Enough about Enoch: What about us?

(There goes Enoch!)

Genesis 5:21-24 is pretty much all that the Bible has to say about Noah’s great-grandfather, Enoch.  We are told that when Enoch was 65, he “became the father” of Methuselah (aka “Man of the Spear” – which may explain how Methuselah managed to survive for 969 rugged years).

Enoch, on the other hand, was no Methuselah.  Not only did he hardly live (by Genesis standards), but he also hardly died.  After fathering Methuselah, Enoch “walked faithfully with God” for another 300 years until poof… “God took him away.”  Mind you, the phrase

“took him away” is not the Torah’s polite way of saying “bit the dust.”   It is instead the Torah’s way of letting you know that Enoch never actually died.  Like Elijah, he simply up and left for some heavenly abode.

Now why is that?  Why do you and I have to hang out in coffins while Enoch and Elijah get handpicked off the street?  Could it be that while Enoch and Elijah were walking faithfully with God, we were hightailing it in other directions?  And what does it mean to be “walking faithfully with God,” anyway?

One possible meaning is that Enoch not only walked the talk, but also talked the walk.  In other words, Enoch was probably in constant communication with God.  He didn’t have to slip away to a cave to say some prayers every once in a while.  He had already figured out that every moment was a holy opportunity to commune directly with his Maker.  While walking down the street (trail?), he knew enough to repeatedly whisper: “Hello God – it’s me, Enoch.”

This is something that you and I could also do.  While walking our own little Methuselahs to school, or while zipping down a six-lane freeway – we, too, could be actively choosing to directly communicate with God.  Fancy speeches are not necessary.  All it takes is a willingness to remember (in word, thought and deed) the One who is always present.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enoch_(ancestor_of_Noah)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+5%3A21-24&version=NIV

Copyright April 29, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved