THE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE

One of the most intriguing men of the Bible was Enoch. What little we know of him paints an inspiring and yet mysterious picture.

Enoch was Noah’s great-grandfather and lived during the period that eventually led to the flood and Noah’s ark. God was grieved that He had made man because He saw the great wickedness, violence and perversion that filled the earth. But even in those dark and troubled days, Enoch found a way to be one of the godliest men to ever live on earth. How could he do that in the midst of so much evil?

One of the things I find intriguing about Enoch is how little is mentioned about his life in the Bible, although we do know that he never died. There are only two mentions of Enoch and his life in Scripture.

“Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24 NIV).

We get a little more detail on the picture of Enoch and his life in Hebrews:
“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. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5 NIV).

Three things stand out about Enoch in these passages, and perhaps through them, we can gain some insight into this unusual man of God.

First - Enoch walked with God. What’s unusual about this? A lot of us today talk about walking with God, but Scripture is not as free with the use of this phrase as we seem to be. There are only two men in the Bible that this phrase is used with: Enoch and Noah (Genesis 6:9). The ancients used the word “walking” to describe the manner or conduct of a person’s life. Contemporary usage tends to be more casual like, “I’ve kinda hooked up with God. I’ve prayed to receive Jesus and I’ve quit gambling and drinking and I go to church a couple of times a year. I’m walking with God!”

One of the best ways to understand a Scripture is to let other Scriptures expound on the subject, and so it is with this passage. The prophet Amos says: “Can two walk together, except they are be agreed?” (Amos 3:3) The word “together” reflects a harmony of intent, purpose and direction.

Second - The statement, “He did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away.” There has been a lot of conjecture about what happened at this point. Some call it a translation and liken it to what happened in the eighth chapter of Acts and Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian (Acts 8:39). Most of that conjecture is a waste of good energy. Who cares about the technical side of this? I certainly don’t. What I believe we see here is just a glimpse of what will happen to the church when Jesus returns. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord…” (1 Thessalonians 4:17 NKJV). We see in Enoch a kind of prototype of last-day believers (that’s us) who are suddenly caught away into God’s presence at the rapture.

Finally – Here we have the most insightful part of this very brief story: “For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5 NIV). Scripture is very spare in its use of this phrase to describe a person. This is the only reference I am aware of that directly uses this phrase in describing God’s pleasure with one of his servants.

How should we understand this phrase “who pleased God”? Again, let’s let Scripture unwrap that for us. The very next verse in Hebrews 11 says, “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” (11:6 NIV). Enoch was a man of faith who lived his life accordingly. He trusted God with his life, he followed God’s commands, and in faith he worshipped Him. Enoch’s walk of faith pleased God and God caught him away into His presence.

May God be pleased with our walk today!