Hebrews 11:5-6 – Pleasing God by Faith (Enoch)

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 28 July 2019

Omitting greyed-out text should bring presentation time under 45 minutes.

Intro on Faith

Excerpt from Adam And His Kin by Ruth Beechick2

...Seth’s great-great-grandson Jared and his wife were expecting a new child. “The child will have special work to do for God,” announced Seth. “You must train him well.” When the baby arrived, the parents joyfully dedicated him to the Lord God. They named him Enoch. Their distant Uncle Enoch over in the land of Nod had a notorious reputation, but they knew it would be different with this Enoch. As soon as the child was old enough, Jared brought him to Adam and Seth to learn from them how to serve the Lord God… [These were his influences as he grew up and entered into his vocation as a preacher.]

Sometimes Enoch preached about the sign of the Bull in the stars. Most people had learned how to outline the powerful Bull in their imaginations... At times... he had the special name Shur, which meant coming [back] and ruling. That’s the name Enoch liked to use. “See how he is rushing,” Enoch would say, “with his horns lowered ready to pierce anything in his way. He shows us that the heavenly Judge will push down his enemies all over the earth. He will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their sins. And see the cluster of stars on his shoulder and the cluster on his face,” Enoch would continue. Those stars, he explained, stood for ten thousands of people belonging to the ruler. And he quoted a prophecy which God had given him. "Behold the Lord comes with ten thou­sands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

The words were thrilling to those who believed them... Yes, even they might come riding with the Judge, and the world would then be a better place in which to live, perhaps a paradise again. But people living ungodly lives were angered to hear Enoch say the strong word ungodly so often.

But Enoch did not need to be a popular speaker. In his heart he knew his words were right. God was pleased with him even if men were not. Enoch wrote the words in a book of prophecies. If people in his generation wouldn’t listen, at least in future generations some people would read the words and turn to God. Then they could be among the ten thousands coming with the Judge instead of among those who would suffer the judgment....

Enoch's son had the long name Methuselah, which meant, "when he dies, [sending-forth] judgment." Enoch put this prophecy of God into his son's name at birth...

For over 300 years Enoch prophesied and preached and studied the stars. Other preachers admired his life and tried to live like him. They wondered sometimes if Enoch was almost like Adam when he walked with God in the garden of Eden. But leaders in the cities came to hate the very name Enoch. Through the years, their wickedness grew worse until they could not tolerate Enoch’s preaching of judgment...

One day Enoch said he must go to the cities downriver from where he lived. He began to walk, and young men from the preachers’ school accompanied him.... Enoch and the young men walked on... Then all at once Enoch was not walking with the men. Seventy witnesses saw that Enoch was not, and they knew that the Lord God had taken him… [but even so, locals sent search parties all over the land to try to find him again, all to no avail.]

Family members and friends gathered, some traveling from distant places. They wor­shiped the Lord God who had power to take Enoch to heaven without dying. And they talked about Enoch and his faithful life. Preachers among them reminded people of Enoch’s prophecies, and they admonished each other to remain faithful in their society, which had all but forgotten the Creator.

Methuselah was now 300 years old, and this sudden taking of Enoch reminded the whole family that God could also suddenly take Methuselah in death. Any year now, any day, the judgment could come.

Seth brought to the family reunion his record of the Seed line. It still listed births down to Lamech and it had only one death so far [besides Cain’s] —Adam’s. What should they say now about Enoch? They talked it over, and Seth wrote: "Enoch lived 60 and 5 years and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were 360 and 5 years: And Enoch walked with God: And he was not; for God took him."

Some men added this to family histories they were keeping, and Seth turned over his rec­ord to Methuselah. Everyone felt the seriousness of this occasion. Their kinsman Enoch had preached so often of judgment coming upon the world, and now God had ended Enoch’s preaching, but in so remarkable a way that it affirmed the truth of his words.

Methuselah, standing in their midst, was a living legacy from Enoch. As long as he lived, they could preach righteousness and truth and perhaps save some people from destruc­tion. When he died, their time would be up, as Enoch’s now was. They all realized they may not meet again. Their lives were like a vapor. Only Methuselah had assurance of living until the time of judgment. He would know what to do with the records.

So Seth handed into his keeping all the important books: the book of God, the books of Adam, and the unfinished genealogy… [and t]he families parted solemnly, calling upon the name of God…

v.5 With faith, Enoch was transferred so as not to see death, and he was never found [again], on account of God having transferred3 him. Now, before his being transferred, he had been given a good reference of having been well-pleasing to God.

In the Bible, “well-pleasing” euarestw is applied to all who have faith in God!

v.6 On the other hand, without faith, it’s impossible to be well-pleasing, for it is necessary for the one who approaches God to have faith that He exists and He becomes the payoff to those who are seeking Him out.

