Dave spoke tonight about Enoch, a man who walked with God. Enoch is first mentioned in Genesis 5:18-24 and is one of only two people mentioned in the Bible who did not die (the other being Elijah.) In the previous verses, the genealogies list Enoch’s ancestors, repeating the phrase ‘and then he died’, but Enoch ‘was no more, because God took him away.’ The reason for this is that he pleased God (Heb 11:5).
We may think it was easier for Enoch to walk with God and please Him because he lived so long ago and therefore had less to contend with than we do, but the world he lived in was corrupt and sinful, just as it is today. Jude v14-15 tells us that Enoch prophesied about God’s judgment because of the sinfulness of mankind, so clearly it was no easier for him to walk with God than it is for us today. Nonetheless, he walked with God for 300 years and clearly learnt how to please Him, and we can too.
What does it mean, then, to ‘walk with God’?
1) We are only able to do this because we are reconciled to God. Amos 3:3 says two do not walk together unless they are in agreement with each other. God has made it possible for us to be reconciled to Him.
2) We become friends of God and also become His children, knowing Him as our Father.
3) We are at peace with God, no longer hiding from Him as Adam did in the Garden of Eden after the Fall.
4) Walking with God means we share His nature, shunning darkness to walk in the light. Holiness is required in us and is imparted to us through the righteousness of God.
5) We walk with God by surrendering our wills to His. Enoch chose to walk with God. We walk in fellowship, knowing constant communion with Him.
6) We walk by faith. This is how we please God. (Heb 11:6)
When we walk with God, we will be further on than before. We will make progress in our knowledge of God and will be guided by Him, witnessing for Him (Enoch was a prophet who spoke out God’s truths.) We cannot serve God unless first we walk with Him.
Enoch’s name means ‘dedicated’. He was an ordinary man whose walk with God continued into heaven. Faith is the only way we can please God and walk with Him; it is the seed which produces a godly life.