Daily EncouragementNäide

This record of Enoch is certainly a bright light shining in a dark place. The refrain which runs through the chapter, “And he died,” is like the sound of a funeral knell. Then comes a man walking with God, and so in the midst of thick darkness there is light and hope. As then, so now: “You, (my disciples who walk with me), are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14).

The way to please God is to walk with him. “Enoch was well-pleasing to God” is the Septuagint rendering, and the writer to the Hebrews refers to it in his inspired comment, “For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God” (Heb. 11:5). It is his faith which is commended, for “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6), and those who walk by faith in him please him most.

To walk with God is to by-pass death: “Then he was no more, because God took him away.” Enoch was translated, as all the saints will be when our Lord comes. The same is true of all who “fall asleep in Jesus.” For did he not say, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies: and whoever lives and believes in me will never die?” (John 11:25-26).