Enoch's Translation, did he go to heaven?
Jesus Himself said: "No man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man"
Enoch Walked With God (Gen. 5:22)
At the age of 65 Enoch had a son named Methuselah.
"And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah
three hundred years, and he begat sons and daughters"
.
Hebrews 11:6 the apostle said, "But without faith it is impossible
to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
So He obeyed God, and followed Him in His paths by faith.
Amos the prophet said: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"
The scripture says that he "walked with God after he begat Methuselah
three hundred years." So Enoch followed God's ways for three hundred years.
Moses did not record that Enoch [is still] walking with God.
"all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years" If Enoch did
not die - if he were changed to immortality - and thus continued to walk with God,
then his days would have been more than three hundred and sixty-five years.
Enoch's Translation
Moses wrote that "Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God
took him" (Gen. 5:24). Paul records the same event by saying that he
"was not found, because God had translated him" (Heb. 11:5).
That Enoch was not found because God took him, or "translated" him.
The Bible does not say that Enoch went to heaven when he was translated.
Instead it says he was not found. Certainly Enoch was "translated,"
The original Greek word for "translate" is metatithemi.
According to Arndt-Gingrich's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament,
1969 edition, the primary meaning is to "convey to another place ... transfer"
Jacob died his body was "carried over"
This same Greek word is rendered "carried over" in Acts 7:16.
Here we read that after Jacob died his body was "carried over"
- transported, translated - to Sychem where he was buried!
Jacob was transported or translated to the place of burial!
That is why Moses said that God took Enoch. God removed - translated
- him so that he was not found. God took Enoch and buried him!
In Deuteronomy 34:6 we read also how God took Moses from the people
after which he died and was buried by God. "But no man knoweth his
sepulchre unto this day." God removed Moses - God translated him - and
he was not found either!
He was taken away and was not found. All his days were three hundred
and sixty-five! That's as long as Enoch lived.
*Colossians 1:13: the Father "hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath [translated us] into the kingdom of his dear Son." Here the Bible
says that Christians are already translated - but Christians still die!
Enoch is included by Paul (in Hebrews 11) among the fathers who obtained
a good report through faith; but"these all, having obtained a good report
through faith, received not the promise" (Heb. 11:39). What promise?
The "hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began" (Titus 1:2).
Enoch and all the worthies of old will receive the promise of eternal life
at the return of Christ, the same time Christians obtain it (Heb. 11:40)
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises."
Paul tells us: Abel, Enoch, Noah, and the patriarchs and their wives. Heb 11:1-12
lists those who had faith and Enoch is included among them. Then in verse 13 Paul
proved that they had not inherited the promises by saying:
"These all [including Enoch] died in faith." But what about Paul's saying
that Enoch "should not see death"?
There is more than one death mentioned in the Bible.
There is a first death, and there is a second death (Rev. 20:6).
The first death is appointed unto men (Heb. 9:27). That death cannot
be humanly evaded. It is inevitable, and that death Enoch died.
But Paul was not writing about that death. The phrase "should not see"
is in the conditional tense of the verb, having reference to a future event.
It is not in the past tense, that he "did not see" death - but that he
"should not see death." So this death that Enoch escaped by being
translated is one that he can escape in the future on certain conditions!
In John 8:51 Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my
saying, he shall never see death" - shall never see - that is, suffer - the
second death! And again in John 11:26, "Whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die" - or "shall not die forever."
The death which Enoch should escape must be the second death which
will never touch those who are in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6).
And Enoch will be in the first resurrection because he met the conditions!
The second death shall never touch Enoch,because of his faith and obedience.
Enoch had faith. He believed God and walked with God, obeying Him.
Jesus did not speak of Himself, but spoke what the Father commanded Him.
God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony,
that he pleased God."
Enoch had faith and was translated. This translation -removal, transference
- was on condition of faith. That we read in Colossians 1:13
The Father "hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into the kingdom. of his dear Son."
This is a figurative translation - a removal or transference from the spiritual darkness
of this world tothe light of the family or Kingdom of God and Christ. In verse 10 Paul
shows that to abide in this Kingdom we must "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing."
This is exactly what Enoch did. He walked with God, and pleased God. Then Enoch,
the same as Christians, was delivered from the power of sin and darkness in which he
had been living for sixty-five years. He was removed (translated) from the ways of the
world and lived three hundred years according to God's ways so that he might inherit
eternal life at Christ's return, and should not suffer the second death.
Not only was Enoch figuratively taken from the society of his day,
but he was also literally removed -translated - so that he was not found.
God took him physically away from the people, just as He later took Moses.
And God buried each so well that neither has ever been found since!
Why Lamech's Boast?
Lamech, a descendant of Cain (not the same person listed in the genealogy
of Genesis 5), boasted to his two wives: "I have slain a man to my wounding,
and a young man to my hurt. If Cain be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech
seventy and sevenfold" (Gen. 4:23-24).
The "man"was Cain. Hence Lamech's reference to the fact that God
would take vengeance on anyone who dared to murder Cain.
But who was the "young man"? Enoch at age three hundred and sixty-five
would certainly be considered a young man by his generation.
Enoch walked with God. Furthermore, he prophesied of the coming of Christ
to execute judgment and to convict the ungodly (Jude 14-15). He was in effect
a "preacher of righteousness" (compare II Peter 2:5).
But God's message has never been popular. As a servant of God, Enoch
undoubtedly convicted and enraged many by his message. His life was in
danger. Finally that ungodly generation tolerated Enoch's preaching no longer.
By comparing Lamech's saying with the age of Enoch at his death[young man],
we may deduce from Scripture that Lamech (by himself or with a mob)
stilled Enoch's voice by murder. Don't think this strange or unusual.
Hebrew tradition reveals that Noah, the great grandson of Enoch,
had to flee for his life in order to carry out the Work of God.
(Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, book I, chapter 3, section 1, ).
Many of the greatest men of the Bible were martyred.
He was taken physically from the people just as Christians
are to be spiritually removed from the ways of this world.
God is concerned with one's physical welfare. But He is more
concerned with one's spiritual state and one's eternal life.
Like every true saint, Enoch is awaiting the hope of the resurrection
and the return of Jesus Christ, the Messiah (Jude 14, 15).
