Hebrews 11:5-6-5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Enoch didn’t have to go through the dying process. God chose to simply take Enoch out of this world.I believe that experience was an incredible reward for his faith in God.
We get a little more information about Enoch in Genesis 5:21-24: 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
It is interesting to me that the portion of Enoch’s story that we get to read about begins with him becoming the father of Methuselah. I think we can deduce something about having that son that signaled a turning point in his faith. Having a child is life-changing in every way! Often when people have children, if they have been away from the Lord, something about having a child seems to signal a need to get right, a need to raise the child up in the fear of the Lord. It may seem subtle, but it is inserted into the Scripture for a reason that AFTER HE BECAME the father of Methuselah Enoch walked faithfully with God.
This change took place in what would be considered late in life for us at this point. He was 65 when his son was born. This shift means he didn’t walk with God for the first 65 years of his life. What that suggests to me is that it is never too late to exercise faith in God! God is still revealing Himself to all people young and old. Let Him change your life for the rest of your life by activating your faith!
Names, in the Hebrew culture, often signaled some kind of divine revelation. Methuselah’s name is rich with meaning. Scholars land on two meanings for his name from the Hebrew. One interpretation is that Methuselah’s name means “Man of the Dart.” Think of a spear or javelin, something that is thrown, projected forward. Another interpretation is this phrase, “When he is dead it shall be sent.” It is widely believed that when Methuselah was born, God revealed something to Enoch about what was to come, that God communicated that there was an impending judgment coming to earth. Stick with me. Methuselah was the oldest many who ever lived. Y’all, he lived 969 years. You’ve got to exercise some faith right now to even believe that don’t you? It’s true. The very year that Methuselah died, what happened? The worldwide flood happened. That was the year Noah and 7 of his family members boarded an ark and were spared and the rest of the world was wiped out. The idea is that Methuselah’s name meant, when his life would end, the judgment of God, the flood, would come. Maybe it was a discussion between God and Enoch about this impending divine judgment that caused Enoch to place his faith in God. I personally believe the grace of God was on display in Enoch’s family by allowing his children to pass away before the judgment that came with the flood.
Faith in Christ isn’t just a matter of personal preference. It is necessary and urgent that we walk with Him.
Hebrews 11:5b-6 again: For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
The turning point in Enoch’s life, the activation of his faith, made him pleasing to God. Without faith, it is impossible for any of us to be pleasing to God. Don’t miss verse 6 of Hebrews 11. Your faith must be in the God of the Bible, and your faith must be the result of seeking Him. We don’t seek God plus human effort or God plus science or philosophy or new age ideas. God rewards the faith of those who earnestly seek Him and Him alone.
Enoch was recorded here because he was rewarded for his earnest faith.
To earnestly seek God, you have to believe He exists and that He wants to be found by you.
Sin can easily blind people to the reality of God’s existence and yet the evidence for God is everywhere. Psalm 19:1-4 says, 1The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4
God has created all things. Start with God as Creator. Let your faith be anchored to that reality. Understand that He has a plan, an order, a design for the universe and extend that to yourself personally. He has a plan, an order, a design for your life. The Creator hasn’t taken His hands off His creation.
We know from our Hebrews 11 text that Enoch believed in these realities. He rejected the ways of the world that included idol worship. The pagan world around him tried to control and manipulate their man-made gods, believing they could escape judgment of any kind and we know leading up to the time of the flood that the perversions of their ways were rampant, heinous, and completely vile. The rejection of God led to God’s action to send the flood. Sin will thrive whenever God’s existence is rejected. You have to start your faith with an acknowledgement that God is the Creator, and the creation is accountable to Him.
Over the years that Enoch walked faithfully with God and that his children lived those living in the world were living out of control. Look at Genesis 6:5: 5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
How immoral, how depraved, how gross would a person become whose heart was only evil all of the time? Every inclination was lustful and disgusting. God had to judge the widespread nature of sin that had taken hold of humanity. It was in that culture, in that time period, when “everyone else was doing it,” whatever “it” was, Enoch was walking faithfully with God.
Enoch acted on what he knew. God was his Creator. Listen, faith has to start somewhere. Start your faith with what has been revealed to you. God will increase your faith as you trust Him at the starting line.
To walk with God also means that you continue to seek Him, earnestly, sincerely, intentionally and passionately. Enoch didn’t just believe something about God one time and then forget about Him. A faith-walk with God is a daily activity, and that is that kind of faith that gets rewarded. So, not only do you need to believe that God exists and that He is responsible for Creation, but you must believe He is a rewarder, a blesser of those who seek Him. That is the motivation for the growth of your faith. If you believe He rewards faith, you will want your faith to grow all the more.
Enoch so passionately and earnestly walked with God and experienced His goodness, that he began to preach to others. We have this evidence in Jude 1: 14-15 14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”[e] 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
He had experienced something so good that he began to warn others about the consequences of not putting your faith in God. Maybe part of Enoch’s reward was boldness to preach to others.
Are we earnestly, diligently seeking God? Two times in Genesis 5 we read that Enoch walked with God. It was a thing, an established pattern for 300 years. You don’t repeat something for 300 years unless it is worth it. Will you evaluate and activate your faith with me today? Upon the authority of Scripture, I tell you God will reward you. It will be worth it!
