Enoch, Who Walked with God

Ami Farkas

At synagogue this past Sabbath, our Torah reading covered the first portion of the book of Genesis. We revisited the Garden of Eden, tasted the bitterness and shame of Adam and Eve’s sin, and traversed through ten generations between Adam and Noah. In the midst of all this, my attention was transfixed on the short but meaningful story of Enoch.
I assume that when most people study Genesis, they don’t give much notice to Enoch, whose sole appearance in the Torah is limited to a few verses: Genesis 5:18-25. And considering the lives of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the contributions they made to mankind, Enoch plays a minute role in the grand scheme of things. The story of Enoch might be short, but it has deep lessons we should not ignore.

Avoid Big Failures

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness." (Ephesians 4:17-19)

There's a subtle strategy Satan uses to take control of our lives. The Bible calls it lasciviousness and it means "to have no restraint."

Lasciviousness has been preached as being extreme immorality, but it doesn't start out that way. It begins with just a few seemingly innocent thoughts. Then those thoughts grow and grow until they begin to produce serious sin.

One afternoon as a nine-year-old boy, for example, I just yielded to the desire to curse. I knew better, but I did it anyway. I had a relative who was so good at West Texas cussin' that I thought he invented it. I was intrigued and I wanted to try it.

When I let go of all restraint and began to say those curse words, something evil moved in on my thinking that seriously affected me for some 20 years. A law was set in motion. As a result, my flesh gradually became boss over my entire being.

When Prophecies Fail (even in 2012) by Elwin R. Roach

"Charity never ⁽¹⁾ faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall ⁽²⁾fail..." 1 Corinthians 13:8 " (even in 2012).

Many people are in quite a stir these days. Calamities have been streaming through the nations that have left them more than a little unsettled. There have been earthquakes, a tsunami that caused thousands of deaths and three uncontrollable nuclear reactor melt downs, political upheavals and corruption everywhere, economic woes, nations going bankrupt, and immorality running rampant in all walks of life. Moreover, many believe that the catalyst for an imminent, worldwide meltdown has to do with the Mayan calendar that ends on this year's winter solstice December 21, 2012. There have been an unprecedented amount of prophecies, fearful predictions, and speculations concerning this upcoming date.