How Did Enoch Escape Death in Genesis 5:24?

      Every evening my husband and I try to get a walk in.  I’ve been walking about five times a week for over 15 years.   But before I had a bone density scan in 2007, it didn’t matter to me that much if I skipped a day.  However, the results of this scan alarmed both my doctor and me. Through blood testing, we found out that my early bone deterioration was because of celiac disease.  Finding both of these diseases out in a few weeks of each other drastically changed my life. 

Hiking  at Artist Point

       I was thinking about this parallel when I was reading the chapter on Enoch in my Life-Study of Genesis:

And Enoch walked with God after he had begotten Methuselah [his Hebrew name means when he is dead, it shall be sent] three hundred years,…  And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took Him.  Genesis 5:22A, 26

In chapter 26 of the Life-Study of Genesis Witness Lee gives the definition of what walking with God looks like. He said it means to do everything according to God and with God.  And, of course, he uses taking a walk  to illustrate this. He points out that it’s not easy to walk with someone, because only one of the persons gets to decide the pace and destination.  

        When I walk with my husband, I am forced to walk faster to keep up with him.  And I don’t always find it easy going where he wants to go. Most of the time I’m the one who gives in.  And Witness Lee shares in this chapter that in our walk with the Lord this is also important. Instead of arguing with the Lord on where He’s taking us, I need to learn to give in to Him more.  I liked the connection he gave here when he said that calling on the Lord revealed in Genesis 4:26 issues in walking with the Lord in Genesis 5:22.  I for sure can't walk with the Lord unless I first receivegrace from calling on His name.

       But probably my favorite part of this chapter was on page 358 when he talks about what Enoch's generation was like, and how Methuselah motivated him to walk with God:

Walking with my daughter

Enoch begot Methuselah at the age of sixty-five.  Therefore, Enoch’s prophecy regarding the flood was uttered when he was sixty-five years of age.  Thereafter, day and night Enoch was expecting the fulfillment of that prophecy, and that expectation caused him to walk with God. Although the whole generation and everything in it was ungodly, he himself did not dare to be ungodly. He was holy and walked with God, hoping to be saved from God’s judgment.  Enoch held on to that expectation for three hundred years (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Genesis. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1974, Print).

The Bible tells us that Methuselah died when he was 969 years old, but God raptured Enoch when he was only 365. It touched me when I read that this happened because every year Enoch walked a little closer to God.  

   Knowing something is going to happen is a huge motivator to take serious action.  Finding out that I had some medical concerns forced me to take my diet and exercise more seriously.  In the same way, we all need to be continually motivated in our spiritual walk.  

You can  also listen to live excerpts from these messages on  Genesis on Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.  

Other Posts on the Life-Study of Genesis:

From the Life-Study of Genesis - What is the Focus of the Bible?
What Happened Between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?
Why Did God Create Man in Genesis 1:26?
Why Did God Create Man With 3 Parts in Genesis 2:7?
Why Did God Put Man in Front of the Two Trees in Genesis 2?
Seeing God's Purpose of Life & Building in the Book of Genesis
What is the Story Behind the Story of Cain & Abel?
What Did Enosh Learn to Do in Genesis 4:26?
How Did Enoch Escape Death in Genesis 5:24?
Why Did Noah Need to Find Grace in Genesis 6:8?
What Does the Rainbow Symbolize in Genesis 9:13?
How Did God Call Abraham in Genesis 12:1?
How Did God Fulfill the Birth of Isaac in Genesis 12:7?
What Does the Marriage of Isaac & Rebekah Show in Genesis 24?
How Does the Story of Jacob Show God's Selection in Genesis 25?
Why Did Jacob Dream About a Ladder in Genesis 28:12?
Seeing Our Spiritual Journey in the Lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, & Joseph
Why Did Jacob Call theTwo Altars in Genesis 33 & 35 By Different Names?
How Do the Stories of Jacob & Joseph Mirror God's Purpose in Genesis 1:26?
How Did Joseph's Dreams Really Get Fulfilled in Genesis 41?