Enoch Walked with God
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Rev. Jim Bogle, given April 10, 2005
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Genesis 5:21–24
21: And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
In Genesis Chapters 1 and 2, we find recorded the specifics of God’s creative work. In Genesis Chapter 3 is recorded the fall of man. In Genesis Chapter 4 we read of Adam’s two sons, Cain and Abel.
Cain is a tiller of the ground; Abel, a keeper of sheep.
When they come to present their offerings before God, Cain brings the works of his hands, and Abel, brings the very best of his flock to offer up as a blood sacrifice.
And the Bible says,
Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
It is clear that Abel’s offering was by faith.
It was the shed blood of the lamb that became the appropriate covering for Adam and Eve when they left the Garden, and it would be the shed blood of the lamb that would one day see them safely back home again into the presence of God.
Abel, by faith, believed God, and brought the appropriate sacrifice.
Cain, on the other hand, wanted to do things his own way. Instead of the blood, he brought the works of his own hands.
Genesis 4:4–5
4: And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Note that the Bible says the LORD had respect unto Abel and his offering. Both Abel and his offering were acceptable to God. But the same stands true of Cain only in reverse. God rejected Cain and his offering.
Why? Because if we are going to come to God, and be acceptable to God, we must come to God His way.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Cain wanted to be accepted by God on his own merits, his own work, his own righteousness, and God would accept neither the offering nor the man.
Cain became angry–very angry, and downcast. In fact the Hebrew makes it clear that he burned with anger, and his face showed it!
Genesis 4:4–5
6: And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
God has given Cain perfect advice. "Listen to me, do what I say, and you will be accepted. Otherwise, do as you please, and sin will destroy our relationship together and, in the end, destroy you."
And we read further that Cain lures his brother Abel out to the field and there, in his jealous rage, smashes Abel’s head in with a great stone.
Abel becomes the first victim of premeditated murder.
God comes to Cain—
9: And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
Note that Cain seems to have NO FEAR of God at all here. This attitude toward God exists today!
Paul, speaking of the wickedness of this world:
Romans 3:15–18
15: Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16: Destruction and misery are in their ways.
17: And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Genesis 4:10–12
10: And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11: And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
12: When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
A wandering soul, lost and miserable, always looking over his shoulder—Cain’s punishment is equivalent to being cast into outer darkness!
Spiritual darkness. A place of unsettled souls.
Many of us today are wondering outside the umbrella of Divine protection. We’re restless, nervous, anxious, and depressed. We look for some relief in the worship of other gods...
alcohol,
drugs,
sex,
money,
and all kinds of other fleshly entertainment. But we’ll never find satisfaction and peace in this world, and our souls will never find rest, until we find true peace and rest with God.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Genesis 4:13–14
13: And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14: Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
Cain’s afraid, without god’s protection, he’s liable to run into others who are just like him! My friend, when we leave the Word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we walk out from under that wonderful canopy of God’s care and protection into a world full of wickedness, black hearts, and evil eyes.
Cain was right…it would be “open season” on him without God’s protection.
Cain has now been cast out from the face of God. He
is dwelling east of
Genesis 4:17–24
17: And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
18: And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19: And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
20: And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
21: And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
22: And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23: And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
24: If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
Donald Grey Barnhouse comments, “Lamech’s was the hard speech of an ungodly sinner against God.“ Lamech is saying, God may take care of Cain, but I will take care of myself. Lamech’s attitude was an attitude of arrogance and pride!
AND SO HERE WE HAVE THE WORLDLY SOCIETY OF CAIN!
Will you notice there is no mention of God in this worldly society? The only things discussed are the Things of the world:
World’s work and employment,
Wealth and possessions,
Culture and artistic interests,
Tools, decorative items, and weapons,
The world’s fascination and lust for beauty and sex.
And then there was lawlessness—a lack of true justice and morality. Lamech’s sword song is a song of revenge.
BUT WHERE ARE GOD’S PEOPLE?
