Studies in Genesis

Studies in Genesis Presentation 15

Walking with God Gen 4v23-5v32 Presentation 15

Introduction There is what seems to many an almost a tedious repetition of names in the genealogy of ch5.“And he died… and he died… and he died”. The death knell rings out over hundred’s of years of human history. Suddenly in v21 the rhythm is broken as the death-bell misses a note. Enoch was taken up to heaven. "By faith Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death. He couldn’t be found because God had taken him away"Heb.11v5. We are not told a great deal about Enoch but we ARE told something of great importance. There is one crucial fact, which the few verses allotted to him are intended to teach - the importance of walking with God. Presentation 15

Starting Out Enoch belonged to a line of faith. After Abel's murder and Cain's apostasy, another child, Seth was born to Eve. The promises and instruction of God were passed on to him and to his children and we read in 4.26 that ‘at that time men began to call on the name of the Lord, - worship God and as such they were identified as the people of God. It was into this branch of the human race that Enoch was born. Notice he did not walk with God from birth, this practice did not happen spontaneously or automatically. It required a conscious determined decision. It had a definite starting point. Presentation 15

Starting Out His walk began immediately after the birth of his son, Methuselah. Was it the wonder and miracle of new life that awakened his hunger for fellowship with the author of life? That's something that happens again and again... Was it the pressure of parental responsibility and a sense of utter inadequacy that drove him Godwards? Its certainly true that parental responsibility often casts men more and more upon God. Some have suggested that God gave Enoch some intimation of the impending disaster causing him to Name his son Methuselah which means, "When he is dead, it shall be sent". The flood took place immediately upon Methuselah's death. Did knowledge of this disaster give impetus to Enoch’s walk with God? Presentation 15

Starting Out How would you respond if you knew that this world would soon be shaken to its very foundations and all the accomplishments of men were to be swept away? Would this world not quickly lose its attractiveness? Would your thoughts not be drawn Godward? Enoch began to walk with God! The transience of life here on earth should be a great spur to develop our personal relationship with God. Presentation 15

Starting Out But what does walking with God mean? Do you remember God's original plan for man? Before the fall God walked with Adam in the garden in the cool of the day. Adam's sin destroyed the intimacy of that relationship. It ensured that future generations were out of step with God. Compare v1 ‘when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God,’ with 4v3 ‘Adam… had a son in his own likeness’. i.e. he shared Adam’s fallenness. Against this background the expression, ‘walking with God’ describes the restoration of that broken relationship. As we have already pointed out God had provided a sacrificial system which paved the way for man to have fellowship with him. Presentation 15

Starting Out To walk with God involves being reconciled with him. In Amos 3.3 the prophet asks, "Can two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” What does it mean to agree with God? It means agreeing with God that our sin is the cause of our separation from him and that trusting in his provision of a sacrifice for sin is the only way back. And so, to walk with God involves both sharing in his attitude toward sin and determining to make use of God’s sacrifice for our sin. Presentation 15

Starting Out The prophet Isaiah asks, “who can live in the presence of God?” and then replies in Is. 33.15 "He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil, this is the man who will dwell on the heights". Are we in agreement with God? Do we detest the sin that separates us from him and value the sacrifice he has provided for our sin - the Saviour of the world? Do we recognise that nothing else can cleanse away our sin and restore communion with God? If not, then we are not in agreement with God and therefore not walking with him. Presentation 15

Starting Out Secondly, walking with God involves choosing to go in the direction we know will please him. In Ps. 1 the Psalmist contrasts two men, the man who delights to please God and the man who wants only to please himself. The contrast is between the man who listens to and delights in God's word and the man who listens to the counsel of the wicked. cf. Ps.1 v1-2... A desire to please God is bound up with a delight in his Word. We cannot walk with God without loving the scriptures through which he discloses himself. A little girl asked an old woman, why she was always reading her Bible. "I'm studying for my finals," she replied. With whom are we walking? Whose counsel shapes our lives? Presentation 15

Starting Out To walk with God involves trusting him, having confidence in his leadership. We read in Heb 11.5 that Enoch's faith ‘pleased God’ for ‘withoutfaith it's impossible to please him’. Sometimes God will lead us through dark valleys of trial. When we see the sore circumstances ahead we are tempted to hold back in fear. The prospect of costly sacrifice or public humiliation is daunting. Paul speaks of having ‘fellowship with his sufferings’ Phil.3.10. Walking with God involves ‘keeping in step with the Spirit’ Gal.5.25. The man who walks with God, will not make plans without consulting God and seeking his will. Walking with God is not running ahead of God but trusting him to guide us. Presentation 15

