Cultivating the Enoch Experience Amid the Universal Apostasy in the Last Days

By The Remnant Herald  

“And Enoch, also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince the 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.” Jude 14, 15.

These words of Enoch, as recorded by the apostle Jude, are an accurate portrayal of the state of our fallen world, especially as it relates to the last days:

“[Enoch] also saw the corrupt state of the world when Christ should appear the second time — that there would be a boastful, presumptuous, self-willed generation, denying the only God and the Lord Jesus Christ, trampling upon the law, and despising the atonement. He saw the righteous crowned with glory and honour, and the wicked banished from the presence of the Lord, and destroyed by fire” (Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 85, 86).

That noble man of God — the first to be translated from this earth without seeing death (a fitting representation of the saints who will be alive when Jesus comes) — lived a life worthy to be emulated by a people who will remain faithful amid the universal apostasy of the end times:

“We are living in an evil age. The perils of the last days thicken around us. Because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold. Enoch walked with God three hundred years…Enoch had temptations as well as we. He was surrounded with society no more friendly to righteousness than is that which surrounds us. The atmosphere he breathed was tainted with sin and corruption, the same as ours; yet he lived a life of holiness. He was unsullied with the prevailing sins of the age in which he lived. So may we remain pure and uncorrupted. He was a representative of the saints who live amid the perils and corruptions of the last days. For his faithful obedience to God, he was translated. So, also, the faithful, who are alive and remain, will be translated. They will be removed from a sinful and corrupt world to the pure joys of heaven” (Testimonies for the Church, volume 2, pp. 121, 122).

The Bible gives a beautiful description of the life of Enoch, which is reflective of those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12):

“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 God.” Hebrews 11:5

In what ways did Enoch please God?

• Enoch was a Man of Faith

“When we learn to walk by faith and not by feeling, we shall have help from God just when we need it, and His peace will come into our hearts. It was this simple life of obedience and trust that Enoch lived. If we learn this lesson of simple trust, ours may be the testimony that he received, that he pleased God” (Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, p. 133).

“It was looking in faith to Jesus, in asking of Him, in believing that every word spoken would be verified, that Enoch walked with God” (Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 1, p. 1087; Manuscript 111, 1888).

• Enoch was Perfectly Obedient to the Word of God

“[Enoch] kept close by the side of God, obeying His every word” (Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 1, p. 1087; Manuscript 111, 1888).

“…Enoch lived a life of irreproachable righteousness…a specimen of Christian consistency” (Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 1, p. 1088; Manuscript 43, 1900).

• Enoch was a Man of Prayer

“Pray in your closet, and as you go about your daily labour, let your heart be often uplifted to God. It was thus that Enoch walked with God. These silent prayers rise like precious in-cense before the throne of grace. Satan cannot overcome him whose heart is thus stayed upon God” (Steps to Christ, p. 98).

“I wish I could impress upon every worker in God’s cause the great need of continual, earnest prayer. They cannot be constantly on their knees, but they can be uplifting their hearts to God. This is the way that Enoch walked with God” (Review and Herald, November 10, 1885).

• Enoch was a Man of Profound Humility

“Enoch was a man of strong and highly cultivated mind and extensive knowledge; he was honoured with special revelations from God; yet being in constant communion with Heaven, with a sense of the divine greatness and perfection ever before him, he was one of the humblest of men. The closer the connection with God, the deeper was his sense of his own weakness and imperfection” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 85).

• Enoch Possessed Holy Zeal to do Valiant Service for God

“Enoch lived an active, zealous life of self-denial” (Signs of the Times, October 12, 1904).

• Enoch was a Preacher of Righteousness

“Enoch became a preacher of righteousness making known to the people what God revealed to him…He was a fearless reprover of sin. While he preached the love of God in Christ to the people of his time, and pleaded with them to forsake their evil ways, he rebuked the prevailing iniquity and warned the men of his generation that judgment would surely be visited upon the transgressor. It was the Spirit of Christ that spoke through Enoch; that Spirit is manifested, not alone in utterances of love, compassion, and entreaty; it is not smooth things only that are spoken by holy men. God puts into the heart and lips of His messengers truths to utter that are keen and cutting as a two-edged sword … The wickedness of men had reached such a height that destruction was pronounced against them. As year after year passed on, deeper and deeper grew the tide of human guilt, darker and darker gathered the clouds of divine judgment. Yet Enoch, the witness of faith, held on his way, warning, pleading, entreating, striving to turn back the tide of guilt and to stay the bolts of vengeance” (Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 86, 87).

