By Faith...Enoch

I choose not to deal with ages and generations in this narrative as I feel the primary, and greater, issue presented in this passage of scripture is intended to point to a progression of good and godliness among a lineage of people. This is contrasted, as we will see, with other lineages who became increasingly evil.

Scripture has mandated the form of character development and perpetuation of values which preserve society through the use of oral tradition; a narrative, or story-telling method of maintaining those principles which lead to godliness. The forms of story-telling are as peculiarly distinct as there are varieties of settings in which tribes and families have given rise to empires, dynasties and nations.

The imperative in this story found in Genesis chapter five, is the faithfulness of a man, Enoch, in walking with his God. This emphasis on  a daily relationship maintenance places primary responsibility on mankind (expressly, Enoch). It is very brief but poignant in its contrasts. This is a marvelous statement about a man, of whom we really know very little. The writer of the book of Hebrews states (11.5), "For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God." Jude (vss 14 & 15) quotes from the Apocryphal book of Enoch a prophetic passage about the Coming of the Lord to judge everyone and to convict the ungodly of ungodly acts and of "harsh words...spoken against Him."

The gentle message to me in the story of Enoch is that God will become more important to us than life or death as we walk with him, growing in our relationship to him. That at whatever time the end of life comes, and in whatever form that might take, we can trust it to God who will deal lovingly and gently with us, in keeping with our relationship with him which we have spent the years building.