Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:21–24 NKJV
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 NKJV
The patriarchs before the flood in Genesis 5 were descended from Seth and lived extremely long lives in an increasingly wicked world. Today too, it is sad to see and feel that wickedness is increasing by leaps and bounds. What is the remedy for this?
Enoch evidently had an experience with God. Nothing is said of his first 65 years. But then we read of the birth of his first son, Methuselah. We are told this name means, “When he dies it will come.” This seems to have been a life-changing revelation God gave him that he wanted to be reminded of every day.
During the remaining 300 years of his life, he fathered both sons and daughters. How many of them grew up to know and love God, we do not know. What we do know is that he walked with God. Walking with God would have made him a good father. Men, if you want to be a good husband to your wife and a good father to your family, walk with God! And 3,000 years later God tells us plainly that Enoch pleased God. This was not easy in the world of that day, nor is it easy in today’s world with its pleasures and pitfalls.
Enoch was rewarded delightfully. He did not see death. How can that be? “God took him.” Enoch had faith that God would take him to Himself before “it”—the judgment God had revealed to him—would come. God acted on his faith, taking him to Himself. We too eagerly wait for our Savior to come and take us to Himself!