When we walk with God, we exercise practical godliness. This devotional reading looks at making the connections after we discuss how Enoch was taken by God.
Nuggets
- God Omnipotent took Enoch off this earth to where He is because He loved him.
- Enoch was Noah’s great-grandfather.
Enoch is credited with walking with God. Because of that, God had a special reward for him.
God took Enoch. Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the The Influence of Sin series
God Took Him
Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Gen. 5: 23-24 NLT)
God Omnipotent took Enoch off this earth to where He is because He loved him.
This has always baffled me. We are told that God took Enoch. All it says was he was no more.
Did God physically take Enoch as He did Elijah? “As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven” (II Kgs. 2: 11 NLT).
Or maybe God buried Enoch as he did Moses. “So Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, just as the LORD had said. The LORD buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place” (Deut. 34: 5-6 NLT).
Burns believed that God took Enoch’s body and all. He didn’t separate the body from the soul in this instance.
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No, that is not normal. But that is what happened to Elijah.
It sounds like it was sudden. More than that, it sounds miraculous.
What we should focus on is two things. God loved Enoch, and He took him to where He is. We would say He took him to Heaven.
We need to focus on the why, not the how.
“So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world” (Heb. 4: 9-10 NLT).
Parker reminded us that it is God’s right to take Enoch — and us. He is Sovereign God.
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One way we shouldn’t take this is that God does not have a hand in all of our deaths. Only God numbers our days. Only He allows or doesn’t what happens to us.
The story of Enoch confirms that — even in the Old Testament — the faithful were taken to be with God.
We can’t close this out without thinking how this affected Methusaleh, the rest of Enoch’s family, and his friends. We normally don’t call family interactions as fellowship, but they would have some of the same feelings.
Aitken talked about fellowship. He wrote, “The life of fellowship must needs be the product of a state of consecration.”
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The outcome of our walk with God has to be its effect on those around us. That is one of our marching orders.
How many days are there in a year? 365. How many years did Enoch live? 365 years.
Did God plan that for a reason? Probably.
Methuselah to Noah
“When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died. When Lamech was 182 years old, he became the father of a son. Lamech named his son Noah, for he said, ‘May he bring us relief from our work and the painful labor of farming this ground that the Lord has cursed.’ After the birth of Noah, Lamech lived another 595 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died. After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” (Gen. 5: 25-32 NLT)
Enoch was Noah’s great-grandfather.
The three big role models of practical godliness were Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah. It is important to note how close their generations are.
No, Enoch was gone before Noah was born. But Methuselah died the same year as the flood happened. (He had to have died before the flood, or he would have been on the ark.)
I am sure Enoch raised Methuselah right. Methuselah would have had a big influence on Noah.
Look what Lamech said about Noah. “Lamech named his son Noah, for he said, ‘May he bring us relief from our work and the painful labor of farming this ground that the LORD has cursed’” (Gen. 5: 29 NLT).
This is a little different than the Orthodox Jewish Bible says. “And he called shmo [name] Noach, saying, Zeh yenachamenu (this shall comfort us) in our work and toil of our hands, because of the adamah [ground] which Hashem [God] hath cursed” (Gen. 5: 29 OJB).
This shall comfort us is not really relief. While relief is consolation and reassurance, it isn’t a cessation of the curse. The birth of Noah was not going to lift the curse on farming the land.
In other words, the birth of Noah was to be a comfort.
Raleigh talked about the significance of Lamech’s words. He wrote, “Lamech, ‘the powerful,’ is not ashamed to confess that he needs comfort; and when this child comes to him he accepts him as a Divine gift, as a commissioned, competent, and thrice-welcome messenger of comfort from God.”
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We just said that humility was not a weakness. But it is so hard for us to ask for help, to ask for comfort.
Children are a great comfort to us. There have been times when Adam and I have doubled over in laughter, giving both of us so much enjoyment. He is constantly asking if Pastor Steve and I are okay, or do we need something.
It just seems interesting to me that Lamech made this big speech when Noah was born. Oh, we are used to the names meaning something. But he really isn’t talking about what the name means (rest).
Okay, Pastor Steve just told me something interesting. He said that the name Methusaleh meant when he dies, it will come.
Remember, Methuselah died the same year as the flood happened. That was prophesy.
Methusaleh lived the longest at 969 years. They probably didn’t know that was going to happen.
Let me tell you. I know how old my parents were when they died, and in six years, I will be my mom’s age when she died.
If Lamech thought Noah was going to provide rest from grueling farming, he needed to think again.
We have no idea if Lamech had been given a heads-up that it was the flood. Or maybe he just assumed that it would come in his son’s lifetime.
Lamech talked about the curse of the ground. That refers back to Adam’s punishment for the original sin.
“And to the man he said, ‘Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return’” (Gen. 3: 17-19 NLT).
But wasn’t a flood a bigger curse on the ground? Well, yes and no. It allowed a huge do-over.
But let’s look at this another way. Since they lived so long, who was alive when their great-grandfather and more was alive?
The first way to look at it is that Adam’s grandson Enosh was still alive when Noah was born. He would have been Noah’s great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Enoch was the only one who had died.That was a lot of family support.
We also have to go back to the other sons and daughters. Adam was alive 900 years after Seth was born. Enoch was 65 when Methusaleh was born. Noah was 500 years old when Shem, Ham, and Japheth (who sound like triplets) were born.
