Surprises in Genesis Chapters 1–5
Hope to Escape Death
“Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took him away.” (Genesis 5:24 [NET])
Ben and Nathanial conversed over the deeper issues of life during their Saturday morning breakfast. Ben, entangled in pleasurable conversations with a female co-worker, spoke of neglecting intimate discussions with his wife. Nathanial shamefully hung his head as he recalled words he had shouted at his son that morning—“Can’t you do anything right?!” Both men confided in the other knowing the conversation stayed between them. Their non-judgemental, close friendship bound them as brothers.
Close relationships are also found in Genesis, beginning with Adam and God. Soon after the creation account, sin enters when Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, causing inter-human relationship strife. Adam’s descendants continue in sin when Cain murders his younger brother Abel, disobeying God’s command to be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28). Genesis chapter 4 presents a partial genealogy of Cain. Cain’s first son is Enoch (Gen 4:17). By the end of the partial genealogy, Eve gives birth to Seth, to replace Abel (Gen 4:26). And then men call on the Lord (Gen 4:26). Cain’s line was not calling on the Lord. The line of Cain, including the first Enoch, did not follow God.
The line of Seth comes in Genesis chapter 5. The written account of Seth’s line records an intentional pattern. A break in the pattern in ancient literature emphasizes a point and a glittering gem arises in the mundane! Our second and third treasures are found in Genesis chapter 5, in the list of descendants from Adam to Noah. Moses uses the following intentional pattern in Seth’s lineage—a person lived x number of years, had a son, had other sons and daughters, lived a total of y years, and died—pretty boring, especially when we don’t recognize the names. Even though death is the penalty for sin, with the second Enoch, seventh from Adam, a broken pattern emerges. The Bible does not say Enoch, in the line of Seth, died. Instead, Enoch walked with God, as the author mentions twice (Gen 5:22, 24). The double reference presents the point that Enoch did not suffer the penalty of death for sin. The same walking with God phrase, first written in Genesis with Adam in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:8), will be referenced again later with Noah (Gen 6:9). Enoch, instead of dying, “disappeared because God took him away” (Gen 5:24 [NET]). The author of Hebrews also records this important event with Enoch (Heb 11:5).
Enoch was an exception to the norm. Not only did Enoch have a close relationship with God, he also did not die. The broken pattern with Enoch, as W. R. Bowie writes, is “like a single brilliant star above the earthy record of this chapter.” [1] This dazzling gem speaks of intimacy with God. A close relationship with God forms with the children of God, who also receive a rich inheritance waiting in heaven. When we deserved the penalty of death for our sin, Jesus came to take our place by dying on the cross as the sinless substitutionary sacrifice that provides eternal life with God. Christ invites the believer, made a new creation in Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, into a union with himself. Now we maintain our close relationship with God, just as Enoch brilliantly shone in the mundane as a foreshadow that death will be no more for those who walk with God.
[1] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, ed. Art Farstad, 2nd ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 40.
References
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