Hebrews 11:5-6
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
There are only two human beings that have not tasted physical death throughout all human history – Enoch and Elijah. Although Elijah’s story is more elaborate and dramatic, Enoch’s is short and without much fanfare. Yet a closer look at the Scriptures and one discovers a treasure trove of Biblical insight and knowledge in his story. He is first mentioned in Genesis 5, where the entire chapter seems to be a very brief biographical sketch of the people of old. This chapter is also evidence of what God had told man, “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:7). Although the people lived very many years – the oldest (Methuselah) living for 969 years – there’s a pattern that emerges throughout the chapter as captured by this refrain, “…and he died.” Everyone was taken by death, except one lone figure, Enoch. He was taken by God.
Enoch acts as a model for us. In a world bedevilled by sin, death is sure. However, the difference is whether death is what will take you. Enoch was taken by God and acts as an example of those who, through faith, will also be taken by Him, although not in the same fashion. The Bible talks of the second death, the lake of fire, where all those wicked people who have rejected Christ will be thrown into (Revelation 20:14). On the other hand, those who place their faith in Christ for the salvation of their souls will be taken to be with Him forever. There, we shall meet with Enoch, the man who pleased God by His faith. Heaven will be a congregation of the faithfuls. It will be for those who, like Enoch, lived until they were no more. Another way to read this is that Enoch had such a faithful walk with God that he became less and less as God increased in him. This is the same idea that Paul writes to the Galatians:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20).
No wonder, he says, he labours painfully that Christ would be fully formed in them (Galatians 4:19). Those who are of faith walk with God. They decrease as He increases. They please God. As a result, they can never be taken by death. In the words of George Herbert:
Death used to be an executioner, but the gospel has made him just a gardener.
Reflections
1. Is your life, like Enoch’s, pleasing to God by your faith?
2. Does death scare you? Let it not for it can’t take you if you have faith in God.
