The Man Who God Carried Home
By: Michael Murray
Tags: Religion, Christianity, Bible, Spirituality, God

The Man Who God Carried Home

The story of an uncommon friendship between God and man.

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. (Genesis 5:24, NIV)

Enoch is something of a legend in Christian culture. Pastors talk about him with an air of mystery. His story captures our imagination. He’s the man who never died — God took him away.

Genesis 5 is a genealogy tracing Adam to Noah. It’s one of those monotonous “family tree” sections of the Bible you breeze through to get to the good stuff. Each entry follows the same pattern: it lists how old a man was when they became father to the next man in line, and how many years they lived total. Each one ends with the haunting refrain, “and then he died.”

But about two-thirds of the way down the list, we see a break in the pattern. Enoch’s entry takes an unusual turn. Finally, a reason to whip out our yellow hi-lighters! I love the blunt way The Message translation puts it:

Enoch walked steadily with God. And then one day he was simply gone: God took him. (Genesis 5:24, MSG)

So what happened to ol’ Enoch? Here’s my story (that I’m in no way sticking to since my opinions on these things change a lot!)…

We know God likes taking strolls.

When Adam and Eve hid from God in Genesis 3, God was “walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (v. 8). Talking about this pastime, Old Testament scholar John Goldingay writes:

Genesis will speak of Enoch and Noah walking with God. It suggests a relaxed friendship. Similarly, it looks as if God expects to be able to enjoy a relaxed walk with Adam and Eve.

I like that description of a “relaxed friendship.” There is no pressure to perform. No pressure to impress the other person, or to be something you’re not. God and Enoch were simply enjoying each other’s company.

It’s amazing how often I make spending time with God a chore. I rush to open my Bible at 10:30 pm to check off that day’s reading before bed. Or I mumble or quick prayer because it’s what I “should” do.

This doesn’t sound like a “relaxed friendship,” does it? It sounds anxiety-ridden!

If anyone acted that way toward me, I’d be concerned for them.

Can you imagine if you were meeting a good friend for lunch, and they entered the restaurant in a frenzy? They sit down, take out a stopwatch, and yell, “Okay, I have 5 minutes to catch up, starting… now!”

I would say, “Hey, it’s okay. We can do this later if you’re busy. I don’t want to squeeze everything into 5 minutes. I want us to relax and have a good time together.”

I long for the relaxed friendship Enoch had with God. And I know I could have it if I slowed down a bit.

Losing track of time.

Do you know what I think happened to Enoch? One day, he and God walked together for so long that he grew tired. Maybe they met up for their afternoon walk and lost track of time. They continued walking long into the night.

Enoch was tired, but he didn’t want to go home. Has that ever happened to you and your friends? You’re having a fun time, but then you start to yawn. You glance at your phone — how’d it get to be midnight already?!

God suggests they sit down for a bit and rest. So they do. And as Enoch continues to talk, his eyelids grow heavy. He drifts off to sleep mid-sentence, as children do at bedtime.

God shakes his head and smiles at Enoch. It’s been a good day together. But what do we do now? he wonders.

Then God gets an idea. He scoops up Enoch — being careful not to wake him — and carries him home. And Enoch was no more, because God took him away.

Why is the story of Enoch so fascinating? Maybe because it’s so uncommon.

It’s the story of an uncommon friendship between God and man.