Conclusion: Learn from Enoch that

Brothers and sisters, these are the things God loves; delight in them also!




APPENDIX 1: Commentators on the source of Jude’s quote of Enoch


John Gill (1766): “[T]hat Enoch wrote a prophecy, and left it behind him in writing, does not appear from hence, or elsewhere; the Jews, in some of their writings, do cite and make mention of the book of Enoch; and there is a fragment now which bears his name, but is a spurious piece, and has nothing like this prophecy in it; wherefore Jude took this not from a book called the ‘Apocalypse of Enoch’, but from tradition; this prophecy being handed down from age to age; and was in full credit with the Jews, and therefore the apostle very appropriately produces it; or rather he had it by divine inspiration…”


John Owen (1855): “There is no evidence of such a book [of Enoch] being known for some time after this epistle was written; and the book so called was probably a forgery, occasioned by this reference to Enoch’s prophecy.”


Adam Clarke (1826): “a book of Enoch was known in the earliest ages of the primitive Church, and is quoted by Origen and Tertullian; and is mentioned by St. Jerome in the Apostolical Constitutions, by Nicephorus, Athanasius, and probably by St. Augustine.”


Marvin Vincent (1886): “The Book of Enoch, which was known to the fathers of the second century, was lost for some centuries with the exception of a few fragments, and was found entire in a copy of the Ethiopic Bible, in 1773, by Bruce. It became known to modern students through a translation from this into English by Archbishop Lawrence, in 1821.”


Albert Barnes (1885): “Amidst the multitude of traditions, however, handed down by the Jews from a remote antiquity, though many of them were false, and many of a trifling character, it is reasonable to presume that some of them were true and were of importance… an inspired writer might … be led to make the selection of a true prophecy from a mass of traditions... There is no clear evidence that he quoted it from any book extant in his time. There is, indeed, now an apocryphal writing called ‘the Book of Enoch,’ containing a prediction strongly resembling this, but there is no certain proof that it existed so early as the time of Jude, nor, if it did, is it absolutely certain that he quoted from it. Both Jude and the author of that book may have quoted a common tradition of their time, for there can be no doubt that the passage referred to was handed down by tradition. The passage as found in ‘the Book of Enoch’ is in these words: ‘Behold he comes with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal, for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done and committed against him.’” Barnes seemed to think that this apocryphal book of Enoch (not actually in the Apocrypha) was written after Jude, and with that Fausset’s commentary offers support, saying that this Apocryphal book of Enoch is Jewish and not Christian, for it knows nothing of Jesus.



APPENDIX 2: More applications of Enoch’s translation from Albert Barnes:

  1. It showed that there was a future state - another world.

  2. It showed that the “body” might exist in that future state – though doubtless so changed as to adapt it to the condition of things there.

  3. It prepared the world to credit the account of the ascension of the Redeemer. If Enoch and Elijah were removed thus without dying, there was no intrinsic improbability that the Lord Jesus would be removed after having died and risen again.

  4. It furnishes a demonstration of the doctrine that the saints will exist hereafter, which meets all the arguments of the sceptic and the infidel. One single “fact” overturns all the mere “speculations” of philosophy, and renders nugatory all the objections of the sceptic. The infidel argues against the truth of the resurrection and of the future state from the “difficulties” attending the doctrine. A single case of one who has been raised up from the dead, or who has been removed to heaven, annihilates all such arguments – for how can supposed difficulties destroy a well-authenticated “fact?”

  5. It is an encouragement to piety. It shows that God regards his friends; that their fidelity and holy living please him; and that “in the midst of eminent wickedness and a scoffing world it is possible so to live as to please God.” The conduct of this holy man, therefore, is an encouragement to us to do our duty though we stand alone; and to defend the truth though all who live with us upon the earth deny and deride it.

  6. The removal of Enoch shows that the same thing would be “possible” in the case of every saint. God could do it in other cases, as well as in his, with equal ease. That his friends, therefore, are suffered to remain on the earth; that they linger on in enfeebled health, or are crushed by calamity, or are stricken down by the pestilence as others are, is not because God “could” not remove them as Enoch was without dying, but because there is some important “reason” why they should remain

APPENDIX 3: Side-by-side Greek Text & English Versions of Heb. 11:1-7A

Greek NT

NAW

KJV

11:1 ῎Εστι δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπό­στασις πραγμάτων ἔλεγχοςB οὐ βλεπομένων

11:1 Now, faith is the understanding of things being hoped for; it is the making of a case con­cerning matters which are not being seen,

11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evid­ence of things not seen.

2 ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ ἐμαρτυρήθησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι.

2 and it was for this that the ancients got a good reference.

