“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. 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.” (Hebrews 11:5,6)
Thought:
I remember when our kids were very little, and one of them was in our living room, wanting to tell me something. I was either reading the paper (yes, we used to do that) or watching something on TV. I was nodding and acknowledging that I was listening to her. She wasn’t convinced, and she was right. She moved in front of me, took my face in both of her hands, and eye to eye told me what she wanted me to hear.
She wanted my full attention, my eyes toward her, and to recognize she was there. I find that sometimes I treat God this way. I know He is near me, and I pray or read the Bible to learn more about Him, but do I stop to recognize that He is God and is with me now? I am in the presence of the creator of the universe. I am speaking with the Holy God, and He wants my full attention. The prophet Isaiah wants me to know who I am in the presence of. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might, He increases power.” (Isaiah 40:28,29)
Enoch not only pleased God by walking with Him, but He also pleased God by believing God, both that God was who He said He was, and in believing all that God said. Enoch believed that God was, “for he who comes to God must believe that HE IS.” Enoch did not have an imaginary friend to keep him company and to pretend to talk to. Enoch walked with the Living God, the creator of everything, the awesome, all-powerful, and all-knowing God. This is very significant in a day when every man does what he desires, there is no authority beyond the voting public, and, for many, there is no sense of accountability to a Holy and Loving Creator.
We know that Enoch lived before Noah and that their cultures would have been similar, and in Genesis 6:5 we read, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Another early book is Job. In Job 38, God begins to question Job to humble him and to show God’s greatness in His creation. Job then breaks his silence and responds to God in Job 42:1, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me. I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; Therefore, I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
When God spoke to Enoch, Enoch believed what God said. Believing God implies recognizing, acknowledging, and trusting that what God says is true and that God does not lie. Enoch would have believed and proclaimed as in Psalm 66, “How awesome are your works. Because of the greatness of Your power, Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You. All the earth will worship you; they will sing praises to your name. Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.”
Enoch also recognized that God was different, not a man but holy. Part of the idea of God’s holiness is that God is unique and separate from us. Enoch recognized, like Samuel in I Samuel 2:2, “There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.” Enoch would have known and believed what Moses wrote in Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said and will He not do it?” Or has He spoken and will He not make it good?” We can believe what God said to us and wrote to us. This includes what He has said about Himself and about us.
A new look at our faith in God is needed in a world and culture that has, at times, drifted or rejected a foundation of values and beliefs in God. There is a God who is not only all-powerful and all-knowing but also loving and merciful and holy and just. This comes from and is strengthened in our belief that God is.
Reflection:
How might Enoch’s example help you grow in your understanding of what it means to believe that God is? God has given us His word to reveal Himself to us. As you read God’s word this week, ask yourself, “What does God show me about Himself and His Son in this passage?” I find the beginning of the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:9 helpful to stop and meditate on. “Pray, then in this way; ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.’”
Prayer:
Father, help me walk with you today, and as I do, show me who You are. I pray for eyes to see you clearly in Your Word and in Your creation. Give me Enoch’s hunger to know you more. (6/10/2026)
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