Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So, all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:22-24)
How would God sum up your life in a paragraph? Genesis, Chapter 5 is a brief genealogy from Adam to Noah. In the midst of the normal accounting, there is one man with a noticeably different description. This phrase, “walked with God” repeated twice, set Enoch apart from other men. Three words summarize his life. Three words imply so much.
ENOCH MADE A CHOICE BY THE GRACE OF GOD.
This is not said of other men. In hundreds of years, one man received this description. Hundreds preceded him and millions have followed him, but this man is known for his choice to head in another direction. Biblical theology would tell us that he could not have done this by himself. God enabled Enoch to take such a direction, but Enoch complied.
ENOCH WALKED
Walking is an action verb. The summary does not say that he “sat” or he “lay down.” He followed. He moved at God’s initiation. Wherever God went, that’s where his servant Enoch went. When it was easy or hard, he followed his Master.
For some reason—as opposed to others—Enoch determined that the best course of life was to stay close to His Creator. To not deviate from God’s direction. He understood that the Good Shepherd would lead him in “all the right paths for His name’s sake,” and this became the determined trajectory of his life.
WITH GOD
This astounding summary does not say he walked behind God or in front of God. He walked “with God.” This is a phrase of intimacy. Where God was, Enoch was. He was with God, receiving all God had for him, enjoying the soul-rest that only God can give. Hearing God’s wisdom, finding God’s clarity, understanding God’s creation, knowing the tenderness of God’s love. Could there be any greater testimony? Could there be any better life?
THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE YEARS
What is astounding is the duration of this walk. Enoch was not perfect, for no man, save Christ, has ever walked with God with no interruption. His sins are not documented. His highs and lows are not listed. But when the Spirit recorded his life in total, this phrase was God’s best description. He kept following for centuries. This encourages us with the possibilities. Other men—Noah, Abraham, Moses, David—although sinful, left a legacy of godly lives, and so can we.
AND HE WAS NOT FOR GOD TOOK HIM
Only a few in history received this honor. Enoch was spared the normal experience of death. He was translated to heaven by God. We don’t know the particulars, but it is enough to know that it happened and it delighted God to make it so. Enoch walked with God and suddenly was with God in the heavenlies. No final breath. No agonizing passage. God, who can do anything, spared him from this normal, human experience. Enoch took one last step on earth and the next in glory.
THE PURPOSE
Why this description? Why this inclusion in the roll call of faithful followers? What does God desire for us to know from this godly life? Enoch reminds us of the possibility. Three words thrill us with the prospect of such a life. They shout of the goodness and mercy of God to provide a better way and call us to a higher life of unbroken intimacy with the One who made us.
Father, help me walk with you today, and the remainder of my days, for Your glory and my good.
