Enoch, Noah, and Lot

I want you guys to know that I am the most blessed pastor in the Dyer Baptist Association. I have been blessed with a congregation, especially this core group, that is engaged in God’s Word.

Your engagement causes me to diligently prepare. As a result of your diligence, I am learning more and more from God’s Word.

Take for example the Rapture of which we have spoken about this month. As I prepared our study, I knew I better know what I was talking about because of the depth of your knowledge of God’s Word. I knew I just could not say “anything.”

Because of your diligence motivating me to be prepared, I came to an incredible understanding of Enoch, Noah, and Lot. In particular, what those three foreshadow in the Old Testament.

We must never neglect the Old Testament. The Old Testament is incredibly important for your growth in the knowledge of what God has to say.

Romans 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

As I started to fully grasp the foreshadowing of Enoch, Noah, and Lot, I reached out to Charlie Halliburton and asked him if I was reading too much into it, and he said no. He said those three represent or foreshadow the redemption of three different groups of people.

Let’s see what God’s Word says.

1. ENOCH.

Enoch is a foreshadowing of the Rapture of the Church.

Genesis 5:24 “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”

Hebrews 11:5 “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.”

You are familiar with Enoch.

As a wee lad of 65, Enoch became the father of a bouncing little boy named Methuselah.

Something about that birth changed Enoch because the Bible says for 300 years after the birth that Enoch walked with God.

How ironic is it that a birth changes behavior!! It seems like I remember something about that from the New Testament.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

I believe before Methuselah was born that God appeared to Enoch. I believe that God told Enoch what to name his little bundle of joy because the name Methuselah means when he dies, it will come.

I believe God told Enoch that judgment was coming. It was going to come when Methuselah died, and since Enoch did not know when that was going to be, it created a desire within him to walk with God.

Knowledge of coming judgment and Christ’s return should motivate you and I to walk with God, to live a Christ-like life.

1 John 4:17 “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”

1 John 2:28 “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”

What God told Enoch changed the trajectory of Enoch’s life. We do not know anything about the first 65 years of his life, be we know after his encounter with God that Enoch lived a godly life for the next three hundred years.

Let’s look at Hebrews 11:5 again. I want you to notice three things about Enoch.

Hebrews 11:5 “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.”

A. Enoch was translated so that he would not see death.

Translated in Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 5 means to remove one from the earthly to the heavenly by great power so that the person can enter into heaven without experiencing death.

Is that what happened to Enoch? YES!!!

Genesis 5:24 “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”

Judgment was coming, but God’s desire was that Enoch not experience it. You must understand this. In the Bible, God’s judgment is always associated with death.

Revelation 20:14–15 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Enoch did not experience judgment. He did not experience death. He was translated, and guess what? You could experience the same thing.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”

1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Think about it, Mitzie Goff. You and I could be translated in the next minute and never experience God’s judgment, death, but even if we do die physically, you and I can have the assurance that we will not suffer the second death because we have obtained salvation and are not appointed unto wrath. AMEN!!!!

B. Enoch was translated by God.

Enoch’s translation was completely dependent upon God just as our translation will be.

The Bible says that Enoch walked with God and was not because God took him. Enoch did not take himself. He did not translate himself. It was made possible by God just as my translation is made possible by God.

1 Corinthians 15:51–52 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

I have told yall this before but let me refresh your memory.

If you notice on your handout, I have the phrase in a moment in bold print. In a moment is the English translation of the Greek word, atomos. It is the word from which we get our word, atom.

What do you know about atoms? They are the smallest unit of matter in all elements.

In a moment, atomos, is the smallest indivisible unit of time. It indicates great power, like that of an atomic explosion. It is with that much power in the smallest unit of time that you and I, one of these days, will be walking and suddenly, we will not be. God will have translated us. It is God who makes it all possible.

