Day 3: Enoch

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

There’s a quiet, almost hidden figure in the long list of names that make up the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3. His name is Enoch. If you blink, you might miss him. But in the ancient story of Genesis, Enoch’s life stands out like a lantern in the dark. While most of the names in Genesis 5 are followed by the refrain “. . . and then he died,” Enoch’s story is different. The text simply says, “Enoch walked faith- fully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24).

Enoch’s story is brief, but it is profound. In a world that was growing increasingly dark – where violence and corruption would soon bring about the flood– Enoch’s life was marked by a simple, daily faithfulness. He walked with God. Not just for a season, but for 300 years. The Hebrew phrase suggests intimacy, friendship and steady companionship. Enoch’s life wasn’t defined by grand achievements or dramatic miracles but by a long obedience in the same direction.

And then, in a moment that still stirs our imagination, Enoch “was no more, because God took him away.” The New Testament writer to the Hebrews says, “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death. . . . For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5).

What does Enoch’s story have to do with the gospel? His life is a signpost pointing forward. In a world where death reigned, Enoch’s walk with God broke the pattern.

He was taken – not by death, but by God Himself! Enoch’s story is a whisper of hope – a hope that death need not be the end, that God can do something to change the reign of death. And this idea of walking with God is the key.

In Jesus Christ, that hope becomes reality. Jesus, the better Enoch, walked with God perfectly, and through His death and resurrection, He opened the way for us to share in His resurrection life and not have death as our end. The genealogy in Luke 3 reminds us that Jesus stands in the line of this Enoch who walked with God, and He invites us to join Him on that journey.

I think about Enoch’s story often. In Romania and across Eastern Europe, the pressure to prove ourselves – whether through education, career or even emigration – can be overwhelming. Our history is marked by seasons of hard- ship, uncertainty and the struggle to build a better future for our families. It’s easy to feel that our lives only matter if we do something spectacular.

At the same time, in Bucharest and in towns and villages across Romania, faithfulness often requires caring for aging parents, raising children in a rapidly changing society or holding onto hope in the face of economic and political uncertainty – things that feel ordinary and mundane, not spectacular.

Enoch’s story offers a quiet but radical alternative: that God is present in these daily realities and values our daily faithfulness more than our visible achievements. What matters most is not what we accomplish but who we walk with.

And in Jesus, we have the promise that our walk with God is not in vain. He has conquered death, and He walks with us by His Spirit every step of the way. One day, just like Enoch, we will be with Him forever – not because of our achievements but because of His grace. In a region where trust in institutions can be fragile and where the wounds of the past still shape our present, Jesus’s faithfulness stands as a sure foundation. Through the disappointments, He promises that our story – like Enoch’s – is held securely in God’s hands.

So, as we wait and hope this Advent, let’s remember Enoch. Let’s choose to walk with God, one step at a time, trusting that He is leading us home. And let’s encourage one another that, in Christ, even the most ordinary life can become extraordinary in God’s story.