Enoch and Noah

ENOCH
          Our next faith example is Enoch (Hebrews 11:5-6). Enoch is one of two people in the Bible (and in the history of the world, as far as we know) who was “taken by God” without ever tasting the bitterness of death. Can you name the other one (the Prophet Elijah)? Enoch’s “snatching” by God was a matter of faith according to Hebrews. The author says that God spared Enoch from the experience of death because he lived his life pleasing to God. In some ways, this is a shadow of things to come for all who believe in Christ (we do not taste death).
          So Enoch was miraculously blessed simply because he walked by faith. The fact that he so loved and trusted God was very pleasing to God. The same holds true for us. When we live our lives with a goal of pleasing God in everything we do, God is pleased with us, even though we may “mess up” frequently. Although we “bless” God through our faith, I guarantee God is a bigger “Blesser” than we are. When He is pleased, He enjoys rewarding us in return, like a loving and gracious heavenly Father.
          Enoch teaches us that God’s blessings will basically flow to us when we live by faith, seek to please Him, and bring honor to His Son.
 
NOAH
          Noah is our next example of faith (Hebrews 11:7). We now see how sin throughout the generations, by the time of Noah’s day, had completely plunged the entire world into evil and wickedness. In order to save the world, the Lord was forced to begin anew with Noah and his family. So He commanded Noah to build an ark. This example is probably a much clearer act of faith for most of us.
God’s command most likely initially sounded preposterous. But Noah was a righteous man and followed God. So he trusted in God more than his own judgment or view of the world. He did as God advised. His radical act of faith served only to… “saved humankind from absolute annihilation,” including his own family.
          Again in this example we have (as we do throughout this passage) a reference to the “unseen” as compared to the “seen” (Hebrews 11:7, NIV), “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.”  So Noah believed the “unseen,” namely God and His plan/promise. He then followed God’s will and brought the “unseen” into the “seen” or material world. God and His promise and plan were eventually played out in the form of an enormous boat. His unseen plan was made visible to the world for all to “see” due to Noah’s faith.
           Obedience is a major aspect of faith in this story. Faith and obedience walk hand in hand. As a matter of fact, some have claimed obedience or action to be the primary aspect of faith. Again, we have no genuine faith without a response. We see that clearly in Noah’s example.
          Noah could claim to believe in God and His plan all the day long, but if he neglected to actually build the boat…well, you know the consequences. Obedience might be called the action verb of faith. If we do not act upon God’s will and promises, then we simply do not have the Biblical form of faith!
          So we see how Noah first believed God would do what He said He would do, namely flood the world. This serves as the beginning point of faith but not the entire package. In addition, Noah so fully accepted God’s plan as truth that he began to take a specific action. This is where faith becomes a reality. This is where faith becomes genuine, authentic, legitimate “Bible faith.” A natural disaster would soon devastate the earth, or so Noah was told. Based on that information alone from God as his only source, Noah obeyed God and immediately began construction on the ark. This is faith.