Was Enoch not faithful to God prior to the birth of his first son in Genesis 5?

Question

In Genesis 5 we are told that Enoch walked with God for 300 years

Genesis 5:22 ESV

Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

But the sum total years of Enoch were 365 years

Genesis 5:23 ESV

Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.

On the basis of the above analogy does this entail that Enoch did not walk with God in his first 65 years

Was Enoch not faithful to God in his first 65 years?

Answer 1

The text of Gen 5 says this:

21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away.

To this record must be added two more texts about Enoch:

• Heb 11:5 - By faith Enoch was translated not to see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him up. For before the translation, he was commended to have pleased God. [The text of LXX in Gen 5:22 has "well-pleasing to God ..."]
• Jude 14 - And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied as to these, saying: "Behold, the Lord has come amidst myriads of His holy ones

Thus, it appears that Enoch was called to a be a prophet of God after the birth of his first son. Just why God chose this timing is not stated. However, here are some suggestions:

• This was God's sovereign will
• Enoch, following the birth of his son, Methuselah, re-dedicated himself to serving God
• God waited until after the birth of Methuselah so that Enoch would better understand the coming and birth of Messiah

Thus, there is nothing here to suggest that before the birth of Methuselah, Enoch was wicked or needed drastic reform. All that is stated is a greater dedication and closeness to God at that point in his life.

Answer 2

First, it is clear that the statement "after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God" does not imply that "after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch started to walk with God". He may have already walked with God before.

Having said that, if the name Methuselah really means "death and sent", or "he dies, and the sending forth", or "when he dies, there shall be a sending forth" [1], then we can safely hypothesize that, no later than at Methuselah's birth, Enoch received the revelation that God would punish mankind's wickedness by sending forth a flood after the death of his firstborn son. (Otherwise, why would Enoch give such a name to his son?) In that case, it is sound to further hypothetize that such revelation motivated Enoch to walk with God even more closely than before.

[1] https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/genealogy/when-did-methuselah-die/