By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: "He could not be found, because God had taken him away." For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:5-6)
Enoch is someone we know next to nothing about. His life is covered in a couple short verses in Genesis. However, we do know a few things. In Genesis 5, he is listed as the 7th individual in a genealogy of 10 people that ends with Noah. 7 and 10 are important numbers in Hebrew reckoning: both conveying a sense of "completeness." 7 gaining its importance from the 7 days of God's completed Creation and 10 from the number of commandments. Genealogies are often elongated or contracted to ensure that the places of honour of the 7th and 10th spots are given to significant individuals. So it is with Enoch and Noah who both wind up in our list here in Hebrews 11.
Enoch is described in Genesis 5 as one who "walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." This scant bit of information plus the allusion to Enoch being the only person besides Elijah who did not taste death led to all sorts of speculation and superstitions about Enoch by the time the book of Hebrews was written. The Book of Enoch (not written by Enoch, but a whole tradition of made-up stories about him) was already old and well known by this point.
Yet the writer of Hebrews does not engage in wild fantasies about the Nephilim, angels, watchers, and the like (as all this other Jewish superstition around Enoch did). Instead, the writer of Hebrews drags the story of Enoch from other-worldly fantasy and grounds it back in everyday, ordinary faith of the sort Pastor Michael talked about yesterday.
The story of Enoch is rather simple according to Hebrews: Enoch pleased God. Without faith, this is impossible. Therefore Enoch had faith. Nothing more, nothing less.
But we can still learn something from Enoch, says the author: we can take up this same simple faith of just the sort we've been talking about here so far. Faith believes that an invisible God really does exist, and not only that he exists, but also that he acts in the affairs of human history, "rewarding those who earnestly seek him." The writer of Hebrews does not mean rewards like nice jobs, houses, and boats, nor is he necessarily talking about eternal life. In Enoch's case, the reward was not having to face death and entering more fully into God's presence.
Most of us will probably still have to face death, but if we look back to what the writer might mean by God's rewards—we see it does indeed look a lot like that second thing: entering more fully into God's presence. God's reward according to Hebrews is "rest." The promise is that we might enter God's rest. It is a place of mercy, peace, and a permanent 7th-day Sabbath rest with God. If you remember, Enoch is the representative of this 7th day Sabbath rest as the holder of that 7th spot in the Genesis genealogy.
Amid all our toil and cares in this world—this sort of rest in the presence of God is very much what we hope for. Rest from our labours. Rest from our misery and suffering. Rest from our fears. Faith—like the faith of Enoch—is confidence in just that sort of thing: "confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." A place of rest in God's presence for each of us who earnestly seek God in faith.
As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you.
May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
