Enoch: A Preacher of Judgment Against the Ungodly
One of the fascinating dimensions of Islamic terror against homosexuals is how the liberal politicians and their national media arm find a way to blame “the Christian right.” Besides their arguments being absurd, one has to wonder about their motivation. What is it about the Christian preacher that draws hostility from enemies who despise and destroy each other?
The answer is found in the preacher’s message of judgment against the ungodly. When the man of God stands before the world and heralds God’s Word, all the enemies of God are enraged (Jn 7:7; 15:18–19; Rom 1:30). This is true even as they are killing one another. Sinful man’s hatred of the Word of truth only exacerbates the case of total depravity levied against him.
Enoch was a famous preacher. His message was one of God’s judgment against humanity. His ministry was a precursor to the ministry of Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and builder of the ark (Gen 6–9). With the extent of unrighteousness and ungodliness in the world, it is remarkable for a man to stand up and proclaim judgment on his neighbors. This is the history of preaching, however.
How different are the preacher profiles in the Bible from the preachers and preaching in America, today? Prophets, proclaiming, “Thus saith the Lord” are rare. The pattern in the Bible was for prophets to declare judgment on people and then suffer persecution for the message they proclaimed. Therefore, it is actually an encouragement when Christian preachers are blamed by the enemies of God because it demonstrates the fact there is some impact from our message. So, who was Enoch? What was his message from God?
In the New Testament, Jude wrote, “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him (Jude 1:14–15).’” Wicked men, in the midst of the ungodliness invite the presence of the righteous preacher.
First, the peculiar identifier of Enoch being in the seventh generation from Adam is purposeful. There was another man in early history also named, “Enoch.” He was third from Adam on Cain’s side of the family. Cain, of course, was the first murderer (Gen 4). His progeny is notorious for their wickedness and ungodly behavior. We call his family tree, “the line of the unrighteous.”
This Enoch, who is seventh from Adam, is in the line of the righteous. He is from Seth’s side of the family. Seth and Cain were brothers, just as Cain and Abel were brothers before the first murder occurred. The clear division between the two groups, righteous and unrighteous, is an ongoing biblical motif. It covers the entirety of the biblical record (ie. sheep and goats; wheat and tares; etc.). The unrighteous are unbelievers and disobedient to God in their behavior. The righteous believe God and walk by His Spirit. Enoch walked with God (Gen 5:24).
Second, Enoch prophesied. Men of God, who walk with God, are given stewardship of the revelation of God. They are born to preach, like Jeremiah. They are set apart, like Isaiah. They worship God through spiritual disciplines and devotion, like Daniel. They are lovers of God’s Word, like Ezra. They are not perfect in their callings, like Jonah, but their callings put them in front of stiff-necked and obstinate people, as was the ministry afforded to John the Baptist.
The Bible is filled with preachers of the Word, both prophets to Israel and apostles to the nations. Wherever you find a man of God, you are dealing with God’s anointed. There is nothing proud or boastful in this calling because it is all God. Show me the man who is not filled with the Spirit of God and has an unction to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That preacher does not exist. If you encounter a man with the Word of God burning in his bones, and the testimony of God on his lips, then you are in the presence of a supernatural phenomenon.
Enoch was a prophet in both senses of the word. He was a foreteller and a forthteller. As a preacher, he told forth the Word given to Him by the Spirit. As a foreteller, he spoke about people and events in the future (Jude 1:14). In the last days, Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim 4:1; 1 Pet 4:5). He will come as a warrior to defeat his enemies (Rev 19:11–21). His just wrath will be poured out on the earth (Rev 6–18). This is the Jesus most Americans are unfamiliar with because most American Christians are uncomfortable with this depiction of the holy one of Israel.
Enoch preached Christ, the coming King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim 6:15). He foresaw the multitudes of holy ones coming with Jesus to wage war. The object of His just judgment is the ungodly (Jude 1:15). The wrath of God is always being revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom 1:18), but Enoch’s view is to the culmination of conflict at the consummation of the ages.
In his sermon, Enoch sees judgment coming to “all,” for all the ungodly will be convicted. What is the charge against the ungodly? It is their ungodly deeds (Jude 1:15). These are done in an ungodly way (1:15). This includes ungodly speech directed against God and His Messiah (1:15). It is common for the line of the unrighteous to take the name of the Lord in vain and in harsh tones.
“Jesus Christ” is the name above every other name. It is also the most common way for men to blaspheme the name of God. The Bible is clear that all people will be judged for every idle word (Rom 3:4). Listening to people in American culture with endless profanity can only make one cringe at the prospect of judgment.
“Ungodly” is the key motif in Enoch’s summarized message in Jude. It is employed four times in the brief passage. Enoch lived in the world, in a time when ungodliness dominated the culture. Judgment was coming. God had revealed this to the prophet, who faithfully preached the message of pending doom. Is it any different for preachers, today?
It is of utmost importance for us to remember this prophecy is not yet fulfilled. Who is the Lord? He is Jesus Christ (Phil 2:11). One might argue, “Well, He has already come.” The mystery revealed shows us two advents of the Son of God from heaven. The first occurred two thousand years ago. The second coming of Jesus Christ is still in the balance. We live within the tension of His peace mission and His mission of justice through final judgment.
Because Enoch’s prophecy is not fulfilled, we find its relevance, today. The Lord and His thousands of holy ones are yet to come. This is what today’s preacher must hold as his message to the nations. The Gospel of Jesus Christ serves warning to the wicked, and it brings comfort to God’s elect, righteous ones. The unbeliever scoffs at these things, but the believer rests assured.
Enoch was pleasing to God (Heb 11:5). What pleases God? Faith in God, faith in Christ, and faith in the Word revealed to us is pleasing to God (Heb 11:6). Obeying God’s commandments demonstrates love toward God (Ex 20:5; Dt 5:10; Jn 14:15), and faith in what He has spoken to us. Enoch was a man given to obedient faith in a perverse generation.
Faithful preaching in the midst of perversity requires a Spirit-filled, God-called, man of God to declare good news to the captives to sin and warning to lovers of sin. Wicked men kill wicked men, and it is customary to blame the righteous preacher, who exposes their collective evil (Eph 5:11). There is nothing new under the sun (Eccl 1:9).
Enoch, like Elijah, never experienced death. He was translated directly to heaven, “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him (Gen 5:24).” God does not hide his displeasure with wicked men and the diversity of their endless iniquities. He also does not hide his pleasure in the preacher fully given to the ministry of the Word.
Enoch, the preacher, sets a very high standard for all men of God. We must be found faithful in the ministry of the law and the message of judgment against the ungodly. If you claim to be a preacher of God, sent from God, then you must declare the truth of God. This is a message of judgment and salvation. To forsake one or the other is an aberration. The Gospel of God is a balanced message because it incorporates the problem with the solution.
This Sunday, consider the preacher in the pulpit at your local church. Has he preached sin and its judgment via the law of God? Has he warned the congregation of eternal punishment in hell and the lake of fire for the unrighteous unbeliever (Mt 25:41, 46; Jude 7; Rev 20:14–15)? Has he shown the way of salvation through Christ alone via grace alone, as a comfort for those who embrace Jesus by faith alone (Eph 2:8–9)? If your preacher is shirking his Gospel responsibility, remind him of Enoch, who was a faithful preacher of judgment against the ungodly.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
April 30, 2021