Genesis 4:25, 26
25: And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
26: And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Romans 8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Now we have two lines of people in the world. We have Cain and his line of unbelievers, and we have Seth, and his line of believers—the church (if you will).
Now, as we come to Chapter 5, we read of Adam, the first man, and the birth and development of his godly seed all the way down to Noah.
Just think about this for a moment…
Seth’s line of believers is in the world, but the world is headed for destruction. Why is that? Here’s what was happening in the world.
Seth’s line of believers was looking over East of Eden, to Cain’s line of little beauties, and they began to entertain themselves with these women, even to the point of marrying not just one, but as many as they chose.
In other words, the church was being swallowed up in sin and wickedness of the world.
Genesis 6:1, 2
1: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2: That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
This was not God’s way!
Genesis 2:22–24
22: And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23: And Adam said, This
is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of
24: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Here was the way of responsibility, strength, and family stability. It was God’s way then, and my friends, its God’s way today!
But in the days of Genesis Chapter 4, the church was losing its reverence for God. And all the cosmetics and loose and sensual dress of the daughters of men were just too enticing for the sons of God to turn away from. They began to marry one, two, and three women at a time.
Genesis 6:3, 5
3: And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years…..
5: And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
My friends, I believe the wickedness of this world
during the time of Enoch was greater than even the time of
The church was fully entangled in the sinful affairs of the world.
Genesis 6:6–8
6: And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7: And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
But now turn back with me to Genesis 5, where we find a man named Enoch. Who walked daily with the LORD.
Genesis 5:21
21: And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
The Bible doesn’t say, Enoch walked with God and begat Methuselah. God blessed Enoch with a son, and it changed his life forever.
Genesis 5:22–24
22: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Two times the Holy Spirit tells us, Enoch walked with God. This must have been one powerful and wonderful relationship.
The New Testament tells us that Enoch was a preacher, and that he preached the coming judgment of God upon this earth.
Jude 14–15
14: And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15: To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Four times the word UNGODLY is used in these two verses. And it describes very clearly the sinful condition of this world during the time just before the flood.
Ungodly means blasphemous, anti-religious, apostate, freethinking, godless, unholy, irreverent, profane, idolatrous, sacrilegious, unbelieving.
In other words, the world had become a lot less interested in the things of God and more interested in the things of the flesh and of the world. God was the furthest thing in the heart and the mind of most in the world.
And Enoch is one of the few, in the midst of this wickedness, that is preaching the coming judgment of God. In fact, Enoch’s son, Methuselah; his very name means, “when he is gone it will come.” When will God’s judgment come upon the earth? When Methuselah dies.
And we note that God’s grace was extended to the wicked world for at least 969 years, because that’s how old Methuselah was when he died…
And my friends - the flood came right on schedule. But Enoch never saw the flood. He never saw Noah building the ark.
The Bible says, And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
What was it about Enoch’s life that caused God to just take him home to be with Him?
Hebrews 11:5
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
How did he please God?
Listen, when the world all around him was falling apart, engulfed in wickedness and sin, Enoch fixed his eyes upon Christ (God) in faith, and walked faithfully with God on a daily basis. That’s how Enoch pleased God.
Think about this for just a moment. According to Holy Scripture, it is possible for you and for me to walk in such a way, even today as this world turns its back upon its Creator, we can walk in a way that is pleasing our Creator.
The Pulpit Commentary makes this point, “It is a great and blessed thing that it is possible for man to please God…and it is a fact full of encouragement that we may so live as to yield him positive satisfaction.”
You can bring God positive satisfaction today.
Enoch was a man of faith. Enoch pleased God.
John 8:29
Jesus said: he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
2 Timothy 2:4
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
In the midst of a world gone awry, Enoch walked with God. And because of this, he was “caught up” to be with the LORD that he might not see death.
Today this world is headed for destruction, but for all of those that walk with God, that know Him as their personal Savior…they will be caught-up to be with God before He pours out His wrath upon the wickedness of this world.
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