"In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him," Gen. 5:1. "And Adam...begat a son in his own likeness, after his image," Gen. 5:3. By sin Adam lost the image of God and became corrupt in his nature and a fallen parent could do no more than beget a fallen child. Seth was begotten in the likeness of a sinful father! Since Noah was the direct descendant of Seth and is the father of us all, and since he was able to transmit to us only that which he had, himself, received from Seth, we have here the doctrine of universal depravity. Every man living in the world today is, through Noah and his three sons, a descendant of Seth, hence it is that care is here taken at the beginning of this new section to trace the spring back to its fountain head, and show how all are, by nature, the fallen offspring of a fallen parent-that we have all been begotten in the image and likeness of a corrupt and sinful father.

Until we reach the twenty-first verse of Genesis 5, there is little else in the chapter which calls for comment. The intervening verses trace for us the line of Seth's seed, and death is writ large across the record. Eight times we read, "And he died." But in verses 21 to 24 we have a notable exception. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, died not. He was translated without seeing death. And to the consideration of this remarkable man we shall now direct our attention.

Enoch is a striking character. He is one of but two men of whom it is said in Scripture that he "walked with God." He is one of but two men who lived on this earth and went to heaven without passing through the portals of death. And he is the only one, except our blessed Lord, of whom it is written, "He pleased God."* He is one of the very few who lived before the Flood of whom we know anything at all. The days when Enoch lived on the earth were flagrantly wicked, as the Epistle of Jude plainly shows. He seems to have stood quite alone in his fearless denunciation of the ungodly and in his faithful testimony for God. Very little is recorded of him, which is another proof of the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures-a truth which cannot be overemphasized. Had the Bible been a human production, much would have been written about Enoch and an attempt

*In this, as in everything, our Lord has the preeminence. He alone could say, "I do always those things that please Him!"

made to show the cause and explain the method of his mysterious exit from this world. The silence of Holy Scripture attest their Divine origin! But though little is told us about Enoch, a careful examination of what is recorded suggests and supplies a wonderfully complete biography.

"And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah : And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daugh、 ters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years. And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." (Gen. 5: 21-24).

The first thing implied in Enoch's walk with God is reconciliation. A pertinent question is asked in Amos 3:3, "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" Thus two walking together supposes agreement, sympathy, harmony. From the nature of the case, it is implied that one of the two had been at enmity with the other and that there had been a reconciliation. So that when we say of any man that he walks with God, it implies that he has been reconciled to God. God has not conformed to him, but he has conformed to God.

To walk with God implies a correspondency of nature. Light hath no communion with darkness. No sinner can walk with God for he has nothing in common with Him, and more, his mind is at enmity against Him. It is sin which separates from God. The day that Adam sinned he fled from his Maker and hid himself among the trees of the garden. A walk with God then supposes the judicial putting away of sin and the impartation of the Divine nature to the one who walked with Him.

To walk with God implies a moral fitness. God does not walk out of the way of holiness. Before God would walk through Israel's camp everything which defiled had to be put away. Before Christ commences His millennial reign all things that offend must be gathered out of His Kingdom. The thrice holy God keeps no company with the unclean. "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But, if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1: 6, 7. In a sentence, then, walking with God means that we cease taking our own way, that we abandon the world's way, that we follow the Divine way.

To walk with God implies a surrendered will. God does not force His company upon any. "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" The supreme example and illustration is the Lord Jesus. None enjoyed such perfect and intimate communication with the Father as He. And what was the secret of it all? "I delight to do Thy will, O God," supplies the explanation. If, then, we would walk with the Lord, there must be a willingness and readiness on our part. "Take My yoke upon you." He does not force it on any!

To walk with God implies spiritual communion. "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" The word "walk" suggests steady progress. It has been quaintly but well said, Enoch "did not take a turn or two with God and then leave His company, but he walked with God for hundreds of years. What a splendid walk! A walk of three hundred years! It was not a run, a leap, a spurt, but a steady walk."

