It is in this way that we also are to walk with God : we
foretelling the very manner of the future judgment (ver. 14, 15.) : for if he prophesied of Christ's second coming, doubtless he was not ignorant of his first advent.
f Amos hi. 3. s Matt. vii. 7, 8.
h James iv. 8. Eph. hi. 12. Heb. x. 19.
5 John xv. 7. k Rev. hi. 20. John xiv. 23.
1 Ps. xxv. 14. m j0hn xiVt 21, 22.
must commune witli him not by constraint, but willingly and of a ready mind ". We must delight ourselves in him °. His loving-kindness must be better to us than life itself p : and it must be as marrow and fatness to us to serve and honour him. i]
How acceptable to God this conduct was, we may learn from,
II. The reward with which God honoured him —
The manifestations of God's presence and favour which he continually enjoyed, were a rich recom- pence for any self-denial which he exercised, or any exertions which he used, to please his God. But, besides all these, God,
1. Exempted him from death, the common lot of all men —
[All, the righteous as well as the wicked, must pay the penalty of death, which has been entailed on them by the sin of Adam, and been richly merited by their own personal trans- gressions. But God has been pleased to exempt from it one in the old world, and one in the new r. This testimony of his approbation God vouchsafed to Enoch. He was a bold and faithful witness for God, and doubtless incensed many against
him s And God took him from a persecuting and
ungodly world, who probably enough were seeking to destroy him on account of his pungent admonitions*. He took him in the prime of life, without any previous pain or sickness. To some indeed it might appear a calamity to be taken away, in the midst of his useful labours, and while his family were still looking up to him for instruction and support : but he thought it " far better to depart and to be with Christ," than to prolong his days in the midst of a tempting and ungodly world : and God gave him the desire of his heart.
We, however diligent in walking with God, cannot hope to participate in such a reward as this. But death shall be dis- armed of its sting, so that it shall be to us rather an object of desire, than of fear and terror": and while the most stout- hearted sinner in the universe trembles at its approach, we
11 1 John i. 3. ° Ps. xxxvii. 4. p Ps. lxiii. 3.
<i Ps. lxiii. 5. r Compare 2 Kings ii. 11. with the text.
s Jude 14, 15.
1 In Heb. xi. 5. before cited, it is said " he was not found." This may refer to some search made by his friends (see 2 Kings ii.lG.) or rather by his enemies, (see 1 Kings xviii. 10.)
u 2 Cor. v. 4.
11.] Enoch's walking with god. 59
shall be enabled not only to meet it with serenity and com- posure, but to triumph over it as a vanquished enemy. x]
2. Exalted him both in body and in soul to a more immediate enjoyment of his presence —
[While Enoch was in the body, he could not endure the full splendour of the divine glory y: he could only behold his God through the dark medium of faith2, or, at most, be per- mitted to "see his back parts a." But God translated him, both in body and soul, to the highest heavens ; making him thereby not only an eminent type of Christ's ascension, but an earnest and pledge to us, that our bodies shall hereafter be raised to a participation of the happiness, which our glorified souls shall enjoy at the instant of their departure from the body. To what extent the blessedness of every individual will be advanced by the re-union of the soul and body, it is not possible to say : but it is reasonable to suppose, that that which consummates our reward, will greatly enhance our felicity. This, however, Enoch had not to wait for ; he received his full reward at once ; and was thereby distinguished from all those disembodied spirits, which, though perfected in glory, waited for their complete happiness till the day of judgment. The happiness of Enoch in communing with God on earth was doubtless exceeding great : but when he arrived at the full fruition of the divine glory, his blessedness as far exceeded all that he had before experienced, as the early dawn is surpassed by the meridian light.