Is Walking with God dangerous?

Genesis 5:6-21

My mother came from a large family, she had four sisters and four brothers, and I have friends who have large families, but nothing compared to Seth, who lived 912 years.  The Scripture states that, “When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh.  Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters.  Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.”  Do you think Seth had a problem remembering all the kid’s names not to mention the grandchildren and great grandchildren?  As we follow in Scripture the ancestry of Seth, we come to Jared; “When Jared had lived 162 years he fathered Enoch.” (Genesis 5:19)  This is the second time we have seen the name Enoch, the first Enoch came from the line of Cain, and the second Enoch came from the line of Seth.

The Enoch that came from Seth was 65 years when he fathered Methuselah that was a life changing time for Enoch.  Often we see men grow-up after they become parents, they see life from a different view; we do not know anything about Enoch before he fathered Methuselah, but after we have this account.  “Enoch walked with God 300 years, after he fathered Methuselah and had other sons and daughters.  Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.” (Genesis 5:22,23)  Enoch walked with God, and yet something seems very wrong, Enoch lived on this earth only 365 years and Enoch’s dad Jared lived 962 years and the Scriptures do not imply that Jared walked with God. 

Is walking with God dangerous?  Should there have been a warning sign printed, “Walking with God may shorten your life?”  Or does walking with God have eternal benefits?  When we look at Adam and Eve, they died in two ways, first they broke fellowship and disobeyed God and died spiritually, then they died a physical death.  All that followed them till Enoch also died physical deaths, and all men who had an earthly father also died in the same manner as Adam with the exception of Elijah, whom God also took.

Genesis 5:24, states that; “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”  Wow, Enoch did not die a physical death, and Hebrews 11:5, gives this account of Enoch.  “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him.  Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.”  I do not believe you are I set out to displease God, but often, we just do not understand how to please God; Hebrews 11:6 tells us how to do just that, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

From Adam you and I got an independent spirit, a spirit of the world, a spirit controlled by the enemy of our soul, a spirit that takes great pride in saying “I did it my way.”  Life is based on choice!  We only have two models, the first Adam was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man or Adam is from heaven and we call him Jesus, the Christ.  1Corinthians 15:45, “Thus it is written, “The first Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”  God loved you and me so much that He gave us two models, one chose to live independently from God, which brought about death, and one who chose to obey His Father, who gives life eternal to all who by faith put their hope in Him.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice