By Faith – Enoch Walked with God
“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. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:5-6)
The story of Enoch is fascinating for several reasons. Let’s look at the setting first. It comes unexpectedly right in the middle of a “begat… and then he died” list. J. Vernon McGee comments, “The fifth chapter of Genesis is just like walking through a cemetery and reading what is engraved on the tombstones.”[1]
But then, suddenly the “begat and died” list is interrupted by Enoch’s amazing end: “he could not be found, because God had taken him away.” No matter how hard you look, you will not find Enoch in any cemetery!
So why was Enoch treated to this extraordinary end? Genesis 5:24 says that “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” It’s certainly tempting to assume that this means Enoch and God would take long strolls together on a regular basis. In fact, J. Vernon McGee reveals how a young girl explains what happened:
“Every day 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. I want to talk to you.’ So they started out. 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.”[2]
Could that be what happened? Maybe. We can ask Enoch when we get to heaven!
But in truth, that may not be the best translation of those words “walked with God.” Rather, as translations such as the Septuagint[3] suggest, it would be better translated, “Enoch pleased God,” or that he was “well-pleasing to God.” Enoch acted in a manner that was focused on doing what pleased God, rather than worrying about what everyone around him was doing, or even what everyone else thought about him.
There’s a lovely passage from the Book of Wisdom[4] about Enoch. It says this:
“There was one who pleased God and was loved by him and while living among sinners he was translated.
“He was caught up lest evil change his understanding or guile deceive his soul.
“For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good and roving desire perverts the innocent mind.
“Being perfected in a short time he fulfilled long years; for his soul was pleasing to the Lord, therefore he took him quickly from the midst of wickedness.
“Yet the peoples saw and did not understand, nor take such a thing to heart, that God’s grace and mercy are with his elect, and he watches over his holy ones.”[5]
Hebrews 11:6 says: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” We see that clearly in these few brief words about Enoch, but we’ll also see it in other heroes as we look at their stories. But what does our author mean when he says pleasing God is impossible without faith?
Donald Guthrie’s commentary gives us a couple of important points:
“Man’s relationship with God is built up on a mutual trust, and true communion cannot exist without this. The writer goes on, in fact, to point out something much more elementary, but which he clearly saw the need to mention. (i) Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists. It has already been seen how central to this epistle is the idea of drawing near to God (4:16; 7:25; 10:1, 22).… (ii) Such worshippers must also believe that he rewards those who seek him. This statement is intended to reassure those who are questioning whether the quest for God is always successful. It needs faith to accept this, but the conviction that God rewards the serious seeker is fully in harmony with the nature of God as he has made himself known throughout his revelations to men. There is no fear that any seeker may not find him if he acts in faith.”[6]
Guthrie also says, “It may seem strange that in an epistle which begins with an assertion of God (1:1), the writer should consider it necessary to point to the need for believing in his existence.”[7] And, in fact, the Bible itself—God’s Word to us—never argues for His existence. It is simply assumed, an assumption backed up by the revelation of His works, including creation. Further, as John Calvin explained in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, “There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity (Institutes, I.3.1).”[8] The apostle Paul makes the same claim in Romans 1:18-20 (emphasis mine):
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
God has made it absolutely clear to each person on earth that He exists. David went so far as to claim that anyone who denies God’s existence is a fool (Psalm 14:1). By the way, that Hebrew word translated “fool” (nabal) means “one who is morally deficient.” Most likely they don’t acknowledge God’s existence because they don’t want Him to exist!
F. F. Bruce rounds out our look at Enoch with this comment on verse 6:
“The faith which our author has in mind embraces belief in the invisible spiritual order, and belief in the promises of God which have not yet been fulfilled. Belief in the invisible spiritual order involves first and foremost belief in him who is ‘King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God’ (1 Timothy 1:17); and belief in God carries with it necessarily belief in His word. It is not belief in the existence of a God that is meant, but belief in the existence of the God who once declared His will to the fathers through the prophets and in these last days has spoken in His Son.
“Those who approach Him can do so in full confidence that He exists, that His word is true, and that He will never put off or disappoint the soul that sincerely seeks Him. For all that He has revealed of Himself, whether through the prophets or in His Son, assures us that He is altogether worthy of His people’s trust.”[9]
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- J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, accessed at biblegateway.com. ↑
- Ibid. ↑
- The Oxford Dictionary explains, the Septuagint is “a Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), including the Apocrypha, made for Greek-speaking Jews in Egypt in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC and adopted by the early Christian Churches.” ↑
- “The Book of Wisdom, or the Wisdom of Solomon, is a book written in Greek and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. It is not part of the Hebrew Bible but is included in the Septuagint.” [Wikipedia] ↑
- Wisdom 4:10ff., quoted in F.F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964), p. 286. ↑
- Donald Guthrie, Hebrews, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983), accessed at Logos. ↑
- Ibid. ↑
- Quoted by James N. Anderson, “The Existence of God,” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-existence-of-god/. ↑
- F.F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964), p. 290. ↑
