The Perfect Number

Genesis 5:21-24

Enoch – Part iii

The Talk and The Endless Walk

— ENOCH- Genesis 5:21-24 —

And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: (Genesis 5:21)

And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (Genesis 5:22)

And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: (Genesis 5:23)

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:24)

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. (Hebrews 11:5)

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 1:14 and 15)

   And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:24) As they walked together there had to be a conversation. Can you imagine walking and talking with God face to face?  What was the conversation? What could this human possible speak about, and what would the Almighty Creator of all things communicate to a fleeting speck of dust, a dry scrap of transient clay? From Scripture we get a glimpse of what the Creator shares with His creatures. This is recorded in Luke 24:27 as the words from the Lord Jesus Christ, And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27)

   The Bible has many themes, it has many categories, and it has many topics, but it has one main purpose, and that is to reveal God to mankind. It is about GOD!No other book could possibly have the intent of revealing an invisible power through a visible manifestation of the invisible. Mankind isn’t that smart, it is only God through His Spirit who could pen the words to reveal what cannot be seen, to communicate with words that cannot be fully transmitted through words to creatures limited by their DNA of sin.

   From the book of Jude we are able to see the circle completed in the man called Dedicated (Enoch). He prophesied of the future to happen when Christ comes to earth in the fullness of His judgment. The points that are evident to us in Jude 1:14 and 15 are that Christ (the Lord) will come. He has promised to come once again, and He is guaranteed to come, and He will not come alone, but with ten thousands of his saints.  And when He comes with His saints it will be for the purpose to execute judgment upon all, and to convince and to convict all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds.

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)

To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard [speeches] which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 1:5)

How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. (Jude 1:8)

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 1:14 and 15)

   In the Old Testament (in the book of Genesis penned by Moses and written by the Spirit of God) we are first introduced to Enoch, and yet, it is in the New Testament (in the book of Jude the last book before the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ) that Enoch’s message is revealed. We finally understand what Enoch said to his generation. Enoch preached that a judgment was coming against the ungodly. He preached about the Lord God coming to earth accompanied with ten thousands of his saints. He preached about death and life, resurrection, and salvation. This message began in Genesis and it has never changed. We do not read that he preached about social issues, or attempted to better the world, or spoke about the achievements of humanity. The emphasis in Jude 1:15 is on ungodliness. In this section of Scripture the word ‘ungodly’ is enforced four (4) times because the whole world (the number 4) was saturated with evil (ungodliness), the whole population of this planet denied God, not only in the existence of their Creator, but denied His rights and sovereignty over them. Also, the word ‘ungodly’ is recorded six (6) (six, the number of man) times in the book of Jude emphasizing man’s true state and moral condition.

   Enoch was dedicated to the message that God had given to him to speak: God is Lord over all, He is Creator and He judges sin. His message was one of warning, obviously, but they did not take heed to this message. Enoch was a prophet, preacher, and a witness of the greatness of God. This was the first message from God through His prophet to the first earthly world that existed. And this should be the same message to the last earthly world: a message of warning of an approaching judgment.

    Enoch was not only a prophet, and a preacher, but he was also the evidence to his world of the existence of another world, a world of the unseen, for God took him out of the world of the seen. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

   Unlike those who searched for Elijah when God visibly carried him away into His presence, we do not find any mention of anyone attempting to search for Enoch. I find that very strange indeed. We should consider two reasons: either Enoch was seen by others as he was changed in a second of time, or either no one cared that the messenger of judgment was finally gone and would no longer disturb their political and social lives of lies and delusion.

   I just love how God the Holy Spirit uses details, He is very explicit in words, and numbers for there is a meaning in all. Enoch was the seventh from Adam. Why is this important? Enoch, the seventh, was changed (translated) into God’s rest. Enoch was taken out of time and in a twinkling of an eye he was in a place without time: eternity. What Enoch experienced, we too (those who are bought by the blood of Christ) will also experience, maybe and most probably through death, or through translation, in either manner our change will come.

Side Note: <<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. (Psalm 19:1-3)　

Creation witnesses to us of God. This witness is all around us, except many are blind not only to the very basics of their survival, but to the extreme goodness of God right in their faces, and right under their noses. The evidence of resurrection, new birth, and an unseen world is there, here, over there, up there, under there, and humanity is held captive by a picture on a screen. So I will use pictures on a screen  to try to crack the coma that too many live in.

God has given us many examples in creation of ‘the change.’ One example is the action of metamorphosis that happens when the wormlike caterpillar turns into an adult butterfly. Is this not a picture of death, resurrection, and a new life as a new creature?

   In the book of Job (considered the oldest book in Scripture even before the writing of Moses) the Spirit of God introduced us to ‘the change,’ or the translation.

