“To walk as Enoch walked”
Let’s talk about
Enoch:
How many years after creation was Enoch born?
Lineage from Adam to Enoch (Gen 5:1-18):
Adam begat Seth at
136, Seth begat Enos at 105, Enos begat Cainan at 90, Cainan begat Mahalaleel
at 70, Mahalaleel begat Jared at 65, Jared live 162 years and begat Enoch.
Adam,
Seth,
Enos,
Cainan,
Mahalaleel,
Jared,
and Enoch.
Enoch was born 628 years—just 7 generations—after creation.
Note: Isn’t it amazing how scripture is so
detailed and specific on chronology? By scripture alone we have a detailed
record of History, time, events, of prophecy— both past and present—and of the story
and instructions of redemption through Christ, the everlasting gospel.
So in scripture
the chronology of the generations down to Jesus’ time is placed there for a
specific reason. We have ample evidence to compare with historical records to
see the credibility and truth of the bible. It truly is the sure word of God.
Seth was born in the Image of Adam—
“Seth
was of more noble stature than Cain or Abel, and resembled Adam more closely
than did his other sons. He was a worthy character, following in the steps of
Abel. Yet he inherited no more natural goodness than did Cain… {PP 80.1}.”
Note: Which means Seth was born into the sinful nature of Man and
not the sinless nature that Adam and Eve had been created in originally. Though
we are born into the sinful nature, it does not mean we are born into sin.
Being born into the sinful nature means that we are born into the distinguishing characteristics of thoughts,
feelings, and actions that are inclined to sin, whether naturally,
independently, or influenced from an external source, but not directly born into
sin.
Christ was born from His heavenly Nature (of which was not tainted by the curse
of sin) into the sinful nature of man—yet without sin. He was born into the
same natural inclinations that we have to think, feel, and act in sin, but He overcame all those tendencies to sin
to show us that in our feeble natures we can still be over-comers of sin
through Jesus Christ.
“Concerning the creation of Adam it is said,
“In the likeness of God made He him;” but man, after the Fall, “begat a son in
his own likeness, after his image.” While Adam was created
sinless, in the likeness of God, Seth, like Cain, inherited the fallen nature
of his parents. But he received also the knowledge of the Redeemer and
instruction in righteousness. By divine grace he served and honored God; and he
labored, as Abel would have done, had he lived, to turn the minds of sinful
men to revere and obey their Creator. {PP 80.1}”
So, we have two individuals—Cain and Able. One
of whom chose the path of rebelliousness and hatred, and one who chose faithfulness
to God. Cain slew his brother because he saw that Able’s works were good and
just and accepted by God. The wicked hatred and jealousy that Cain harbored in
his heart became the same traits that his descendants lived in from generation
to generation. Had Abel lived to continue his faithful labors, he would have
worked to turn the minds of sinful men to God, but he was killed and his work
unaccomplished. But God in His providence provided another child to Adam to
carry forward the unfinished work. Though Satan may have conquered one of God’s
faithful, God rose up another to continue forward—and his name was Seth.
Genesis 4:26
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then
began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
From Adam to Able, and then to Seth, the same
work of faithfulness and obedience to God was handed down from generation to
generation in a world that was waxing continually evil, where the descendants
of Cain were growing exceedingly wicked. Through each generation, the Lord was sustaining
and sheltering His faithful few so they could continue to carry forward the
work of turning “the minds of sinful men to revere and obey their Creator (PP
80.1).”
That same Spirit of faithfulness and service was instilled in each generation
down to Enoch.
So, Enoch, as we
mentioned at the start of our study, was born 628 years—or 7 generations—after creation.
Very fascinating evidence we can review here, but let’s get down to the real
importance of this subject.
