ENOCH GOES MISSING

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 21 April 2012

Hi all,

This morning I send you greetings from Swaziland where we are having a short break with a friend we have known since 1985. We won’t be home until 27^th April and will enjoy the break!

Comments, and previous Devotionals can be found on my Blog – http: //jimnphyllida.blogspot.com I’m still experimenting with an easier way to “blog” them

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Time with Jesus – Saturday, 21 April 2012
INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES					ENOCH GOES MISSING
Adam Seth Enosh Kenan Mahalalel Jared Enoch The comment about Enoch in Genesis 5 is one of the most unusual in the Bible. For convenience the male line from Adam to Enoch is shown alongside. If you examine the lifespan of these m en you will find that it is quite possible that Adam knew Enoch. According to the ages given, Adam lived for 930 years. Presumably this means 930 years after the fall of man. We will also find that Enoch was born when Adam was 622 years old. If you do a bit of mathematics you will find that Enoch was taken to be with the Lord 57 years after the death of Adam. You will also find that Adam was the first in the male line to die after Enoch was born. I’m not sure if this influenced the Lord to “rapture” Enoch when He did. The mathematics are, however, fascinating. Have a ‘go’ at compiling the names with their dates! We are told that Enoch walked with God during Adam’s lifetime. Have you ever wondered what impression this made on Adam? His great, great, great, great, grandson had a relationship with God that he (Adam) had lost! Did it make Adam envious? We don’t know. I think I would be a bit envious if I was Adam. I recall a story about Enoch asking Adam why they had been “thrown out” of the garden. Like most men, he blamed his wife. He said she had eaten them out of house and home! We only know of three men who were taken up to heaven. Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. Elijah was taken there in a fiery chariot. Enoch was taken by God in a manner not stated. Was Enoch’s “rapture” a sort of prophetic statement concerning Jesus? I suspect it was, but won’t fight with you if you don’t agree. Is there a significance of these being pre-flood, post-flood and Christian? We don’t know. What thrills me is the fact that if you walk with God long enough in sincerity and purity as best as you are able, the Lord has a reward for you. Sadly, none of us has 300 years to do it in. Do we have the perseverance to do this? Good question. The best comment that I can make comes in the form of an old chorus which we sang in the 1960’s. “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before”. Perhaps it’s just as well that we don’t have 300 years still to go. Another 10 or 20 years is quite sufficient for me. So, what happened to Enoch? As the poem says, I’m looking forward to asking him the same question. There are probably dozens of us who want to do the same. Jim & Phyllida Strickland		24 Enoch walked with God. Then he couldn't be found, because God took him from this life. Genesis 5:24 NIrV					No one knew what happened. He simply wasn’t there, They did their best to look for him; they hunted everywhere They checked the many places where he’d been seen to walk. They wondered who was with him. They’d often heard them talk! It really was a mystery. They knew that he was gone. They thought that God had taken him; for answer there was none! They said that he was talking with God, The Lord Most High. Perhaps he was a friend of God Who thought he shouldn’t die? And so the Lord had taken him. They didn’t realise, That God had walked with Enoch, who vanished from their eyes. It seemed that Enoch walked with God for some three hundred years. The father of Methuselah, had loved God, it appears. They couldn’t walk together unless they were agreed! Their friendship was so precious; God must have done the deed. Was there a better reason the Lord took him away? It’s still a valid question right down until today. Was Enoch so remarkable, God thought that he should see, The one Whom He decided would die for you and me? Of course we can’t be certain and God knows everything. But Enoch’s own salvation, by Jesus’ cross He’d bring! Was he a kind of “first-fruits” to make all men inspired, To see there is a great reward for doing as required, By Father, Son and Spirit? Christ’s blood drew Enoch near. And shows that a relationship will drive away all fear. And though we once were enemies, His Son has made a way, For us to be a friend of God like Enoch in his day! O Lord this is fantastic. One day we’ll be caught up, A little bit like Enoch was and all of us will sup, With Jesus Christ our Master; and we can hardly wait, To go into the heavenlies, where we will celebrate, The glory of the Father, the Spirit and the Son, Around His banquet table and give thanks for what He’s done. I’m sure we will know Enoch. We’ll spot him instantly. I’m sure he will then tell us all, “What God has done for me!” And as we listen to him as clear as any bell He’ll give the explanation that only he can tell. And all of us will marvel that our God of love and grace Has opened up a way for us to meet Him face to face. Jim Strickland – Written 21st April 2012
		3 Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? Amos 3:3 NLT
		20 God was pleased to bring all things back to himself because of what Christ has done. That includes all things on earth and in heaven. God made peace through Christ's blood, through his death on the cross. 21 At one time you were separated from God. You were enemies in your minds because of your evil ways. 22 But because Christ died, God has brought you back to himself. Christ's death has made you holy in God's sight. So now you don't have any flaw. You are free from blame. Colossians 1:20-22 NIrV
		13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13 NLT
		10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:10-11 NLT
		3 This is the life we have seen and heard. We are reporting about it to you also so that you, too, can have a relationship with us. Our relationship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3 GW
		14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV
Compiled – Saturday, 21 April 2012	P O Box 1694, Randpark Ridge, 2156, South Africa			Page 1 of 1	14 Conduit Street, Johannesburg North, 2153, South Africa			Printed - Friday, 20 April 2012
Email - jim.s@telkomsa.net - ejsnpbs@gmail.com Phyllida@telkomsa.net	Mobile +2782 755 8872		Jim & Phyllida Strickland			Home+2711 462 4061; Neotel+2711 234 5670		Fax +2786 531 4962
	E:\My Documents\MS Word\Time with Jesus\2012\Devotionals\20120421 - Time with Jesus A.doc							PBS Mobile 082 574 0750