Enoch Walked With God
Scripture Reading — Genesis 5:1-5, 18-24; Hebrews 11:1-6
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
Genesis 5:24
We know very little about Enoch. His father was Jared, and his son was Methuselah, who lived longer than anyone else. The most surprising thing about Enoch is that he did not die. “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.”
Enoch was one of two people in the Bible who never experienced death. The other was Elijah. (See 2 Kings 2:1-14.)
Enoch’s walk with God made him stand out from the crowd. Only a few generations later, God would send a flood to wipe away a humanity that no longer understood what it meant to live close with God. Only Enoch’s great-grandson Noah and his family would be spared so that human beings could make a new beginning.
God’s special gift to Enoch reminds us that walking with God is the way to true life. Of course, unless the Lord returns in our lifetime, we will all face death. But Jesus, who identifies himself as the way to God (John 14:6), also said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). Walking with God in faith puts us on a road that takes us beyond death to life eternal.
We thank you, God, for people like Enoch, who did not have to die because he walked with you. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we too may walk faithfully with you. In Jesus, Amen.
About the author — Adrian A. Helleman
Dr. Adrian Helleman served as a pastor in British Columbia before being called to serve as a missionary-teacher in the Philippines. He and his wife, Wendy, later taught philosophy at Moscow State University in Russia, and then philosophy and theology at the University of Jos in Nigeria. They have also lectured in Canada, the United States, South Africa, and Tanzania. They have three children and three grandchildren.
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