We are continuing in Hebrews 11 as we flesh out the biblical understanding of what our FAITH is all about. This morning we’ll consider another Old Testament figure whose life is reflective of true faith. The man’s name is Enoch. There are only a few verses in the Bible that mention him. And yet, the writer of Hebrews selects Enoch as the ideal example of the most glorious hope of any Christian. This is our hope in the RESURRECTION of our bodies when Jesus comes again! It may sound odd that someone from the Old Testament points us to that future resurrection. So, let’s examine what the Scriptures tell us about Enoch to see how this is true.
Hebrews 11:5-6 tells us: 5 “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” (NIV) There is a lot packed in those two verses that points to a crucial element of faith. So, let’s unpack what it is telling us. First, who was Enoch? Well, his name means “dedicated”[1], which is certainly appropriate because he was truly dedicated to the LORD. The Book of Jude points out that he “lived seven generations after Adam.”[2] This provides another clue as to Enoch’s character because, in Hebrew thought, the number “seven” refers to wholeness or perfection. Although Enoch was not perfect (no human being is), Genesis 5:23-24 indicates he was a man of exceptional faith: 23 “Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Genesis 5:23-24 (NIV)
What does it mean to “walk with God”? Well, to “walk with God” means to be in a right relationship with Him by being obedient to His commands. A life “walked with God” is a transformed life reflecting God’s holiness, integrity and love. It is a righteous life that enjoys a sacred fellowship with the LORD. Those who are dedicated to such a walk will faithfully follow a path that is in harmony with God’s will. They will be in constant communication with Him through prayer and meditation upon His Word to seek His guidance and comfort. Note that “walking together” implies friendship. God wants to be your friend. He is not some far away, detached, impersonal being. He wants to be intimately involved in all the daily details of your life. Enoch knew this and faithfully lived his life accordingly. People who walk with the LORD are pleasing in His sight because when you walk with the LORD, your righteousness shines. It is a sure sign of one’s faith.[3] For as we read: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
In this same passage from Hebrews, notice that there are two necessary elements to true faith. The first element is this: You must believe that God exists. But, that is not referring to a mere mental acknowledgement that God is real. There are many people who believe in some supernatural power that’s mightier than we are. NO—it involves much more than that. It means you are committed mentally and spiritually to the fact that the GOD OF THE BIBLE is the ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOD. Not believing in the existence of God (as is the case with atheists) is a great sin.[4] In fact, the Scriptures tell us that such an assertion that God does not exist is the same thing as calling God a liar.[5]
The second element of faith requires a firm belief that God “rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” So, how does God “reward” those who seek Him? Well, a “reward” can be something good or something not so good. When you commit your life to truly seeking God, the reward is good. In fact, it is a fantastic Heavenly Reward! When you don’t seek God, the reward is infinitely bad. When people do bad things, you will often hear someone say: “They’ll receive their just reward—one day they’ll have to pay for their evil deeds.” In this respect, “rewards” are like “wages”. It is what Paul meant when he said “the wages of sin is death.” [6] So, it depends upon what you are being rewarded for.
We could draw an analogy to Halloween. Both good and evil are rewarded, but in very different ways. One is given a treat, but the other is punished. If you “trick” someone during Halloween, you won’t be rewarded with a treat. (I know this well because, at the age of 13, my younger cousin and I “tricked” someone on Halloween. And, what was the “reward”? Well, we had some pretty tough neighbors, so we got shot at! Rather, than going into the details, suffice it to say that when those No. 8 bird-shot whizzed pass my head, I definitely sensed that the wages of sin is death! ) On the other hand, if you knock on your neighbor’s door and politely say, “Trick or treat,” you will be rewarded with candy.
