"Enoch"
Overview
Enoch: A Life That Walked with God
Enoch occupies just four verses in Genesis 5:21-24, yet his life carries weight far beyond its brevity. A descendant of Adam through Seth, the father of Methuselah, and great-grandfather of Noah, Enoch lived 365 years before God "took him" so that he did not see death. Though he can feel like a supporting character in our reading of Scripture, he was a central figure in Jewish thought during the Second Temple period and in the early church, where his example loomed large. What sets him apart is the simple but stunning description repeated of him: he walked with God. Only Enoch and Noah are described this way in Scripture—a phrase that suggests not merely a relationship with God but an entire way of life shaped by nearness to Him.
The author of Hebrews reaches back to Enoch as a witness to the meaning of faith. Hebrews 11:1-3 defines faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," and Hebrews 11:5-6 tells us Enoch was commended as having pleased God before he was taken—"and without faith it is impossible to please him." Remarkably, Enoch was spared the separation of soul from body that defines mortal death; God simply brought him home. Jude reminds us that Enoch also prophesied judgment against ungodliness Jude 1:14-15, which means Enoch's faithful walk took place in a wicked and perverse generation—the very generation that, only a few generations later, would be swept away in the flood.
That setting presses a question on us: are we tempted to drift with our own perverse and wicked culture? To look the other way at blasphemy, sexual brokenness, careless speech, and the devaluing of human life? In our fallen humanity, the honest answer is that we cannot please God on our own. As Paul writes, apart from Christ we are by nature children of wrath Ephesians 2:1-3. But Jesus, made lower than the angels, "tasted death for everyone" Hebrews 2:9, bearing our wickedness so that in His blood we receive a righteousness that truly pleases God. The faith that walked with Enoch is the same faith now given to us in Christ.
This is good news for weary saints living in a hostile age. We do not generate faith by striving—God seeks us, finds us, and feeds us. He comes to us in His Word and meets us at His Table, where Christ says, in effect, "Take and eat; you are forgiven, you are mine." Jesus promises in Mark 16:16 that "the one who believes and is baptized will be saved." So like Enoch, we walk with God today by faith in the unseen promise, confident that one day the Lord will say to us as well: We are closer to my home than yours. Come with me.
Transcript
Today we are going to talk about Enoc. 2s
Enoc is probably a very familiar name. 6s
You know you've heard it or read it somewhere in Scripture. 8s
You know it's probably Old Testament. 12s
And if you're thinking that you are absolutely correct, Enoc comes into the picture in 15s
the Old Testament in Genesis chapter 5. 22s
He actually is the great great great great great great great great great great great great 25s
great grandson of Adam who is the first man created by God. 30s
He is linked or in the in the family line of Adam through Seth. 36s
He is also the father to Methuselah who is the man who lived the longest in all of 42s
creation, 969 years and he is the great grandfather to Noah. 47s
So we know that name Enoc and it's not surprising because think of his family line. 54s
He has Seth and Methuselah let alone Adam and Noah in his family line. 62s
So it's not a surprise that we kind of skip over or skip past Enoc. 68s
But certainly he was actually very influential in his days. 74s
He seems like a supporting cast member. 78s
His whole life story in Scripture is given to us in about four verses in Genesis 5. 81s
21 through 24 it says when Enoc had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 89s
Enoc walked with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 96s
Thus all the days of Enoc were 365 years. 103s
Enoc walked with God then he was no more because God took him. 107s
Four verses and that's Enoc. 114s
It does seem like he's just a little blip in the story that we have in Scripture. 117s
But he was very influential both in his day. 123s
He was very influential to the Jewish people of the second temple period which is Jesus' day. 126s
And he was very influential in that early Christian church. 132s
There were actually some religious leaders that wanted to canonize some of the writings that were attributed to Enoc. 137s
You may have heard of the book of Enoc or first Enoc that it said that he wrote. 147s
Ultimately it was decided that his writings were not done under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 153s
And so they were not included in the canon of Scripture. 161s
But the people of the second temple period and the early Christian church would have been very, very familiar with Enoc's writings. 166s
And he wouldn't have been a supporting cast to that early church and to the second temple period Jewish community. 175s
He would have been one of the lead roles along with Seth, along with Adam, along with Noah. 184s
But today we don't hear of him much. 194s
We don't read of him much and we don't study of him much. 197s
But it was that familiarity that the author of Hebrews was writing about or writing with when he penned the book of Hebrews. 202s
The book of Hebrews is a story or a defense, a theological defense of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, by using old Testament or the Hebrew scripture to prove Jesus as the Messiah. 212s
It lays out that case. 230s
And where we're turning today, we find the author using examples from the Old Testament to show the meaning of 233s
So let's first open up to Hebrews 11, chapter 11 of Hebrews, before we get to our verses, 245s
let's start with verse 1 through 3. 251s
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for. 255s
The conviction of things not seen. 258s
Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval, by faith we understand that the world were prepared by the Word of God, 261s
so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. 270s
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for conviction of things not seen. 274s
By faith, the Hebrew ancestors had approval by God or from God. 280s
Just as God had created the world with his Word, God created faith in his people through his Word, 286s
through that same Word. 296s
And the Hebrew ancestors, though they didn't see the object of their faith come to fruition, 297s
they did live in faith with the assurance that indeed the promises of God would be delivered by him. 304s
So how do we know this? 315s
What are these Old Testament examples? 317s
Enoch is one of them. 319s
We know this, the author begins by giving an example of Abel, and then he moves into Enoch with verse 5. 322s
By faith, Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death, 329s
and he was not found because God had taken him. 334s
For it was attested before he was taken away, that he had pleased God. 338s
God had taken Enoch in a miraculous way so that he would not taste death. 345s
He would not experience death as all mortals do. 351s
Not only did he transfer seamlessly from a mortal state into an immortal state, 356s
God made it so without separating his soul from his body. 363s
When we die, when mortals die, that first death is a separation of the soul from the body. 369s
We are promised that uniting, that resurrected body in the afterlife, but that death 378s
is the separation of the soul from the body, and Enoch did not experience that. 386s
There is a story, a paraphrase story of Enoch walking along. 394s
It says that he walked with God, and they were walking along, and they were having such a nice conversation 398s
as they walked one day, that God said, you know, we are so much closer to my home than yours. 403s
Why don't you just come home with me? 409s
And it's this transportation that God just takes Enoch with him. 411s
Why don't you just come home with me? 419s
Why was he taken to the Lord or with the Lord? 422s
Well, the scripture says because he pleased, God, in Genesis it says that he walked with God. 426s
Enoch and Noah are the only two in the Bible who are referred to in that phrase of 434s
walking with God, and it infers an especially close relationship with God. 440s
That means that the closeness that they shared, that relationship that Enoch and Noah shared with God, 449s
it wasn't just a relationship, it was a way of life. 456s
To walk with God, to be close to God or with God was just how they lived. 461s
It was how they lived their daily life and kept moving on. 467s
Enoch lived in a very wicked and perverse generation and we know that the people only increased 474s
in their wickedness until a couple of generations later, God actually wiped out all of humanity 484s
save eight people. And that is where we have Noah and Noah and his family being saved by the Lord. 491s
But the entire wicked and perverse generation was wiped out. 500s
And the question comes to mind, do you think that Enoch was ever tempted? 508s
Do you think that he was ever tempted to go along with the culture around him? 514s
Or do you think he was ever tempted to give in or make allowances for those who were wicked and perverse 519s
around him? 528s
That makes me think, do you ever feel tempted to give in or go along with the culture around you? 530s
Because we do live in a perverse and wicked culture. 541s
We live in a perverse and wicked generation where girls can be boys and boys can be girls. 547s
We allow our tongues to lash out before we truly consider what we're saying. 555s
The marriage bed is treated with the same regard as a first date hookup. 561s
And God is blaspheme. The Almighty God is blasphemed on a daily basis. 566s
The quality of life often counts for more than the sanctity of the created life. 572s
Are you tempted? 580s
Are you tempted to look the other way? 582s
To make allowances for this perverse and wicked generation? 585s
Jude in his letter to the early Christians wrote 593s
that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied saying, 597s
see, the Lord is coming with 10,000s of his holy ones to execute judgment on all 602s
