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Patriarchs and Prophets
is the portion of us all?” But the instructions which God gave to Adam,
and which were repeated by Seth, and exemplified by Enoch, swept
away the gloom and darkness, and gave hope to man, that as through
Adam came death, so through the promised Redeemer would come
life and immortality. Satan was urging upon men the belief that there
was no reward for the righteous or punishment for the wicked, and
that it was impossible for men to obey the divine statutes. But in the
case of Enoch, God declares “that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6
. He shows what He
will do for those who keep His commandments. Men were taught
that it is possible to obey the law of God; that even while living in the
midst of the sinful and corrupt, they were able, by the grace of God, to
resist temptation, and become pure and holy. They saw in his example
the blessedness of such a life; and his translation was an evidence of
the truth of his prophecy concerning the hereafter, with its award of
joy and glory and immortal life to the obedient, and of condemnation,
woe, and death to the transgressor.
By faith Enoch “was translated that he should not see death; ...
for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
Hebrews 11:5
. In the midst of a world by its iniquity doomed to
destruction, Enoch lived a life of such close communion with God
that he was not permitted to fall under the power of death. The godly
character of this prophet represents the state of holiness which must be
attained by those who shall be “redeemed from the earth” (
Revelation
[89]
14:3
) at the time of Christ’s second advent. Then, as in the world
before the Flood, iniquity will prevail. Following the promptings of
their corrupt hearts and the teachings of a deceptive philosophy, men
will rebel against the authority of Heaven. But like Enoch, God’s
people will seek for purity of heart and conformity to His will, until
they shall reflect the likeness of Christ. Like Enoch, they will warn
the world of the Lord’s second coming and of the judgments to be
visited upon transgression, and by their holy conversation and example
they will condemn the sins of the ungodly. As Enoch was translated
to heaven before the destruction of the world by water, so the living
righteous will be translated from the earth before its destruction by fire.
Says the apostle: “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 Lord
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the