Roger Lewis - Class 1: How and Why was Enoch Translated

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   The question of our title is, how and why was Enoch translated? And certainly the terms of Hebrews 11 verse 5 have been debated as to what their proper meaning might be. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God.

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   Let me read some other translations to you so that you can feel the dilemma. The easy to read version, which I suppose already makes one feel a tad nervous, says, by faith Enoch was carried away from this earth, so he never died. Later no one knew where he was because God had taken Enoch to be with him.

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   Or the New English Bible, which says, by faith Enoch was carried away to another life without passing through death. Or Barclays, which says, by faith Enoch was removed from this world without experiencing death. Or the Amplified Bible, which says, by faith Enoch was caught up and taken to heaven, so that he would not have a glimpse of death.

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   Or the New Living Translation, which says, by faith Enoch was taken up into heaven without dying, he disappeared because God took him. Now, the common theme of all of those particular translations is, brothers and sisters, that they teach, number one, that Enoch really went up into heaven, and number two, that Enoch actually experienced death.

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   And the only problem with all of those translations is that they're wrong, because they are immediately in conflict with clear scriptural teaching, are they not? So as to the matter of the idea of heaven going, we know that Psalm 115 says, The heaven, even the heaven of heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth have he given to the children of men.

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   Or Acts 2, which says, for David is not ascended into the heavens. Or John 3, which says, And no man hath ascended up into heaven. And concerning the matter of the reality of death for all, we know that Romans 5 says, So death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. In fact, Romans says, death reigned from Adam to Moses.

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   And if you're astute on your genealogies, you'll probably figure out that Enoch sort of sits between Adam and Moses, doesn't he? Somewhere in that continuum. Or Ezekiel 18, Behold, all souls are mine, and the soul that sinneth it shall die. Coupled with Galatians 3, which says, But the scripture hath concluded, the Greek word means locked up, all under sin.

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   So according to scripture, Enoch A did not go up into heaven, and B didn't escape from death, despite all of those interesting translations. So we know what the passage doesn't mean.

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   But the question is, what does it mean? And that's our study this afternoon, isn't it? How and why was Enoch translated? Well, that takes us back to Genesis chapter 5, where Enoch first appears. Let's go back and get our bearings, shall we, in terms of the story, as this will unfold in the biblical account.

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    By the way, I'm aware, even before I begin, that there may be some who hold different views on the matter of the destiny of Enoch. So if you were to hold a different view, and we come to the end, it matters not. We shall remain in fellowship, even if we differ, because it's not in the statement of faith as to what precisely happened to Enoch.

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    But we're going to try and piece together what we think the evidence of scripture brings to our most likely conclusion. Do you notice in Genesis 5, just a couple of crucial details to begin with. It says this, verse 21. And I just want you to look at the language. Verse 21, Enoch lived sixty and five years and begat Methuselah.

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    But do you notice that that language is the same as the generations which precede and follow him? So he lived a certain number of years, and then he begat a son. You see his father, verse 18, Jared. Jared lived 162 years, and he begat Enoch. And again, verse 25, his Enoch son, Methuselah, lived 187 years and begat Lamech.

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    So each of these men lives a certain number of years and then has a son. Well, likewise, verse 22 says, and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters. Let me just read that again more slowly. After he begat Methuselah, he was there for 300 years and begat sons and daughters.

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    But that's like the same as his father. Verse 19, Jared lived after he begat Enoch 800 years and begat sons and daughters. And it's the same as Methuselah in verse 26. Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech 780 and two years and begat sons and daughters. You see the similarity of language for each of these generations.

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    It's exactly the same. And now verse 23 says, and all the days of Enoch were 365 years, which incidentally is a phrase implying that Enoch died because that phrase is also used of every generation of the line of Adam through Seth and it marks the termination of their lifespan. Verse 20, and all the days of Jared were 960 and two years and he died.

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    Or again verse 27, and all the days of Methuselah were 969 years and he died. Well it's the same of Enoch, you see, in that verse, verse 20, when it says, sorry, verse 23, all the days of Enoch were 365 years. The only difference, brothers and sisters, is that when we come to verse 24, it says of Enoch, can Enoch walk with God and he was not.

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    So instead of saying, and he died, this record says, and he was not, for God took him. But the question is, what does the phrase, and he was not, mean? Well let's look at a couple of other Bible passages, the first of which is in Genesis itself. In Genesis 42, in the days of Joseph and his brethren, Genesis 42 and verse 13, always helpful to have another reference with the same phrase in the same book, you see, because it argues similarity.

