The second exhibit in the hall of fame of faith is Enoch.
No other person in this list is as obscure as he. This is the sum total of what the Old Testament says of him.
Gen 5:18-24 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.
When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
That’s it. The only thing anyone knows about Enoch is that he walked with God, and that God took him. The Hebrew is the same phrase that described Elijah disappearing in a fiery chariot. This had led most readers to believe Enoch did not die, but went directly into heaven.
Enoch was one of two people who did not die. We are not told why he did not die, or what deeds he did. He simply did not die.
To us it’s an interesting footnote, no more. But to the Jews of Jesus’ day, Enoch translation into heaven was considered one of the great mysteries. He became the subject of at least three books which claimed to be written by or about him. None of these books were the truth, since any records of Enoch's life would have been lost in the flood. Even so, two references to these books show up in the Bible. These references are used to illustrate points, not to propound doctrine. They were illustrations based on popular literature of the time, not on history. Like we might quote Shakespeare, they quote from the books of Enoch.
Can we blame those ancient Jews for about being so curious about Enoch? Aren't you curious? What did he do that was so great that he alone escaped death? Wouldn't you like to know his secret of escaping death? What did Enoch do that was so right.
The writer of Hebrews believes that he knows Enoch’s secret. He tells us in Heb. 11:5-6
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Here's Enoch’s secret--he had faith. The writer of Hebrews did not discover this by divine revelation but by logical deduction. Enoch pleased God. Faith is the only way to please God. So Enoch must have been a man of great faith.
Most people don’t believe that. They think that if we get anything special from God, it must be because we are an exceptionally good person. It is based on what we do, not what we believe. But the Bible teaches it is faith, not good deeds, by which we please God.
Let’s assume that Enoch was a good man. How good do we had to been to escape death? What could he have done that was so good? Was he kind to his neighbors? Did he give everything to the poor? Did he dedicate his life to preaching? I have known people who did all those things and more, and yet they had one thing in common. They are all ded. What could Enoch have done that was beyond the goodness of St Francis, Martin Luther, or Mother Theresa?
Then there’s another problem. There was another man who also escaped death— the prophet Elijah. We must assume that Elijah knew the same secret, since he got the same reward. We know more about Elijah than we do about Enoch--too much, in fact. He was a great prophet to be sure. but he was also at times suicidally depressed. He was quick to fuss at God, and think God had forsaken him. I know men today who are better than Elijah, at least in that respect. They don’t doubt God, and they don’t give into pessimism. Yet none of them rode to heaven on a fiery chariot. They died in bed and were buried like most men do. If they were superior to Elijah in their outlook on life, why weren't they translated into heaven like him?
We all die, but we would rather not. We'd rather just skip all that. I think that is why books like Left Behind are so popular. We all hope to be in that generation that gets to skip dying. But so far, only Enoch and Elijah are the only ones who did.
No one pleases God by what he or she does. Our actions are not what makes God happy. It is ourselves who make God happy. The people who receive great things from God are not the extremely good, but those how have faith in a God who is better than we are. It's not up to us, but up to Him. Blessings come to us, because we believe in Him.
So the writer of Hebrews deduces that Enoch must have had faith because he pleased God. And no one pleases God except by having faith in Him. It is God’s goodness that saves us, not our own.
When God wanted to turn the world from sin and back to Him, He did it in a most peculiar fashion. He had given us commandments, but we didn't keep them. He had given us blessings but we did not recognize them as coming from Him. He had given us guidance, but we ignored it. But finally, his own sacrifice to us. He did not require we sacrifice from us, but that we receive the sacrifice He made for us. He sacrificed Himself on the cross. He set Himself to please us. All he asks is that we believe have faith.
Faith is more than belief. Enoch did not escape death simply by belief. Enoch had faith. That is why the writer of Hebrews adds a footnote to the Enoch story, in verse 6.
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Here the writer of Hebrews tells us three things that were from the story of Enoch.
First, trusting God pleases God.
It is impossible to respect someone we do not trust. When someone puts their trust in me, they are saying that I am worthy to offer them help. They are saying I am strong, and that I recognize how much they love me.
God more than anything wishes to be trusted. When we trust Jesus, we trust the Father. When we think we must earn our own salvation, we are not pleasing God, because we are not recognizing the love He has for us.
Second, Believing God pleases God.
We must believe that God exists.
Atheism is a growing threat in the world, especially in this country. Atheists are organizing against faith. If we think that Christians are evangelistic, in this world we don't hold a candle to the atheists.
