24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
This is a curious phrase, “God took him away.” Everyone else in this passage died, but Enoch was taken by God. I hear a fine point of theology that I hear almost daily in my dealings with others who are struggling with death. So often, people say that God “took” their loved one, that God needed them in heaven so they were taken. But if you examine the Scriptures, Enoch is one of the few who are taken by God. The rest die. The implication from the text is that Enoch did not die. Remember, death is not part of God’s original plan. The times that God does kill someone it is as a result of judgment, not kindness. What I am getting at is this: since death is not part of His plan, and only a few are taken, if our loved one dies they were not taken by the Lord. Instead, they were received by Him. Death took them. The accident took them. The violence of war took them. The disease took them. Their worn out tired body took them. The results of living in a sin filled world took them. God was and is there to receive His own people to Himself. His plan is for us to live forever, not for us to die. So when death interrupts His plan, He is there to receive us into His presence. Unless God brought judgment on someone’s life, God did not cause the death, He did not take them. Death is not part of that plan. Thinking of death in this way changes your perspective. God was not involved in causing the death. Instead, God was there, present in the thick of it, to guard and protect what will last for eternity. When the body no longer functioned because of the death, God was there to usher that person into eternity. Something, someone else caused the death. Finger pointing can now be done without blaming God. The faulty brake cable caused the death. The reaction to the medication caused the death. The insurgent bullet caused the death. The fire caused the death. The boyfriend caused the death. Maybe even, I caused the death. But in each and every case, the Lord was there to receive them into eternity.
The Arnold Journey 