Enoch
The man who walked with God and was not, for God took him
Place in the genealogy
- Luke · name 70 · Jesus back to AdamFrom Terah back to Adam, and to GodLuke 3:37
Where Scripture records this person
- Genesis 5:18-24
- 1 Chronicles 1:3
- Luke 3:37
- Hebrews 11:5
- Jude 1:14-15
Who this person is in Scripture
Enoch breaks the rhythm of Genesis 5. Every other entry ends with the words 'and he died'. Enoch's ends differently: 'and he was not; for God took him' (Genesis 5:24). Twice the chapter says he walked with God, and it dates that walk from the birth of his son Methuselah, which means the change in his life is tied to becoming a father.
Hebrews adds that he was translated by faith and had the testimony that he pleased God. Jude adds that he prophesied judgement on the ungodly. So the picture is not of a mystic withdrawn from the world but of a man who walked with God for three centuries while raising a family and warning his generation.
Family, as Scripture gives it
- Father
- Jared
- Children
- Methuselah
Genesis 5:22 adds that he had other sons and daughters.
In order
- At 65 yearsMethuselah born; from here Genesis says he walked with GodGenesis 5:21-22
- For 300 yearsWalked with God and raised a familyGenesis 5:22
- At 365 yearsTaken by God without dyingGenesis 5:24
Promises and covenants this life carries
- Enoch is God's early witness that death is not the necessary end for a person who belongs to him. Long before was taught plainly, one man simply was not, because God took him.
How Scripture connects this person to Christ
- Enoch was taken up because God pleased to take him. Christ ascended by his own right, having conquered death, and he promises that those alive at his coming will be caught up in the same way (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
What this teaches
- Walking with God is measured in decades of ordinary days, not in moments. Genesis credits three hundred years of it and records no single dramatic event.
- Pleasing God, Hebrews says, requires believing that he is and that he rewards those who seek him. That is the whole test Enoch passed.
- Family life is not an interruption of the walk. Genesis dates his walk from the birth of his son.
Questions the text can answer
What does 'walked with God' mean?
It describes a life lived in company with God rather than in occasional contact with him. The same phrase is used of Noah (Genesis 6:9), and Micah 6:8 makes walking humbly with God the summary of what the Lord requires.
It is not a claim to visions or ecstasy. It is agreement and companionship over time, as Amos 3:3 puts it, two walking together because they are agreed.
Read further in Scripture
- 2 Kings 2:11
- Hebrews 11:5-6
- Jude 1:14-15