A Hidden Jewel

If I’m honest, I generally skip over the genealogical tables of the Bible. Although I know better, I suppose they have too often felt like lists of unpronounceable names without much purpose. Usually, however, hidden in the litany is some little jewel of information that I shouldn’t miss. Genesis 5 is the “origin story” of Adam’s family, and in the outline of Adam’s family tree is an interesting character—Enoch. Genesis gives us hardly any details about Enoch, except enticing ones—the facts that he was the father of earth’s oldest man, Methuselah, that “he walked with God” and that “he was no more, because God took him away.” (Gen. 5:21-24)

Just as Adam had walked in the Garden with God before the fall, so Enoch walked with God and apparently had such an intimate relationship with him that he didn’t even die. In some supernatural way, God just took him to heaven.

I protest at the paucity of information. What was the world like when Enoch lived? What were the people around him like? What was it about his life that God spared him the most common of all human experiences besides birth, that of death? How can I model myself on him if I don’t know anything about him?

Filling in the blanks is a bit like a treasure hunt, and there are a couple of golden nuggets in the New Testament that give some color to the sketch of Enoch. Hebrews 11 parallels the Genesis story so neatly, giving us a New Testament perspective on Old Testament history. In Hebrews 11:5 we read: “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.”

What about him pleased God? Again I’d like a bit more specificity. And the writer of Hebrews does not disappoint me. He goes on in verse 6: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Now that is something I can grasp. Faith pleases God, and the type of faith that pleases Him is that I believe in Him—I believe in a God who is actually present in the universe and in space and time. Belief is not all that matters, though; God pays attention to my attitude towards Him. “He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” I suppose it is not surprising that if I believe that God actually exists, I would want to know more about Him. Enoch sought God so diligently that he walked in an intimate, dialoguing relationship with God. His life was set toward communion with his Maker.

The New Testament has another little bit of important information about Enoch that is worth noticing. Jude 14 and 15 tells us that: “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men [described in vv. 5-13]: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” Enoch didn’t just believe in God; Enoch knew that for those who did not believe there would be dire consequences.

So there actually is meat to the story and implications for my life. Malachi 3:16 speaks of “a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name.” Spiritual disciplines aren’t only for my good (although they surely have a positive effect on my life and draw me into closer communion with God); God actually notices my attitudes toward Him. He cares that I want to “earnestly seek Him.”

My belief in God, though, must surely include a belief that God will eventually judge the ungodly. My behaviour should acknowledge the fact that I not only believe in God, but I believe in the Second Coming. Enoch’s life was characterized by a realization that this life was not the end of the story and he cared enough to tell others that judgment was inevitable. Enoch’s faith resulted in his seeking to know God better and a concern that others know that their attitudes and actions toward God were of eternal importance.