We aren't atheists, of course—at least, not outwardly. But there is far more doubt of God's existence in the church that we like to admit. We know this, because of worry. If we really believe God existed, what could worry us? If we really believed God existed? Then why do we fear leaving this world? If we really believed in God's existence, then how could we call anything impossible? To believe in God is to believe in miracles. To believe in God is to believe in God is to believe that death itself has a master, and that it cannot take us away.
Third, believing His existence is not enough. We must also believe he rewards us.
William Barclay paraphrases this statement this way "We must believe that God exists, and that He is pleased with us." That second statement is harder to believe than the first.
God is pleased with you. He is pleased with you, because you are His child, and Christ had died for you. He is pleased with you because He chooses to be.
This is terribly hard for us to imagine. We have trouble believing this because it is not the way we are. We expect something out of those we are pleased with. We expect proper behavior, and respect. The thought that God might be pleased with us simply because he chooses to doesn't seem right.
We cannot believe it because we know ourselves too well. We know the stuff that no one else knows. We can make a list of things we have done wrong that would shock everyone else in church. Yet God sees all that and does not care. He is still pleased with you.
We cannot believe it because the Devil is screaming in our ear that it is not true. People always think of Satan as the great tempter, who wants to tempt us to sin. He is that, but it is not is main line of attack. He is called in the Bible the "Accuser of the brethren" His main attack is by suggesting to us that God will not reward us, if we diligently seek Him. Satan brings up everything we have ever done wrong--all the evil thoughts, all the evil deeds done in the shadows--and he builds a case against us. Then he argues that case in the court of our own conscience. He suggests to us that God is not pleased with us, so there is no point in having faith. Others may have faith, but it will do us no good, since are not so righteous.
Few Christians will admit to doubts about God. But many Christians walk like orphans before him, because they do not think themselves worthy of His reward.
What did Enoch do right? One thing for sure, Enoch was not a perfect saint! He sinned just like the rest of us. But the difference between us and Enoch is that Enoch did not dwell on his sins. Instead he forgot his sins, as God did. Instead, he concentrated on the goodness of God, and God's ultimate reward. Enoch so rested in God's arms that God gently lifted him oup and took him out of the world.
In all probability, we won't escape death. But that doesn't mater. Whether we die or not, we can rest in Jesus' arms. We can know His love nd forgiveness, because God has given it to us. For those who seek him, that forgiveness is there. All we have to do is to reach out fo Him in faith.
No other person in this list is as obscure as he. This is the sum total of what the Old Testament says of him.
Gen 5:18-24 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.
When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
That’s it. The only thing anyone knows about Enoch is that he walked with God, and that God took him. The Hebrew is the same phrase that described Elijah disappearing in a fiery chariot. This had led most readers to believe Enoch did not die, but went directly into heaven.
Enoch was one of two people who did not die. We are not told why he did not die, or what deeds he did. He simply did not die.
To us it’s an interesting footnote, no more. But to the Jews of Jesus’ day, Enoch translation into heaven was considered one of the great mysteries. He became the subject of at least three books which claimed to be written by or about him. None of these books were the truth, since any records of Enoch's life would have been lost in the flood. Even so, two references to these books show up in the Bible. These references are used to illustrate points, not to propound doctrine. They were illustrations based on popular literature of the time, not on history. Like we might quote Shakespeare, they quote from the books of Enoch.
Can we blame those ancient Jews for about being so curious about Enoch? Aren't you curious? What did he do that was so great that he alone escaped death? Wouldn't you like to know his secret of escaping death? What did Enoch do that was so right.
The writer of Hebrews believes that he knows Enoch’s secret. He tells us in Heb. 11:5-6
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Here's Enoch’s secret--he had faith. The writer of Hebrews did not discover this by divine revelation but by logical deduction. Enoch pleased God. Faith is the only way to please God. So Enoch must have been a man of great faith.
Most people don’t believe that. They think that if we get anything special from God, it must be because we are an exceptionally good person. It is based on what we do, not what we believe. But the Bible teaches it is faith, not good deeds, by which we please God.
Let’s assume that Enoch was a good man. How good do we had to been to escape death? What could he have done that was so good? Was he kind to his neighbors? Did he give everything to the poor? Did he dedicate his life to preaching? I have known people who did all those things and more, and yet they had one thing in common. They are all ded. What could Enoch have done that was beyond the goodness of St Francis, Martin Luther, or Mother Theresa?
