More to the Story
Scripture Reading: Genesis 5:21-23
When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
The Bible surprises us with strange texts like this. Written matter-of-factly and mysteriously, it raises questions about which we can only guess at answers, sometimes with good reason and sometimes by making wild speculations.
What is it about the birth of Methuselah that caused Enoch to begin a life of walking with God that was so spectacularly unique that it ended with him getting to skip over the whole dying thing on the way out?
What does the writer mean by “And he was not?”
How did God take Enoch? Was he lifted from the earth like Jesus, or taken in a chariot of fire like Elijah? Was there some other form of his departure, or did he just disappear?
What was the reaction of his many sons and daughters? What about his wife? What happened to her?
So many questions….
So few answers….
The writer seems to know. Of course, The Writer certainly knows. But both keep us in the dark about everything except what we need to know. This doesn’t suggest that we are forbidden from asking and thinking about these things. Holy curiosity can lead us to spiritual insight.
It does remind us that not everything that could have been told was necessary or helpful to our spiritual life. Knowing Enoch walked with God prods us to do the same. Knowing the descriptive details of his departure from this world wouldn’t.
The Bible was written to lead us to Christ and to help us walk with Him. As much as I love great descriptive writing that stirs the imagination and draws the reader into the story, the Bible wasn’t written like a Wendell Berry novel.
There is more to the story, and God has chosen to leave much of the more out, not to deprive us of the truth, but to help us focus on the truth that matters for life and godliness.
