Did the Bible's Enoch vanish into thin air?

Did the Bible’s Enoch vanish into thin air?

English: God took Enoch, as in Genesis 5:24: "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." (KJV) illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible; illustrated by Gerard Hoet (1648–1733) and others, and published by P. de Hondt in The Hague; image courtesy Bizzell Bible Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mystery ends right now!
Find out what really became of Genesis hero …

First Posted: March 07, 2009
8:45 pm Eastern

When some people hear the name of Enoch from the Bible, they often wonder
what really happened to this Old Testament prophet.

They know the Bible
says "Enoch walked with God," and that "Enoch was translated that he should not
see death."

But what do these puzzling verses really mean?

Did Enoch, a champion of God from the Book of Genesis somehow cheat death and
get miraculously transported to heaven? Or is there a much simpler answer, one
that's actually revealed in the Bible?

After all, it is "appointed unto
men once to die" (Hebrews 9:27), "as in Adam all die" (1 Corinthians 15:22),
and Jesus
Himself said no one has gone to heaven except Himself (John
3:13).

"Some think what happened to Enoch is a huge mystery that we won't
be able to solve until Jesus returns, but you can find out the truth of
Scripture right now if you just crack open your own Bible and see the words on
its pages," says WND Executive News Editor Joe Kovacs, author of the best-selling book,
"Shocked by the Bible:
The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told."

"I think I
underestimated the public's confusion about what happened to Enoch, so I didn't
focus on him in my book. But I'm very happy now to help people see with their
own eyes what Scripture actually says, as well as what it doesn't say."

First of all, the King James Bible does not say Enoch never died, vanished
into thin air or was somehow was whisked off into heaven, the unseen dwelling
place of God. Those words are simply not on its pages.

If you look
closely, though, what the Bible actually does say is that Enoch died.

Yes, it's in your Bible. Enoch died.

"In Hebrews chapter 11, there is a list of famous heroes from the Old
Testament," says Kovacs. "There are great names mentioned including Abraham,
Noah, Abel and Enoch. And guess what the Bible says about these outstanding
characters who followed the true God of the universe. It says they all
died."

These all died in faith, not having received the promises
(Hebrews 11:13, King James Version)

Feel free to open up any translation of your own Bible right now, and
you'll see that these Old Testament heroes all died.

All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them
… (New Living Translation)

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not
receive the things promised … (New International Version)

The Bible clearly says Enoch and the others "all died." Now that you're aware
of that, what about those puzzling verses?

Some people get confused when
they read, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was
not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had
this testimony, that he pleased God" (Hebrews 11:5).

Note what this verse
does not say. It does not say Enoch went to heaven. Remember, Jesus said no one,
and that includes Enoch, has gone to heaven except Jesus himself:

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven
(John 3:13, KJV)

No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the
Son of Man (John 3:13, NIV)

The confusion is caused by the word "translated" in Hebrews 11:5. In its
original Greek language, the word is "metatithemi," and means
transported, transferred, removed, taken away or carried over.

That Greek
word "metatithemi" is used just four other times in the Bible, and never has
anything to do with not dying or sauntering off to heaven.

For instance,
in Galatians 1:6, it's rendered as "removed":

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel

OK, now back to Enoch.

Enoch was a preacher of righteousness and we're
told that he "walked with God" (Genesis 5:22) and that "God took him"
(5:24).

Incidentally, Scripture also says "Noah walked with God," and
Noah did not vanish into thin air to dwell with God in heaven. Noah died at the
ripe old age of 950 (Genesis 9:29).

As mentioned before, "By faith Enoch
was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had
translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he
pleased God."

We already know that Enoch did in fact die, so what does
it mean when the Bible says "God took him," "God had translated him" and that he
should "not see death"?

"It means exactly what it says," Kovacs explains.
"God literally took him. God transported or removed Enoch from his location so
that he would not be found. Why? Because apparently there were people who wanted
him dead."

More specifics about Enoch are provided in Jude 14, 15 where
it mentions Enoch blasting false prophets: "And Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of
his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly
among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of
all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against
him."

Enoch was a tough talker of his day, preaching a righteous message
the ungodly of the world did not wish to hear. So it's not hard to understand
that some of these wicked guys wanted to kill him.