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    Genesis chapter 42 says, in verse 13, they said, thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. Behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. See that little phrase? And one is not, it says. Or again, in Jeremiah chapter 31, you'll remember the story of that prophecy of Jeremiah when Rachel weeps for her children.

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    It's going to be quoted in the New Testament, is it not? In the book of Matthew, chapter 2. Here it is in Jeremiah 31, verse 15. Thus saith Yahweh, a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel, weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

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    Now, the Hebrew scholar, Umberto Casuto, states that the intention of the text in Genesis 5, and verse 24, when it says that he was not, is not to convey that Enoch did not die, but only that his death was not like the death of other people. death had occurred, and when you think about it, you can understand, because you see, all these references imply that death had occurred, but the circumstances were different.

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    You see, in Genesis 42, concerning Joseph, why would they say he's not, or Rachel's children, why would they say they are not? And the answer is because there were no bodies and no grave to prove it. death was presumed, but there wasn't the normal evidence. And that matches the phrase found in this verse in Genesis 5, and verse 24, because it says that Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

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    So in Enoch's case, likewise, there was no body or grave to provide the evidence of death, which is not at all the same thing as saying that he didn't die.

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    The question is, why did God take him? That's what we want to know, isn't it, brothers and sisters? Why did God take him? Well, the answer, I think, at least in part, lies in counting the generations. Now, the count is simple.

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    We've got Adam, verse 3. We've got Seth, in verse 6. We've got Enos, in verse 9. We've got Canaan, in verse 12. We've got Mahaliel, in verse 15. We've got Jared, in verse 18. And we've got Enoch, in verse 21, which means that he's the seventh, from Adam. Enoch. And why that's interesting is because, you see, Genesis chapter 5 is the line of the seed of the woman.

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    But Genesis chapter 4 is the line of the seed of the serpent. And if we come back to the line of the seed of the serpent, in Genesis chapter 4, in verse 17, we read this record of the genealogy when it says, in verse 17, and Cain knew his wife and she conceived and there Enoch and he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch.

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    So there was an Enoch in the seed of the serpent line, before the seed of the woman. But now we've got it. Adam, Cain, Enoch, verse 18, Irad, Mahujael, Methusel, Lamech. We suddenly realise that Lamech also is the seventh generation from Adam, but this time in the line of Cain rather than in the line of Seth.

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    This man is the contemporary of Enoch. And between Cain and Lamech, there's no detail whatsoever about what's happening with the seed of the serpent. But suddenly Lamech arrives and now there's an explosion of information about the seed of the serpent at this point of time in its history at the moment of Lamech, you see.

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    Suddenly we've got six verses about this one man. It was obviously a watershed moment in the history of the two seeds. And this is what we read of him, verse 19, Lamech took unto him two wives, the name of the one was Adar and the name of the other Zillah. So this man is the first one to introduce pilgrim and depart from the divine standard of one man, one woman, for life in Genesis chapter 2.

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    And he's got a son, has he not, verse 20, called Jabal. And Jabal is responsible to be the father of such as dwell in tents and cattle. He was in charge of business and commerce. And the word father here has the sense of being the founder or the originator of those things. And if he was responsible for business and commerce, his brother Jubal in verse 21 was clearly responsible for entertainment and culture.

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    He was the father of all such as handled the harp and the organ. And Jubal Cain, the third brother, in verse 22, was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. Or, as the Revised Standard version says, he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. This third son was the master of machinery and armaments.

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    Quite a family. And this is where the seed of the serpent exploded on the scene. And now we have the spirit of Lamech, verse 23. Lamech said unto his wives, Adar and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech. Which just goes to show, love and sisters, how easily we can read a Bible passage incorrectly.

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    Because that's not how it should be read, really, is it? If we read it again, it should be read, don't you think? And Lamech said unto his wives, Pause. Adar and Zillah, hear my voice. Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech. But hadn't the book of Genesis begun, in Genesis 3, verse 8, with men and women hearing the voice of the Lord God walking in the midst of the garden, but Lamech wants people to listen to his voice.

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    No, says Lamech, you listen to me. You listen to my opinion. Now, what was it that caused Lamech to be so boastful about the importance of his opinion and his voice? Well, the answer is, he had the armaments that his son had made possible. He was empowered to make such boastful claims, you see.