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. (Job 14:14)

Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21)

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:49)

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: (Job 19:26)

The Change – The Translation

Enoch

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:24)

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. (Hebrews 11:5)

Four times in Scripture the Translation is mentioned

 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13)

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. (Hebrews 11:5)

The Change – A Mystery No Longer

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20) Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21)

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:49)

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:50)

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:51)

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53)

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:54)

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55)

   What does God the Holy Spirit show us about God in Genesis 5: 21-24? What God begins in Scripture He develops and continues to teach, it is line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. Enoch is removed from this earth, and in such simplistic terms, Enoch is seen walking with God, and then he was not; for God took him. Wow — God knows His audience that at that point in time and through most of our history, mankind could not possible deal with what Enoch experienced. We have ‘walking with God,’ then ‘he was not,’ for ‘God took him.’ Man (one who pleased God) was taken from one existence into another existence in a second of time. He did not experience death. God overcame death. It is thousands and thousands of years later that God the Holy Spirit through His scribe, the apostle Paul, recorded, Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. God reveals the victory over death because this revelation had to wait until the Victor over death had fought and won His battle on the cross of Calvary. God is the center of all Scripture, and all revolves around Him, the Godhead bodily, and the Son of His love who is the express image of the Godhead bodily.

   The seventh from Adam (Enoch) experienced the change. He was moved out of time into a timeless state. It is here that I cannot go any further because I cannot understand a state without time. Scripture fills in many things about the timeless state, I can read the words, and to some extent comprehend the words, but to really understand it, of course not, but I believe it because the faith of Christ gives the capability to believe that which I cannot see, and to believe that which I cannot explain. And in this I rest. And in this we enter into what Enoch entered into: the rest of God, the rest in God, the rest through God, and the rest by God.

Where Did God Take Enoch?

   Enoch walked with God, and pleased God, and God took him into His rest. Everything that Enoch endured, and enjoyed was but a type of what all those who followed (who walked in the way with God) would not only endure, but would also enjoy. The seventh from Adam, (Enoch) would be to all saints as a point in time to see, and to appreciate what God has planned for them who walk with Him. God gave us an example of how He would (in the far, far future) remove His people out of this world without the pains of death, and translate them into His kingdom: a rest, a place of rest, a place of substance and peace, a place invisible and unseen by the dark side of the souls in turmoil and toil of the visible. For God is Rest, as the Holy Spirit introduced us to God’s rest on the seventh day in Genesis Chapter 2:1-3, He introduces us to the complete and perfect Person to rest in, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is from this section of Scripture (Genesis 2:1-3) that the number seven is first seen as the divine perfection of completeness in that God recorded, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (Genesis 2:1) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (Genesis 2:2) And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:3) His work of creation was over, and He rested, however, His work as Creator was not over, and the work of His redemptive plan was about to begin. 

   The seventh from Adam not only experienced change, but he is experiencing the rest of God. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9) And in this we enter into what Enoch entered into: the rest of God, the rest in God, the rest through God, and the rest by God. Our God, has planned and provided for us a rest, a rest for our weary souls: a rest that will never end, a rest that will come either through death or through translation. Enoch was given to us as a promise, as a witness of a translation, as the evidence of God’s supernatural power to overcome death, to be removed in a second, a millisecond in time, into the eternal peace and rest of God. The seventh in Genesis is associated with the work of God, God our Creator, and true Rest. The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect work of God on the cross of Calvary, as the perfect Christ is the Creator, as the perfect Christ is our Rest. Christ is the perfection of the divine accomplishment of the Godhead bodily; therefore, Christ is the perfection in the number seven.

   The Lord Jesus said, Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28, 29)

   The revelation of God does not end here, but it flows as the wind on the wings of grace and truth. What more does Scripture say about the rest of God? 　

The True Rest of God

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (Genesis 2:1) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (Genesis 2:2) And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:3)

   Twice ‘rest’ is documented as a witness of a rest within the spiritual realm of the Creator. This is a rest that is outside the comprehension of natural man simply because the natural man is an inherently restless being. Man’s restive spirit can be traced back to Adam, the head of our race, the guilt of his shame and disobedience to God remains within each and every member of the human race. The natural man (the unrepentant soul) bears the guilt of sin, and he harbors a spiritual learning disability caused by sin. Constantly searching for forgiveness, and a place to relieve his guilt, mankind resorts to every unthinkable action to relieve his tortured twisted soul. Every place, that is, except the one and only place that God has provided for him. The Lord Jesus said . . . .

Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28, 29)

<<A Psalm of David.>> The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3)

Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. (Psalm 116:7)

© Copyright 2018, Mary Haigh

Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.

All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)