HEROES OF FAITH – (2)
Enoch
IN previous studies, we had defined both how to obtain faith, and its basis, or foundation. Firstly, faith comes by hearing – or being informed by – the Word of God. Secondly, we found that faith is not based on doctrine, but upon conviction. The ‘Heroes of Faith’ knew nothing about doctrine. What they did and said was based solely upon what God had said, and the unshakeable conviction that He meant exactly what He said.
Enoch, whose name means ‘teacher’, was no exception. We read of this in Hebrews 11:5;
‘By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.’
But we have to ask ourselves just what it was that Enoch really did to qualify him for inclusion in such conspicuous company as ‘The Gallery of Faith.’ There is so very little detail given of him in the Bible. In fact, his name is only mentioned nine times in its entirety; six times in the Old Testament and three times in the New Testament.
(He is not to be confused with Enoch the son of Cain who is mentioned three times).
Six of these references relate to his genealogy, in Genesis 5:18-23, and in Luke 3:37-38, the latter showing him to be the seventh in the line of Adam;
‘Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch which was the son of Jared which was the son of Maleleel which was the son of Cainan.
Which was the son of Enos which was the son of Seth,which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.’
The seventh reference to him is found in Genesis 5:24;
‘And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.’
Here we merely have the statement that he ‘walked with God’, without any form of explanation.
The eighth reference is found in Hebrews 11:5, which we stated above, and which is little more than an enlargement of the reference in Genesis 5:24.
The ninth, and final reference, is found in Jude verses 14 and 15;
‘And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’
So we have to face the fact that we are extremely limited in ascertaining any information which would make him a man of such importance in the sight of God. So let us begin our search, commencing with Genesis 5:21-24;
21 ‘And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.’
Firstly, we find that Enoch was married, and had several children, the first being Methuselah, the longest living man recorded in the Bible. The significance of this is that he was a normal human being, not some form of Divine being as some would suggest, based on the circumstances of his translation in order that he would not die. Divine beings, or angels, do not marry nor have children. This is made quite clear as we read Mark 12:22-25, where Jesus replies to the question put to him regarding the woman who had seven husbands who had predeceased her;
‘And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.
In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.
And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.’
Secondly, we find the most interesting fact that Enoch lived for 365 years, the same as the number of days in our year. Coincidence? Could the years of his life been pointing to the era when we would be living under such a calendar, and during which his prophecy of judgment would be experienced? At least, it’s food for thought.
Thirdly, we are told what must surely be the most significant characteristic of his life. We are told that ‘He walked with God‘. What does this mean? The word ‘walked’ has a variety of meanings and applications, but those most obviously suited to this context are; ‘to walk along side of and follow continually, to travel with’.
A clearer understanding might be obtained by reading the wording in the following translations;
Septuagint: ‘was well pleasing to God’.
Moffatt: ‘lived close to God’.
Young: ‘walked habitually’.
Amplified.. ‘in habitual fellowship’.
Lampsa: ‘found favour in the presence of God’.
All these conditions are necessary for God to consider that we ‘walk with Him’. It is not our decision to make, as to whether or not we are worthy to be so designated. This is solely the prerogative of God. It’s His decision, not ours. There are a lot of Christians today who would do well to take heed of this. We read in John 15:14-17;
‘Ye are my friends, If ye do whatsoever 1 command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but 1 have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father 1 have made known unto you.
Ye have not chosen me, but 1 have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.’
Fourthly, we are told that ‘he was not’. Hebrews 11:5 reads; ‘and was not found, etc..’ Now why wasn’t he found? We are told in Genesis 5:24 that ‘God took him’, and I’m sure that God was not having a practice run for the ‘secret rapture’. Hebrews 11:5 says that ‘God had translated him’. The word ‘translated’ means ‘to be placed in, or transported or transferred to, another place.’ The only other occurrence of this word is found in Colossians 1:13;
‘Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:’
The question is often asked as to where this place was, or is, to which Enoch was transferred or transported, and we must face the fact that nowhere in the Bible are we told. Of one thing we can be certain. He was not taken up to the abode of God in the Heavens. The Word of God is very clear in its statement in John 3:13;
‘And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.’
But we should also note that there are obviously various levels of ‘heaven’ as noted by the apostle Paul. So before trying to come to any firm conclusion of this matter, we should understand the next aspect of this translation, namely, WHY was he translated. There can be no doubt here as to the reason. We are told very clearly in Hebrews 11:5;
‘By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death;’
This leaves us with no doubt as to the fact that Enoch did not die. Now that in turn leaves us with no alternatives than that he is either wandering around this planet in an invisible condition, or that he was transferred away from this earthly scene. Where this would be, we are not informed. If the Lord wanted us to know, I’m sure He would have used this incident to expand our knowledge of ‘the heavens’, of which there is much more to learn than we have hitherto considered. The fact that God does not explain everything to us in detail does not give us licence to interpose our own conclusions, nor to cast doubts upon the veracity of His Word.
