The Hall of Famer

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (v14-15).

Back in 1939, baseball chose the first group of players for induction into the hall of fame. It was quite a list. By order of votes, the first class was Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson. Yeah, that’s right, the Babe was SECOND! Well, you might be surprised who was the second inductee into God’s hall of fame of faith. The author of Hebrews lists the folks who trusted in the goodness and greatness of God (Heb 11). Who’s number two on the list? Enoch (Heb 11:5). Right behind Adam’s kid Seth. Long before the Flood, the Red Sea, and the Cross, the Big E had something very important to say about how God will deal with those who reject Him. When a hall of famer has something to say, you listen. When a member of the hall of fame’s first class has something to say, you grab a pen and write it down! 

As Jude writes his warning against first century religious hucksters, he reminds us of what Enoch had to say. One day the Lord will return with an army of countless thousands and deal with everyone who rejects Him. “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (v14-15). The Big E hit seventh in the generational batting order according to Genesis 5:1-24. Talk about “back in the day!” Thousands of years before Jesus arrived, God pulled back the curtain and gave Methuselah’s dad a look at how it was all going to go down. God wins. Evil loses. Good night. Game over. Drive home safely.

Enoch doesn’t get a lot of ink compared to other members of the faith hall of fame. Abraham. Moses. Joseph. These are the real heavy hitters of the OT! But check out Enoch’s credentials. The writer of Genesis tells us, “Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Gen 5:22-24). The author doesn’t want us to miss the fact that ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD! Talk about a personal relationship with the Lord!!! He was such close friends with God that he never died. “God took him.” He just beamed Enoch up. No death. No funeral. No graveside service. And in case you think that’s not how it happened, the writer of Hebrews makes it perfectly clear on the Big E’s hall of fame plaque. “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” (Heb 11:5). You don’t hear about that on the news very often.

What was the source of Enoch’s deep friendship with God? Faith. He had complete and utter trust in His goodness and His power. The Big E may not have known what would happen down the road but he had an unwavering faith in the One he was walking with. This is who Jude is quoting. When a member of the hall of fame’s first class has something to say, you grab a pen and write it down!

At this point, Jude quotes Enoch. You can look all through Genesis, as a matter of fact, you can search the entire Bible and never see this hall of famer saying anything. That’s because Jesus’ little brother grabs a quote from something called the Book of Enoch. Yeah, that’s not in the Bible either. It doesn’t mean that Jude is putting his stamp of approval on it, saying it should be included. Under the guidance of God’s Spirit, he’s letting us know that this particular quote certainly should be. Thought you’d want to know before you head over to Barnes and Noble to pick up your personal copy of Enoch.

We find out another important piece of Enoch’s resume. He’s a prophet. Or at least once in his 365 years he shares a message directly from God. Methuselah’s dad had a very important prophecy. And it was all about Jude’s big Brother Jesus. “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (v14-15). Christ Jesus will show up with angelic backup to deal with the ungodly. 

Don’t miss the big idea that both Jude and Enoch are telling us. “The Lord comes” (v14). Jesus is on His way back. He promised His crew of apostles that He wasn’t finished and would return. Over and over and over, the Rabbi/Carpenter told His Twelve that He was coming back one day (Lk 9:26; Mt 24:36-42; Lk 21:34-36). We can’t circle a date on our calendar and know for sure, but we can be certain that He IS coming back! Don’t forget the words of the two angels of were there at the Son of God’s spectacular lift off back home to heaven. “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Jesus is coming back. He has a spectacular encore like you’ve never seen before.

When Christ makes that incredible comeback, He’s coming by Himself. He’ll have “ten thousands of His holy ones” (v14). Not ten thousand. We’re talking tens of thousands. Jesus told His boys that He would lead His massive angel army against evil one day. “For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father and then He will repay each person according to what he has done” (Mt 16:27). Think about that for just a minute. John says Jesus will be horseback with eyes flaming like fire. He’ll be wearing a crown and a robe dripping with blood as well as a tattoo on His thigh that reads “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:11-16). If that’s not intimidating enough, He’s leading a countless force of supernatural soldiers. Tens of thousands. This makes D-Day look like a day at the beach. 

Jesus is coming back dealing with those who have spent their entire lives giving God the Heisman. He’s going to judge and convict the ungodly. Four times we see some form of the word ungodly (Gr. asebes) in verse 15. It describes someone who is absolutely destitute of reverential awe towards God. Wicked. Irreverent. Godless. Before you get all “rah rah” about Jesus not only killing them all and sorting them out, remember who He came to die for in the first place. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Gr. asebes)” (Rom 5:6). Yeah, we hadn’t done a dad-blamed thing to deserve a Savior when He gave Himself for us on a Roman cross. So before we get cocky about the Second Coming, let’s remember that without placing our faith in Jesus, we would be on the receiving end of the heavenly assault.

Before Jesus rolls up His sleeve and gets involved in our lives, we’re ALL ungodly. The ungodly are all He has to work with (Rom 3:10-11, 23).  The ungodly are EXACTLY the people Jesus died to save (Rom 5:6). If you’re a follower of Christ, that’s YOU! That’s ME! But if we reject who He is and what He’s done that we could never do for ourselves, we remain ungodly. Eventually, Jesus is coming back to judge the ungodly who continue to shove Him away. We’re all ungodly. We either admit that we are and accept His amazing offer of salvation or we face the consequences of rejecting Him. That’s what hall of famer Enoch is letting us know.