So, in connection with Enoch, what “reward” is the writer of Hebrews pointing to? To answer this, we need to re-visit that often-misunderstood statement in Hebrews 11:5 which tells us that Enoch “did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away.” Many Bible scholars believe Enoch’s experience parallels what true believers will undergo at Jesus' return. It is then that all those in Christ, past and present, will experience the Rapture. What is the Rapture? Paul explains: 15 “We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet Him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.” 1st Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NLT2) He goes on to say: 51 “Let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be TRANSFORMED! 52 It will happen in a moment, IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be TRANSFORMED. 53 For our dying bodies must be TRANSFORMED into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be TRANSFORMED into immortal bodies.” 1st Corinthians 15:51-53 (NLT2) These Scriptures present the clearest account of what the Rapture will be like. The important point is that in an instant believers will be “TRANSFORMED” and receive their RESURRECTED BODIES.
And yet, what happened to Enoch was not an actual rapture or resurrection. We know this because, for the present, Jesus is the only one who has received a RESURRECTED BODY. Paul made this clear when he said:, “The fact is that Christ did actually rise from the dead and has become the first of millions who will come back to life again someday.” 1st Corinthians 15:20 (TLB) Or, as the New King James Version puts it: “Now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the FIRSTFRUITS of those who have fallen asleep.” 1st Corinthians 15:20 (NKJV) The metaphor of “FIRSTFRUITS” comes from the Old Testament practice of the Israelites offering the first portion of their harvest to God to give thanks to Him as they awaited the promise of more harvests to come. Here, Paul uses this to emphasize that Jesus’ Resurrection is the very beginning of what’s to come. His Resurrection stands as a sure promise to us of the future resurrection of all believers who enjoy continuous daily walks with Him. That’s why Paul proclaims: 20 “We are citizens of Heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control.” Philippians 3:20-21 (NLT2)
Thus, even though Enoch’s unusual death experience did not await the Rapture nor involve a resurrection, his strange passage into Heaven provides us with a vital message. It is God’s guarantee of our future resurrections. It is also clear that Enoch never experienced “death” in the normal way that people die. In a normal death, the person dies and the body decays in the grave. But, in Enoch’s case (as was also the case for the Prophet Elijah), he did, in fact, die—but not in the normal way. I point this out because some people become confused when they read other Scripture that, on the surface, may appear contradictory. For example, Hebrews 9:27 tells us: “Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God.” (TEV) At first glance, this verse seems to be opposed to the verse indicating that Enoch did not die at all. Any time you come across something like this, dig deeper into God’s Word. Meditate upon what’s written. Pray to the Holy Spirit to help you understand the truth of what’s being said in both verses. In time, you will see how the verses work together to give you a fuller understanding of the spiritual truth that’s being given. That is certainly the case when comparing Hebrews 9:27 to Enoch’s unusual “death” as described in Hebrews 11:5.
We need to understand that Hebrew 9:27 is providing us with the general rule to which God, in His sovereignty, is certainly free to make an exception. The general rule is that, because of our sinful state, human beings must surely face death. At the end of our earthly lives, our spirits depart and our earthly bodies are discarded—either to the grave or, as is often the case today—to cremation. But, as with many general rules, there can be rare exceptions. With Enoch (and later with Elijah), God demonstrated that He has the sovereign power to make exceptions to the general rule regarding death. It is true that Enoch and Elijah did not experience normal deaths in the sense of the general rule regarding how a person dies. In other words, both Enoch and Elijah died, but their bodies were not cast into graves. Scripture says Enoch’s body “could not be found, because God had taken him away.” (NIV) Or, as the New Living Translation puts it, his body “disappeared.” [7] Similarly, Elijah’s spirit was scooped up in a chariot of fire and propelled by a whirlwind into Heaven.[8] Like Enoch, his body was never seen again. In this way, they both experienced abnormal deaths (exceptions to the general rule) whereby their spirits instantly left their bodies and came into God’s presence. Although they never underwent any normal death, they still died, albeit in an abnormal manner. When we see it this way, it becomes clear that there is no conflict between the Scriptures.