• Enoch did not Live in the Cities

“Enoch walked with God, and yet he did not live in the midst of any city polluted with every kind of violence and wickedness, as did Lot in Sodom” (Evangelism, p. 78; Manuscript 94, 1903).

“As God’s commandment-keeping people, we must leave the cities. As did Enoch, we must work in the cities but not dwell in them” (Evangelism, pp. 77, 78; Manuscript 85, 1899).

• Enoch was a Christian, a Seventh-day Adventist, an Avid Believer of the Second Coming of Christ

“That God who walked with Enoch was our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He was the light of the world then, just as He is today. Those living then were not without teachers to instruct them in the paths of life, for Noah and Enoch were Christians” (Website of EGW Writings: Letter 119, 1895).

“Enoch was an Adventist. He directed the minds of men for-ward to the great day of God, when Christ will come the second time to judge every man’s work…Like Enoch, we should earnestly proclaim the message of Christ’s second coming” (Signs of the Times, October 12, 1904).

All these statements are most telling in their significance, in light of the following pronouncement from the messenger of the Lord:

“If ever a people needed to walk before God as did Enoch, Seventh-day Adventists need to do so now, showing their sincerity by pure words, clean words, words full of sympathy, tenderness and love. There are times when words of reproof and rebuke are called for. Those who are out of the right way must be aroused to see their peril. A message must be given that shall startle them from the lethargy which enchains their senses. Moral renovation must take place, else souls will perish in their sins. Let the message of truth, like a sharp two-edged sword, cut its way to the heart. Make appeals that will arouse the care-less and bring foolish, wandering minds back to God. The attention of the people must be arrested. Our message is a savour of life unto life or of death unto death. The des-tines of souls are balancing. Multitudes are in the valley of decision. A voice should now be heard, ‘If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow Him’ 1 Kings 18:21.” (Testimonies for the Church, volume 7, p. 185).

“Like Enoch, God’s people will seek for purity of heart and conformity to His will, until they shall reflect the likeness of Christ. Like Enoch, they will warn the world of the Lord’s second coming and of the judgments to be visited upon transgression, and by their holy conversation and example they will condemn the sins of the ungodly” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 89).

Enoch was a stalwart for truth amid the universal apostasy of his age. So today, as “darkness…cover the earth, and gross darkness the people” (Isaiah 60:2) — both in our society and in the church — Enochs are needed to stand for the truth of God, to give the trumpet a certain sound, to raise the cry, “prepare to meet thy God, O Israel” (Amos 4:12):

“The night symbolizes prevalence of error, misinterpretation and misapplication of Scripture. Every species of delusion is now being brought in. The plainest truths of God’s Word are covered with a mass of man-made theories. Deadly errors are presented as truth to which all must bow. The simplicity of true godliness is buried beneath tradition…Night, dark and portentous, is enclosing the Christian world. Apostasy from God’s commandments is evidence of this night — dark, deep, and apparently impenetrable…Apostasy exists, and will en-close the world to the last. Its hideous character and darkening influence will be seen in the maddening draughts dealt out from Babylon”(Bible Echo, February 1, 1897).

Sister White was inspired to write that “there are Enochs in this our day” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 332). Is it your earnest desire to be an Enoch, to fully reflect Christ’s character, to be His voice to call sinners to repentance?

About The Remnant Herald: The Remnant Herald is an Australian publication produced by Remnant Ministries. The current editor and author is Elvis Placer, and we have reproduced this article with his permission. You can contact Elvis Placer through email at rh1844@pm.me or call the office clerk at +61 3 9706 2173 to request a FREE subscription to the Remnant Herald.