Year One, January 11

Abide in Me1

Our reading leads us to think about that famous saint of the church who lived before the Great Flood of Noah’s day. Enoch, the great-great-great-great-grandson of Adam.

  

Genesis 5:21-24

 21When Enoch had lived 65 years he fathered Methuselah. 22Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

It is worth noticing here that the sacred writer says once that Enoch “lived;” but then he changes the word and writes Enoch “walked with God.” This teaches us that fellowship with God was the most important thing in Enoch’s life. Fellowship with God should also be the most important thing in our lives. Enoch was not a mere talker about God, but a walker with God. This holy patriarch2 lived in unbroken fellowship with the Lord for three hundred years; not visiting with God now and then, but constantly walking with him. This is not an easy thing to do. To remain in unbroken fellowship, “this is the work, this is the labor.”3 Yet the Holy Spirit can enable us to accomplish even this. Continued fellowship is what we should aim at. We should not be satisfied with anything short of it.

Some excuse themselves from seeking after unbroken fellowship with God because of their job, or their surroundings, or the many things they think need to be done. Enoch had to care for his family and he was also a public preacher. Yet he kept up his walk with God. No business or household cares should make us forget our God. A close relationship with God keeps the saints safe. It is their comfort and delight. It is their honor and crown. Fellowship with God should be desired more “than gold, even much fine gold.”4 Enoch was happy to enjoy it so sweetly and so continuously, that the long relationship of this good man with his God ended in his being taken away from earth without dying, to that place where sight outshines faith. He did not live like others and therefore he did not die like others.

Paul5 tells us a little more concerning this holy man, and we will gather up the pieces of his history that remain in the Bible so that nothing will be lost.

  

Hebrews 11:5-6

5By 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. 6And 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.

Enoch’s fellowship with God came from his faith in God. Works do not make us walk with God, but faith brings us into his presence and keeps us there. It is very likely that Enoch’s holy lifestyle did not please others, but that did not matter much to him because it pleased God.

From Jude we learn that Enoch looked for the coming of Christ. The pure in heart see God. They are the truly enlightened people of their generation and look far into the future. What Enoch saw he proclaimed for the warning of others. It is our duty to do the same, so that sinners may be led to flee from the wrath to come.

  

Jude 14-15

14It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

We know the doctrine of the coming of the Lord from heaven is important, because one of the holiest prophets declared it so early in the world’s history. The powerful importance of this truth should be crystal clear. The greatest teachers of the Lord’s coming were also among the best known for close fellowship with heaven. Enoch “walked with God,” Daniel was a “man greatly loved,”6 and John was that “disciple whom Jesus loved.”7

Oh Lord, if the excitement of looking for your coming will make us walk with you, then please fill us with that excitement.

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¹ John 15:4

² patriarch - A man regarded as the father or ruler of a family. Bible patriarchs include Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jacob's twelve sons.

³ This quote (translated from Latin) dates to at least the 16th century.

⁴ Psalm 19:10

⁵ Although the author of the book of Hebrews is uncertain, many believe it is the apostle Paul.

⁶ Daniel 10:11

⁷ John 13:23