Pleasing to God [Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5-6]

[Gen 5:24] Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

God took him? Where and why? Enoch was the great-great-great-great grandson of Adam. He was also the father of Methuselah, the oldest man who ever lived (according to Scripture). The New Testament book of Hebrews gives us more insight into the character of this man, Enoch.

[Heb 11:5] By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God.

Wow! Imagine having that etched on your tombstone – He was pleasing to God. Apparently, Enoch did not have one because The Spirit of God chose to keep him from experiencing the pain of death here on this earth. And why? The Bible says because Enoch pleased God. JB Philips’ New Testament translation, written in 1958 gives a more precise commentary on this and the next verse as he expounds on the two main components to real Biblical faith. 

[Heb 11:5-6] It was because of his faith that Enoch was promoted to the eternal world without experiencing death. He disappeared from this world because God promoted him, and before that happened his reputation was that “he pleased God.” And without faith it is impossible to please Him. The one who approaches God must have faith in two things – first that God exists and secondly that it is worth one’s while to try to find God.

The author of Hebrews tells us that without ‘faith’ no one can please God. It doesn’t matter what we may accomplish here on this earth, unless faith in The God of Scripture is our filter, all that we do can never reach a level to where God is pleased enough (to receive us). This brings up another amazing insight – that one can actually “please” God. Jesus, when He walked this earth, continuously pleased The Father…as the Gospels testify -- 

[Mt 3:17] This is My beloved Son, in whom I Am well pleased. 

[Mt 17:5; Mk 9:7; Lk 9:35] This is My beloved Son, listen to Him. 

It is not surprising that The Son pleased The Father because we know that God is pleased in and of Himself. But to think that “we” can actually please God – now that’s amazing! How do we? It begins with a God-given faith in The God who has given us this faith. Some people have faith in faith, as if faith is some kind of force or power source. “I am a person of faith.” What does that mean? Faith in who or what? A faith that “can” please God is a faith that is in The God of the Bible. Verse 6 tells us that in order to possess this kind of faith, we must first believe that God is who HE says HE is according to His Word. That’s the first part of a God-given faith. 

The second part is the revelation of how God responds to us when we seek Him on His terms – HE rewards us. But let’s keep all of this in its proper context. What does it mean to seek God on His terms? There are so many passages in Scripture that help to answer this question. But to sum up what they all have in common is to simply say what the author of Hebrews says here – 

He (God) rewards those who “earnestly” seek Him [Heb 11:6 NIV]. 

In His parable of the wise and foolish builders, Jesus details how the wise builder didn’t just start building his house. He took the time and put forth the effort to dig until he got to the hard part of the ground and upon that ground, he first built his foundation [Lk 6:48]. Are you seeking to earnestly know God in order to experience Him as HE really is (as HE says that HE is)? How do you study God’s Word? Do you allow His Word to study you? As you read, do you long to know God more and more? And in knowing Him more, do you long to please Him more?

In the beginning, God had a very intimate relationship with Adam and Eve. But then came that “sin” issue. Sin separated them from God and that intimacy was broken. But God…made a way for them to be cleansed from sin to where they (and their descendants) could experience that intimacy with Him again. Jesus affirmed this in His sermon on the Mount when He proclaimed – 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see (experience) God [Matt 5:8].

Today, when we allow The Spirit of God together with The Word of God to purify our hearts, we too experience Him. This kind of intimacy takes us back to that Garden life (before sin). It was in the Garden, that God walked with and talked with Enoch’s great-great-great-great grandparents. It may be that God has not changed what He first purposed. Perhaps, when we choose to consistently love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength by earnestly seeking Him (on His terms)…His Spirit then invites us to ‘come up’ and experience Him in a more intimate way. Yes, this is still God’s greatest reward to those who earnestly seek Him here on this earth. 

It seems that Enoch was rewarded in this way…even more so. And didn’t God speak to and interact with Abraham and Moses (even Paul and John the Apostle)? What about those like Elijah, Jeremiah and Daniel? Didn’t these prophets walk and talk with God as He spoke to and with them? God is who HE chooses to be. And His Word bears witness to us that He reveals Himself to those who seek Him AND who seek to please Him. Are you pleasing to God?