Enoch Walked With God …

Recap legacy of Cain. Repeat last phrase in the last verse of Genesis chapter 4. Legacy of Seth.

Read Genesis 5:18-22

1. What does it mean to walk with God?

Walked - Hebrew word is halak - translation - to walk as a lifestyle, pattern of conduct.

Further define Enoch’s relationship w/ God. Hebrews 11:5-6

2. What does the writer of Hebrews mean when he wrote that Enoch “had this testimony”(KJV) - on record, evidence; “obtained the witness” (NASB); “commended” (ESV, NIV) - worthy of notice.

3. What was Enoch’s testimony, witness, commendation? Pleased God

4. How did Enoch please God? Faith

5. What did Enoch have faith in? a) God exists. You might say “Big Deal!” That’s not hard to believe in. In Enoch’s days on earth it was a big deal. It could be argued that Enoch was one of only a few in all the world who believed that God existed. Think about that. There was no Bible, there were no prophets/preachers, there were no priests. All Enoch had was the world around him. World in bad shape. Only couple chapters away from the Flood. Somehow Enoch was able to believe there was one God who created everything and was deserving of his worship.

b) Believed that God rewards those who seek God. The word “seek” in Greek is defined as – to investigate, scrutinize – in depth, leave no stone unturned. Ex. Lose wallet at Mt. Pleasant. God wants us to be CSI Christians.

Other translations add following adverbs:

diligently - characterized by steady, energetic application and effort

earnestly - a serious and intent state of mind

sincerely - marked by genuiness

7. What is God’s promise to those, like Enoch, who seek Him? He will reward/bless you - material, emotional, spiritual, (list the gifts of the Spirit) wisdom and knowledge, holiness/godliness, answers to questions. The more time you spend with God the more rewards/blessings you receive. Ultimate reward for Enoch was early entrance into heaven.

8. Faith encompasses both believing God exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Why are both necessary? Shouldn’t just believing in God be enough? No, it’s not. Read James 2:19.

Review:

Enoch had faith - a) He knew there was a God when practically no else did.

b) Made it a priority to seek God - Developing a relationship/bond. Wanted to receive rewards/blessings from God.

Result - Enoch pleased God to the point where God took him.

9. When did Enoch start walking with God? Genesis 5:22. After he became a father. What was it about being a father that prompted Enoch on a journey with God? When you became a father, did it have an impact on your relationship with God? Life-changing experience. Overwhelming responsibility. Enoch turned to God for guidance, support. By walking with God in his lifetime, Enoch left a legacy for his children, grandchildren, and so on. How do you know that Greg? Genesis 6:9. How did Noah obtain knowledge of God? Enoch passed his faith onto his son Methusaleh. What do we know about him? He lived longer than anyone else. What is the one commandment of the Ten Commandments that comes with a promise? Honor your father and mother so that your days may be long in the land. (Exodus 20:12) Methusaleh passed this legacy of faith to Lamech who passed it on to his son Noah. Imagine if Enoch chose not to walk with God? What would have become humanity during the Flood? Contrast Enoch with Cain. Genesis 4:16 – Cain walked away from the presence of the Lord. His choice reverberated down through his descendants. Result – Lamech who introduced polygamy and bragged about killing a man who bruised him. Don’t ever think that your walk with God only impacts you. Not a Lone Ranger. Your walk with God/your pursuit of God impacts your family, neighborhood, work place, society, etc.

Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it. Interpretation - What you teach your children will stick with them for the rest of their lives. They could choose not to obey it but they will not be able to get away from it.

Parents, especially fathers, it is your responsibility to train your children in the way of righteousness/godliness. It is your responsibility to pass down a legacy of faith in God. Not your pastor, not the youth minister, not Sunday School, not VBS, not Youth Camp. They supplement a child’s spiritual growth. They are not to be the main source. It’s your responsibility fathers. It is your responsibility to teach your children to pray, to study God’s word, to minister to others, to seek God, to walk with God. When your children become older, they will remember what you taught them. And God willing, when the time comes for your children to choose between obeying and disobeying God, they will make the right choice to walk with God. They will pass the legacy of faith to their children, and they to their children. Enoch did. My grandfather did. My great-great grandfather was born in North Carolina in the 1820’s. He married and moved to Georgia. He served in the Civil War. After the war, my great-great grandfather was indicted for adultery and mysteriously moved to Alabama where he married a lady half his age (He was 50. She was 25.) Problem: my great-great grandfather never divorced from his Georgia wife. He was a bigamist. He also had a reputation for being an ill-tempered man. My great grandfather was raised in a sinful atmosphere. Consequently, when he became an adult he was much like his father. My great-grandfather was an alcoholic and adulterer. My grandfather was raised in a sinful atmosphere. Consequently, when he became an adult he was much like his father. My grandfather was in his early 20’s when he married my grandmother who was 13. My grandfather was an alcoholic. He regularly came home drunk. Some nights he couldn’t make it to his bed. My grandmother dragged him into bed, chastise him for his drinking, and pray over him. That was the way it was with my grandfather and grandmother for the first 15 years of their marriage. In mid-1930’s my grandfather attended a local revival. God got a hold of him. He went to the altar and surrendered his life to Christ. Not only that, he gave up alcohol and answered the call to preach at the same moment. My grandfather broke the legacy of sin in my family’s heritage. He raised his children to know God and obey Him. He raised my father in a Christian atmosphere. Consequently, when my father became an adult he was much like his father. My father followed after God. Answered the call to preach. Myself, my brother and sister were raised in a Christian atmosphere. Consequently, all three of us when we became adults are much like our father. We all serve Christ, active in our churches, and are raising our children in a Christian atmosphere. We are continuing the legacy of godliness that our grandfather established in our family just as Enoch did in his family. Just as I wonder what would have happened if Enoch chose to reject God and embrace sin as Cain did, I also wonder what would have become of me if my grandfather had chosen to continue in the legacy of sin of his father and grandfather? Thank God he did not.

APPLICATION Examine your walk with God. Do you have a relationship with God similar to Enoch’s? Is your faith based on a belief that God exists AND that God rewards/blesses those who diligently/earnestly/sincerely seek Him? Parents, are you passing that legacy to your children? Does your faith consist of the former (belief in God) and not the latter (diligently/earnestly/sincerely seeking Him)? If not, you’re not truly walking with God. You’re not pleasing God. This failure will have ramifications on your relationship with your spouse, children, friends, co-workers, etc.