Further Thought: The repeated phrase “Enoch walked with God”
(Gen. 5:22, 24) means intimate and daily companionship with God.
Enoch’s personal relationship with God was so special that “God
took him” (Gen. 5:24). This last phrase is, however, unique in the
genealogy of Adam and does not support the idea of an immedi-
ate afterlife in Paradise for those who “walk with God.” Note that
Noah also walked with God (Gen. 6:9), and he died like all the other
humans, including Adam and Methuselah. It also is interesting to note
that no reason is given to justify this special grace. “Enoch became
a preacher of righteousness, making known to the people what God
had revealed to him. Those who feared the Lord sought out this holy
man, to share his instruction and his prayers. He labored publicly
also, bearing God’s messages to all who would hear the words of
warning. His labors were not restricted to the Sethites. In the land
where Cain had sought to flee from the divine Presence, the prophet
of God made known the wonderful scenes that had passed before his
vision. ‘Behold,’ he declared, ‘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.’ Jude 14, 15.”—Ellen
G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 86.
Discussion Questions:
 Why did Cain kill his brother? Read the following com-
ment by Elie Wiesel: “Why did he do it? Perhaps he wanted to
remain alone: an only child and, after his parents’ death, the
only man. Alone like God and perhaps alone in place of God. . . .
Cain killed to become God. . . . Any man who takes himself for
God ends up assassinating men.”—Messengers of God: Biblical
Portraits and Legends (New York: Random House, 1976), p. 58.
How can we be careful, even if we don’t commit murder, not to
reflect the attitude of Cain?
 Compare the life span of antediluvians (Genesis 5) to that of
the patriarchs. How would we explain this decreasing of the span
of human life? How does this degeneration counter the premises
of modern Darwinism?