"We're not given the
details," says Kovacs, "but we are told that God transferred Enoch so that he
would 'not see death,' in other words, not be slain. Remember, God also
transported Elijah miraculously, airlifting that prophet to another
location. Elijah did not go to the heaven of God's home, but merely to the
'first heaven,' the sky, and came back to live out the rest of his days right
here on Earth. He even wrote some less-than-pleasant mail to the evil King
Jehoram of Judah after his famous angelic chariot ride in the sky." (see 2
Chronicles 21:12-15)

"God took Enoch away from those looking to murder
him, but the Holy Scriptures tell us outright that Enoch eventually
died, not having received the promises. It's time to
put away the fables and get back to the facts. The Bible does agree with itself
when people read all of it."

Don't wait
another second to find out the truth about heaven and what really happened to
the likes of the prophet Elijah. Get "Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing
Facts You've Never Been Told" personally autographed by the author. If you
prefer ordering by phone, call WND's customer service line toll-free at
1-800-4WND-COM (1-800-496-3266) between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern, Monday
through Friday.

Yet another "whisking away" happened in the New Testament to Philip, who was
miraculously transported by God at the moment he baptized an Ethiopian
eunuch.

And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip was found at Azotus … (Acts 8:39-40)

(Story continues below)

In "Shocked by the
Bible," Kovacs also explains that if people just read for themselves without
any preconceived notions, they'd quickly discover:

"Three Wise Men" are never mentioned in the story of Jesus' birth, and no wise men at all
are shown present at the manger scene the night Jesus was born. (They showed
up later at a house when Jesus was a young child)

The Bible doesn't outright declare the day, month, year or even season Jesus
was born

There's no mention of a Christmas tree or any tree in the gospels recording
Jesus' birth. However, there is a custom mentioned in the Old Testament that
shows people decorating trees with silver and gold. You might be astounded to find
out what God says about such a practice

The Bible never says Jesus died on a Friday or rose
from the grave Sunday morning

Scripture
does not say Noah's Ark rested on "Mount Ararat"

Noah brought a lot more than just two of certain animals aboard the Ark

The word "Easter" has vanished from modern Bible translations

God sought to kill Moses, shortly after telling him to lead the Israelites
to freedom

Jesus did not come to make everyone understand His message, and personally
said so

Jesus made personal appearances in the Old Testament

The worst
case of hemorrhoids in history is recorded

And these are merely the beginning of hundreds of facts that will stun even
those who thought they had a strong knowledge of the Bible.

"If you've never been into the Bible, or even if you have, there's no need to
fear," says Kovacs. "I make it quick, easy and fun for you to find out the
juiciest, most interesting stuff that never seems to get mentioned in church.
And I'm not talking about trivial facts and difficult names no one can
pronounce."

"Shocked by the
Bible" has become an instant smash since its release, hitting No. 1 in three
Bible-related categories several times on Amazon.com with readers giving it
high praise, and the author being
interviewed on dozens of radio shows. Denver's No. 1 host, Peter Boyles of
KHOW Radio, raves, "I'm drawn to this
book. It is so well written."

"Shocked by
the Bible" skyrocketed to the No.1 spot in three Amazon.com categories several
times since its release

It reached the No. 1 spot on the WND Best-Seller list several times.
International demand has even led to a deal to have "Shocked" translated into
the Korean language.

"If you think you really know the Bible, better think again," warns Fox News'
Bill O'Reilly. "Your parents never told you this stuff was in the
Bible," adds radio talker and author Melanie Morgan. WND founder Joseph Farah
simply says, "'Shocked by the Bible' is nothing short of genius."

Kovacs, the executive news editor of WND, has written countless reports in
his 25-year news career. Many have focused on biblical issues such as chariot wheels
said to be found in the Red Sea, searches for Noah's Ark and
the Ark of the
Covenant, and controversies over Christmas and
Easter holidays as well as the Saturday-vs.-Sunday
Sabbath.

He has received many awards for news excellence from the
Associated Press and United Press International. He's run television, radio and print newsrooms in the U.S., as well as Budapest, Hungary. Kovacs
is also regarded as one of the premier creative headline writers in the news
business today.

Be a champion
of God and stand up for the absolute truth of Scripture! Get "Shocked by the
Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told" personally autographed
by the author. It makes a brilliant gift that will be remembered for a
lifetime.