Turn with me to
Genesis chapter five, and let’s read verses 21, through 24:
Gen
5:21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
Gen
5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years,
and begat sons and daughters:
Gen
5:23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
Gen
5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
There are only a few verses here
that mention the life of Enoch, but the verses are concise and packed with
meaning. If we understand the background of what was taking place in the world
around this time, we can start to really understand the meaning of these
verses. At the time that Enoch was born, Adam was still alive. Adam lived to be
930 years old; Enoch was born 628 years after when Adam’s time began. So Adam was
still alive in Enoch’s day. However, from the time that Adam and Eve sinned,
when sin entered the world, the world was being subjected under the curse of
sin.
The Descendants of
Cain were continuing in rebelliousness to God, while at the same time, the Faithful
descendants of Seth continued to “Call upon the name of the LORD (Gen 4:26).”
“Abel
had led a pastoral life, dwelling in tents or booths, and the descendants of
Seth followed the same course, counting themselves “strangers and pilgrims on
the earth,” seeking “a better country, that is, an heavenly.” Hebrews 11:13, 16.
{PP 81.1}
For
some time the two classes remained separate. The race of Cain, spreading from
the place of their first settlement, dispersed over the plains and valleys
where the children of Seth had dwelt; and the latter, in order to escape from
their contaminating influence, withdrew to the mountains, and there made their
home. So long as this separation continued, they maintained the worship of God
in its purity. But in the lapse of time they ventured, little by little, to
mingle with the inhabitants of the valleys. This association was productive of
the worst results. “The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were
fair.” The children of Seth, attracted by the beauty of the daughters of Cain’s
descendants, displeased the Lord by intermarrying with them. Many of the
worshipers of God were beguiled into sin by the allurements that were now
constantly before them, and they lost their peculiar, holy character. (PP81.2).”
There is a very important purpose for why God
calls His people to “be ye separate,” and to “touch not the unclean thing (2
Cor 6:17).” The influence of the city and crowded place is toxic for raising up
our young people into the truth, and is damaging to our own spiritual walk with
the Lord. For this reason, because of the wickedness of Cain’s descendants, Seth
and Enoch separated themselves from the influences of the wicked, likewise we
can apply the same important principal to our lives, but we can get into more depth
than just physical location. Music, movies, games, and people can all have the
same influence on us that is contrary to our walk with God; and if we remain
dabbling in such things as we know are unacceptable to God, we will, in time,
be completely removed from His truth and faithfulness, and thereby from His
favor, like the many worshippers of God who were beguiled into sin by their associations
with evil doers.
“Of
Enoch it is written that he lived sixty-five years, and begat a son. After that
he walked with God three hundred years. During these earlier years Enoch had
loved and feared God and had kept His commandments. He was one of the holy
line, the preservers of the true faith, the progenitors of the promised seed.
From the lips of Adam he had learned the dark story of the Fall, and the
cheering one of God’s grace as seen in the promise; and he relied upon the
Redeemer to come. But after the birth of his first son, Enoch reached a higher
experience; he was drawn into a closer relationship with God. He realized more
fully his own obligations and responsibility as a son of God. And as he saw the
child’s love for its father, its simple trust in his protection; as he felt the
deep, yearning tenderness of his own heart for that first-born son, he learned
a precious lesson of the wonderful love of God to men in the gift of His Son,
and the confidence which the children of God may repose in their heavenly
Father. The infinite, unfathomable love of God through Christ became the
subject of his meditations day and night; and with all the fervor of his soul
he sought to reveal that love to the people among whom he dwelt. {PP 84.3} “
“Enoch’s walk with God was not
in a trance or vision, but in all the duties of his daily life. He did not become a hermit, shutting
himself entirely from the world; for he had a work to do for God in the
world. In the family and in his intercourse with men, as a husband and father,
a friend, a citizen, he was the steadfast, unwavering servant of the Lord. {PP 85.1}
His heart was in harmony with God’s
will; for “can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Amos 3:3. And this holy walk was continued for three hundred years. There
are few Christians who would not be
far more earnest and devoted if they knew that they had but a short time to
live, or that the coming of Christ was about to take place. But Enoch’s faith waxed the stronger, his
love became more ardent, with the lapse of centuries. {PP 85.2}
Enoch was a man of strong and
highly cultivated mind and extensive knowledge; he was honored with special
revelations from God; yet being in constant communion with Heaven, with a sense
of the divine greatness and perfection ever before him, he was one of the
humblest of men. The closer the connection with God, the deeper was the sense
of his own weakness and imperfection. {PP 85.3}”
“Distressed
by the increasing wickedness of the ungodly, and fearing that their infidelity
might lessen his reverence for God, Enoch avoided constant association with them, and spent much time in solitude, giving
himself to meditation and prayer. Thus he waited before the Lord,
seeking a clearer knowledge of His will, that he might perform it. To him
prayer was as the breath of the soul; he lived in the very atmosphere of
heaven. {PP 85.4}”
Though we are to be separate from the world, it does not
mean we are to neglect the work that needs to be done in the world. As Enoch
avoided constant association with
the world, so we should as well, and spend much time in meditation and prayer
upon the sacred precepts of scripture and worshipping the Lord. But we should
also not neglect the duty of bringing the truth and proclaiming it to those
in the world.
