The story of Enoch in the Bible is one that enjoyed much reference
with regards to being obedient or committed to the things of God. He is seen by
many as one whose faith level got him to avoid death. This is so because of how
it rendered in versions of the Bible. But there seems to be a contradiction when
you consider what Jesus said in John 3:13:
“No
one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of
Man.”
If no
man had been to heaven what happened to Enoch and what about Elijah? Could
Jesus be mistaken?
Jesus
could not be mistaken. The son of man from heaven definitely knew what he was
saying. Therefore there must be something that we are missing.
Now lets
start from the famous hall of faith in Hebrews 11:5
"By
faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not
found, because God had translated him:"
I think
the answer lies in vs 13:
"These
all died in faith, not having received the promises"
Please
note that it says that all men mentioned in that chapter including “Enoch”
died.
Let
us examine the bold phrase in Genesis 5:24, where it says, "And Enoch
walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" and compare the
same Hebrew phrase in other scriptures to see what it means.
“He
was not”
Lets see
this phrase as it appears in other places in scripture.
Psalms
37:36, "Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him,
but he could not be found."
Psalms
39:13, "O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be
no more."
The
Hebrew for the phrases in bold are the same Hebrew as Genesis 5:24. As
in the Psalms, the phrase means the person "passed away" or would
eventually die. Let’s look at the same phrase in the book of Genesis:
Genesis
42:13, "And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one
man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our
father, and one is not."
The
phrase means one thing; He died.
So
what does the phrase "should not see death" mean?
Remember
that Jesus said in " John 8:51, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a
man keep my saying, he shall never see death" obviously this does
not mean that the believer will die physically.
In the
context and timeline of Enoch existence, there was a death that he did not see.
This death was a judgmental one on the earth in Noah’s time.
It was
the judgment on the earth when it was flooded with waters that destroyed all
flesh except Noah and his family. Remember another person that did not see the
death just before it happened when Methuselah. He died in the year just before
the flood.
But
what about his translation in Hebrews 11:5? The Bible does not say that Enoch
went to heaven when he was translated. Instead, it says he "was not
found."
This does
not in any way suggest that Enoch was the first to taste rapture as some would
say.
According
to Strong's, Thayer's and Bullinger's Greek Lexicons, "translate"
means "to put or place in another place, to transport, to transfer." Nowhere
in the Scripture does ‘translate’ mean to make immortal!
See Colossians
1:13:
“Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his
dear Son:”
A
similar incident to Elijah's took place in Acts 8:39,40. Phillip was caught up
into the first heaven, as Elijah was, and was transported to another location
approximately 30 miles away. Another similar incident happened to Ezekiel, in
which the spirit took him away (Ezekiel 3:12).
Enoch
died in faith but did not receive the promise because it was to be bestowed on
the seed, Jesus. They prayed for it, longed for it but it did appear in their
time because it was to be in the fullness of time. The hall of faith in Hebrews gives us a list of men who tasted faith before and after the law was introduced so that the Hebrews would understand that true perfection was not available to them until faith in person came.
Now we are in that time and
age where God will continuously demonstrate his goodness and kindness towards
us because we are the offsprings of His love. Halleluyah!
