We’ve been studying some of the types in the Old Testament.  We saw that Adam is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ.  Cain is a type of the nation of Israel and Abel a type of Jesus Christ.  Enoch is a type of the New Testament Christian who is alive and taken up without dying at the Rapture.  Enoch never died.

Gen 5 opens with this verse, “This is the book of the generations of Adam, v.1.  Contrast this verse with Matt 1:1, which says, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ”.  Notice the plural word “generations” in Gen 5 and the singular word “generation” in Matt 1.  Adam has multiple generations down through the ages, as you can see in Lk 3:23-38.  Jesus, on the other hand, has one generation.  That is, everyone who is born again is born of Jesus and is a son of God.

Adam’s book is the book of death.  All of his descendants die.  Jesus’s book is the book of life.  All of his descendants live for ever.  Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image, Gen 5:3.  Those born of God will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, Rom 8:29, 1 Jn 3:1-3.

Enoch was the 7th from Adam.  Yet, Enoch never died.  Unlike the rest of Adam’s generations, it is not said of him “and he died”.  He did not see death, Heb 11:5. Thus, he is a type of New Testament Christian alive at the Rapture.  And therefore, we should study Enoch, since we hope to be alive at the Rapture.  Enoch never died and neither will we if Jesus comes in our lifetime.

Enoch walked with God “after” he begat Methuselah, v.22.  This implies that he wasn’t walking with God before Methuselah was born.  Methuselah’s name means, “when he is dead, it shall be sent”.  Of course, we know now that this is a reference to Noah’s flood.  In any case, Enoch understood that judgment was coming.  And so he started walking with God.  Many of us who are saved today, turned to God after something “got our attention”.

Enoch walked with God the rest of his time on earth, v.24.  He never stopped walking with God.  Unfortunately, many Christians start out walking with God but turn back to the world after a while. We need to be mindful that once we start walking with God we never want to quit.  Walk with God; not with the world.

In v.24, God took him.  While Enoch walked with God one day, God just translated him to be with him in heaven.  Thus, Enoch never died.  God has to come for us, we can’t “go” to him.  All religions devise a means whereby you progressively make your way up to God.  Christianity is unique in that God has to save us and take us to heaven; we don’t work our way up there.

Now turn to Heb 11.  In Heb 11:5, we see that Enoch was translated “by faith”.  He is different than the other people of faith in Heb 11.  They all “did” something “by faith”.  But with Enoch something happened to him by faith.  Likewise, when we believe on Jesus something happens to us “by faith”.  He saves us and seats us in heavenly places in himself, Eph 2:6.

Enoch didn’t see death, Heb 11:5.  This is true of all of us who are saved who are also alive at the Rapture.  Read carefully, Jn 11:25-26, 1 Thes 4:13-18, and 1 Cor 15:50-55.  “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die”.  “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds…”.  “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed”.

Enoch was not found.  In this respect he was similar to Elijah, 2 Ki 2:17, and Moses, Deut 34:6.  However, unlike them, Enoch never died and never will.  Moses died.  And though Elijah was taken up alive, he will die in the Tribulation when he returns with Moses.  They are the two witness of Rev 11.  Like Enoch, they won’t find us when we are taken up at the Rapture.

Before his translation, Enoch “had this testimony, that he pleased God”, Heb 11:5.  This should, likewise, be our testimony.  It was Paul’s testimony, Gal 1:10.  And it was the testimony of Jesus Christ, Jn 8:29, Is 53:10.  We are here to please God and we should please him until we are present with him, 2 Cor 5:8.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, Heb 11:6.  Evidently, Enoch’s walk with God was by faith and, likewise, we should walk with God by faith, 2 Cor 5:7.

People who come to God must believe that he is, Heb 11:6.  This was evidently a problem in Enoch’s day and it is certainly a problem in our day.  There are many attacks on the existence of God, from philosophy, science, education, and society.  God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him, 11:6.  And this is not just our initial seeking until we find him.  Rather, we should be seeking him and his will throughout our lives.

In Jude 14 Enoch prophesied the Second Coming of Jesus Christ even before his first coming.  He knew that the Lord would come to judge the ungodly.  Four times his mentions the word “ungodly” in Jude 15.  The truth is that the longer you walk with God, the more ungodly you see the world in which you live.  Thank God that Jesus died for the ungodly, Rom 5:6.  Therefore, we should be telling the ungodly in this world about the coming judgment, and the free salvation available to them before the judge arrives.

To study the prior lesson in this series, see Cain and Abel.  To study the next lesson in this series, see Noah Condemned the World.