And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)
Except in the gospels and the book of Acts where the verb “walk” is generally used in a narrative to describe the actual action of the characters in the story, there are probably no more than a dozen other references to walking in the Bible that do not carry with them a spiritual implication. From the very opening paragraphs of the human saga, we read that Adam and Eve had the privilege of walking with God Himself each day. (Genesis 3:8) Their story – along with the stories of a couple other individuals in the book of Genesis – demonstrates the fact that our walking with God is a result of our personal choice. Adam and Eve made a free-willed decision not to walk with God. When the Creator visited the Garden of Eden and invited His creation to join Him for a stroll, Adam and his wife hid from the Almighty because of the shame of sin that had gripped them. Because they refused to walk with their Savior, they lost the paradise they lived in and the heaven that lived inside them.
The next individual who is mentioned as walking with God was Enoch. Genesis 5:24 says that Enoch walked with God and he was not for the Lord took him. Apparently, the heavenly Father was so pleased with the fellowship that He had with Enoch that He simply invited him to walk right out of this earthly realm into the heavenly paradise. How dramatic it is to see the contrast between Adam and Enoch – one lost paradise and one gained it – all because of the decision to walk away from God or walk with God.
It is in Noah that we see some principles concerning what it means to walk with God. Genesis 6:9 declares that Noah walked with God, but the full story is spread over several verses. Verse 5:29 tells us that his life was characterized by comfort. In verse 6:8 we find that grace was another integral part of Noah’s life. Chapter seven opens with the statement from God Himself that Noah’s life was one of righteousness. But it is in Genesis 7:5 that the secret of Noah’s successful walk with God is revealed, “And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.” In Noah’s life – or yours or mine – the key to spiritual success is to diligently obey all of His commandments. Comfort, grace, and righteousness always blossom in the life of a man or woman who chooses to walk with God and obey His commandments. It is the key to having (or losing) paradise!
During the period of the Law, the concept of living a life in obedience and submission to God was simply defined as walking according to the commandments that had been spelled out to Moses on Mount Sinai. (Exodus 16:4, 18:20; Leviticus 18:4, 26:3; Deuteronomy 5:33, 8:6, 10:12, 11:22, 13:4, 13:5, 19:9, 26:17, 28:9, 30:16; Joshua 22:5; Judges 2:22; I Kings 2:3, 6:12, 8:36, 8:58, 11:33, 11:38; II Kings 10:31, 21:22; II Chronicles 6:27, 6:16, 6:31, 17:4; Nehemiah 10:29; Isaiah 2:3, 42:24; Jeremiah 7:23, 9:13, 26:4, 32:23, 44:10, 44:23; Ezekiel 5:6, 5:7, 11:12, 11:20, 18:9, 18:17, 20:13, 20:16, 20:18, 20:19, 20:21, 33:15, 36:27, 37:24; Daniel 9:10; Hosea 5:11, 14:9; Micah 2:7, 4:2; Zechariah 3:7) The alternatives to walking according to the statutes and ordinances of God were listed as: walking contrary to God (Leviticus 26:21, 6:23, 6:27, 26:40), walking after our own human thinking and evil imaginations (Deuteronomy 29:19, II Chronicles 22:5, Jeremiah 2:5, 3:17, 7:24, 9:14, 10:23, 11:8, 13:10, 16:12, 18:12, 23:17; Ezekiel 11:21; Micah 6:16), walking is sin, unrighteousness, or pride (Isaiah 3:16, 50:10, 65:2; Jeremiah 2:8, 6:28, 9:4, 18:15, 23:14; Ezekiel 16:47, Daniel 4:37, Micah 2:11), walking after the example or pattern of other evil men (Judges 2:17, I Kings 15:34, 16:2, 16:19, 16:26, 16:31, 22:52; II Kings 8:18, 8:27, 13:6, 13:11, 15:26, 16:3, 17:8, 17:9, 17:22, 21:21; II Chronicles 21:6, 21:12, 21:13, 22:3, 28:2; Isaiah 8:11, Ezekiel 23:31; Amos 2:4), walking after the customs of the pagans (Leviticus 18:3, 26:12), and even walking according the ways of other gods (Deuteronomy 8:19, Jeremiah 7:6, 7:9, 8:2, 13:10, 16:11). A number of Old Testament passages speak of walking according to the examples displayed by godly men – especially David, who as we have already seen made a determination that he would walk righteously. (I Samuel 8:3, 8:5; I Kings 2:4, 3:3, 3:14, 9:4, 22:43; II Kings 22:2; II Chronicles 7:17, 11:17, 17:3, 20:32, 32:2) Several Old Testament writers also spoke simply of walking according to godly attitudes and character qualities. (I Kings 3:6; Nehemiah 5:9; Isaiah 33:15, 57:2; Jeremiah 6:16, 31:9; Micah 6:8; Malachi 2:6, 3:14) Yet probably the most powerful description of the believer’s walk given in the Old Testament is simply the statement that we should walk before the Lord – essentially acknowledging His presence and guidance in every aspect of our lives. (Genesis 13:17 17:1, 24:40, 48:15; I Samuel 2:30, 12:2; I Kings 8:23, 8:25; II Kings 23:3; II Chronicles 6:14, 34:31; Hosea 11:10; Micah 4:5) In addition to having the personal relationship with God that is portrayed in the verses about walking before Him, there is also a precursor of the New Testament relationship of being led by the Spirit suggested in the verse I quoted at the opening of this chapter and in Jeremiah 42:3, “That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.” However, before we move to the New Testament and discuss walking in the Spirit, let’s look at just one more concept related to walking in the Old Testament.
A number of times, the idea of taking possession of a specific area of domain was depicted by walking on the property. God told the Israelites that every place whereon the soles of their feet would tread would be theirs (Deuteronomy 11:24), and He reconfirmed the same promise to Joshua when it was time to take the territory, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses” (Joshua 1:3). Other passages use the same method for determining possession and ownership (Deuteronomy 11:25, 33:29; Joshua 18:8; Ezekiel 36:12; Habakkuk 3:19), however, there is one set of scriptures that suggest one especially intriguing implication of this principle. Ezekiel 28:14 speaks of Satan in his pre-fallen state as walking up and down in the midst of the stones of fire in the holy mountain of God. In other words, he had certain rights and privileges and had a sense of belonging or ownership there. In the book of Job, there are two incidents when God asked him where he had been. In both cases, his answer was the same, “Going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (Job 1:7, 2:2) Having lost his place on the mountain of God, he was now actively demonstrating his ownership and dominion on the earth. Unfortunately, at least, for the devil, there was one obstacle – Job! No matter how hard the devil tried, he could not establish ownership or dominion over this one individual who refused to budge. Like the three Hebrew children at the fiery furnace and Daniel at the lions’ den, there was no room for even the thought of compromise. Just before the crucifixion, Jesus explained to His disciples that the prince of this world (Satan) was coming to try Him, but he (the devil) had nothing in Him (Jesus). (John 14:30) Just because Jesus was in the world didn’t mean that He had to be subject to the prince of the world. Rather than letting the devil walk on Him to demonstrate his authority, Jesus was going to tread on him and actually bruise his head in the process. (Genesis 3:15) Additionally, Jesus determined to pass this power to walk in authority over the devil to all who would follow Him, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)
Now, back to one last “walking” verse from the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah foresaw a highway of holiness upon which the redeemed would walk. In describing it, he said that no lion or ravenous beast (symbols of the devil and evil) would be able to enter that thoroughfare. (Isaiah 35:9) The ultimate message that we can glean from all that the Old Testament scriptures say about walking is that our walk takes us to a place of blessing and power above the authority of the enemy!