“Through holy
angels God revealed to Enoch His purpose to destroy the world by a flood, and
He also opened more fully to him the plan of redemption. By the spirit of
prophecy He carried him down through the generations that should live after the
Flood, and showed him the great events connected with the second coming of
Christ and the end of the world. {PP 85.5}”
Even though Enoch had the future of the world revealed
to him—even though he understood the great length of time before Christ would
come, his faith and Love for God grew and waxed stronger. We see today how
close we are to the final days of earth’s history. Should we not be seeking
after a stronger faith and a deeper love for God considering our time is so
much shorter? Indeed we should if we truly felt the shortness of time that we
are really in.
“Enoch became a preacher of righteousness, making
known to the people what God had revealed to him. Those who feared the Lord
sought out this holy man, to share his instruction and his prayers. He labored
publicly also, bearing God’s messages to all who would hear the words of
warning. (PP 86.1).”
He was a fearless reprover of sin. While he preached the love of God in
Christ to the people of his time, and pleaded with them to forsake their evil
ways, he rebuked the prevailing iniquity and warned the men of his generation
that judgment would surely be visited upon the transgressor. It was the Spirit
of Christ that spoke through Enoch; that Spirit is manifested, not alone in
utterances of love, compassion, and entreaty; it is not smooth things only that
are spoken by holy men. God puts into the heart and lips of His messenger’s
truths to utter that are keen and cutting as a two-edged sword. {PP 86.2}”
“The power of God
that wrought with His servant was felt by those who heard. Some gave heed to
the warning, and renounced their sins; but the multitudes mocked at the solemn
message, and went on more boldly in their evil ways. The servants of God are to bear a similar message to the world in the
last days, and it will also be received with unbelief and mockery. The
antediluvian world rejected the warning words of him who walked with God. So will the last generation make light of
the warnings of the Lord’s messengers. {PP 86.3}”
The wickedness of men had reached such
a height that destruction was pronounced against them. As year after year
passed on, deeper and deeper grew the tide of human guilt, darker and darker
gathered the clouds of divine judgment. Yet Enoch, the witness of faith, held
on his way, warning, pleading, entreating, striving
to turn back the tide of guilt and to stay the bolts of vengeance. Though his
warnings were disregarded by a sinful, pleasure-loving people, he had the
testimony that God approved, and he continued to battle faithfully against the
prevailing evil, until God removed him from a world of sin to the pure joys of
heaven. {PP 87.1}”
The men of that generation had mocked
the folly of him who sought not to gather gold or silver or to build up
possessions here. But Enoch’s heart was upon eternal treasures. He had looked
upon the celestial city. He had seen the King in His glory in the midst of
Zion. His mind, his heart, his conversation, were in heaven. The greater the
existing iniquity, the more earnest was his longing for the home of God. While
still on earth, he dwelt, by faith, in the realms of light. {PP 87.2}
“Blessed are the pure in heart: for
they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8. For three hundred years Enoch had been seeking purity of soul, that he might be in harmony with
Heaven. For three centuries he had walked with God. Day by day he had
longed for a closer union; nearer and nearer had grown the communion, until God
took him to Himself. He had stood at the threshold of the eternal world, only a
step between him and the land of the blest; and now the portals opened, the
walk with God, so long pursued on earth, continued, and he passed through the
gates of the Holy City—the first from among men to enter there. {PP 87.3}”
That purity of soul, to be brought into Harmony with heaven, is
what we need to be diligently seeking for in our hearts and lives. This is what
made him able to “Walk with the Lord,” was his diligence, selflessness, earnestness,
and faithfulness that brought him constantly into closer communion with Christ.
