Our next ancestor that mentioned in Hebrews 11 is Enoch.  This is how the writer refers to him.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and ‘he was not found, because God had taken him.’ For it was attested before he was taken away that ‘he had pleased God.’  (Hebrews 11:5)

         Here is the Genesis version from centuries before possibly written by Moses.

²¹ When Enoch had lived for sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. ²² Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah for three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.

(Genesis 5:21-24)

            Most of us probably know very little about Enoch.  He was the seventh generation down from Adam, through Seth, the son born after Abel was killed.  He is not of the bloodline of Cain.  In the 60s when end-times were in vogue, Enoch and Elijah were thought to be the two witnesses in Revelation who will be martyred.  That is not common talk now but interesting.  Enoch was seventh generation from Adam but he was also the father of Methuselah and the grandfather of Noah.  Enoch may well have been a formative influence in the life of Noah.  He may have known Adam, now a very old man, and Noah, his own grandson.

         Hebrews tells us that Enoch “did not experience death” and that “he pleased God.”  Genesis says Enoch “walked with God.”  We know of no great deeds like his grandson Noah did in building the Ark.  He left no sermons or miraculous encounters with the Holy.  We know he lived in a world that was becoming more and more corrupt – even as we do.  He is a hero of the faith, a saint, known because “he walked with God.”

         Think of the last time you walked with someone.  Perhaps you held the hand of a failing spouse, a young grandchild, or just rode in a golf cart with a friend as I did tonight.  Think of three adjectives that would describe that experience.  A “saint,” a hero or heroine of the faith is someone who is ordinary like you and me but who walks with God trusting their invisible relationship.  Thank you Lord for walking with me!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 8th, 2023 at 6:56 am and is filed under Spiritual Vitamins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.