Question:
Where did God take Enoch?
Answer:
Genesis 5:21-24 says, “And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD: AND HE WAS NOT; FOR GOD TOOK HIM.”
The word “translate” is defined as “to bear or change from one place, state, form, or appearance to another; to convey to heaven… without death” (Merriam Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary).
Hebrews 11:5 says, “By faith ENOCH WAS TRANSLATED THAT HE SHOULD NOT SEE DEATH; AND WAS NOT FOUND, BECAUSE GOD HAD TRANSLATED HIM: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
God took Enoch directly to heaven, so Enoch did not have to die. Enoch is a wonderful picture of the Rapture of the church. Before God sent His judgment (the flood) upon the earth, He caught away His precious child (Enoch) to Himself. That is exactly what the Lord is going to do with His church before He judges this earth in the terrible Tribulation Period. Matthew 24:21 says, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” But before that takes place, the Lord is going to catch away His children to heaven. I Thessalonians 4:16-18 says, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: THEN WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” Those Christians living at the time of the Rapture, like Enoch, will never have to die. In a moment of time, they shall be caught up to be with the Lord.
Every Christian is to expect the Lord to return in his/her day. The apostle Paul expected the the Lord to return in his day, because the coming of the Lord has always been imminent. The word “imminent” is defined as “ready to take place” (Merriam Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary). Matthew 24:44 says, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
Notice how Paul places himself in the category of those expecting the Lord to return in their lifetimes. I Corinthians 15:50-53 says, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP, BUT WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED, IN A MOMENT, IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Remember the definition of “translate?” “To bear or CHANGE from one place, state, form, or appearance to another; to convey to heaven… without death.” The above passage says of all Christians, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be CHANGED…”
Are you ready for the Lord’s return? Are you ready to meet Him in the twinkling of an eye? The only way for you to be received by Him, is for you to repent of your sin and receive Him as your Savior now. John 1:12 says, “But as many as RECEIVED him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”