2015-05-01

44 – Enoch, a Man Who Walked with God


The biography of Enoch is brief, only nine verses in all: five verses in Genesis, two in Hebrews, and two in Jude. Yet this remarkable biography points the Bible student to a man who was unique among all men of all generations. For three hundred years Enoch put God first in his life. The Lord was preeminent in everything: in his thinking, in his ways, and in his walk. He was the first in his love, in his service, and the only One whom he worshiped. Following are some of the ways in which Enoch was unique:
1) He was one of two men of whom the Scripture says that he “walked with God.” The other was Noah (Genesis 6:9). We are not told how long Noah walked with God; however, we are told that Enoch “walked with God three hundred years” (Genesis 5:22).
2) He was the first of two men who were taken to heaven without experiencing physical death. Elijah was the other (2 Kings 2:11).
3) Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam. Of all the generations before Enoch we read, “And he died;” but with Enoch it was changed, for we read, “And he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24).
4) He became the father of the oldest man who ever lived, Methuselah, who lived 969 years (Genesis 5:21).
5) He walked with God three hundred years. During those years he was a family man; he was the father of sons and daughters.
6) Enoch was justified by faith; therefore he lived by faith (Hebrews 10:38).
7) Enoch prophesied that the Lord would come and execute judgment on the ungodly (Jude 14).
The remainder of the biography of Enoch will not be known until we, too, put on immortality and continue our walk with God in eternity.

44-1 Enoch Walked with God
(Genesis 5:21-23)
“Enoch walked with God three hundred years” (v. 22). One day, as they walked together, it was as though the Lord said, “Enoch, come home and let us continue our walk in heaven.” This is the way it might have happened, for the Scripture says, “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (v. 24). Enoch continued hi “walk with God” in glory, a walk that will never end. And all this began, one day during his life on earth, Enoch got in step with God, walking with Him for three hundred years thereafter, without interruption.
1) To walk with God requires five things:
a) Righteousness. This is not self-righteousness, which Isaiah calls “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6), but the imputer righteousness of God (Romans 10:1-4). Enoch was a righteous man, “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). He was “like a tree planted by the rivers of water” (Psalm 1:3), rooted and grounded in the truth (John 8:32). “The Lord knows the way of the righteous” (Psalm 1:6), because they walk with Him in righteousness. But it is not so with the ungodly. They cannot walk with God; they are unstable in all their ways; they are like chaff in a windstorm, driven about by the doctrines of this world system, which are promulgated by the servants of Satan (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 4:4).
b) Faith. Faith is required in the fact that God does exist and that He is the Sovereign, almighty, eternal God. “For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Enoch sought the Lord by faith, found Him, and walked with Him by faith (Romans 1:17).
c) Uprightness. Enoch was governed by high moral principles and adhered to all the virtues of a true believer. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). Enoch walked with God uprightly and lived abundantly (John 10:10).
d) Humility. A truly humble person will not be afflicted with that common disease known as “inflated ego.” John the Baptist said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). When you walk with God, the “I” (ego) will diminish to its proper limits and then the words of Paul will be understood: “If anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself’ (Galatians 6:3).
e) Commitment. Total commitment is called for. This means that the whole person—spirit, soul, and body—is placed figuratively on the altar of God as a burnt sacrifice (a burnt sacrifice was completely consumed by fire). You are to be a “living sacrifice… that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
2) When you walk with God:
a) You will “fear no evil,” even when He leads you through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4). You will not be afraid, because you know that He is with you, and that His grace is sufficient for all of life’s events (2 Corinthians 12:9).
b) You will never walk in darkness, because “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all… if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:5-7). When we walk with God, as Enoch did, we have fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and all the saints of God who are walking with Him. This is heavenly fellowship, and it is forever and ever.
c) “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:13). The Truth sets you free is the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6). To walk with God is to walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Living Word. John said, “The Word was with God, and Word was God” (John 1:1). Enoch walked with the Living Word.

