Hallelujah! Glory to God! The Lord our God has been good to us throughout the past week as He has blessed us with a new day, new week, and new month in our lives. Therefore, let us continue to praise and worship and glorify His holy name as we experience His faithfulness and compassion and mercy and steadfast love more and more in our lives. As part of our regular weekly SftW meditation, the Lord has given us a very unique Scripture passage from the book of Genesis with reference to 5:24 (mentioned above). This passage particularly focuses on the importance of walking faithfully before God and is based on Enoch’s life. Enoch was the son of Jared and one of the great, great grandsons of Seth who was born to Adam and Eve in the place of Abel (Genesis 4:25) who was killed by his brother Cain because Abel walked before God faithfully and presented God with an offering that was far better than the offering Cain presented before the Lord God (Genesis 4:2b-8). The holy Scripture clearly states that Enoch lived a righteous life and walked faithfully before God (Genesis 5:18-24). It is understood from the Scriptures that Enoch pleased the Lord God Almighty by his trust/faith in Him and he proved it as he walked with God, according to the author of Hebrews: 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 (Hebrews 11:5). From the writings of Jude, the brother of Jesus Christ and James (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3; Galatians 1:19; James 1:1), we can understand that Enoch was a preacher and prophet as he foretold the Lord’s return and God’s judgment upon the ungodly and the wicked deeds committed in ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him (Jude 1:14-15). In view of his strong faith in God and his daily walk with God, he was taken away by God and did not experience a physical death and became the first one to be taken alive to heaven. Thus, he became one of the two people ever in the entire human history to be taken alive to heaven as of today (May 3, 2026 / Sunday). The other one was prophet Elijah who was taken to heaven by the means of a (i) whirlwind, (ii) a chariot of fire, and (iii) horses of fire, as it is mentioned: As they [Elijah and Elisha] 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 (2 Kings 2:11). These are the only two individuals mentioned in the Bible who have been taken by God without experiencing physical death.

Although it is important to focus on the life of Enoch who pleased God as he walked faithfully with God during his entire life (365 years / Genesis 5:23), it is much more important to know how he lived his life. The highlight of his life was that he walked faithfully with God, as it is repeatedly mentioned: Enoch walked faithfully with God … Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away (Genesis 5:22, 24). We can learn from the life of Enoch that it is more important to know how he lived his life than how long he lived. For instance, Adam, the very first human being God created who is also one of the great, great, great grandfathers of Enoch, lived a total of 930 years, and then he died (Genesis 5:5); his father Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died (Genesis 5:20); his son Methuselah [the longest lived human being ever] lived a total of 969 years, and then he died (Genesis 5:27). However, none of them were taken alive to heaven by God but Enoch who lived only a total of 365 years (Genesis 5:23). Enoch was taken by God alive because he walked faithfully with God and pleased Him (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5). We can understand there are many individuals who walked with God faithfully but, due to the limitation of our time and space, we will mention a few names here just for our awareness: Noah was another person who walked faithfully with God in a generation filled with so much wickedness, as it is mentioned: … But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God (Genesis 6:5-9). Abraham walked before God faithfully, as it is mentioned: When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless (Genesis 17:1). Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah walked with God, as it is mentioned: … He [Levi] walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin (Malachi 2:4-6); and so on. There are untold number of people mentioned in the Scripture who were known for their faithfulness, loyalty, integrity, saintly life-style and so on, but none of them got the privilege to be taken up alive by God except Enoch and Elijah. All these point out that walking faithfully with God has greater importance than just living a saintly life. This is what exactly God told Moses to tell the Israelites: And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). Proverbs 10:9 states that Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.

Walking together with God or with another person is not an easy task. In order to walk two or more people together, they have to agree with each other in everything they believe, say, and do. If they agree to one another in everything they believe, say and do, then they will enjoy walking together and will have fruitful and peaceful fellowship with each other and will benefit from each other. If they don’t agree with each other’s view, they won’t be enjoying their so-called sweet fellowship with one another even if they seemingly walk together. Prophet Amos raised a question regarding two people walking together that Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so (Amos 3:3), which indicates that walking faithfully with God requires agreeing with all that God says and doing all that God requires, and obeying all His righteous laws and decrees and commands. From Enoch’s life experiences, we can understand that he believed in the Lord wholeheartedly, trusted Him with complete sincerity and commitment, walked faithfully with Him, and pleased Him with his whole life.

Dear friends in the Lord, as we conclude this week’s meditation, let us try our best to walk faithfully with God just as Enoch and Elijah and untold number of other saints of God did. Let us know the reality that our future rewards [blessings] depend upon our faithful walk with God today. Therefore, let us love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength; and place our complete trust in Him, walk faithfully with Him, and please Him and He will do His best for us. May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!