Enoch pleased God by means of his faith. What is faith? Faith is being totally dependent and obedient to God s Word.

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1 Prairie View Christian Church Pastor Bill Wenstrom Enoch: Hero of Faith One of the greatest believers in the Bible was Enoch. His name is recorded in God s Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11. He is one of the great heroes of faith in the Bible. Hebrews 11:5, 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. Enoch pleased God by means of his faith. What is faith? Faith is being totally dependent and obedient to God s Word. Enoch was transferred from planet earth to heaven. This happened to Elijah as well. 2 Kings 2:11, As they (Elisha and Elijah) were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. How exciting it is to know that this will happen to the church at the rapture. That is when we will get our resurrection bodies. 1Thes 4:13-18, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of

2 {the} archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. Hebrews 11:5, 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. Enoch s faith made it clear that he lived a life that made God happy before God took him to heaven from planet earth. Enoch s faith was the means by which he pleased God. Faith means that we trust God. We take Him at His Word. We don t doubt that He will take care of us. Faith means that we are totally dependent on Him and totally obedient. Faith means that we respect God s authority over our lives. Now, let us get to know more about Enoch and who he was and in order to do this we must turn to the book of Genesis chapter 4, verse 18. He is first mentioned in Genesis 4:18. Gen 4:18-5:24, Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and {have} livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. As for Zillah,

3 she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice, you wives of Lamech, give heed to my speech, for I have killed a man for wounding me; and a boy for striking me; If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold." Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, {she said} "God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him. To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then {men} began to call upon the name of the LORD. This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created. When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of {a son} in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had {other} sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. Seth lived one hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh. Then Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had {other} sons and daughters. So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. Then Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had {other} sons and daughters. So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died. Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel.

4 Then Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had {other} sons and daughters. So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died. Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared. Then Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Jared, and he had {other} sons and daughters. So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died. Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch. Then Jared lived eight hundred years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had {other} sons and daughters. So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixtytwo years, and he died. 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 sixtyfive years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Enoch is the Hebrew proper name chanokh. His name means dedicated or set apart one, consecrated one. Enoch s lived up to his name. He set himself apart from the world in order to have a relationship with God. His life was dedicated to the Lord. Enoch s name speaks of sanctification. Sanctification means that Enoch was totally obedient to God and what God wanted him to do. Enoch lived for God. Every believer here in the church age has been set apart to live his life solely for the Lord. The believer who lives for God or to do His will is one who is obedient to the Word of God like Enoch. Enoch showed how important the Lord s friendship was to Him by means of his faith.

5 The Bible also tells us that Enoch was a prophet of God. This means that Enoch spoke on behalf of God. That was a great honor. Enoch preached the gospel in times when people didn t care about what God said. He warned against the godlessness of his generation in powerful words: Jude 14-15, 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. This is a prophecy of Christ s 2 nd Advent, which comes 7 years after the Rapture of the church. Enoch was also in the line of Christ according to Luke 3:37. So Enoch was the son of Jared and father of Methuselah. He was 7 th in descent from Adam in the line of Seth (Jude 14; cf. 1 Ch. 1:3). He lived halfway between Adam and the Flood. He is said to have lived 365 years. This long a period to live was not unusual prior to the Flood. Antediluvian s (meaning before the flood in the days of Noah) lived a long time in comparison to after the Flood because the environment on planet earth was conducive to living a long life. After the Flood, the earth s atmosphere changed dramatically and is not tilted on its axis as a result of the Flood. Also, the vast water canopy that was above the earth s atmosphere no longer existed after the Flood in the days of Noah. This canopy of water above the earth s atmosphere protected human beings from cosmic radiation from space and promoted a long life span. This water canopy fell to the earth during the Flood.

6 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 sixtyfive years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. This phrase walked with God refers to the fact that Enoch was best friends with God. It means they agreed on everything together as best friends. They liked the same things. Amos 3:3, Do two men walk together unless they have agreed to do so. God spoke to Enoch and commanded him to do something and Enoch in turn obeyed that command. The fact that Enoch was friends with God was said of Abraham too. Genesis 17:1, Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless. To walk with God here means that Enoch had a great friendship with God. Faith is the means by which we have friendship with God and we know that faith is obedience to the commands of God. John 14:23, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. So Enoch hung out with God and talked to God and listen to God and obeyed God everyday. Noah was also said to have walked with God too. Genesis 6:9, These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time, Noah walked with God. Genesis 5:24, Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

7 The fact that Enoch walked with God indicates he was an obedient child of God. When the Bible says that God took Enoch, it means that God snatched Enoch off planet earth. The Lord Jesus Christ will do this to the Rapture generation of the church. Enoch was the first person to be raptured off the face of the earth like this. Enoch was transported from earth to heaven. This means that Enoch never died like the rest of the members of the human race. Nearly 25 centuries later, another prophet, Elijah, was taken into heaven without dying (2 Ki. 2:11 The best way I know to describe it is the way it was told by a little school girl who came home from Sunday school, and her mother asked, What did your teacher tell you about today? The little girl said, She told us all about this man Enoch. You can see that this was a good Bible teaching Sunday school. And the mother said, Well, what about Enoch? So the little girl told her mama this story: Enoch lived a long time ago, and God would come by every afternoon and say to him, Enoch would you like to take a walk with Me? Enoch would say, Yes, I d like to take a walk with you, God. And so everyday God would come by Enoch s house, and Enoch would go walking with God. One day God came by and said, Enoch, let s take a long walk today. Enoch got his coat-even took his lunch, and they started walking. They walked and they walked and they walked, and finally it got late. Enoch said, My, it s getting late, and I am a long way from home. Maybe we d better start back. But God said, Enoch, you are closer to My home than you are to your home, so you come on and go home with Me. And so Enoch went home with God.

8 I don t know how to tell the story of Enoch better than that little girl. So Enoch never experienced physical death. Enoch is an example of what will happen to some members of the church who are alive at the rapture. So what does the story of the life of Enoch teach us here in the church age? Well, it teaches us that we are to be obedient to the Word of God and by doing so we can have fellowship with God and a life that is pleasing to Him a life that will be rewarded by Him. The more we obey God, the closer friends we will be with God. This means that God will tell us secrets and share fantastic things with us that are found in His Word. Enoch s story teaches us that we need to put our priorities in order. Enoch got his priorities in order after the birth of his 1 st son, Methusaleh. We must learn from Enoch and get our priorities in order meaning we must put our relationship with God as 1 st place in our list of priorities. Our relationship with God must come first. All the great saints were pleasing to God and will be rewarded by Him because they put their relationship with God first. The story of Enoch teaches us the importance of having a great friendship with God. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says that we as church age believers have been called into having a great friendship with God. 1 Cor 1:9, God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Review Questions: 1. What is faith?

9 2. How does one get to be great friends with God? 3. Who was Enoch s father? 4. What is a Prophet? 5. Did Enoch die?