Pleasing God (Genesis 5)

"Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." - Gen 5:24

Adam lived 930 years, Seth lived 912 years ... This passage is a passage of the genealogy, not really a story, but there a few things to take note of.

There are nine generations between Adam and Noah (Noah being the 10th). While these names don't mean a lot, the average life of these nine men was about 900 years. Methuselah lived the longest of these men and considered by many to be the oldest person to ever live (he lived 969 years). After the flood things dropped off as people's lives started getting shorter. We know after the flood, Noah and his sons would repopulate the world, so with their lives being shorter, there must have been a huge population before the flood.

Enoch is commented on in a very special way. In verses 21-24, Enoch is talked about. Don't mistake Enoch for Enosh, which was Seth's son. Enoch was the son of Jared, the 7th person in the genealogy. We first are told of Enoch's son, Methuselah (noted above), but then in verse 22 it says that he "walked with God" for 300 years after his son was born. In contrast to the other names mentioned in his passage, where it says the lived x years. Here it says he walked with God 300 years. In verse 24, it again mentions he walked with God, but then it says God took him. In Hebrews, Enoch is talked about again (in the "hall of faith").

Hebrews 11:5, says "By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God." Following is an awesome verse about faith, in verse 6. "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Faith is so very important, read Hebrews 11, because without faith we can't please God and that should be our heart's desire. In short faith is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Heb 11:1)

Enoch was one of only to humans to have never seen death. (Enoch & Elijah) He walked with God, how great would it be if after my death people say that I walked with God? It should be our heart's desire. It reminds me of the way that Adam & Eve must have walked with God before the fall of man, and also the way that Noah walked with God (and was faithful to God). In short, Enoch pleased God. Do I? Do you? It's important to look at our lives and make sure that our lives are pleasing to God in every way. If you are a Christian then it's about spending time daily in His Word and praying to Him daily. If you aren't a Christian it's about acknowledging that you are a sinner and expecting His free gift of eternal life. (Romans 6:23)

The final note about this chapter is in the final few verses. We come to Noah, in which the father of Noah makes some special comments about him in verse 29. We will see why Noah is so special and why Noah's name is so important in human history.

Verse of the day: "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such [a word] as is good for edification according to the need [of the moment,] so that it will give grace to those who hear." - Ephesians 4:29

For your reading:
The Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 48-49 and Hebrews 7
Daily Bread: Romans 13:1-7