and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly 608s
and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 615s
Enoch pleased God. Enoch walked with God. Enoch did not fall into the temptation of the culture 622s
around him. He did not give in to the world that surrounded him and the wickedness of that world. 633s
Can we say the same of ourselves? Do you please God? Do I? 643s
Please God? 653s
In our broken and weak humanity? No. 657s
No. In our sinful nature we are enemies of God. We are children of wrath as Paul wrote in Ephesians. 664s
We seek to please only ourselves just as Adam and Eve and every generation 678s
afterward sought to please him and herself seeking his or her own desires. We too 685s
when left to our own humanity, our own human nature, we turn to the ways of the world instead of 694s
walking with God. But that's not where the story ends. That's not where our story ends. 703s
In his great mercy Jesus, the second person of the Trinity entered into humanity. 713s
And as Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9 says, He was made lower than the angels. Now crowned with glory and 721s
honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 727s
Jesus bore upon himself the wickedness and perverseness of every generation, not only in ox, not only 736s
Noah's, but your generation, my generation. Jesus bore upon himself the wickedness and perverseness 746s
of our own sin. In his blood we have been given the righteousness that pleases God. We can please God. 755s
Through Jesus Christ we are called to walk with God. God took Enoch out of the sinful and 769s
miserable world to live with him without tasting death. And we just like Enoch will be transported 778s
into life with God to live eternally because Jesus tasted the eternal death for us. 788s
We like Enoch. We do walk with God and we please God and take into him only in the righteousness that we have been given 799s
through faith in Christ. It is that faith that pleases God. It is that faith that we walk with 810s
God in. In verse 6 it says without faith it is impossible to please God. For whoever would approach 823s
him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. What is the reward for 831s
seeking and walking with God? Jesus tells us in Mark chapter 16 verse 16 the one who believes and is 840s
baptized will be saved but the one who does not believe will be condemned. The reward of faith, 851s
the reward of seeking God is salvation is eternal life with God. We all are living in eternity. We all 861s
are living today one day in all of eternity but the reward of faith, the reward of walking with God 873s
the reward of seeking after God is to live eternally with God. Those who have faith will be saved. 881s
And if you recall in Hebrews chapter 11 those first few verses, faith is the assurance of things 894s
hoped for the conviction of things not seen. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared 901s
by the word of God so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. It is faith 907s
in the word of God that created this world. It is faith in the word of God that creates you and I 913s
to live eternally with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How do we get faith? How do we seek 922s
after God? If you recall in a recent devotion that we had on a Thursday morning we talked about 930s
that heightened seek, that game of heightened seek and how we are not actually the one who is it 939s
in that wonderful fun game of heightened seek. It is God who is it. It is God who seeks after us. 946s
He calls to us. He finds us. He taps us on the shoulder and says, I've got you. I found you 956s
and we feel it and we hear it and we know it and we cling to it. And when we begin to think 964s
that we are lost, that we cannot find God, he comes to us again in communion. And he says, 973s
here I found you, take me within yourself, eat of me, drink of my blood and know that that is 981s
the forgiveness of your sins, that you are found and you are mine. And that is the promise of faith. 990s
That is what we can hold on to and be assured of. We must believe that he exists and he rewards 1001s
those who seek him. We know that Jesus Christ lived. We know that Jesus Christ died and we know 1009s
that Jesus Christ lived again and remains living even today because we know that to be true. 1023s
We can turn to Holy Scripture and we can see that the other promises that God had promised 1032s
and had made will also be true will also come to fruition. So though Enoch did not see Jesus yet. 1039s
He knew by faith that that promise of salvation through Jesus would be delivered. 1052s
And he walked with God. My brothers and sisters, God has sought us, God has found us. God has 1060s
given us and created faith in us for us. We can please God in that faith. We can please God 1070s
in the righteousness of Christ that we have been given in faith. And that means that we can walk 1082s
today and always with God until one day, God says, we are having such a nice talk. We are closer 1090s
to my home than yours. Come with me. Come with me. 1101s