Enoch

So, this morning when I was doing my devotion, I turned to the place in Job where I left off, and the Lord said, "NO!" It was loud and resounding, so I closed it and said, "okay, Lord. Where'm I going today?" And that's how I ended up in Genesis; and I was lead to Chapter 5.

For those of you who don't know, chapter 5 of Genesis is the geneology of Adam. It goes from Adam all the way through the birth of Noah and then Noah's sons. At first, I couldn't understand the Lord's thoughts, but then I realized around verse 21. This was one of my favorite Bible stories, and it had been so long since I looked at it that I had forgotten where it was. Verses 21-24 are all of the mention we have of Enoch, but he is so incredible. "Enoch lived lived 65 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."

When I read this as an adult, it struck me in a much different way than it had as a child. Enoch lived 365 years, and as a kid, that's what hit me the hardest. But now, "for God took him." I mean, we know that he walked with God. He and God were crazy tight. So tight that God didn't want him to die. Now from what I can tell from previous studying into it and the teachings of the pastor from my childhood (and if there are Bible scholars reading, feel free to email and correct me), before Jesus came and died, the people who died were taken to a sort of holding place. And in that holding place, there was 2 sections reserved: one for those who walked with God and followed Him, and one for those who didn't. When Jesus came and died, during the three days he was dead, he went to hell, got the keys, then went to the holding place and sent the people to their perspective afterlives. When Genesis says that "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him," that screamed to me that the Lord was so close to Enoch that He didn't want to be separate from him long enough for Jesus to come. It blew my mind. I want to be so close to the Lord that He just decides to take me! Its an incredible thought that the Lord could do this.

Upon closer examining, though, that is exactly what Jesus did. God couldn't bear to be without us any longer. So He came to earth, died, went to Hell for us, so that He can be with us forever. Now, He doesn't have to "take" us; we just have to learn to rely more fully on Him. Its kind of cool what you can get from 4 little verses in Genesis!!