"And Enoch walked with God." What light that one word casts on the life and character of this man! How much it reveals to us. Like every other descendant of Adam, Enoch was by nature a child of wrath, alienated from the life of God. But a day came when he was reconciled to his Maker. If it be asked, What was the cause of this reconciliation? Hebrews 11:5 supplies the answerEnoch "had this testimony, that he pleased God." If it be further asked, How did he please God? the very next verse informs us, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him." Faith then was the instrumental cause of his reconciliation. Again we say, how much that one sentence tells us about this "seventh from Adam"! Born into this world a lost sinner, he is saved by grace through faith. He is born again and thus made a partaker of the Divine nature. He is brought into agreement with the Most High and fitted to have fellowship with the Holy One.

But from the analogy of other Scriptures, by comparing text with text we may learn still more about this man who "pleased God." What would be the result of his walk with God? Would not the first consequence of such a walk be a growth in grace? Walking implies progress, and that in a forward direction. Enoch's life must have been progressive. At the close of three hundred years of communion

with God, Enoch could not be morally and spiritually where he was at the beginning. He would have a deeper abhorrence of sin and a humbler estimate of himself. He would be more conscious of his own helplessness and would feel more and more his need of absolute dependency on God. There would be a larger capacity to enjoy God. There would be a going on from strength to strength and from glory to glory.

There would also be a growth in the knowledge of the Lord. It is one thing to talk about God, to reason and speculate about Him, to hear and read about Him, it is quite another to know Him. This is the practical and experimental side of the Christian life. If we would know God we must walk with Him: we must come into living contact with Him, have personal dealings with Him, commune with Him. After such a walk of three hundred years Enoch would have a deeper appreciation of God's excellency, a greater enjoyment of His perfections and would manifest a more earnest concern for His glory.

Another consequence of Enoch's walk with God would be a deep settled joy and peace. Enoch's life must have been supremely happy. How could he be miserable with such a Companion! He could not be gloomy in such company. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me." Walking with God ensures protection. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Nothing can harm the man who has the Lord God at his right hand.

A further consequence of Enoch's walk was his witness for God-see Jude 14 and 15. This is something which needs to be stressed. This order cannot be reversed, it is of Divine appointment. Before we can witness for God, we must walk with God. It is greatly to be feared that much of what passes for "Christian service" in our day is not the product of such a walk, and that it will prove but "wood, hay and stubble" in the day of testing. There is something which must precede service, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve."

Having considered at some length the character of Enoch's walk, let us in closing note two other things, the commencement and the culmination of this walk.

"And Enoch lived sixty and five years and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God" (Gen. 5:21, 22). It is not said that Enoch walked with God before his son was born, and the inference seems to be that the coming into his life of this little one-God's gift-may have been the means of leading him into this close fellowship. Such ought ever to be the case. The responsibilities of parenthood should cast us more and more upon God.

The name of his son strongly implies that Enoch had received a revelation from God. Methuselah signifies, "When he is dead it shall be sent," i. e., the Deluge (Newberry). In all probability then, a Divine revelation is memorialized in this name. It was as though God had said to Enoch, "Do you see that baby? The world will last as long as he lives and no longer! When that child dies, I shall deal with the world in judgment. The windows of heaven will be opened. The fountains of the great deep will be broken up, and all humanity will perish." What would be the effect of such a communication upon Enoch? Imagine for a moment a parallel case today. Suppose God should make known to you, in such a way that you could not question His veracity, that this world would last only as long as the life of some little one in your home. Suppose God should say to you, "The life of that little one is to be the life of the world. When that child dies the world will be destroyed. What would be the effect upon you? Not knowing how soon that child might die, there would come before you the possibility that the world might perish at any time. Every time that child fell sick the world's doom would stare you in the face! Suppose further, that you were unsaved. Would you not be deeply exercised? Would you not realize as never before your urgent need of preparing to meet God? Would you not at once begin to occupy yourself with spiritual things? May not some such effects have been produced upon Enoch? Be this as it may -and it is difficult to escape such a conclusion-it is certainly implied that from the time Methuselah was born, the world lost all its attractiveness for Enoch and from that time on, if never before, he walked with God.

"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