In leading the Genesis follow-up classes to the “Reading the Bible Effectively Seminar”, the question inevitably came up “Whatever happened to Enoch?”
Since only 12 Bible students are m our group, it was practical to run it as a seminar with interactive participation. The class was invited to give its answer to the question Three main ideas quickly surfaced
- That God took Enoch away to heaven and he never died.
- That he was removed to some other planet in the universe and lives as a mortal there until the day of Christ’s return.
- God removed him to a remote location on earth and he is still living there, perhaps in seclusion, and will continue living isolated (but mortal) until the day of judgment.
A teaching opportunity
We have to admit that the Bible does not say much about Enoch, but the subject does provide us with an excellent opportunity to make it clear we should not make a text say more than is really there Furthermore, it gives us a way of showing how we can reasonably interpret scripture by scripture even for difficult passages Finally, it is an unambiguous way of demonstrating how any interpretation of a passage must be consistent with principles espoused elsewhere in the Bible
Some of the above three suppositions no doubt arise from the recent popular craze concerning life, and in particular alien life, elsewhere in the universe Whether or not such exists may be problematical, but it certainly is not a subject that need concern the Bible student Scripture makes it obvious all that is necessary for our salvation is contained within its pages and the ultimate reward is here on earth “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s but the earth hath he given to the children of men” (Psa 115:16).
Not in heaven
Let us consider each of these ideas in turn.
The first one, namely that Enoch was taken to heaven by God, contradicts several direct Bible passages For example, the Lord Jesus Christ taught “No man hath ascended up to heaven” (John 3 13) This, coupled with the Psalm 115 16 passage cited above, should be sufficient to kill the first and second suppositions.
The third idea is a little harder to disprove, but again direct reference to relevant passages should make clear that is also impossible All three propositions rest on the premise that either Enoch has already been glorified and made immortal, or that he is still alive ma mortal state somewhere removed from human society and awaits his reward Let us consider each of these alternatives.
Enoch is not glorified
Is it possible that Enoch is already glorified? The apostle Paul taught the Corinthians concerning the resurrection and reward of eternal life “But every man in his own order Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (I Cor 15:23)
If Christ is the firstfruits then it is impossible for Enoch to already have received immortality
These all died
Now what of the possibility of his still being mortal and alive for thousands of years awaiting final glorification when Christ returns? Here we need look no further than Paul’s comments in the same chapter in his first letter to Corinth “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Cor 15 22) The text is clear, all in Adam die — even Christ? Enoch was in Adam All in Christ shall be made alive The passage is obviously in the future tense so Enoch could not receive his reward until Christ comes, nor could he still be alive somewhere (anywhere)
The mortality of Enoch is further evidenced by the passage m Hebrews which speaks of his faith “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” (Heb 11:5) The NW, instead of us-mg the word “translated,” says that he was “taken from this life” Both Bible translations make it clear, however, that whatever being “translated” or “taken from this life” might mean what actually happened to Enoch is made certain a few verses later in the chapter (consistently with other texts cited above) He died This is proven by Hebrews 11:13 “These all died m faith, not having received the promises “
All these people were still living by faith when they died “They did not receive the things promised” (NIV)
What did happen?
The above scriptural evidence should be sufficient to prove that we shouldn’t read into Bible stones fanciful ideas that aren’t supported consistently by the rest of the Bible But we still haven’t satisfied the student with a positive answer to the question posed about Enoch.
If Enoch wasn’t glorified, didn’t go to heaven, isn’t still alive hidden somewhere on earth, or on another planet out in the far reaches of the universe — what then does the passage mean?
One possibility is that Enoch was spared from seeing the massive death and destruction brought on by the flood in the days of Noah. But it also must be admitted that this is a supposition not clearly supported by scripture (though not contradicted, either).
Another more plausible explanation lies in the story of Melchisedec. He was both King and High Priest. The Genesis record never mentions either his birth or death and the writer of Hebrews clearly tells us this is a “type” (“similitude” or “likeness”) of Christ (cf Heb. 7:15). The record in the book of Hebrews says, in speaking of Melchisedec, that he was: “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually” (Heb.7:3). It is clear from the context (v. 15) that this is an allegory. The Genesis record hence omitted this information about Melchisedec so that his story would serve as a “type” of the priesthood of Christ.
In other words, the lack of mention of his birth or death was deliberate to emphasize the “type”, but, in fact, should not be taken literally. Having explained this earlier in Hebrews, the author of this book probably felt no need to emphasize this again in describing the “type” of Enoch (Heb. 11:5).
Hence, the fact that Genesis 5 does not record the death of Enoch cannot be understood as meaning Enoch never died. (In fact it is always dangerous to argue from what is not said!) Instead it appears that any mention of Enoch’s death is intentionally omitted, as certain details were in the case of Melchisedec, to emphasize another characteristic of the eventual Messiah — “walking with God” would lead to “life” in its fullest sense even as “sin” sentenced us to death.
Conclusion
It is important to emphasize that not a single Bible passage supports directly or indirectly any of the three suppositions originally proposed. Most erroneous doctrine comes from sources outside the scriptures with later attempts to either read into passages what isn’t there or to cite selections out of context. If the Bible student can be made aware of this in the case of Enoch, it will be easier to develop a respect for interpreting scripture solely by scripture.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One