44-2 Enoch Walked by Faith with God
(Hebrews 11:5, 6)
God’s Word reveals seven things that Enoch did by faith:
1) By faith Enoch walked with God three hundred years. His faith must have been tested and tried many times. But there is no evidence that he ever lowered the “shield of faith,” with which he was able to quench all of Satan’s fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16).
2) By faith Enoch was “taken away,” that is, taken up to heaven – body, soul, and spirit. And his body of flesh was glorified because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (I Corinthians 15:50-55).
3) By faith Enoch “did not see death” (v. 5). Enoch is a type of all born-again believers who will be alive when Jesus comes back to this world. The dead in Christ will be resurrected, and the living will be caught up with the resurrected saints to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
4) By faith Enoch pleased God. Because Enoch walked with God by faith, all who knew him knew that he pleased God. “He had this testimony, that he pleased God” (v. 5). Enoch had faith that could be seen by all who knew him – by the way he talked, lived, and worked. Faith can be seen in our manner of life.
Jesus was teaching in a house in Capernaum, and four men brought a paralytic to Him. When they could not enter (because the house was filled with people), they went up on top of the house, removed a section of the roof, and let the man down on his bed before Jesus. And the Scripture says, “When Jesus saw their faith” He forgave the sins of the paralytic and healed him (Mark 2:1-5). Can your loved ones, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances see the proof of your faith?
5) By faith Enoch believed that Almighty God did exist. “For he who comes to God must believe that He is” (v. 6). Where did Enoch get such great faith? He did not have the Bible or any books of the Bible. God must have manifested himself to Enoch, as He did to others, before the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, became a man. Enoch had an ever-present witness of God.
He also had God’s creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge” (Psalm 19:1, 2). Creation reveals the glory of the Creator, day and night. When Enoch looked a God’s creation, he saw more than the sun, moon, and stars. He saw more than mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, streams, and seas. He saw more than trees, flowers, the birds of the air, the beast of the fields, the fish of the sea, or man who was created in the image of God. Enoch, by faith, saw the reflection of the Creator in His creation. He sought the Creator God, and found Him, because he sought Him with his whole heart (Psalm 119:2).
6) By faith Enoch was rewarded. He was not rewarded with eternal life, because eternal life is God’s gift; it cannot be earned (Ephesians 2:8, 9). God rewarded Enoch by allowing him to walk with Himself.
7) By faith Enoch diligently sought God. We do not know how long he sought Him before God invited Enoch to walk with Him; it could have been sixty-five years. The years of seeking were years of growing. As he sought God one day, his growth, in grace and knowledge, was sufficient, and he walked by faith into the very heavenly presence of God.

44-3 Enoch Walked Humbly with God
(Micah 6:8)
All who walk with God are required to “walk humbly” (v. 8) with Him. We know that Enoch was a humble man, because he “walked with God three hundred years” (Genesis 5:22). To understand true humility we must know some of the characteristics of a humble person.
1) He is gentle, but never weak. Jesus said of Himself, “I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). He was the most meek person this world will ever know – yet He once took a whip and drove the moneychangers from the temple (John 2:13-16). This was not the act of a weak man.
2) He is bold for the Lord, but never brazen. “Now when they [the Sanhedrin] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:1-22). Peter and John were bold because they had accompanied Jesus for three years, and had witnessed His death, burial, and resurrection.
3) He is aggressive for the Lord, but never contentious or hostile. The apostles never held back with the gospel of Jesus Christ, even though the Sanhedrin warned them, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” (Acts 5:22-32).
4) He is poor in spirit, but never spiritually poor (Matthew 5:3). The poor in spirit never think more highly of themselves than they ought (Romans 12:3). They believe themselves to be a new creation in Christ, knowing that ‘old things have passed away; behold, all thing s have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The poor in spirit know that before honor can come their way, they must walk humbly with God (v. 8), who gives to the humble preference and honor among those in Christ. There is no room for arrogance, pride, or jealousy in the heart or mind of the person who walks humbly with God (Proverbs 15:33).

44-4 Enoch Walked in Agreement with God
(Amos 3:3)
“Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (v. 3). Enoch walked in agreement with God for three hundred years, continuously conforming hi life to the counsel of God. He must have learned that “the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing… [but] the counsel of the Lord stands forever” (Psalm 33:10, 11). Enoch chose to walk into eternity with the infinite God; and as he traveled, he was guided by God’s counsel day after day until he was translated into His heavenly presence (Psalm 73:24). Enoch had a choice, to walk in agreement with God, or to walk in the counsel of the ungodly (Psalm 1:1).
God gave Judah a choice before He sent them into seventy years of captivity: “ ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’ “ (Isaiah 1:18). Judah was out of step with God, its people walking in the counsel of the ungodly. When they refused to walk with Him, He sent them into captivity. Every nation and individual has this choice: they can walk in agreement with God, as Enoch did , or walk in the way that seems right to man, though the end of the walk that seems right to a man is eternal separation from God (Proverbs 14:12).
Enoch began his walk with God in the year that Methuselah was born (Genesis 5:21, 22). For three hundred years Enoch walked in faith, and in agreement with God.

