During the months of May through August, I will be covering various Old Testament believers mentioned in Hebrews 11. I will not be covering every person mentioned in Hebrews, but I will be covering lesser-known people within this chapter. The first person I will cover for this month is Enoch.
Hebrews 11:5,6 says this,
“5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
If one looks throughout the Bible for all verses which mention Enoch, there are very few, but among them are: Genesis 4:17,18; 5:18-24; Luke 3:37; Hebrews 11:5 and Jude, vs. 14. This is a total of 12 verses, nine verses from Genesis and three verses from the New Testament passages.
The text of Hebrews 11:5 says that Enoch was one who “did not see death.” Enoch prefigures the deliverance from death into which Jesus leads the faithful by His resurrection from the dead. There is only one other Old Testament saint who was translated into God’s presence without tasting death and that was Elijah as it is recorded in 2 Kings 2:11. No explanation is given in either the Old or New Testament as to why these two faithful believers of the Old Testament did not die but rather were taken up into heaven without suffering death. Philip Hughes in his commentary on Hebrews makes these helpful comments, “There is, of course, no uncertainty about our author’s understanding of the removal of Enoch, for he explains quite unambiguously that he was taken up so that he should not see death. (To see death is to experience or to pass through death… It is in the light of this explanation that the statement which follows immediately, and he was not found, because God had taken him, must be interpreted: suddenly and supernaturally removed from this earthly existence, he was not anywhere to be found, this providing evidence of the power of God to exalt a man without his first passing through the experience of death.”
This passage bears witness to the fact that before Enoch was taken up, he was pleasing to God which is an explanatory comment about Enoch’s faith in the Lord. Enoch trusted in the Lord and walked with Him in sacred spiritual communion. This could be true only of one whose life was lived in faithfulness, trust, and obedience toward His Creator God. The particular faith of Enoch thus causes the writer of the Hebrews to make this general comment in Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Faith is the condition which should be characteristic of the creature toward his Creator. Faith in God is that trustful reliance which finds expression in willing obedience and submission to the word and will of God. Our faith in God is always based on the faithfulness of God who freely gives us His gracious promises.
To God alone be the glory now and forever! Amen.