C. Enoch was translated because he had a testimony that pleased God.

If you are saved, guess what you have? You have a testimony that pleases God because of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

You and I will be translated because of our testimony, a testimony that is made possible because of the righteousness of Christ. It will be Christ that God sees as I am translated. It is Christ who makes me blameless before God.

The Bible says Enoch walked with God. Guess what? So do you and all those that are saved and part of the true church.

How? You may ask.

Who do you have indwelling you if you are saved? THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Who is the Holy Spirit? He is God.

Will God ever experience wrath? NO!!!

Just as Enoch was translated so will the church be prior to God’s wrath and before the Tribulation begins.

2. NOAH.

Now, this one caused a light bulb to turn on above my head.

Noah is a foreshadowing of the remnant of Israel protected during judgment.

Did Noah live through judgment? YES!!!!

Was Noah protected from that judgment? YES!!!!

How?

A. By God’s Grace (Genesis 6:8).

Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”

B. By God’s Provision (Genesis 6:14).

Genesis 6:14 “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”

C. By God’s Protection (Genesis 7:16).

Genesis 7:16 “And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.”

Noah was on earth as judgment raged. He was different from Enoch as Noah was not translated, but Noah was sealed and protected.

Guess who will be sealed after the church is translated and before the Tribulation begins?

Revelation 7:3–4 “Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”

144,000 sealed Jews will be on Earth as judgment pours down, but like Noah, they will be sealed and protected as that judgment falls by God.

Did any of the 8 people that were on that Ark die as a result of judgment? NO!!!!

In the same way, there is a remnant of Israel, 144,000 Jews, sealed and protected by God as the judgment of the Tribulation begins, and guess how many are left unharmed by the judgment at the end of the Tribulation? 144,000.

Revelation 14:1 “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.”

The Antichrist will do all he can to try to stop these witnesses, but he will not be able to do so because as Noah was protected during judgment so will these 144,000 Jews.

It is not an uncommon thing for God to protect His people from judgment.

Exodus 8:22–24 “And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.”

Exodus 9:4 “And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.”

Exodus 9:11 “And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.”

Revelation 9:3–4 “And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.”

God’s judgment is discriminating. It affects all except those who are sealed and protected by God.

How can I be so certain about a Pre-Tribulation Rapture?

Ephesians 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

Ephesians 1:13–14 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

Would it be for Christ’s glory if you and I were to go through the Tribulation? No, and that is why He seals us with the Holy Spirit until the Day of Redemption.

Noah is a type of the remnant of Israel saved, sealed, and protected during judgment.

3. LOT.

Lot, his daughters, and his wife foreshadow what happens at the end of the age as the wheat is separated from the tares.

Genesis 19:24–26 “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”

Matthew 13:30 “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

If we were to describe Lot today in terms of Christianity, we would describe Lot as a carnal Christian. He was controlled by the flesh and the desires of the world. Like many today, Lot probably did not know if he was saved or not because of the sin in which he lived.

As judgment fell, however, Lot was saved from that judgment as were his two daughters, but his wife revealed herself as a tare.

The story of Lot’s wife in the Bible is a cautionary tale.

Luke 17:32–33 “Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.”

2 Peter 1:10–11 “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

At the end of the age, everyone who is not saved will be swept away by the flood of God’s judgment.

Revelation 19:19–20 “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

Revelation 19:21 “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

When Christ returns to Earth at Armageddon, every lost person on planet earth will be gathered like the tares to burn in final judgment. Those that are saved and still alive will not be swept away by judgment as they will enter the Millennial Kingdom as mortal beings just as Lot and his two daughters entered the sanctuary city provided by God.

Conclusion:

I cannot stress this enough. God knows who belongs to Him. You may pull the wool over the eyes of someone on earth, but God knows you as you are. He knows that you are either in Christ’s righteousness or in your sin. No one who has not wrapped himself or herself in the righteousness of Christ will avoid judgment, just as no one wrapped in Christ’s righteousness will experience judgment.

Christ received my judgment on Calvary, and hopefully, He received yours too.