As we already noted, Enoch (1) is a descendant of Cain, whereas Enoch (2) is a descendant of Seth.
To give us some historical perspective, here are the world’s first nine generations, from Adam to Noah:
- Adam,
- Seth,
- Enosh,
- Kenan,
- Mahalalel,
- Jared,
- Enoch,
- Methuselah,
- Lamech, and
- Noah.
As we can see, Enoch is the great-grandfather of Noah, as well as six generations removed from Adam.
Scripture tells us one detail about Enoch, and it’s significant.
Enoch does not die.
He walks faithfully with God and is taken up into heaven. We can connect his faithful walk with the fact that he bypasses death and goes directly to eternity.
Enoch is the first person in the Bible to be affirmed for his faithful walk with God.
Though it would be wrong to conclude that everyone who walks faithfully with God will skip death, moving directly from physical life on earth to eternal life in heaven, in this case it did happen.
Though Enoch is the first person to experience this, he isn’t the last. Later, Elijah will also be taken up into heaven. These two events foreshadow the resurrected body of Jesus ascending into heaven.
What should we do to walk faithfully with God?
Why should we want to do this?
[Read about Enoch in Genesis 5:18–24. Discover when Elijah is taken up into heaven in 2 Kings 2:1–11.]
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More Old Testament Sinners and Saints is part of the Bible Character Sketches series.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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