Then there’s another problem. There was another man who also escaped death— the prophet Elijah. We must assume that Elijah knew the same secret, since he got the same reward. We know more about Elijah than we do about Enoch--too much, in fact. He was a great prophet to be sure. but he was also at times suicidally depressed. He was quick to fuss at God, and think God had forsaken him. I know men today who are better than Elijah, at least in that respect. They don’t doubt God, and they don’t give into pessimism. Yet none of them rode to heaven on a fiery chariot. They died in bed and were buried like most men do. If they were superior to Elijah in their outlook on life, why weren't they translated into heaven like him?
We all die, but we would rather not. We'd rather just skip all that. I think that is why books like Left Behind are so popular. We all hope to be in that generation that gets to skip dying. But so far, only Enoch and Elijah are the only ones who did.
No one pleases God by what he or she does. Our actions are not what makes God happy. It is ourselves who make God happy. The people who receive great things from God are not the extremely good, but those how have faith in a God who is better than we are. It's not up to us, but up to Him. Blessings come to us, because we believe in Him.
So the writer of Hebrews deduces that Enoch must have had faith because he pleased God. And no one pleases God except by having faith in Him. It is God’s goodness that saves us, not our own.
When God wanted to turn the world from sin and back to Him, He did it in a most peculiar fashion. He had given us commandments, but we didn't keep them. He had given us blessings but we did not recognize them as coming from Him. He had given us guidance, but we ignored it. But finally, his own sacrifice to us. He did not require we sacrifice from us, but that we receive the sacrifice He made for us. He sacrificed Himself on the cross. He set Himself to please us. All he asks is that we believe have faith.
Faith is more than belief. Enoch did not escape death simply by belief. Enoch had faith. That is why the writer of Hebrews adds a footnote to the Enoch story, in verse 6.
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Here the writer of Hebrews tells us three things that were from the story of Enoch.
First, trusting God pleases God.
It is impossible to respect someone we do not trust. When someone puts their trust in me, they are saying that I am worthy to offer them help. They are saying I am strong, and that I recognize how much they love me.
God more than anything wishes to be trusted. When we trust Jesus, we trust the Father. When we think we must earn our own salvation, we are not pleasing God, because we are not recognizing the love He has for us.
Second, Believing God pleases God.
We must believe that God exists.
Atheism is a growing threat in the world, especially in this country. Atheists are organizing against faith. If we think that Christians are evangelistic, in this world we don't hold a candle to the atheists.
We aren't atheists, of course—at least, not outwardly. But there is far more doubt of God's existence in the church that we like to admit. We know this, because of worry. If we really believe God existed, what could worry us? If we really believed God existed? Then why do we fear leaving this world? If we really believed in God's existence, then how could we call anything impossible? To believe in God is to believe in miracles. To believe in God is to believe in God is to believe that death itself has a master, and that it cannot take us away.
Third, believing His existence is not enough. We must also believe he rewards us.
William Barclay paraphrases this statement this way "We must believe that God exists, and that He is pleased with us." That second statement is harder to believe than the first.
God is pleased with you. He is pleased with you, because you are His child, and Christ had died for you. He is pleased with you because He chooses to be.
This is terribly hard for us to imagine. We have trouble believing this because it is not the way we are. We expect something out of those we are pleased with. We expect proper behavior, and respect. The thought that God might be pleased with us simply because he chooses to doesn't seem right.
We cannot believe it because we know ourselves too well. We know the stuff that no one else knows. We can make a list of things we have done wrong that would shock everyone else in church. Yet God sees all that and does not care. He is still pleased with you.
We cannot believe it because the Devil is screaming in our ear that it is not true. People always think of Satan as the great tempter, who wants to tempt us to sin. He is that, but it is not is main line of attack. He is called in the Bible the "Accuser of the brethren" His main attack is by suggesting to us that God will not reward us, if we diligently seek Him. Satan brings up everything we have ever done wrong--all the evil thoughts, all the evil deeds done in the shadows--and he builds a case against us. Then he argues that case in the court of our own conscience. He suggests to us that God is not pleased with us, so there is no point in having faith. Others may have faith, but it will do us no good, since are not so righteous.
Few Christians will admit to doubts about God. But many Christians walk like orphans before him, because they do not think themselves worthy of His reward.
What did Enoch do right? One thing for sure, Enoch was not a perfect saint! He sinned just like the rest of us. But the difference between us and Enoch is that Enoch did not dwell on his sins. Instead he forgot his sins, as God did. Instead, he concentrated on the goodness of God, and God's ultimate reward. Enoch so rested in God's arms that God gently lifted him oup and took him out of the world.
In all probability, we won't escape death. But that doesn't mater. Whether we die or not, we can rest in Jesus' arms. We can know His love nd forgiveness, because God has given it to us. For those who seek him, that forgiveness is there. All we have to do is to reach out fo Him in faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment