Wesley Corpus

It must therefore chiefly be resolved into the power and providence of God; he prolonged their lives, both for the more speedy replenishing of the earth, and for the more effectual preservation of the knowledge of God and religion, then when there was no written word, but tradition was the channel of its conveyance. All the patriarchs here (except Noah) were born before Adam died, so that from him they might receive a full account of the creation, paradise, the fall, the promise, and those divine precepts which concerned religious worship and a religious life: and if any mistake arose, they might have recourse to him while he lived, as to an oracle, for the rectifying of it, and after his death to Methuselah, and others that had conversed with him; so great was the care of Almighty God to preserve in his church the knowledge of his will, and the purity of his worship. See note at "Ge 5:6 See note at "Ge 5:6 See note at "Ge 5:6 See note at "Ge 5:6 See note at "Ge 5:6 See note at "Ge 5:6 See note at "Ge 5:6 See note at "Ge 5:6 See note at "Ge 5:6 See note at "Ge 5:6 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah - To walk with God, is to set God always before us, and to act as those that are always under his eye. It is to live a life of communion with God, both in ordinances and providences; it is to make God's word our rule, and his glory our end, in all our actions; it is to make it our constant care and endeavour in every thing to please God, and in nothing to offend him; it is to comply with his will, to concur with his designs, and to be workers together with him. He walked with God after he begat Methuselah, which intimates, that he did not begin to be eminent for piety 'till about that time. He was not, for God took him - That is, as it is explained, Heb 11:5, he was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him. But why did God take him so soon Surely because the world, which was now grown corrupt, was not worthy of him.