2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.

3 Πίστει νοοῦμεν κατηρτίσθαι τοὺς αἰῶνας ῥήματι Θεοῦ, εἰς τὸ μὴ ἐκ φαινο­μένων τὸ βλεπόμεν­ονC γεγονέναι.

3 Withfaith we figure out that the worlds have been fixed up by the word of God such that it was not out of visible things that what is seen came into being.

3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

4 Πίστει πλείοναD θυσίαν ῎Αβελ παρὰ Κάϊν προσήνεγκεν τῷ Θεῷ, δι᾿ ἧς ἐμαρτυρήθη εἶναι δίκαιος, μαρτυρ­οῦντος ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ δι᾿ αὐτῆς ἀποθανὼν ἔτι λαλεῖE.

4 With faith, Abel of­fered to God a greater sacrifice than Cain, on ac­count of which he was given a good ref­er­ence of being right­eous (God hav­ing giv­en a good ref­erence be­cause of his gifts), and on account of this, he still speaks after having died.

4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more [excellent] sacrifice than Cain, by which he X obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

5 Πίστει ῾Ενὼχ μετετέθη τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατονF, καὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκετοG, διότι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεός. πρὸ γὰρ τῆς μεταθέσεωςH μεμαρτύρηται εὐηρ­εστηκέναιI τῷ Θεῷ·

5 With faith, Enoch was trans­ferred so as not to see death, and he was never found [again] on account of God having trans­fer­red him. Now, before his being transferred, he had been given a good reference of having been well-pleasing to God.

5 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 X God.

6 χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως ἀδύνατον εὐαρεστῆ­σαι· πιστεῦσαι γὰρ δεῖ τὸν προσερχ­όμενον τῷ Θεῷ ὅτι ἐστὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐκζητ­οῦσιν αὐτὸν μισθ­αποδότηςJ γίνεται.

6 On the other hand, without faith, it’s im­possible to be well-pleas­ing, for it is nec­es­sary for the one who approaches God to have faith that He ex­ists and He becomes the payoff to those who are seeking Him out.

6 But without faith it is impos­sible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that dili­gently seek him.


1According to P.E. Hughes in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, p.457

2Pages 51-60, Mott Media, Fenton MI, circa 1990.

3Albert Barnes pointed out in his commentary that this phrase is a quote from Genesis 5 which employs the Hebrew verb לקח where the Greek employs metatithemi. “Laqach... means ‘to take’ - with the idea of taking ‘to oneself.’ Thus... it is often used in the sense of ‘taking a wife’ - that is, to oneself... The word, therefore, would naturally suggest the idea that he had been taken by God to himself, or had been removed in an extraordinary manner from the earth. This is confirmed by the fact that the word is not used anywhere in the Scriptures to denote a “removal by death,” and that in the only other instance in which it (לקח laaqach) is used in relation to a removal from this world, it occurs in the statement respecting the translation of Elijah… (2Ki_2:3-5)...”

4“And Enoch lived an hundred and sixty and five years, and begat Mathusala. And Enoch was well-pleasing to God [εὐηρέστησεν… τῷ θεῷ] after his begetting Mathusala, two hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty and five years. And Enoch was well-pleasing to God [εὐηρέστησεν … τῷ θεῷ], and was not found, because God translated him.” (Genesis 5:21-24, Brenton) cf. Sirach’s Apocryphal record of “famous men” among the Jews also includes Enoch who, “pleased the Lord, and was translated, being an example of repentance to all generations." (Sirach 44:16, Brenton)

5Jude has mentioned the “saints/holy ones” once before in v.3 when he said that the faith had been delivered to them. Since other passages in the Bible mention angels also being part of the Lord’s company, John Calvin commented, “by ‘saints’ he means the faithful as well as angels; for both will adorn the tribunal of Christ…”

6When the prophets and apostles wanted to describe God’s judgment coming upon sinners, they picked up on some of the phrases known to have been used by Enoch in Dt. 33:1-2, Dan. 7:9-11, Mt 25:31-32, 1 Th. 3:13, & 2 Th. 1:6-10.

7See appendix 1 for commentators on this topic.

8“In the Israelite literature, premature death was never regarded as a mark of Divine favour; and, if Enoch had thus died in early life, we should have expected the use of the same phrase, ‘And he died’, which occurs in the mention of the other Patriarchs.” ~H.E. Ryle, “The Early Narratives of Genesis,” The Expository Times,3 (1891/2), p. 355. As quoted by P.E. Hughes, who added, “Enoch, indeed, may be seen as a sort of prototype (together with Elijah at a later period) of the men and women of faith who will be living at the moment of Christ’s return...” In a spiritual sense, all believers also share Enoch’s experience of not seeing death, for Jesus promised, "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see [Θεωρήσῃ] death." (John 8:51, NKJV)

9The Malachi passage excepted, which reads ἐπορεύθη

10Like the Philippians shared financially to support the Apostle Paul in his ministry, and God’s word confirms that was an “acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.”

