Hebrews 11:5, 6
The Hall of Faith — Enoch, Walking By Faith
In part 2 we will study the life of Enoch and what it means to walk by faith and to please God in our daily lives.
1. Read Hebrews 11:5. What happened to Enoch because of his faith in God? Genesis 5:24
2. Why was Enoch translated by God to heaven? Genesis 5:24
3. In order for us to be translated to heaven when Jesus returns the second time, we must walk with God as Enoch did. Generally, when two people walk together, they talk at the same time (Luke 24:13-27; Deuteronomy 6:7). Based on these points, what was Enoch constantly doing? 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Luke 18:1
Patriarchs and Prophets, 85: …To him prayer was as the breath of the soul; he lived in the very atmosphere of heaven. {PP 85.4}
4. Prayer was an essential part of Enoch’s spiritual experience. How must we pray and walk with God? 2 Corinthians 5:7
5. What will Jesus be looking for on the earth when He returns? Luke 18:8
6. According to Luke 18:8 and Revelation 14:12, Jesus will be looking for a people who exemplify faith when He returns. What did the widow keep doing before the unjust judge in the parable of Luke 18? Luke 18:3-5
Note: The parable of the widow and unjust judge shows us that God wants us to continually pray to Him and lay before Him our prayer requests. However, many of us become discouraged in our prayer lives when we do not see immediate answers to our prayers, and instead of being earnest in prayer, we faint spiritually and give up. We must pattern our lives after Enoch and the widow in Luke 18, who continually came before God in prayer until their faith became sight.
After walking with God throughout his life, Enoch was able to see God in heaven. What kind of character did Enoch have? Matthew 5:8
7. Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Since God is pure and Enoch walked with God, Enoch’s life was also pure. In contrast, what is said about the hearts of men during the time in which Enoch lived? Genesis 6:5
8. What hope can we draw from Enoch’s life as we live amidst wickedness in these last days? Philippians 2:13, 15
9. As Enoch walked with God, he became God’s messenger to the wicked world just before the Flood. What kind of message did Enoch preach as a warning to men? Jude 14-15
Patriarchs and Prophets, 86: He was a fearless reprover of sin. While he preached the love of God in Christ to the people of his time, and pleaded with them to forsake their evil ways, he rebuked the prevailing iniquity and warned the men of his generation that judgment would surely be visited upon the transgressor. It was the Spirit of Christ that spoke through Enoch; that Spirit is manifested, not alone in utterances of love, compassion, and entreaty; it is not smooth things only that are spoken by holy men. God puts into the heart and lips of His messengers truths to utter that are keen and cutting as a two-edged sword.” {PP 86.2}
10. Read Genesis 5:22. What life event caused Enoch to walk more earnestly with God?
Patriarchs and Prophets, 84:…But after the birth of his first son, Enoch reached a higher experience; he was drawn into a closer relationship with God. He realized more fully his own obligations and responsibility as a son of God. And as he saw the child’s love for its father, its simple trust in his protection; as he felt the deep, yearning tenderness of his own heart for that first-born son, he learned a precious lesson of the wonderful love of God to men in the gift of His Son, and the confidence which the children of God may repose in their heavenly Father.” {PP 84.3}
Note: The object lessons that Enoch learned as he raised his son became evidence of the existence and love of God, who is unseen (Hebrews 11:1). Enoch’s relationship with his son taught him about the relationship that God wants to have with us, His children. The more responsibilities Enoch had, the more prayerful and faithful he was to God.
“In the midst of a life of active labor, Enoch steadfastly maintained his communion with God. The greater and more pressing his labors, the more constant and earnest were his prayers.” {PP 86.4}
11. Some people believe that Enoch only began to walk with God after the birth of his son, but this is not true. Which son of Adam was Enoch a descendant of? Genesis 5:3, 6
12. What does the Bible say about the descendants of Seth? Genesis 4:26
Note: In the lineage of Seth, faithfulness to God was passed down from generation to generation. Enoch’s parents, grandparents, and forefathers taught him how to have an abiding relationship with God. This means that parents and grandparents have a solemn responsibility to teach their children about God in order to fit them to live pure lives and to be citizens of heaven. Read Deuteronomy 6:6-7 & Proverbs 22:6.
13. Read Hebrews 11:5 again and focus on the last phrase. What did the record of Enoch’s life testify?
14. Before we are translated to heaven, we must also have the testimony that our lives please God. Practically, what does it mean to please God?
a) 1 Kings 3:7-12
Answer: Solomon’s prayer pleased God. He saw himself like a child, totally dependent on God for guidance and wisdom, and he didn’t ask for wealth or fame. We must also humbly come before God in prayer, fully dependent and submitted to Him without selfishly motivated desires.
b) Psalm 40:13; Romans 8:8-9
c) 2 Timothy 2:4, 22
d) Hebrews 13:15-16
e) Isaiah 56:4; Deuteronomy 4:13
15. Connected with these outward works, what ingredient is essential to please God? Hebrews 11:6
16. When we come to God, what must we believe? Hebrews 11:6
17. Like Enoch, as we diligently seek God, what will He do for us?
a) Proverbs 8:17; Jeremiah 29:12-14
b) 2 Chronicles 7:14; Isaiah 55:6-7
c) Amos 5:4; Psalm 40:16
18. As we close, meditate on the following statement about Enoch’s faithful life on earth and draw encouragement for your own life.
Testimonies for the Church Vol. 2, 121: We are living in an evil age. The perils of the last days thicken around us. Because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold. Enoch walked with God three hundred years. Now the shortness of time seems to be urged as a motive to seek righteousness. Should it be necessary that the terrors of the day of God be held before us in order to compel us to right action? Enoch’s case is before us. Hundreds of years he walked with God. He lived in a corrupt age, when moral pollution was teeming all around him; yet he trained his mind to devotion, to love purity. His conversation was upon heavenly things. He educated his mind to run in this channel, and he bore the impress of the divine. His countenance was lighted up with the light which shineth in the face of Jesus. Enoch had temptations as well as we. He was surrounded with society no more friendly to righteousness than is that which surrounds us. The atmosphere he breathed was tainted with sin and corruption, the same as ours; yet he lived a life of holiness. He was unsullied with the prevailing sins of the age in which he lived. So may we remain pure and uncorrupted. He was a representative of the saints who live amid the perils and corruptions of the last days. For his faithful obedience to God he was translated. So, also, the faithful, who are alive and remain, will be translated. They will be removed from a sinful and corrupt world to the pure joys of heaven. {2T 121.1}