Grace Extended
Bible Study....Enoch,
the Translated Saint
God’s love reaches out to you and when God’s love touches your need, we call it Grace.
"For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God ... "
(Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen."
(Hebrews 11:1)
Faith: Assurance, title-deed Substance: Seen and unseen Evidence: Proof, conviction
2. ENOCH THE RAPTURED SAINT
By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God....
[Hebrews 11:5; Genesis 5:21-24; Jude 14, 15]
The historical account of Enoch is given in only nine verses in the Bible: Genesis, Hebrews, and Jude. He was unique among the men of faith. Enoch and Noah are the only men of whom it was written, "they walked with God." Enoch and Elijah were the only two men in the Old Testament who were translated into heaven. Enoch left earth in the prime of life when he was only 365 years old.
For 300 years, he walked uprightly before the Lord. He was also a prophet of God who spoke of the end-time judgment of Christ.
"Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam prophesied ... saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in ungodly ways, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’" [Jude 14, 15].
Enoch was not protected from the perils and daily problems of life, yet he valued God’s favor more than anything this world could offer him, and he used his time on earth to glorify God. He taught the world by his life. Enoch was not perfect. He could have rebelled just as easily as the next man. But the character of the man is easily seen because he centered his faith on God and because he determined within himself to walk with God. It is not natural and it is not easy to be a Christian. Enoch found the strength he needed through his faith, and was rewarded with a close, personal relationship with the Lord, his God.
As with Adam, God walked and talked with Enoch. In response to Enoch’s godly life, God extended him grace and translated him from earth to heaven. He did not see death. We understand that he was changed (glorified) in body, soul and spirit when he was taken away, for Scripture tells us that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 15:50-55]. "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ... for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God" [Hebrews 11:5].
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot [are not able to] inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; [secret] We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible [in His likeness], and we shall be changed . For this corruptible [mortal flesh] must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?....But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ [1 Corinthians 15:50-55; Isaiah 25:8, 9 KJV].
Faith is trust in the unseen. It is not trust in the unknown, for we may know by faith what we cannot see with the eye. Faith is the ultimate complement to the one we love. Faith gives assurance and evidence that the certainty of that which is not seen is the ultimate reality. The testimony of those who have believed "by faith" in things not seen is endless.
[References: Hebrews 11:3; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 5:7]
Enoch was the first (inauguration) of those who, by faith, walk with God into eternal life–if not by death, then by translation (rapture). This is the beginning of the biblical theology of life after death. Enoch’s experience teaches that God walks with those who by faith have become the righteousness of Christ.
Eternal life (the gift of salvation by faith) is demonstrated through obedience to the will and purpose of God in the daily life of a believer. A lump of clay can never grow into a beautiful and useful vessel until, in the hands of the potter, it is fashioned into that for which it has been designed.