44-5 Enoch Walked All the Way to Heaven with God
(Genesis 5:24)
“Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (v. 24). This verse says three things about Enoch that deserve our attention. Each statement is brief, direct, simple, and yet profound. To discover the depth of this verse and the riches of its simplicity, we go to the New Testament.
1) “Enoch walked with God.” As he walked by faith, “he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). Enoch’s walk with God was no secret; all who knew him must have said, “There goes a man who pleases God.” He prophesied the second coming of Christ, and the judgments of God upon the ungodly in the last days (Jude 14, 15). First, he lived his testimony; and second, he preached the good news of the coming of the Lord. What is meant when it is said that Enoch walked with God by faith?
a) It means that he got in step with God, and made spiritual progress one step at a time; he grew in the grace and knowledge of God (2 Peter 3:17, 18). He was steadfast in his walk with God, all the way to heaven.
b) It means that he could no longer go his own way (Isaiah 53:6), or walk according to the course of this world system, which is satanic (Ephesians 2:1, 2). If he would walk with God, he must seek God’s way and walk in it (Matthew 6:33).
c) It implies total commitment to the revealed will of God (Romans 12:1, 2). Enoch’s life demonstrates the good and perfect will of God. He could say with David, “I delight to do Your will, Oh my God” (Psalm 40:8).
2) “Enoch walked with God: and he was not.” One day Enoch vanished, disappeared, and was taken up into heaven in the presence of witnesses. When Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind, Elisha witnessed his translation (2 Kings 2:1-13). When Jesus was taken up, the disciples were witness (Acts 1:9-11). Enoch had his ungodly critics, as does anyone who walks with God. Because of them, had there been no witnesses when he was translated, there would probably have been no record of his translation. Further proof of witnesses is found in the New Testament. “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found’ ” (Hebrews 11:5). Unbelievers may have searched for him to prove that his translation was a religious hoax. When Elisha brought word to the school of the prophets that Elijah had been translated, they doubted Elisha and formed search parties and looked in vain for him. People searched for Enoch, but he “was not found, because God had taken him.”
3) “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Again we go the New Testament for a better understanding of this brief and beautiful statement, “for God took him.” And we read, ‘By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death” (Hebrews 11:5). His spirit and soul were not separated from his body of flesh. Had he died physically, his spirit and soul would have left his body, and search parties could have found it and buried it. Enoch was taken up (translated) because he pleased God by faith. Now all who please God by faith will be resurrected and caught up like Enoch at the Rapture, and will be given glorified bodies (I Thessalonians 4:16, 17). “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

Master Outline 44 – A Man Who Walked With God
[1] The biography of Enoch is how brief?
[2] How many years did Enoch put God first?
[3] In what seven (7) ways was Enoch unique?
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[4] The Scripture says, “Enoch walked with God,” and then what happened?
[5] To walk with God requires five (5) things. What are they?
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[6] Why can the ungodly not walk with God?
[7] What common disease will a humble person not be afflicted with?
[8] What three (3) things do you see in the life of a believer who walks with God?
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[9] To walk with ___________________ is to walk with the ___________________
_____________________ _____________________ who is the __________________
___________________________.
[10] What seven (7) things does the Word reveal Enoch did by faith?
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[11] Can faith be seen in the manner in which we live? YES or NO. Explain.
[12] How can a person who never heard the Word glorify God?
[13] How do we know Enoch was a humble man?
[14] What are four (4) characteristics of a humble person?
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[15] Explain the difference between poor in spirit and spiritually poor?
[16] How do we know Enoch walked in agreement with God?
[17] Explain how God gave Judah a choice before he sent them into captivity.
[18] When did Enoch begin his walk with God?
[19] What three (3) things do we know about Enoch from Genesis 5:24?
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[20] What type of prophecy did Enoch leave us with?
[21] What three (3) things does the statement “Enoch walked with God” tell us?
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[22] What does the statement “For God took him” mean?

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