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    In fact, what he says, verse 23, is this. He says, I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt. The margin suggests that this is a statement of future intent. I think quite probably that is the case. But whether it's past or future, the result's the same.

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    Either he is saying, I will, if anyone dares to oppose me, I will take vengeance on them, or I have done it before and I could do it again if I wanted to. That's the spirit of Lamech. So here's the voice of the seventh from Adam in the line of the seed of the serpent, and what he uttered was a boastful speech of fleshly aggression and violent retaliation.

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    It was the spirit of defiant arrogance and implacable revenge. And what did he say? Verse 24, If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech, seventy and sevenfold. Now where did that principle of vengeance come from that Lamech refers to? Where did this whole idea of vengeance come from? Well, isn't it verse 15?

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    Yahweh said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. Ah, but you see, that's God's vengeance, isn't it? That's the Lord's vengeance. What Cain does, what Lamech does, is he reverses this. He spurns the principle of divine retribution and he boasts in his ability to exact his own vengeance as and when it suited him.

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    I will take my own vengeance and it will be far more terrible and terrifying than anything God can do, says Lamech. What a hateful man.

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    You see, God was nowhere in this family. He was nowhere in their world. These were the ungodly. We don't know, brothers and sisters, how Enoch and Lamech might have ever met, although there is one possibility. because by the time Enoch comes and dies,

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    only one man in all the lineage of Genesis chapter 5 has died before him. Every one of his predecessors is still alive, apart from one,

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    Adam. and it may be that at the funeral of Adam a man called Enoch bumped into a man called Lamech who knows when the possibility of such a meeting might have occurred. It matters not, brothers and sisters, when it was, but the one spoke vengeance and the other, as a result, was in danger.

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    Now come and have a look at that idea of scriptural teaching on vengeance. There is a couple of proverbs which are helpful in this regard as to the spirit of how we should react to that vengeance which was shown so terribly in the boastful speech of Lamech. Proverbs chapter 20 says, Proverbs 20 verse 22 says, Say not thou, I will recompense evil, but wait on Yahweh and he shall save thee.

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    One of the things about good Bible study is that it's based on good Bible reading. All we have to do largely is read carefully. But to read carefully we've got to emphasise properly. And don't you think verse 22 again should be read perhaps more properly this way? Say not thou, I will recompense evil, but wait on Yahweh and he shall save thee.

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    Isn't that the emphasis brothers and sisters about not taking it into your own hands? About recognising that it's to be left to God. In fact, come a few pages on to Proverbs 24 and verse 29 and we have something like unto it. It says in Proverbs 24 verse 29,

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    Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me. I will wend unto the man according to his work. No, that's not right either. It should be halfway through that verse that God replies. So verse 29 should say, Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me.

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    Colon. And now God says, I will render to the man according to his work. It's God's prerogative. It's God's responsibility. Not ours, you see. Now those passages probably become part of the key, don't they, to the Old Testament background, to a New Testament passage in the book of Romans. Because Paul says the same thing, does he not?

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    Guided by the Spirit, Romans chapter 12 will make a similar pronouncement upon how we ought to behave in the face of such adversity. Romans chapter 12 puts it this way, and we can hear the echo of Proverbs 20 and Proverbs 24 and the counsel of the apostle. Perhaps reading Romans 12 from verses 17 to 19.

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    Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.

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    We can hear the spirit of those Proverbs, can you not, in this apostolic council. What's interesting, however, is that Romans chapter 12 is not quoting from either Proverbs 20 or Proverbs 24, it's quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 32. And Deuteronomy 32 in turn is based upon the foundation principle of Genesis chapter 4 verse 15, that God is the one who will take vengeance.

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    Now this is the principle, brothers and sisters, that Lamech set aside. He boasted that his retribution would be ten times more violent than God's. Now if you were Enoch and you lived at the same time, as a man like Lamech, what do you do when you're living in an epoch of such vengeance, being threatened against you?

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    Well, you probably pray the prayer of Psalm 94. And it's a good lesson for all of us, brothers and sisters, because all of us face times of provocation and difficulty where the worst thing we could do is to respond in a way that was inconsistent with the commandments of Christ. And the best thing we can do is to speak the words of the Psalm.

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    So Psalm 94 verse 1 says, O Yahweh ail to whom vengeance belongeth. O ail to whom vengeance belongeth. Show thyself, lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth, render a reward to the proud. Yahweh, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph, how long shall they utter and speak hard things, and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves, they break in pieces thy people, O Yahweh, and afflict thine heritage.

