The Lord’s Message:  Hall of Faith, Faith of Enoch

The Lord’s Message:  Hall of Faith, Faith of Enoch
Date:  February 2, 2025
Where:  Tilghman Methodist Church
Scripture Reference:  Hebrews 11:1, 5-6

            Last Sunday, we began this new sermon series, Hall of Faith.  We are looking in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews to understand the faith of God’s people in the Old Testament.  Last Sunday, we learned that the faith of Abel was because he gave his heart fully to God.  His brother, Cain, simply went through the motions.  This is the reason that God accepted Abel’s offering but refused to accept Cain’s offering.  When we worship God, we need to worship God with all of our heart and not just go through the motions.  This Sunday, we are going to learn about the faith of a man named Enoch and how Enoch walked with God for 300 years and then God took him to heaven.    

            Let us pray.

            I am sure that you have probably heard the famous quote by Benjamin Franklin, “Nothing is new except death and taxes.”  There are two men in the Bible that the first part of this quote would not be applicable.  The one that many of us may remember was Elijah. In       2 Kings 2:11-12.  Elijah did not die but was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot sent by God.  In Genesis 5:24, we find that the first person who did not die was Enoch.

            What do you know about Enoch?

            Now before we discuss about Enoch, we need to make a distinct as to which Enoch we are talking about.  The first Enoch is the son of Cain.  After Cain killed his brother Abel, God punished him by forcing him to leave his family and journey to the land of Nod.   The man, Enoch, that we are talking about is from the line of Seth.  Seth was the son born to Adam and Eve after Abel’s death and Cain’s banishment.  Seth is the ancestor of Noah, Abraham, and Jesus.  The naming of people in the Bible has prophetic meaning.  For example:  Adam means “man.”  Abraham means the “father of many nations.”  Seth means “appointed.”  It is through the line of Seth that you and I are saved from destruction.  Noah and his family are the only ones that survived the flood.  All other families are wiped out by the flood. 

            Looking at Genesis 5: 18-24, we find the life of Enoch.  Throughout this chapter, you have men being born, becoming a father, living a long time, and then dying.  This is a lineage of birth, life, and death.  Enoch breaks up the lineage.  Enoch was born.  He lived and had a son named Methuselah when he was 65 years old. Enoch must have had a prophetic experience to name his son, Methuselah, which means “one who was sent.”  For what was Methuselah sent? To tell the world about the destruction to come, the Flood.  God saw how sinful humans had become so He told Noah to build an ark to save himself, his family, and some animals, because God was going to wipe out the world with a flood.  In Jude 14-16, we are told of Enoch’s prophetic vision.

            Some Bible Trivia this morning, who is the oldest person in the Bible?  Methuselah.  Methuselah lived for 969 years.  Methuselah got to see his grandson, Noah, whom God would use to save humanity.  We will learn more about the faith and the life of Noah, next Sunday.

            This prophetic experience changed the heart of Enoch.  In the Bible, it says, “And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years.”  We are told this not in only one place, but in verse 24 this verse emphasizes this fact, “Enoch walked with God.”  This is amazing, Enoch is the first person to “walk with God” after humanity fell into sin.  We know in the Bible that Adam and Eve were the first persons to “walk with God.”  In Genesis 3:8, God is walking in the Garden in Eden trying to find Adam and Eve to walk with Him.  So, Adam and Eve must have walked with God in the Garden of Eden. 

            To walk with God means that you are in tune and in obedience with the mind and will of God.  In John 14: 20-21, Jesus calls being “in” God.  As believers in Jesus, we are in the middle of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Global Methodist Church used this symbol of the Trinity with the cross in the center to show believers’ relationship with God. 

            When you are walking with someone, you are not walking ahead of them or behind them, but right in step with them.   How would one walk in step with God?  We need to get to understand God.  How can we understand God?  By reading and meditating on God’s love letter to all of us, the Bible.  In Psalm 1:1-2, it says that we are to take delight in the law of God and meditate on it day and night.  When I read and meditate on the Word of God, I do find out that I need to be more holy or pure to walk with God.  How do I become pure?  The psalmist answers this in Psalm 119: 9-11.  All the answers that we need in order to have a relationship, or walk, with God are found in the Bible. 

            Everybody’s Walk with God has a beginning, a middle, and an end.  Enoch’s walk was no different.  So, what can we learn about Enoch’s Walk with God?  Enoch started walking or improving his walking with God after Methuselah was born, after his prophetic vision.  Maybe Enoch was walking with God or maybe he wasn’t.  Enoch was living in a time of great sinfulness on the earth.  We find this in Genesis 6:5. So, if Enoch was walking with God, his walk with God improved after his prophetic vision.  Let us suppose that before Methuselah was born Enoch was not walking with God.   

Then as a preacher once said, God allows U Turns.  You have probably been driving down the highway and realized that you are going in the wrong directions and all the signs tell you no “U Turns.”  God allows “U Turns” in whatever stage of life you are in.  If you are young, He allows U Turns.  If you are middle aged, He allows U Turns.  If you are old, He allows U Turns.  If you have been walking with God and take a wrong turn in your life, God allows U Turns. 

            Here Enoch walked with God for 300 years.  I have problems just one day, sometimes, one hour or one minute or even one second to stay in step with God.  Enoch walked with God for 300 years.  Enoch was in love with God.  God was the only god in his life.  Later on, God would explain what is required to walk with Him.  We need to believe that God exist.  You can have walk with someone that you do not know exist.  After that God needs to be our number one relationship.  The first commandment in the 10 Commandments says in Exodus 20:1-3.  All around Enoch were people that were making their own gods, Genesis 6:5.  We live in a sinful world, today, much like Enoch’s time.  We make God our number one relationship not out of force by out of love.  We can choose to walk with God by falling in love with God.

            Enoch’s Walk with God ended up at what he desired and what God desired.  To be with God forever, “then he was no more, because God took him away.”  I pray that is your desire, and my desire, to be with God every day.  To Walk with God into eternity. 

            Now, Enoch’s Walk with God, did not affect just him, but it also had an effect on others, including those that were not even born when Enoch was on the earth.  Example his great grandson, Noah.  If you do the math, Enoch would have been taken by God before Noah was born.  Look at Genesis 6:9.   Noah became the second person after the fall to Walk with God.   We need to understand that our Walk with God has an effect on others, even those that are not born. 

            Not only did Enoch’s Walk with God effect Noah, but John Wesley.  John Wesley saw Enoch’s life as a biblical example of someone who achieved the highest level of Christian maturity.  John Wesley coined the term “perfection” as to this level of Christian maturity.  He often told his members that you need to be “moving towards perfection.”

            Hebrews 11:5-6.  Our Walk with God starts with reading the Bible, living the Bible and being the Bible for others.  A person who knew what it was to walk with God was David.  He wrote one of the most beautiful psalms that I hope describes all our walks with God, Psalm 23.  If you know it, please say it with me.  Amen.