Daily manna from the Torah by Dr Ketriel Blad

The Scriptures don't say much about the prophet Enoch, Chanoch in Hebrew. Only four short verses in Genesis talk about his life. The Eternal decided to write to future generations just a few words about this very important character of his time. Therefore, in these four chapters, there are great truths that were revealed to us in order to help us understand the end of times and to be perfected for the events that are to come.

There are three main revealed aspects of Chanoch¹s life: his family life, his walking with the Almighty and his supernatural disappearance.

When he was 65, something that had a profound impact in Chanoch's life happened, and his life style changed completely. Before this, he had not walked with the Eternal, but after this, he started such an intimate relationship with Him that his end in this world wasn't like the others'. What happened when he turned 65? He had a son for the first time in his life. The birth of his son, Methuselah or Metushelach in Hebrew, changed his life forever. The name Metushelach means "they died, he sent" or "his death, he sent". If we study the number of years of this chapter's generations, we will find out that precisely on the year of Metushelach's death, the Flood came upon the world and killed everyone but eight.

At the moment of his son's birth, Chanoch, who was a prophet, had a revelation of what was going to happen 969 years later, when this wonderful being that was just born, would die.

The revelation of the destruction of almost all mankind and of the earth itself caused such an impact on Chanoch's life, that he started prioritizing his life in the right order. What am I living for if everything will be flooded then? It's better to give myself entirely to what really matters, to what will last forever. After the birth of his firstborn, Chanoch started walking with the Almighty.

The birth of a son is a very important event in the life of any family. The impact of having a newly created being coming to Chanoch and his wife's lifes helped him to get closer to the Eternal and walk with Him. This is the real purpose of children; to help their parents come closer to the Eternal and walk with Him. Many people see their children as a hindrance for achieving their dreams or an obstacle that prevents them from having a pleasant life. However, children are a gift from the Eternal given to each parent so they can come to know Him better and also so they can transmit the revelations of the Eternal to future generations.   

Chanoch understood his role as a father and took his mission as a teacher and guide of his family seriously. After having Metushelach, he kept begetting sons and daughters and prepared them for what was to come.           

When Chanoch walked with the Almighty he received very important revelations, which can be read in his book. In Jude 14-15 there is a short citation from the book of Chanoch about the judgment to come: "Now, Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the LORD comes with ten thousand of His saints, "to execute judgement on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." This prophecy was partly fulfilled with the Flood, but its ultimate fulfillment will come when the Messiah Yeshua comes.

The third aspect underlined by the Torah of Chanoch¹s life is his supernatural disappearance. After a relatively short life, compared to the others from his and previous generations, the Almighty took him away. Where did He take him? He took him to the spiritual realm so that he would not see death, as it is written in Hebrews 11:5: "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God" (NKJV) This is a prophetic event that represents what will happen at the end of times when the saints and the faithful ones to the Eternal will be caught up in the air to be then taken to Jerusalem, in the land of Israel to partake of the Messianic kingdom forever.

Now, if we compare the life of the prophet Chanoch with the prophet Elijah, or Eliyahu in Hebrew, we see a similarity in these three areas we already mentioned. It is written about Chanoch, that he walked with the Almighty. Eliyahu said about himself that he stood before the Eternal to serve Him, (1Kin. 17:1). They both lived their lives before the Most High.

Part of Eliyahu's spiritual task is to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. In other words, the restoration of family bonds so the earth is not completely destroyed with the upcoming of the judgment day, as it is written in Malachi 4:5-6 (or 3:23-24 in the Hebrew text) "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." (NKJV) And also in Luke 1:17 it is written: "He will also go before Him in the spirit of Elijah, ‘to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the LORD."

The third aspect we can stress of the life of Elihayu the prophet is his supernatural departure from this world, as it is written in 2 Kings 2:11: Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."

So neither Chanoch nor Eliyahu went through death, both were taken in body and soul to the heavenly realm without having to die.

Our great Rabbi said that John the Baptist, Yohanan haMatbil in Hebrew, was Eliyahu, but he also said that Eliyahu would come again to restore all things (Matt. 17:11-12). Therefore before the return of the Messiah, we will be able to experience Eliyahu's ministry in Israel and the rest of the world again.

The truth is that Chanoch and Eliyahu are still alive. They have been following, as two witnesses from the heavens, the development of the world for thousands and thousands of years. But, isn't it appointed for men to die once and then be judged? (He. 9:27) Yes, so that is why both Chanoch and Eliyahu will have to die. They are probably the two witnesses that soon will be prophesying in the holy city for 1260 days (Rev.11). Chanoch is the witness to the gentiles and Eliyahu is the witness to the people of Israel. Both will be murdered by the beast but then, they will be raised from the dead and taken to heaven.

The Eternal is calling us to be a part of this end time prophetic movement. This is why it is essential that we become serious about our walking with the Eternal and our family life. This way we will be fully ready to face correctly the events that are coming upon the world.

I am waiting for the revelation of Chanoch and Eliyahu anytime in Jerusalem, but it seems to me that we will not see them until the Temple is rebuilt (Rev. 11). The truth is that it won¹t take long until we can join them and become part of the restoration of all things before the great revelation of the Messiah, our dear Lord.

May the Messiah not find us sleeping when he comes,

Ketriel