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    So here is the prayer of the saint of God who acknowledges even in the worst of provocations that vengeance belongs to God and not to us, that we will commit our cause to God in the face of an ungodly age, difficult though it might be.

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    And that takes us to the book of Jude, you see, because, well now we've got the right moment to examine quite what Jude said. because Jude verse 14 said, and Enoch also the seventh from Adam. Ah, there it is, the seventh from Adam. So immediately we've got the era of both Enoch and Lamech being pinpointed.

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    And of course what's interesting is that seven generations have passed, and yet the same controversy still exists between the two seeds. Was there not enmity between Cain and Abel? And now in the seventh generation that same hostility is going to be manifested from Lamech towards Enoch and Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied of these saying, behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints.

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    Now when it says in verse 14 that the Lord comes or he prophesied of these, who are the these? Do you think of verse 14? Well have a look at the context and I think we can determine who it was that Enoch was prophesying both about and against. Verse 8 These speak evil of dignities.

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    Verse 9 These by implication bring railing accusations. Verse 10 These speak evil of things which they know not. Verse 15 These in the middle of the verse have hard speeches which they have spoken. Verse 16 These speak great swelling words or as the revised standard version says are loud mouth boasters. And clearly the references here to the extreme boastful fierce words would seem to be an allusion to Lamech would they not?

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    This is who Enoch stood up against in his prophecy of impending judgment. And when he says in verse 15 that the Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment upon all he's referring to the matters against which he stood in the time of Enoch and Lamech you see. So Enoch really was warning Lamech that his boast of vengeance had in reality been spoken against God against him therefore God would respond and God would exercise his right to vengeance for the honour of his name.

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    So what we've got brothers and sisters in the very same generation is Lamech and his speech of personal retaliation and Enoch and his prophecy of divine retribution two modes of thinking in the same generation that were worlds apart.

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    Of course Enoch named his son Methuselah didn't he? And as best as we can determine it would seem that Methuselah means when he dieth it shall come and in the very year that Methuselah died the flood did come and God executed judgments against an ungodly world and so even the naming of his son was part of Enoch's prophecy that the world was not under man's control but under God's.

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    Now here's the thing brothers and sisters for Enoch to preach that message of coming divine judgment in the face of Lamech's violence and power was an act of extraordinary courage and faith. faith in life was the fear of the fear of the lives of those who've gone before in all sorts of different circumstances and faith in Enoch's life was the motive of you see faith is what Hebrews 11 is about and it's faith in the lives of those who've gone before in all sorts of different circumstances and faith in Enoch's life was the motive of power to overcome the fear of persecution and the pressure of peers in standing for God's righteous principles.

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    He stood for the truth in his own day and his own day and his own day and his own day and his own day and his own day and generation brothers and sisters which is never as easy as we imagine.

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    It's a challenge in ecclesial life as to whether ecclesias will actually stand for the truth and when controversies and difficulties and things arise will we do something about them or will we just leave them be? One of the things about Enoch was he really stood for what he believed in but it threatened him it endangered him.

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    So verse 5 says by faith Enoch was translated. Now the word translated Now the word translated Metatothemi means no more than this as Vine says to remove a person or thing from one place to another. It's the word used in Acts 7 verse 16 when it says they were carried over to Shechem.

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    It's a word used in Galatians 1 verse 6 when it says I marvel at he is so soon removed from him that called you. And the one thing we can be quite certain of with regard to that word is that it doesn't mean to go up. It simply means he was removed or taken away.

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    But why verse 5 is interesting is that it says by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. Which is not quite what Genesis 5 says in the Hebrew. The Hebrew says he was not translated him God. But the translation that Paul or rather the explanation that the writer gives here in Hebrews is that he not just was that he was not but that he was not found.

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    And that little extra word becomes as it were an explanation of perhaps why it was that he was taken away. It indicates that God had removed him from the scene to another place. And presumably that a search was made for Enoch after his disappearance but to no avail. He wasn't found. He was taken away and he wasn't found.

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    You know brothers and sisters I've always thought this is one of the most marvellous things that God ever did. Because you see here's Lamech and all his boastful pride with all his guns and rockets and tanks and bombs. And he's ready to obliterate Enoch off the face of the earth.

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    And God took his man. Moved him. That's all he did. He just moved him to another place. And in effect said to Lamech, see what you can do with your bombs now. And he totally rendered all of Lamech's boasting to be made empty by the simple expedient of physically removing Enoch from the place of threat or danger.

