews 11:5, and Jude 14-15. His name is referred three times in New Testament (Luke 3:37, Hebrews 11:5, Jude 1:14). Enoch was a Devote of God. Enoch was a Prophet of God. Enoch was an Eschatological Man.
There are at least four different men mentioned as Enoch in Genesis. Enoch was the son of Jared. The name of Enoch (Hebrew: ??????? ?ano?) derives from the Hebrew root ??? (?-n-?), meaning to trained up, instructed, initiated, dedicated, inaugurated. Enoch was the seventh from Adam in the line of Seth and not from of Cain. He was not the seventh man born into the world, but the seventh generation from Adam. Genesis 5 provides a genealogy of these ten figures from Adam to Noah. It provides the age at which each fathered the next, and the age of each died.
The genealogical count is inclusive, counting Adam as the first, then Enoch as seventh (Adam, Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch). The number seven is often used for perfection or completion in the Bible. The stories of Enoch is found in the Bible, Quran- Idris Ali Salam found in Iraq, Enoch 1, Enoch 2 (Secrets of Enoch), Enoch 3. Also some references found on the Book of Giants.
1. Enoch pleased God
“Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God three hundred years after the birth of Methuselah and had other sons and daughters.”(Genesis 5:22) “Enoch lived to please God all this time, then Enoch was not there any more. God took Enoch to be with him.”(Genesis 5:24).
“It was faith that kept Enoch from dying. Instead, he was taken up to God, and nobody could find him, because God had taken him up. The scripture says that before Enoch was taken up, he had pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5).
He was described as mysterious man but he was an ordinary human being. He turned into a powerful man of God because he lived to please God. He was born in the 338th year of Adam's life. He lived a holy and faithful life to the Lord.
He walked with God in a declining culture. He had a very close relationship with God in a world and at a time that was becoming very wicked. Enoch lived a few hundred years before the Flood. The inhabitants of earth descend into utter moral depravity during this period. Enoch pleased God by walking with Him, he lived a testimonial life. He had encumbrances of wife, in-laws, children, and grandchildren. Yet he walked with God.
He had a close and intimate relationship with God. We need to cultivate a deep and personal relationship with God through prayer, faith, and righteous living. Enoch is commended for his faith. His faith pleased God. This leads to moral and spiritual purification and striving to harmonize with God's will.
Enoch "walked with God: and he was no more; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24, Hebrews 11:5), which is interpreted as Enoch entering heaven alive. This happens 57 years after Adam's death and 69 years before Noah's birth. Sirach 44:16 states that "Enoch pleased God and was translated into paradise that he may give repentance to the nations." The Greek word paradise, (pa??de?s?? paradeisos) means "enclosed garden", used in the Septuagint to describe the Garden of Eden.
He was translated into heaven. A new concept in those days. He disappeared from the sight of the people. He was not missed out in the jungle, or lost on the way but he was taken up in the sight of the people. We also discover that God took him in the prime of life. 365 years old in his days was equivalent to 35 years old today.
The Arabic writers call him Edris the prophet, and the Jews say that he was in a higher degree than Moses or Elias; they also call him Metatron, the great scribe, a name which they sometimes give to the angel that went before the children of Israel in the wilderness.
2. Enoch preached repentance
A pastor was in the middle of his sermon when he noticed a man had fallen asleep with his head on his wife’s shoulder.
“Wake up, your husband,” Pastor snapped.
The wife smiled and replied, “You put him to sleep. You wake him up.”
Enoch as prophet pleaded, begged his people to Know God, and do the righteous things. He preached to his generation. Enoch made it patently obvious that God would judge the world.
The preaching of Enoch is quoted by Jude: “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (Jude 15; Deuteronomy 33:2; Daniel 7:10-14; Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 25:31).
The word “ungodly” occurs four times in this one verse. He said: Ungodly, ungodly deeds, ungodly way, and ungodly sinners. Religionists might be moral but not godly. People may have religions but without God, without the true God. Ungodly deeds are performed by persons who have a form of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5).
Dr. Constable says "Every action that proceeds from an unholy, unrepentant heart is an ungodly deed. Satan in Eden and Judas in Gethsemane clothed ungodly deeds in soft words." Ungodly in simple terms describes a lack of interest in the things of God and a behavior and lifestyle consistent with such an irreverent attitude. Living as if God does not exist and with no regard for Him. Ungodly Sinners refers to those who are continually erring from the way, constantly missing God's mark, and living in opposition to His good and acceptable and perfect will. The ungodly teachers have no understanding of spiritual things but act according to their physical instincts, like animals.
He used the word “Behold”. Spurgeon says "Behold is a word of wonder; it is intended to excite admiration. Wherever you see it hung out in Scripture, it is like an ancient sign-board, signifying that there are rich wares within, drawing attention to something particularly worthy of observation."
3. Enoch prophesied Parousia.
His preaching is found in Jewish Literature, the Book of “Book of First Enoch”. I Enoch is a compilation of several separate works, most of which are apocalyptic. Enoch had amazing spiritual revelations.
The Catholic Bible says, "The Book of Enoch is apocryphal. St. Jude does not here approve the entire book, but only this prophecy." Jude's phrasing is significantly different, leading many to suggest that he was either quoting an oral tradition or had been given particular information by the Holy Spirit. Enoch had a prophetical ministry.
His preaching was a warning and a call to repentance. Enoch was inspired by the Holy Spirit to reveal the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, even before he was promised to Abraham and his descendants.
Enoch was a Prophet of foretelling. The Second Coming: The Lord Jesus would come in two stages The Rapture and The Second Coming. At the Rapture, He would come for the saints; at the Second Coming, He would come with the saints. At the Rapture, He would come in clouds, not stand on the earth. At the Second Coming, He would come to the earth itself. The Rapture is to receive the Church unto Himself. The Second Coming is to establish His kingdom on earth. (Revelation 19:11-16, Matthew 16:27, 24:30-31, 25:31, 1 Thessalonians 3:13).
The word “saints” we now apply commonly to “redeemed” saints, or to Christians. The original word is, applicable to all who are “holy,” angels as well as men. The word “ten thousands” from which the English myriad. In the plural, it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). The term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.
Enoch prophesied the coming of the Apostates and the coming of the Lord. Jude now undergirds his attack upon these sensual intruders with an appeal to prophecy, showing that their judgment is prophetically established. Enoch is portrayed as a prophet who received divine revelations. God can reveal important truths and prophecies to individuals who walk with him. Be open to God's guidance and revelations through the Holy Spirit.
Judgment on All: To execute judgment upon all, and establish justice, it will be universal upon all. Those who are in Christ shall escape and the rest shall receive their awards. The Flood destroyed all who were outside the ark of Noah, and the fire and brimstone destroyed all in Sodom and Gomorrah except Lot and his wife and two daughters.
Conclusion:
Amen, come Lord Jesus.