It seems that they were old before their kids started. Maybe these were not the firstborns. Times would have been hard. Some may have died. I know my father’s mother lost many of her siblings.
But we do know that the purpose was to multiply. “… ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth …’” (Gen. 1: 28 NLT).
Let’s say they could have kids at 20. Assuming the wives were about the same age, they could have kids until they were — say — 800. That would be 780 kids plus any multiple births.
We should keep that in mind as we slide into Genesis 6.
Making the Connections #1
Walking with God has some distinct benefits and advantages.
- “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Prov. 3: 6 NLT).
- “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Ps. 32: 8 NLT).
- “I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me” (Ps. 16: 8 NLT).
- “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (Isa. 41: 10 NLT).
- “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble” (Ps. 46: 1 NLT).
- “The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day” (Prov. 4: 18 NLT).
Making the Connections #2
Morris had it right. He wrote, “True religion is, walking ‘with God.’”
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All that we’ve talked about is necessary for a genuine relationship with God. Don’t do one with the right motivation, and our relationship isn’t secure.
The interesting thing is doesn’t say Enoch walked with God until after Methuselah was born. “Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters” (Gen. 5: 22 NLT). It appears that he did not for the 65 years before the birth.
Well, once we become parents, we can have a big change take place. We are no longer insulated as we have a life to take care of outside of ourselves.
This shows us how God can be a Father to us. We see the love that can be felt between a parent and a child.
But this shows us that we can come to God at any age. We don’t have to chronologically be a child. We have to think as one.
“Then he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven’” (Mt. 18: 3 NLT).
Making the Connections #3
There were a lot of verses in the sermons that I didn’t get to look at when I was going through. Let’s check some of them out now.
“I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me” (Prov. 8: 17 NLT)
Everything we do should be based on our love for God. It isn’t that we just love Jesus — the Guy Who died for us.
We have to love God, too. Yeah, the One Who set up the laws and commandments and controls us. We have to search for and seek Him.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17)
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3)
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16)
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11)
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2)
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11)
“So fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone. But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD” (Josh. 24: 14-15 NLT)
Walking with God has a big element of service in it. We have duties to perform.
There are the marching orders. There is also the job description.
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
Job Duty #2
Work Out Our Salvation (Philippians 2: 12)
Job Duty #3
Bring Him Glory (Matthew 5: 16)
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #5
Love People (John 15: 12)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #7
Other Duties as Assigned
(Ecclesiastes 3: 1)
It can be summarized as growing closer and closer to God so that we can do His Will.
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you” (Ps. 51: 12 NLT).
God understands the difficulties we have in obeying Him. Of course, He does — He made us.
Whether sin was created specifically by God (Isa. 45: 7) or it is the opposite choice of free will, God knows the cause of sin and its pull on us.
That doesn’t give us a pass when we sin. We are still held accountable.
God knows with what He is dealing. Only He can restore us when we sin. Only He can increase our desire to obey Him.
“They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin” (Mal. 2: 6 NLT)
Part of our service is to tell others of God. Walking with God is a big component. When we do that, we live a righteous life, choosing His good over evil.
A big component of repentance is turning from our sins. Two of those sins is lying and cheating.
“You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice” (Ex. 23: 2 NLT)
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom. 12: 2 NLT)
“But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land” (Num. 14: 24 NLT)
We talked about walking with God as being counterculture to the worldview. These verses give examples of compromising with the worldview.
- Not standing up for the truth, but rather say what everyone else is saying.
- Not changing our actions, even when we know they are wrong.
- Not having a different attitude — the mind of Christ — but allowing the worldview dominate our point of view.
We are to follow justice. We are to follow God’s way of thinking. We are to remain loyal to God.
“Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me” (I Sam. 2: 30 NLT)
It is really easy to apply this to the Israelites. They were called to be God’s people — but they had/have to obey Him.
Disciples are called to a holy priesthood. “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (I Pet. 2: 9 NLT).
We have to choose daily to honor God. “Then he said to the crowd, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me’” (Lk. 9: 23 NLT).
How are we one who “… think[s] lightly of me [God]” (I Sam. 2: 30 NLT)?
• We make decisions to do what we want when we know God wants something else.
• We face life — even the challenges and difficulties bringing hardship and suffering — with obedience and sacrifice.
• We use Jesus as our role model to adopt His teachings, thereby living a life of faith, obedience, and love.
If we start denying ourselves, taking up our crosses daily, and following Jesus but stop doing them, God will despise us.
What happens then? “Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants” (Mt. 13: 5-7 NLT).
“Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come” (I Tim. 4: 8 NLT).
No, walking with God isn’t going to be easy. We do have to train for godliness.
Godliness is against our sinful nature, so we have to daily seek God. Let’s review the list from Baker that we talked about in the last devotion. He wrote that we walk with God
“1. By studying the Scriptures.
“2. By constant and earnest prayer.
“3. By watching the dealings of God without.
“4. The motions of God within.
“5. Walking in ordinances.
“6. Walking in providences.
“7. In the communion of saints.
“8. And by meditation.”
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We do all of these under God’s watchful care.
How Do We Apply This?
- Walk humbly with God, giving Him glory and honor.
- Do deep dives to study about God.
- Seek to do God’s Will.
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Father God. How or when You take us to be with You doesn’t matter. We want to walk with You until then. Then, we want to be with You for eternity. Amen.
What do you think?
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