Walking with God
Be Strong, Be Well — Sunday, August 16
Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah is the oldest man in recorded history, living to be 969 years old (Genesis 5:27). But Methuselah’s father goes down in the pages of history as the man who never died.
“After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:22-24).
Two times in this short reading, the Bible says Enoch “walked with God.” The prophet Amos asked, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (3:3). For 365 years, this godly man kept his eyes on God, honored His ways, followed His guidance, and held on to his devotion to truth.
This means Enoch was faithful in his worship to God, through his married life, in raising his children, and kept his eyes on his future home in heaven. For this, God decided to take him from this world to His home in heaven.
There are two references in the New Testament about Enoch. In Hebrews 11:5, “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
Jude 14-15 says, “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
We don't normally think of Enoch as an inspired prophet who spoke against ungodly false teachers. Did you notice “ungodly” appears four times? The world in Enoch’s time may have been in that decline of wickedness that reached its climax in the days of his great-grandson, Noah.
This faithful patriarch knew the truth of the great judgement day. Since he walked with God we know he never looked at this world as his permanent home. God rewarded Him by taking him away from here.
If we all determine to walk with God, just as Enoch did, we’ll join him in his walk with God for the rest of eternity. —Chris