Genesis 5:24

Genesis 5:24

Few words are needed to describe the salient features of the majority of human lives. It is not needful to write a volume to tell whether a man has spent a noble or a wasted life. One stroke of the pen, one solitary word, may be enough.

I. Here is a life suddenly and prematurely cut short; for although Enoch lived 365 years, it was not half the usual age of the men of his day.

II. Enoch's was a life spent amid surrounding wickedness.

III. It was a life spent in fellowship with God. This expression "walked with God" has a very peculiar force. There is in it the idea of strong persistence and determination. There is also the idea of progress.

IV. Enoch's was a life of noble testimony.

V. Enoch's was a life crowned by translation. His translation was (1) A reminder to the men of his day that there was another state above and beyond the present; (2) An intimation of the final reward of the saints. The eternal life which was given to him will be granted, sooner or later, to every child of God.

J. W. Atkinson, Penny Pulpit,No. 908.

References: Genesis 5:24. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons,p. 382; Homiletic Magazine,vol. xii., p. 332; Old Testament Outlines,p. 5.Genesis 5:27. Parker, vol. i., p. 362, and Hidden Springs,p. 358.