Genesis 4:25-26. 25And [Eve] bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Have you ever done something so bad that you were pretty sure God would never forgive you?
After Adam and Eve sinned and then Cain killed Abel, you would think that God would never forgive us humans. But, of course, he does. Why? Because God is so loving and so forgiving that he will never give up on us no matter how bad we become.
That’s why, after Abel died, God gave Eve a new baby boy named Seth. Our verse says that Seth and his descendants would call upon the name of the Lord. That means that, unlike Cain’s descendants, they trusted God. Cain’s family will keep going, and they will do some amazing things. They invented everything from metals to musical instruments. But they would also stop worshiping God.
But Seth and his family would keep worshiping and trusting God. One of the most famous descendants of Seth was a man named Enoch. Listen to how Enoch is described in Genesis 5:
Genesis 5:21-24. 21When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
The godly family of Seth worshiped God, belonged to God, and was known by name by God, but even they could not escape death. Adam had a son named Seth. Seth had a son named Enosh. Enosh had a son named Kenan. Kenan had a son named Mahalalel. Mahalalel had a son named Jared. And all six of these men died. But then Jared had a son named Enoch. And guess what? Enoch didn’t die. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Twice the Bible says that Enoch walked with God. That means that he loved and trusted God with his whole life. Was he perfect? Nope. But he was faithful. And his faith pleased God. It pleased God so much that God just brought him home to Heaven without having to die first. Here’s how the New Testament book of Hebrews describes it:
Hebrews 11:5. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
Why did God do this? Why did God let Enoch skip death and go straight to Heaven? God was showing us his power over death. Yes, everyone sins and everyone deserves to die, including Enoch. But God has the power over sin and death. Our sin does not have to keep us away from God. If we trust in him and his promise to save us, if we call on the name of the Lord like the family of Seth did, we will be saved from our sin and from death.
Have you done that? Have you called on the name of the Lord to save you? Do you have faith in Jesus, the descendant of Seth and Enoch? Jesus the better Enoch who always lived by faith and never sinned? If you have, then you too will be taken to be with God forever, living with him in his new kingdom on Earth.
Until that day when we live with God on a new Earth, we can live for God on Earth right now. With Jesus we can walk with God like Enoch did, trusting God and loving others.
Questions: Do you belong to God? How do you know? What do you think it means to “walk with God like Enoch did?”
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