Seeking Order: Grace vs
Entropy [Personal Study,
September, '16]
Heb
11:5
By faith Enoch was taken up to heaven so that he did
not see deatha;
he was seen no longer, for God took him away: for before he was
taken, witness
had been given that he
was well-pleasing to Godb:
6
And without faith
it is not possible to be well-pleasing to Him, for it is necessary
for anyone who comes to God to have the belief that God is, and that
he is a rewarder
of all those who make a serious
search [diligently seek]
for Himc
a) death - Enoch
was the first man after Adam who did not fall under the curse of
death.
- “Enoch enjoyed God's
favor by faith, in spite of Adam's fall” [Mirror Translation]
- faith activates the
fullness of our creation; predestinated at the foundation of the
earth. But it is not our faith in God, it is God's faith in us.
- Enoch is a type of
Christ, he transcended death. “his absent body prophesied the
resurrection of Christ; faith does not die”.
b) well-pleasing –
G2100
εὐαρεστέω
euaresteō
From
G2101;
to gratify
entirely:
- please (well).>> We are pleasing to God not because of our
behavior but He recognizes the faith that He put in us. God in Christ
is the Author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2)
c) rewarder –
μισθαποδότης
misth[wage]
apodotēs [give away] From
G34091
and G591;
a remunerator:
- rewarder; “paymaster” (ie the one who gives away the wage).
“righteousness is revealed by aith as a gift and NOT as a reward
for keeping the law; FAITH pleases God, not good or bad behavior.”2
duToit, Mirror; commentary Heb 11:6
Death disordered the
created order; this included the free gift of a righteous life.
- Darkness is a parallel of death. Death is a permanent state of absence of God who is light acc. to 1Jn 1:5 Jesus told us that God is light and doesn't have any darkness in him. Now we are telling you.
- Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
- Light is about increasing order, where you can understand the dynamic of each day, darkness is when you rest to let the order of the previous day continue. Darkness is about increasing disorder. We cannot work, because we cannot see what God is doing! Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. [see also vs 15] “Every day is an extension of God's Today3.
- Jesus, who walked in the light, also worked in the light. Joh 9:4 I must do the work of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is approaching, when no one can work.
- Evening, is not only the time of increased darkness but is also the time of close fellowship at the end of our working day. In Hebrew עֶרֶב ‛ereb
- Dusk is a time of fellowship that promises security through the night and brings the promise of dawn. A time of rest, before another day begins. בֹּקֶר bôqer From H1239; properly dawn (as the break of day); generally morning: - (+) day, early, morning, morrow.
- coolH7307 of the day:H3117 – רוּחַ rûach יוֹם yôm – the evening breeze. The breeze IS the Holy Spirit! It was at this moment of the day that God and Adam chatted about the order that had been released that day. “Yeah God, I called forth an armadillo and an aardvark today.” “No worries we're gonna put those in Oz”
1Strong's
Concordance number.
2Francois
duToit; Mirror Bible commentary on Heb 11:6
3Ibid,
Heb 3:15
