Since the time of Adam, as recorded in Genesis 5, death has been part of human history (v. 5). And yet, it was not God’s original intention that Adam should die. Through the fall, sin brought in death to the generations of man: “Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin, death; and thus death passed on to all men because all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). From Adam’s descendants, however, there is a divergence into two distinct genealogies: Cain’s line and Seth’s line. In Cain’s line, there is no mention of death; but in Seth’s line, we see a genealogy that acknowledges a man’s life, his offspring, and his death — each man lived, begot, and died. Why is death, seemingly so negative, only recorded within the line of God’s chosen people? This genealogy serves to remind us that there is an offense of sin — death — that no one can escape; we are a race in need of salvation.
Those on Cain’s line sought to build up in the world through their own strength and power, trying everything they could to not acknowledge death, or their own mortality. Cain named his son Enoch, and even called the city he built “after the name of his son Enoch” (Gen. 4:17). Enoch’s name means “dedicated,” and is seemingly positive, but this dedication was an offering to the world — the seed of an independent civilization built by man and for the glorification of man. Yet, no matter how advanced humankind may be, we all must ultimately face judgment — death. Adam’s line through Seth tells a different story: a recognition of man’s mortality. From this recognition comes a longing for redemption from this mortal issue of death — the need to be bought, replaced, and substituted; so Enosh, Seth’s son, whose name means “frail,” or “mortal man,” was the first to practice calling on the name of Jehovah. Only when we recognize that we are weak and frail — destined to die — can we turn to salvation and return to the one true Source of life.
The great-great grandson of Enosh not only called on the name of Jehovah, but even walked with Him. Even more, this Enoch on Seth’s line was the first descendant to escape Adam’s curse and the offenses of sin, for he did not die, but rather “God took him” (Gen. 5:24). Unlike the Enoch in Cain’s genealogy in chapter 4, who built up man’s vainglory in the world, this Enoch was substantiated by something else. This Enoch escaped death by walking toward life:
And Enoch walked with God after he had begotten Methuselah three hundred years, and he begot more sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. (Gen. 5:22-24)
What does this walking entail? It is nothing other than being replaced by Christ in our life and in our living, day by day and moment by moment. The Bible tells us that, after man’s first fall, instead of enjoying God’s presence, Adam and Eve hid themselves as Jehovah God was “walking about in the garden in the cool of the day” (Gen. 3:8). Sin had become a barrier between God and man, and at the end of chapter three, we see that God drove man out from the garden of Eden, barring the way to the tree of life (v. 24). In Genesis, man lost the privilege of such an intimate presence and relationship with God. But through Enoch, we see that by recognizing our frailty and mortality and being replaced by Christ, we can once again enjoy this privilege. Walking with God is a daily experience, through which God is being incarnated in us day by day, becoming flesh in us (John 1:14). This incarnation in us is our salvation from the curse of man’s fall, and is the way to enjoy a full restoration of man’s relationship with God, giving us full access to our eternal Source of life. He is the incarnated Word becoming reality to us, giving us substance and power to walk out a testimony of the life inside of us, which is Christ. Hebrews 11 begins by saying that “faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” and goes on in verse 5 to say, “By faith Enoch was translated so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation he obtained the testimony that he had been well pleasing to God.” The key word here is “substantiation.” Enoch’s walking by faith became his substance and his constitution — a testimony. The walking is not abstract, but is something that is substantiated in reality. Through our walk, something is incarnated, and there is a fruit that is a testimony of the reality of this life walked out.
Not only that, our walk has a very specific direction. The conjunction word “with” in Genesis 5:22 can also be translated as “toward” — walking toward God. Our true power to escape death is this walking toward God Himself. This walk not only directs us to eternal life, but also pushes us to share this life by walking into the world. In Jude, we see more understanding about this Enoch unveiled: “Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain…And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied also of these, saying, Behold, the Lord came with myriads of His saints / To execute judgment against all” (v. 11, 14-15). Here we see that Enoch indeed walked with a clear direction; he preached the gospel of his age, and spoke forth the testimony of his faith. He had a precise, clear vision of the judgment to come. Every person who walks with God has the same understanding: that a new era is coming, and that we came out from Him and will return to Him — we are always walking toward God, our source of life. This is an intricate and intimate relationship hiding behind our day-to-day walk with God: walking toward the original, uncreated, eternal Life.
We don’t only walk as individual believers, but that in the same line, we are sent out into the world as a testimony. Out of Enoch’s walk with God, we see this “sending off” in his offspring, Methuselah, whose name means “man of the dart” — a powerful projectile, like a missile, sent to move a generation from one dispensation into the next. When our walk has a direction, it’s not aimless; we can be powerfully sent forth by the Lord. In the New Testament, it was in this way that Ananias was sent out to an unbeliever, Saul, and that through this sending, we can have such a critical and powerful brother as Paul in the body of Christ, serving us until today (Acts 9:17-19).
Ananias may not be considered a “great” figure in the Bible, and yet look how the Lord substantiated and sent him with power and precision! Such a brother must have had a deep, intimate relationship with the Lord. Such a relationship — such a love — drives us forward to walk on this path of eternal life. When we are specifically sent by the Lord, there is immediate strength and fruit that comes forth. It is the Lord’s intimate speaking to us that gives us this powerful walk. Our walk is an organic living that gives us a way to function as we were always meant to — calling, walking, testifying, and prophesying. For this, we are sent out. We may be mortal and weak, but through this death we have the opportunity to be restored and gain the true faith as the substantiating power. Then, this intimate, incarnated relationship between us and the Lord empowers us to be sent out and to walk toward the world with a dispensational view. Through this walking, we escape the curse of sin and death that our life can host a powerful testimony unto the age to come.
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from gatherings on 7/25/2021 & 8/1/2021, not reviewed by the speaker.)