Enoch’s walk with God
Enoch was the son of Jarred (Genesis 5:19). The story of Enoch, which is found in Genesis 5:21-24, states twice that Enoch “walked with God” (v, 21,24). This expression shows a life of holiness with a most intimate relation with the Lord. Enoch’s life was evidently in complete and beautiful harmony with God’s will. Enoch, “the seventh from Adam,” stands in deep contrast to the seventh generation of the Cainite line, Lamech, who added to the crime of murder the vice of polygamy (Jude 14; Genesis 4:16–19).
“Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah” (Genesis 5:21). After Methuselah’s birth, this holy person had a deeper understanding of God’s love to man through his own experience being a father. “After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years” (v. 22). As never before, he was drawn to God, his own heavenly Father.
Enoch’s walk with God consisted not only in the contemplation of His holy character but also in active ministry on behalf of his fellow men. And he looked forward to the second Advent of Christ, earnestly warning the sinners around him of the doom that awaited the ungodly (Jude 14, 15).
According to the inspired record, Enoch begat sons and daughters during his life of exceptional piety (v. 22) which is an evidence that the state of matrimony is in agreement with the strictest life of holiness.
The translation of Enoch to heaven
The most significant event of the antediluvian era, which filled the faithful with hope and joy, was the translation of Enoch to heaven. He was translated “that he should not see death” (Hebrews 11:5). The Bible tells us that “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24). So far as we know, he was the only antediluvian believer not to see death.
In order to give the faithful people, the hope that a life of faith will be rewarded, God translated Enoch. As with Adam, God showed that “the wages of sin is death,” so with Enoch, He showed that “the gift of God is eternal life” (Romans 6:23). The translation of Enoch demonstrated that although sin cuts man’s relationship with God, a way has been made to heal the relationship with God. This way is through faith in Him.
Thus, Enoch is a type of those who are to be translated to heaven from among the last generation living on earth. Enoch became a friend of God, walked with Him, and at last, he went to live with Him. Likewise, whoever follows God faithfully, will certainly live with Him forever.
Enoch lived three hundred and sixty-five years on this earth (v. 23). His exemplary life with its glorious climax testifies in our day to the possibility of living in a wicked world without being part of it. The memory of the translation of Enoch has been mentioned in Jewish tradition (Ecclesiastics 44:16), in the Christian record (Hebrews 11:5; Jude 14), and even in heathen fables.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
