Enoch's Translation

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:5-6

Who was Enoch? He was a grandson of Adam through Seth. The Bible tells us very little about him, except that he was the father of Methuselah. Everyone knows who Methuselah was. He lived 969 years, the longest lifespan of anyone we’ve heard of. Enoch, however, is the one being recognized here for his faith. This tells us a great deal, really. In those very ancient times there was no Mosaic Law, no Abrahamic covenant yet. The knowledge Enoch’s generation had about God had to have come directly from Adam’s and Eve’s and Seth’s testimonies of God’s dealings with His humans. This was entirely possible, because those first humans lived hundreds of years, and could have instructed many generations of offspring. God also, in those days, did make direct contact with His people and teach them Himself.

Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:21-24

Enoch’s earthly sojourn was cut short, at year 365, because of His close relationship (walk) with God. We who believe the Church will be snatched away at God’s chosen time see Enoch as a forerunner of this event. He didn’t die. He disappeared. God took him. Why? Because everyone knew he was pleasing to God. How did he please God? The writer of Hebrews explains: it was because of his faith. That’s what pleases God. 1-A person’s belief that God is. We call this positive volition at God-conciousness. Everyone, at some time in his life, will question the existence of God. If he decides God must be real, that is God-conciousness. If he’d like to know more, that is positive volition. 2-A positive person’s knowledge that God rewards those who want to know Him. Belief that God is real and belief that God rewards sincere seekers. God is pleased with that kind of faith, and that is only the beginning. With that kind of positive volition toward God, more knowledge and more rewards will come, as the believer grows in grace. And without that faith, it is impossible to please God. “Good” human works will never please God.

In Luke’s genealogy of Joseph, Jesus’ human stepfather, we see that Enoch was a direct ancestor. The line eventually descended through David, which made Joseph and Jesus legal Jewish Royalty.

Luke 3:37, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

In Jude’s epistle he warned the Church about some infiltrators who would corrupt the Church any way they could.

Jude 4, For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Then he quoted Enoch. This evil element of humanity was known even in those earliest days, as well as how God will eventually dispatch them, after history runs its course:

It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jude 14-15

There has been evil in every generation of humanity. There has also been great faith in each generation. That is why humanity still exists on the earth. God preserves and protects His own, and reserves judgment for those who speak against Him.




[Your comments are welcome, but I will not debate interpretations that some may suggest to imply controversy. God didn't give us His Word for the purpose of confusing us, but to teach us His matchless grace. I find the simplest, most straight-forward explanation is usually the best. What the Bible clearly states should be taken as fact, without "controversial questions and disputes about words" (I Timothy 6:4-5, Titus 1:9).]