11“Seek and you shall find” - ζητέω, not εκζητεω, but the same idea.

12“To imagine that faith is in itself meritorious or establishes a claim on God and his rewards is to do violence to the very concept of faith, which is the response of total dependence on the grace and goodness of God.” ~P.E. Hughes

AThe Greek is the Majority text, edited by myself to follow the majority of the earliest-known manuscripts only when the early manuscript evidence is practically unanimous. My original document includes notes on the NKJV, NASB, NIV, & ESV English translations, but since they are all copyrighted, I cannot include them in my online document. Underlined words in English versions indicate a standalone difference from all other English translations of a certain word. Strikeout usually indicates that the English translation is, in my opinion, too far outside the range of meaning of the original Greek word. The addition of an X indicates a Greek word left untranslated – or a plural Greek word translated as an English singular. [Brackets] indicate words added in English not in the Greek. Key words are colored consistently across the chart to show correlations.

BAlthough used nowhere else in the NT, there are 31 occurrences in the OT of this root, almost all of which are translated “reproof” (although a couple in Job are translated “argument”).

CThe majority of Greek manuscripts read plural “things seen” (τὰ βλεπόμενα), and the traditional editions of the Greek NT (Textus Receptus, Patriarchal, and Contemporary Greek Orthodox) follow the majority, as did the Syriac and Vulgate, and King James English versions (and, surprisingly, the NASB and ESV). However, all four of the Greek manuscripts from the first millennium read singular (“what was visible” = NIV). The plural appears to be a style change that began in the 900’s AD, but means the same thing.

DL&N tagging project labeled this word 66.11 “pertaining to being more appropriate or fitting.”

EThis active form of the verb is the reading of the four oldest-known Greek manuscripts followed by a dozen later Greek manuscripts, the modern Critical GNT and Scrivner’s 1894 Textus Receptus edition of the GNT, and of the Vulgate, Syriac, and English versions. The middle form of the verb “speaks for himself” is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts starting with the 6th century Claramontanus, and is found in the Greek Orthodox GNT’s and in Stephens’ 1550 Textus Receptus. The difference in meaning is negligable, unless the reading be construed as a passive “is spoken of,” but even then it is true, for Abel is still being spoken of by the present author!

Fcf. Luke 2:26 and synonymous statements in John 8:51... ἐάν τις τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον τηρήσῃ, θάνατον οὐ μὴ θεωρήσῃ... and Psalm 88:49 τίς ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ὃς ζήσεται καὶ οὐκ ὄψεται θάνατον

GFour of the 5 oldest-known Greek manuscripts (plus a dozen later ones) lengthened the initial vowel into ηυρισκετο, so and the modern Critical GNT and 1904 Patriarchal editions of the GNT, followed that spelling. The majority of Greek manuscripts (supported by P13, one of the oldest-known), on the other hand, read as above, followed by the Textus Receptus and the Contemporary Greek Orthodox editions. It is merely a difference in spelling conventions; either way it’s spelled, it’s still imperfect passive indicative. The same thing happens to the second iteration of this verb at the end of this verse, where there are two spelling variants of the infinitive perfect active form of the same verb, the non-lengthened vowel being supported by the Alexandrinus manuscript (and 19 others) – followed by the modern critical and 1904 Patriarchal editions, and the lengthened vowel being supported by the majority of Greek manuscripts (including the majority of the oldest-known manuscripts: P13, P46, Sinaiticus, and Claramontanus) – followed by the Textus Receptus and the Contemporary Greek Orthodox editions. Why the modern critical scholars would side against what they considered their “best witnesses” is a mystery to me, but it makes no difference in meaning.

HAlthough the majority of Greek manuscripts (and therefore the traditional editions of the GNT and the Syriac and English versions) have the word autou (“of him”) here, this possessive pronoun is not in any of the five oldest-known Greek manuscripts, nor is it in the Boharic or most of the Latin versions. It appears to have been added in the ninth century AD to clarify meaning. Even without the pronoun, the definite article can be legitimately interpreted into English as a possessive pronoun (“his translation” rather than merely “the translation”), and the well-established tradition of the added pronoun confirms that it should be translated as such, so it makes no difference in translation.

IThis word is found in the Greek NT only here and Heb. 13:16.

JHapex Legomenon, but the feminine form of this noun is found three other places in Hebrews (2:2; 10:35; 11:26) and nowhere else in the Greek Bible.

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