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    Which incidentally is one of the best contextual answers to the question of Enoch's translation. Because now I suggest why it might have happened. Why was he translated? To take him away from danger. So this word translated does not prove a mysterious ascension to heaven. Or a change to an immortal state. Or a condition of suspended animation.

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    None of which incidentally come with any reason for their occurrence. But to remove him from one place to another where there might be security in the move. Is absolutely consistent with what we might expect from what we've seen thus far. And as to the matter of how Enoch was translated. Well we've got other examples in scripture haven't we?

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    There's no difficulty for God to do that whatsoever. God can easily do that. In fact you remember Acts chapter 8. Come and have a look at Acts 8. Let me show you one Old and one New Testament passage. The new first in Acts 8. You'll remember the story of the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch.

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    And the record says in Acts 8 verses 39 and 40. That when they were come up out of the water. The eunuch no doubt with water pouring down his face. Turned around to thank Philip for his baptism. And Philip had gone. Because verse 39 says. The spirit of the Lord caught away Philip.

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    And the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing. So you see Philip was removed by the spirit. It's not a difficult thing for God to do. He's done it before. Oh and do you see verse 40? Ah but Philip was found at Azotus. So Philip was removed to another place.

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    Not because of danger. But because he had another task to perform. And in that place he was found. Well that's a bit like 2 Kings chapter 2 isn't it? Do you remember 2 Kings chapter 2 and the ascent of Elijah? And again we're not going to spend too much time on this. Because it's another study in its own right is it not?

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    But again let's just notice but a couple of things about 2 Kings chapter 2. The record says verse 11. It came to pass as they still went on and talked that behold there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and part of them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

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    And Elisha saw it and he cried. My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. And so we're told that Elijah was removed. He was removed somewhere, brothers and sisters. But it certainly wasn't to heaven.

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    In fact you see what happened later on in the verse, in the chapter. Verse 17 says that they urged Elisha to send out a search party. But verse 17 says they sent therefore 50 men and sought for him three days. But oh, they didn't find him. They didn't find him because he'd been removed by God.

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    But he hadn't gone to heaven, had he, brothers and sisters. He'd gone to the kingdom of Judah. Because eight years later Elijah's in Judah busy writing a letter to the king. Is he not? 2 Chronicles chapter 21 verses 12 to 15. He was removed from one place to another. And it wasn't to heaven.

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    He was removed to start another stage of his labours. As was Philip, by the way. So the power of God was easily capable of physically removing his witnesses to another physical location should he choose to do so. And I think that's what happened to Enoch. But in his case, his removal was the precursor to his death.

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    So coming back to Hebrews, because there's one little bit not yet considered. So if that is the case, then what did these words mean in Hebrews 11 and verse 5 when it says, By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death. Does that mean that he would not experience mortality itself?

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    Or that he would not see a death that threatened him in some direct and personal way? And I think the context suggests the latter, does it not? It's not a suggestion that he would escape mortality. But he would not see the prospect of a violent death that loomed up large in the face of Lamech boasting retribution against him.

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    That death he would not see was translated so that he wouldn't see it. Do you know why we know that's correct, brothers and sisters? Well, because Hebrews 11 says so, doesn't it? Hebrews 11 says, verse 4, by faith Abel. Verse 5, by faith Enoch. Verse 7, by faith Noah. Verse 8, by faith Abraham.

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    Verse 11, through faith Sarah. Verse 13, these all. Enoch died in faith. And Enoch is among those described as dying in faith in this chapter. Death was their common destiny despite their faith. So Enoch died, but he was also translated. Well, that takes us back to Genesis chapter 5. Because we did just happen to omit a couple of matters so that we could come back and examine them at the end of the story.

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    Genesis chapter 5 said in verse 24, these words. And Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. So like Elijah and Philip, he was relocated. But what is interesting, brothers and sisters, is that verse 23 says, In all the days of Enoch were 360 and 5 years. Now, the thing about that is that those years are very, very short.

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    Enoch not only saw death, but he saw a very early death. He was laid on sleep early. See verse 20, this is his father. All the days of Jared were 960 and 2 years and he died. And here's Enoch's son, Methuselah, verse 27. All the days of Methuselah were 969 years and he died.

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    Do you know that those two, Jared 962 and Methuselah 969, are the two longest lifespans in the genealogy of Genesis chapter 5. And in between them, verse 23, all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch's is the shortest. By far the shortest. He's the only one of his line who's dead before him is, in fact, Adam himself.