I have no doubt but that some will quote Hebrews 9:27;
‘And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:’
So let us have a quick look at this statement. The word ‘appointed’ means ‘laid up in store’ or ‘the natural end’. It does not imply certainty in the sense that every human being is going to experience physical death. That conclusion would totally contradict Scripture. For instance, we read in I Cor. 15:51-53, and I Thess. 4:16-17;
‘Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.’
‘For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.’
The natural end, laid up in store for us all, is death. But there are obvious exceptions to this rule, as evidenced by the above statements. So the statement that Enoch did not die does no violence to the Scripture whatsoever. The plain unarguable fact remains, that whether we like to accept it or not, Enoch did not die. The fact that we might not know exactly where he is does not alter in any way the basic fact.
But we are then left with a further question. WHY would God do this?
‘By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.'(Hebrews 11:5)
So we see that one, if not the main, qualification of being translated in order that we do not experience death, is to ‘please God’. The word ‘please’ here means ‘to be well pleasing’, and Vine, in his “Expository Dictionary”, page 188, adds this note;
‘This sense of the word is illustrated by Moulton and Milligan (vocab.) from numerous inscriptions, especially describing “those who have proved themselves of use to the commonwealth”.’
I have no doubt whatsoever that this will be the major requirement for those who, as “the overcomers”, will be appointed to the position of “kings and priests”, ruling with our Lord Jesus Christ over His kingdom, at the time of the First Resurrection. As we read in Rev. 20:6;
‘Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.’
Thus, Enoch constitutes a perfect example of the conditions applicable to the First Resurrection. But what did Enoch DO to please God? Other than the passage in Jude, to which we will refer later, the Bible is completely silent on this matter. But that should not prevent us from seeking information from other sources, provided that the information does not violate Scripture. In Joshua 10:13, and II Samuel 1:18, we find reference to ‘The Book of Jasher’. The reader will have to make their own judgment as to the validity of the following statements, but I feel that they are worthy of consideration. In chapter three, we read of the life and ministry of Enoch. The chapter is far too lengthy to quote in full, so I intend quoting some relevant passages. In verses one and two we read;
‘And Enoch lived 65 years and he begat Methuselah; and Enoch walked with God after having begot Methuselah, and he served the Lord, and despised the evil ways of men. And the soul of Enoch was wrapped up in the instruction of the Lord, in knowledge and in understanding .’ (Emphasis added).
The account goes on to detail how Enoch, in his rule over the people, separated himself from them for increasing periods of time, spending this time with the Lord, and then returning to them to pass on the Lord’s instructions. In verses 11 and 12 we read;
‘And Enoch taught them wisdom, knowledge, and the ways of the Lord; and he made peace among them, and peace was throughout the earth during the life of Enoch. And Enoch reigned over the sons of men two hundred and forty three years, and he did justice and righteousness with all his people, and he led them in the ways of the Lord.’
When we turn to verse 36 we find a remarkably familiar statement;
‘And when the kings returned they caused a census to be taken, in order to know the number of remaining men that went with Enoch; and it was upon the seventh day that Enoch ascended into heaven in the whirlwind, with horses and chariots of fire.’
This phrase is made of only one other person, the Prophet Elijah! The prophet Malachi informs us as to the future ministry of Elijah, but we have no indication whatsoever as to that of Enoch. And I’m not about to speculate on that on which God has chosen to remain silent. But the entire subject does surely encourage us to engage in some serious prayer and contemplation.
The final reference to Enoch is found in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of the Epistle of Jude;
‘And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying,
‘Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’
This is the only reference in the entire Bible of anything said by this great man. We should not miss the numerical significance of the fact that he was the ‘seventh’ from Adam, nor that his only recorded statement is the ‘ninth’ reference to him, and is one of judgment, the numerical number of which is ‘nine’.
So to whom, and of whom, is he recording judgment. In the context of the epistle, Jude addresses it thus in his first verse;
‘Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:‘
In fact, his entire epistle is directed to God’s people Israel as one of warning for their gross sin and unbelief. In verse 5 he states;
‘1 will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.’
Enoch is introduced into the account in the context of this judgment. He has no hesitation in warning God’s people that the purpose of the coming of the Lord with His saints is, as stated in verses 15 and 16;
‘To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.’
In light of these statements, can we really say that conditions have changed in respect to God’s true Israel people? No! They certainly have not! That being the case, we surely have no option but to heed the warning given to us. Because whether we like it or not, judgment is to begin, and in fact is well advanced, at the “house of God”, His true Israel people.
Despite so little being recorded regarding Enoch, by searching and seeking out, we discover just how really great a man he was in the mind, and in the plans and purposes of God. The very fact of the limited information given to us points conclusively to the importance of heeding his message of warning. And it is only then that we realise why he was included in that august company of:
‘The Great Cloud of Witnesses’
