enoch

Genesis 5:

• God created man and woman in His own image, with His own hands and blessed them. When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son named Seth (the one that came after Cain & Abel). After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years more (that means he lived a total of 930 years!) and had other sons and daughters. Then he died.
• When Seth was a mere 105 years old, he because a father to Enosh. He lived 807 years more after that, having other sons and daughters—that means he was only 912. Then he died.
• Enosh was a youngin’ when he had his first son, Kenan. He was only 90 when his son was born. And after Kenan was born, Enosh lived 815 years more and had other sons and daughters. Total: 905 years. Then he died.
• Talk about children having children, Kenan was only 70 when he sired an offspring: Mahalalel. But in the great tradition of Old Testament people, Kenan had other sons and daughters. He was 910 and then he died.
• Mahalalel retired just in time to become a father at age 65. His firstborn was Jared; his other sons and daughters are not named. He managed to live 895 years. Then he died.
• Jared had his head on straight and didn’t become a father until he was 162 years old. His oldest son was named Enoch. After Enoch was born, Jared lived 800 years longer…having other sons and daughters…for a total of 962 years. (He is the second oldest man recorded in the Bible.) Then he died.

“When Enoch lived 65 years, he became the Father of Methuselah. And after he became the Father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. (here’s the important part) Enoch walked with God. Then he was no more—because God took him away.”
Enoch didn’t die.
Perhaps you could make a claim that “he was no more” is a polite phrase like the one you would use with your children when the goldfish died. But when we compare it to the others’ stories, we see they were specifically mentioned as dying. That ought to be obvious, since they aren’t still here. That detail is included in each story because Enoch’s story uses the exact same sentence structure as all the prior accounts. But the change in the wording reflects the fact that he did NOT die, because he walked with God.
Now, let’s back up just a little bit to the end of Genesis chapter 4. We are given a brief lineage from Cain—the Marked One that killed his brother. Pay careful attention because some of the people share common names, but are very different characters.

• Cain had a son named Enoch (not the same one as we’re talking about today).
• That Enoch had a son named Irad.
• He had a son named Mehujael.
• His son was named Methuselah.
• His son was named Lamech.

Basically, if we looked at a flowchart of the lines from Adam, we see that our hero Enoch and Lamech are 5th cousins--one from Cain and the other from Seth. I know that’s really distant, so maybe it’d be better to think of them this way: Enoch and Lamech are the 7th generation from Adam. Why is that important to know?
It is important because of the contrast in lives and attitudes of these two fellows. Enoch is recorded for history as the man that walked with God and did not die. Lamech is recorded for history as a violent murderer. He was arrogant and thought he could redeem his family through his own achievements. Lamech would have made a good American, thinking that hard work will take care of everything. He didn’t think he needed a Savior.
And so, as the old saying goes, “He who dies with the most toys still dies”. The hardest worker, the most successful, the best looking, the teacher’s pet and all the others, if they do not walk with God, will still die. But, he who walks with God does not die.

Enoch is a great inspiration to us all--we can walk with God and be blessed because of it.