We should not find this difficult to accept. God quite often does miraculous things like this to display His sovereign power in implementing His Plan. For example, we see this in the Virgin Birth of Jesus. The angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her she would bear a child. Mary was amazed by this because she had never had any sexual relations with a man. And so, she said: 34 “‘I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?’ 35 The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God’s power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:34-35 (TEV) And, with this explanation, Mary told the angel: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38 (ESV) Although we would all agree that Mary’s immaculate conception was unusual, we certainly have no trouble in saying that Jesus was born like all other human beings. Similarly, although Enoch did not die in the normal way, we should have no difficulty in affirming that he did, in fact, die as is the case with all human beings.
Now, you still might ask, “But, if Enoch and Elijah died (even in an unusual way), where did their earthly bodies go?” God is the only One who has the answer to that. But, what God can make disappear, He also has the power to make it reappear. Like all those who walk with God throughout their lives, Enoch and Elijah’s bodies will reappear at the time of the Rapture when Jesus comes again. They, along with us, will be transformed into our RESURRECTED BODIES. Our new and radically improved Heavenly Bodies will be like the RESURRECTED BODY OF CHRIST when He rose for the tomb!
At this point, we can finally get back of that question I left unanswered. We read in Hebrews 11:6 that “anyone who comes to [God] must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” (NIV) I am sure all of you here this morning believe that the God of the Bible exists and that He is the One True God. But, you need to also believe that He rewards those who seek Him with all their hearts. Unless you believe that, your faith will remain incomplete. But, you can’t believe God will reward you unless you know what the reward is. That is the real reason Enoch is mentioned here in Hebrews. Again, it is all bound up in his unusual departure from this life whereby his body just disappeared. Again, Enoch’s disappearance points to the future Rapture! Through this, we can see that God’s reward to us will be our amazing RESURRECTED BODIES! In other words, the Rapture will be that glorious moment in time when believers’ salvation is made complete both in SPIRIT AND in BODY, thus fulfilling God’s promise of eternal life in Christ.
How amazing will our resurrected bodies be? They will be glorified and tangible in nature (not some ghost-like Halloween sheet draped over our spirits). But, they won’t be subject to aging, disease, decay or death. Our resurrected bodies will be absolutely perfect for living eternally in God’s Heavenly Kingdom. So, unless you are looking forward to receiving this reward, your faith will have a huge hole in it. This is one of the reasons that Paul, in 1st Corinthians 13, ended the “Love Chapter” by saying: “And now these three remain: FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. But the greatest of these is LOVE.” 1st Corinthians 13:13 (NIV) You see, FAITH in the RESURRECTION is our only HOPE. But, LOVE is the greatest because it points to God who is LOVE. [9] And, He loves us so much, He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have, THROUGH THE PROMISE OF THE RESURRECTION, eternal life. [10]
So, why did the Holy Spirit move the writer of Hebrews to choose Enoch out of all the people in the Old Testament to list among the “heroes” of the faith? After all, Enoch was a rather obscure figure. Other than the sparce references in Genesis, we don’t hear much more about Enoch. Enoch’s importance is found in the New Testament. Just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Martha and Jesus had the following conversation as reported in John’s Gospel: 21 “Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give You whatever you ask.’ 23 Jesus told her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ 24 ‘Yes,’ Martha said, ‘he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.’ 25 Jesus told her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?’ 27 ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told Him. ‘I have always believed You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One who has come into the world from God.’” John 11:21-27 (NLT2)
When Jesus says that He is the “Resurrection and the Life,” He is not making some vague, abstract statement. Rather, for those who are “sure of what [they] hope for and certain of what [they] do not see” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV), Jesus’ declaration is a fundamental STATEMENT OF FAITH. Jesus not only provides the life-giving Bread from Heaven, [11] He will also clothe the living and the dead who have faith in Him with their resurrection bodies when He comes again.[12] Jesus is exactly who He declared Himself to be: THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. But, for those who choose to live apart from Him, there is neither resurrection nor eternal life![13]
You see, ETERNAL LIFE comes only to those, like Enoch, who truly “walk with God” and look forward to the promised reward of our resurrected bodies. Unfortunately, there are so many so-called Christian leaders today who refuse to “walk with God.” The sad thing is that these false teachers are deceiving so many young men and women who aspire to enter the ministry. In fact, these false teachers not only walk a different path, they instruct others to do so as well by denying core Christian doctrines. For example, Serene Jones is the president of Union Theological Seminary in New York. As incredible as it may be, she teaches that there is no such thing as the Resurrection of Jesus. (By the way, she also denies the value of prayer, the Virgin Birth and most anything in the Bible that is miraculous in nature.)[14] But, she is not alone and is joined by a host of other unbelievers who deny basic Christian beliefs. As I have mentioned in one of our Bible studies, Bart Ehrman is a New Testament scholar who teaches at the University of North Carolina. He, like Ms. Jones, contends that the Resurrection of Christ never happened. Ehrman says there are not enough historical facts to support it.[15] Billy Graham has responded to such heresy by reminding us: “There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three.”[16] So, who do you trust—Bart Ehrman or Billy Graham? No doubt about it, I am going with God’s Word and Rev. Graham!
