“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24).
Surely one of the most godly, as well as interesting, characters who ever lived was Enoch. He is one of only two who lived before the Flood (Noah also, Genesis 6:9) of whom it is said that he “walked with God.” He is also one of only two individuals who never died (Elijah, II Kings 2:11). Little is known about him, but the Bible reveals him to be exemplary among men and special to God.
Notice that he was, first of all, a man of faith. “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death . . . he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is [i.e., that God exists], and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:5,6). Enoch had ample faith in the fact and work of God, which yielded a close walk with God. He also had faith in the caring character of God which rewards the diligent search for Him on His terms with sanctification, fellowship, and eternal life. This faith, we are told, pleased God.
We find in the little Book of Jude a description of Enoch’s ministry. Enoch’s faith impelled him to denounce strongly the false teaching and ungodly living of his day, prophesying the coming return of, and judgment by, the Lord (vv.14,15).
Some have suggested that Enoch’s ministry is not yet over. All men die, for “it is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27), and Enoch has not yet died. Perhaps he is one of the two tribulation “witnesses” (Revelation 11:3) whose messages are so much like those of Enoch and Elijah who will be martyred, resurrected, and taken up to heaven directly from earth (vv.4–12).
At any rate, Enoch is certainly one of the great heroes of the faith whom we shall meet some day. JDM
