Pe
rhaps it’s not the best thought, but think for a moment about your tombstone. Not the shape or size, but what you would like to have written on it. What would you like to see as your epitaph? On the tombstone of comedian Oliver Hardy, it says, “A genius of comedy. His talent brought joy and laughter to all the world.” Those are kind words. In Nova Scotia we find this inscription on a tombstone: “Here lies Ezekiel Aikle, age 102: the good die young.”
Perhaps the tombstone of the man we are about to meet could have read: “Enjoyed his walk immensely.” It “could have read” because there never was a tombstone for this man. He never needed one!
Enoch entered Genesis in chapter 5:18 and left in verse 24. Not much is said about his personal life. We know nothing of his occupation, his looks, or his personality, but we do know one thing about Enoch: he enjoyed walking.
Enoch was born when Adam was a spry 622 years old. (Remember, Adam lived to be 930.) That meant Enoch lived alongside Adam for 308 years. Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch. (Enoch became the father of Methuselah, the oldest known person on record.) One might think that living among the great Bible patriarchs would have assured that the world would simply be a community of believers, but that was not the case. Jude wrote, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him’” (14,15).
There is no doubt that Enoch lived in an ungodly society. Perhaps it was not too different from ours today. He likely struggled with the same ungodliness that we see in our streets, our schools, our entertainment, our government, and our homes.
Although little is mentioned of Enoch, we do know that Enoch walked with God. The Bible tells us that he walked with God for 365 years. (A very intriguing number!) After that, Enoch took one last walk home and he “was no more” (5:24). God took Enoch by the hand and walked with him into heaven!
Enoch never died. He simply strolled through heaven’s gates and came face-to-face with friends and family members he hadn’t seen for years. God spared Enoch from sin’s curse of death.
Why? What kind of man was Enoch for God to do that? What we do know is that twice in those Genesis verses it says that “Enoch walked with God.” The writer of Hebrews added that “by faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God” (11:5). Enoch stands as a monument to the righteous. His is the faith and life we strive for. His is the hope and joy we need to find. His is the end we need to covet. His is the walk we should follow. His are the footsteps we should pursue.
Enoch never needed an epitaph. He simply disappeared. We should all strive for the great blessing Enoch received when “God took him away.” That’s our hope. That’s our prayer. In that way, we wish to be just like Enoch. We want God to take us away too. We long to see the Savior in his glory. We know where Enoch’s walk took him! That same pathway is still there today.
All worldly pomp, begone!
To heaven I now press on.
For all the world I would not stay;
My walk is heavenward all the way.
(from “I Walk in Danger All the Way”)
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