by David Chadwick
So many hidden heroes are found in Scripture. Big and small. Young and old. All of whom played tremendously significant roles in God’s story.
Enoch. He is today’s hidden hero.
We only know what a few verses in the Bible tell us about him. Let’s take a look.
Genesis 5:22-24 says of Enoch, “Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”
Why was Enoch so special? Well, he was extremely faithful to God. He walked by faith and because of that, “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” (Hebrews 11:5). Then Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “For without faith it is impossible to please God.” So, obviously Enoch was a man of deep faith.
Noah’s days were filled with wickedness and unrighteousness. But Enoch was lifted out of those dark days. Enoch never faced death. He had a kind of rapture-type event that almost seemed to be a reward from God to Enoch. Enoch neither had to face life’s last enemy called death, nor did he have to live in the terribly unrighteous days of that time. He is most certainly one of my hidden heroes!
What is the meaning for us? We, too, should passionately pursue righteousness. Walk closely in communion with God. Seek to be people of deep faith.
I want to know God and abide in him. I want to walk with him closely and see him clearly. I pray that anyone under the sound of my voice develops a rich history of walking with God like that of Enoch.
For those who believe in a rapture like what Enoch experienced, this story serves as a display of the hope that is coming. If the rapture is true, followers of Jesus will never have to face death and the wrath of God that will be poured out one day, and will immediately meet the Lord in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:18).