So, we owe a great deal to Enoch and the writer of Hebrews for drawing our attention to true faith and the necessity to seek our Christian “reward.” Are you looking forward to your “reward”? In other words, do you yearn to receive God’s prize of your eternal resurrected body that Christ will bring about when He comes again? I hope so. Believe me, when the Rapture comes, you do not want to be left behind on this wicked earth. But, those who are left behind won’t be let out. They too will receive a “reward”—albeit a “reward” they won’t want to accept. In Psalm 28, David tells of their fate when saying: “Repay them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds; repay them according to the work of their hands; render them their due REWARD.” Psalm 28:4 (NRSV) The problem is this latter “reward” is a one-way ticket to Hell. The question is: Which REWARD will you claim?
Let us pray.
Darvin Satterwhite, Pastor
Forest Hill Baptist Church
October 26, 2025
©2025 All Rights Reserved as follows:
Anyone is at liberty to use this sermon or any portions thereof for educational or religious purposes, with or without credit. The pastor believes the material presented herein to be true to the teaching of Scripture, and desires to further, not restrict, its potential use as an aid in the study of God’s Word. The publication of this material is a grace ministry of Forest Hill Baptist Church in Louisa, Virginia.
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[1] Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England, ed., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), s.v. “ENOCH,” WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
[2] Jude 1:14 “Enoch… lived seven generations after Adam.” (TLB)
[3] Keener, Craig S. 2014. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Second Edition. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press.
[4] MacArthur, John F., Jr. 2006. The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
[5] 1st John 5:10-12 10 All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. 11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” (NLT2)
[6] Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NLT2)
[7] Hebrews 11:5 5 “It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—'he disappeared, because God took him.’ For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.” (NLT2)
[8] 2nd Kings 2:11 11 “As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to Heaven in a whirlwind.” (NIV)
[9] 1st John 4:8 “But anyone who does not love does not know God, for GOD IS LOVE.” (NLT2)
[10] John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (NKJV)
[11] John 6:35 [Jesus said:] “I am the Bread of Life.” (TLB)
[12] John 5:28-29 28 Indeed the time is coming when all the dead in their graves shall hear the voice of God’s Son, 29 and shall rise again—those who have done good, to eternal life; and those who have continued in evil, to judgment.” (TLB)
[13] Carson, D. A. 1991. The Gospel according to John. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.
[14] Michael Foust, “Seminary President Admits She Doesn’t Believe in Heaven, Miracles or Christ’s Resurrection,” Crosswalk.com, https://www.crosswalk.com/headlines/contributors/michael-foust/seminary-president-admits-she-doesn-t-believe-in-heaven-miracles-or-christ-s-resurrection.html (April 25, 2019).
[15] “Is There Historical Evidence For the Resurrection of Jesus? A Debate Between William Lane Craig and Bart D. Ehrman,” College of the Holy Cross Worcester, Massachusetts, https://ia804602.us.archive.org/15/items/apocryphal-gospels-bart-ehrman/Resurrection%20%28Bart%20Ehrman%29.pdf (March 28, 2006).
pages 16-17.
[16] Billy Graham, Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 533-534.