Keeping Going Enoch did not only begin to walk with God, he kept going for 300 years. He did not make an initial sprint and then after a few years collapse exhausted! He did not leap into a frenzy of frothy religious activity for a few years and then throw in the towel because his trip had been no more than an emotional rollercoaster. Enoch walked with great consistency. His life was marked by perseverance. And he persevered because he never was out of touch with God. Allowing ourselves to get out of touch with God is as foolish as a diver trying to stay under the ocean with access to air! It is not only important that we begin well, we need to equip ourselves to keep going. Presentation 15

Keeping Going Walking with God also suggests a growing, developing relationship with him. Each year he could say, "I know more of God this year than last". Can we say that? Do we know him better than we did last year or five years ago? If not then whatever else we are doing, we are not walking with God. Samuel Rutherford was conscious of this danger when he wrote a pastoral letter: “I urge upon you communion with Christ, growing communion. There are curtains to be drawn aside in Christ that we never saw, and new foldings of love in him. I despair that I shall ever win to the far end of that love, there are so many plies in it. Therefore dig deep and sweet and take pains for him and set by as much time in the day for him as you can. He will be won in the labour”. Presentation 15

Keeping Going Some may think it was a lot easier for Enoch to walk with God than it is for us today. The opposition we face may sometimes be very fierce and the verbal ridicule at times unbearable. It can be an exhausting constantly swimming against the stream. The tide of popular opinion makes it very difficult to live a life of practical godliness. But life was not easier for Enoch than for C21st man. Enoch knew all about persecution and walking against the tide cf. Jude14ff... The days in which Enoch lived were days of exceptional wickedness. And it was in the midst of such a wicked and godless environment that Enoch walked with God. Presentation 15

Journey’s End What is the value in walking with God? In Ch. 4 and 5 we have two different family histories. The family history of Cain a people who turned their backs on God is recorded in 4v19ff. They made great advances in agriculture, music, the arts, metallurgy and technology. They carved out a niche in world history! Monuments to their success stood for all to see. What of the family history of Seth, the line of faith, what did it produce? Something of greater eternal significance: ‘Enoch walked with God’. That is why I believe these two genealogies are laid side by side. That we may see the contrast between the men, who lived for this world and those who lived for the world to come. The pride and self-centredness of the first group is seen in the words of Lamech v23-24. The humility and God-centredness of the second group in the words, ‘Enoch walked with God’. Presentation 15

Journey’s End This fading world was the goal of the first group, God and his home the goal of the second. Jesus said, "Where your heart is there shall your treasure be also“ Matt.6.21? Enoch had given his heart to God, who was his treasure and inheritance. Writing to Christians who had been driven from their homes and scattered over the Roman Empire Peter says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you” 1Pet.1.3-4. Where is your heart and treasure? What lies at the end of your journey? Samuel Rutherford a Scottish minister wrote: "And what can I have more than when I have great heaven in my little arms.” Presentation 15

Journey’s End We read that Enoch walked with God, then ‘he was no more for God took him away’. Only Enoch along with Elijah knew what it was to be carried over the waters of death rather than be brought through them. What is God saying to us by taking Enoch to himself in this way? Why is the death knell rhythm of chapter 5 broken? In order to remind men and women of faith, Who have set their heart not on this world but on the world to come that God will indeed take them home to be with himself! Presentation 15

Journey’s End A little girl went home from Sunday School after hearing the story of Enoch. She said, "Mother, we heard about a wonderful man today in Sunday School. His name was Enoch, and you know mother he used to go for walks with God. One day they walked on and on and got so far, that God said to Enoch,"You are a long way from home you had better come and stay with me". Presentation 15

Conclusion Have you begun to walk with God? If not you can begin to do so today. God calls us to be reconciled to him, to live to please him, to delight in his word, and to trust him. His is a call to perseverance, and to the development of a deepening relationship. We are challenged to walk with him despite the prevailing currents of unbelief. He is the great reward of his people, who at their journey’s end will share Enoch's epitaph, “They walked with God”. And God will indeed say, “Come and stay with me”. Presentation 15

Studies in Genesis