Therefore Having Gone

Therefore Having Gone

Saturday, July 6, 2024

ENOCH PLEASED GOD

Enoch is a fascinating mystery of the Old Testament. He is introduced in Genesis 5:18 and his story is wrapped up by 5:24. His main defining character attribute seems to be that he "walked with God". Among the scarce details we are given is who his father was (Jared), who his son was (Methuselah), and that he lived a total of 365 years.

And THEN, we are told rather cryptically, Enoch "was no more" BECAUSE God "took him away". 

This is highly unusual, to say the least. Only one other character in the Old Testament skips the whole death ordeal: the prophet Elijah. 

In the New Testament, Enoch shows up in the famous Chapter 11 "Hall of Faith":

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. 

And then the author draws an incredible lesson from Enoch's life:

Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

"Pleasing" God is tied directly to believing good about Him, specifically that He "rewards those who seek him". 

There is much to chew on here. How many people get the first part right - and believe that God exists - but then believe all sorts of horrible things about His character?

It's not hard to see that it would be very difficult to please God if you believe Him to be blood-thirsty, vengeful, stand-offish, un-personal, Santa-like, or any number of other misunderstandings of Yahweh's character. 


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