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    Every other generation beyond Adam was alive after Enoch. And the reason that Genesis gives is really the equivalent in Hebrews 11, is it not? Because it says here, verse 24, Enoch walked with God and was not. And that's like Hebrews 11, for before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God.

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    And so here in Genesis, that testimony that he pleased God, here in both verse 22 and verse 24, is that Enoch walked with God. And so for Enoch to be removed from the scene before his predecessors suggests a special relationship that he had with God and that his removal was a merciful provision in the face of an ungodly and a violent world.

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    So he was first taken away to a safe place. And then his life was mercifully shortened. It's interesting, isn't it, brothers and sisters, we don't tend to see that perspective, do we?

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    We all struggle against the idea of, why should my life be shortened? I want it. But you see, in the greater picture of God's purpose, that that can be a merciful provision. In fact, there is a Bible passage that seems to have strange overturns of Enoch. If you come to Isaiah chapter 57, I think this helps to set it in context, you see.

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    To take away a man's life is not necessarily a punishment. It depends on what the man might be facing. So here it is, Isaiah 57, verses 1 and 2. And I think this was a very good explanation of what happened to Enoch, in terms of why God prematurely took his life away early.

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    It says, Isaiah 57, verse 1. The righteous, Roderham says the righteous one. The righteous one perisheth, and no man layeth at the heart, and merciful men are taken away. None considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace. Which I think is the equivalent of Genesis 15, verse 15.

94. 39:45

    Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. They shall rest in their beds, each one walking in their uprightness. And that bed upon which they rest is the sleep of death, brothers and sisters. But they rest in peace, because they've walked before God uprightly. Isn't that exactly what Enoch had done? And so God took him.

95. 40:02

    And he placed him in the article of death as a merciful provision, that he might not see what was coming. And I think we've got another illustration of that, have we not, in the second of Chronicles, in chapter 34, in the days of Josiah. Because second Chronicles chapter 34 said that, Holder the prophetess uttered these words concerning the king.

96. 40:24

    Distraught though he was, at the impending calamities that would come upon the nation. He was told this, 2nd Chronicles 34, verses 27 and 28. Holder said, Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humblest thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes and weep before me, I have even heard thee also, saith Yahweh.

97. 40:54

    Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace. Neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So Josiah was removed in the providence of God, so as not to see the apostasy of his sons, or the ensuing overthrow of Judah.

98. 41:28

    Wasn't that God's mercy, brothers and sisters? And Enoch, we suggest, was removed so as not to see the unfolding evil of Lamech, and so that he might not see the developing apostasy of the seed of the woman, and so that he might not see the impending judgment of God upon all the earth.

99. 41:47

    It was not God's judgment upon his men, it was the measure of his mercy. Because when Enoch awakes, the Lord will come with 10,000 of his saints to execute the judgment written, and it will be like the blink of an eye, and Enoch will be there. So God took him.

100. 42:05

     God took him. He was the agency of Enoch's early death. It was a work of divine providence. And perhaps, like Moses, oh now where's that? Deuteronomy chapter 34, perhaps like Moses, brothers and sisters, he was laid in a resting place known only to the Almighty.

101. 42:46

     So Deuteronomy 34, in verses 5 and 6 say, So Moses, the servant of Yahweh, died, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Yahweh, and he buried him in a valley, in the land of Moab, over against Beth Peol. But no man knoweth of his sepulchre, unto this day.

102. 43:06

     So actually, to be true, we ought to say that Moses was not. Shouldn't we? Because no one knew where he was, no one found the grave, and just as no one ever found the grave of Moses, so no one ever found the grave of Enoch, God took him, and he was not.

103. 43:29

     But in those very matters, the providence of God was seen, in mercy upon his faithful servant. You see, God knew where he was all along. And God knows where all of us are, brothers and sisters.

104. 43:50

     God knows where we are every day. God knows what's in our hearts, and in our minds. He knows whether we are standing for the truth, or not. He knows whether we are taking vengeance, or leaving it to him.

105. 44:13

     We all live under the shadow, of God's watchful eye. And in that, we ought to find a comfort, brothers and sisters, that just as Enoch, will be raised, to a place of honour in the kingdom, so the Father's hand, might guide us all safely, towards that end.

106. 44:34

     It's like a hymn that we have that says, The Lord will be a refuge, to the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know, that know thy name, shall put their trust, in thee.

107. 45:06

     Do they know thy name, Do they know thy name, Do they know thy name, you