This is the walk that we should be pursuing for ourselves, so that, like Enoch,
we may walk with God in all that we do, say, think, and act. May we diligently
seek for that Purity of soul as Enoch, so we can be brought into perfect
harmony with Heaven.
“By the
translation of Enoch the Lord designed to teach an important lesson. There was
danger that men would yield to discouragement, because of the fearful results
of Adam’s sin. Many were ready to exclaim, “What profit is it that we have
feared the Lord and have kept His ordinances, since a heavy curse is resting
upon the race, and death is the portion of us all?”[Is this not a question the resides in some modern day Christians today?]
But the instructions which God gave to Adam, and which were repeated by Seth,
and exemplified by Enoch [Which is the
answer to the above question], swept away the gloom and darkness, and gave
hope to man, that as through Adam came death, so through the promised Redeemer would come life and immortality.
Satan was urging upon men the belief that there was no reward for the righteous
or punishment for the wicked, and that it was impossible for men to obey the
divine statutes. But in the case of Enoch, God declares “that He is, and that
He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6. He shows what He will do for those who keep His commandments.
Men were taught that it is possible to obey the law of God; that even while
living in the midst of the sinful and corrupt, they were able, by the grace of
God, to resist temptation, and become pure and holy. They saw in his example
the blessedness of such a life; and his translation
was an evidence of the truth of his prophecy concerning the hereafter, with its
award of joy and glory and immortal life to the obedient, and of condemnation,
woe, and death to the transgressor. {PP 88.2}”
Conclusion:
“By faith Enoch
“was translated that he should not see death; ... for before his translation he
had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5. In the midst of
a world by its iniquity doomed to destruction, Enoch lived a life of such close
communion with God that he was not permitted to fall under the power of death.
The godly character of this prophet represents the state of holiness which must
be attained by those who shall be “redeemed from the earth” (Revelation
14:3) at the time of Christ’s Second Advent.
Then, as in the world before the Flood, iniquity will prevail. Following the
promptings of their corrupt hearts and the teachings of a deceptive philosophy,
men will rebel against the authority of Heaven. But like Enoch, God’s people will seek for purity of heart and conformity
to His will, until they shall reflect
the likeness of Christ. Like
Enoch, they will warn the world
of the Lord’s second coming and of the judgments
to be visited upon transgression, and by their holy conversation and example
they will condemn the sins of the
ungodly. As Enoch was translated to heaven before the destruction of
the world by water, so the living
righteous will be translated from the earth before its destruction by fire.
Says the apostle: “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 Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and
with the trump of God;” “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” “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.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1
Corinthians 15:51, 52; 1
Thessalonians 4:16-18. {PP 88.3}.“
Like Enoch, I want to seek purity of heart,
I want to conform to God’s will, till I reflect the likeness of Christ. Like
Enoch, I want to warn the world of the Lord’s soon coming, and of the
judgements; and I pray that my conversation and example would be holy, to
condemn the sins of the ungodly. I want to seek and strive for these things so
I will be counted among God’s faithful people. And my greatest hope and prayer
is that each of you would seek diligently for the very same things—to walk with
God as Enoch walked.
Hebrews 11:5, and 6:
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.
6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him.
