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The Book of Enoch
with Commentary
by Michael D. Fortner
Chapters 91-105
Book 5: The Epistle of Enoch
91:1 That which was written by Enoch. He wrote all this instruction of wisdom for every man of dignity, and every judge of the earth; for all my children who shall dwell upon earth, and for subsequent generations, conducting themselves uprightly and peaceably.
2 Let not your spirit be grieved on account of the times; for the holy, the Great One, has prescribed a period to all.
3 Let the righteous man arise from slumber; let him arise, and proceed in the path of righteousness, in all its paths; and let him advance in goodness and eternal clemency. Mercy shall be showed to the righteous man; upon him shall be conferred integrity and power for ever. In goodness and in righteousness shall he exist, and shall walk in everlasting light; but sin shall perish in eternal darkness, nor be seen from that time forward for evermore.
In chapter 92, Enoch relates a time-table that is not in agreement with what many people believe about the time-table of the Bible. It is only supposed to be 4,000 years from Adam to Christ, but there are no dates in the Bible. Someone several hundred years ago counted the generations from Adam to Christ and assigned 40 years to each one, but Barnabas, in the first century, believed that six thousand years had already passed. The time-table of Enoch also says 6,000 years had passed at the coming of Christ, and they were entering the 7th 1,000 years.
92:1 After this, Enoch began to speak from a book.
2 And Enoch said, Concerning the children of righteousness, concerning the elect of the world, and concerning the plant of righteousness and integrity.
3 Concerning these things will I speak, and these things will I explain to you, my children: I who am Enoch. In consequence of that which has been shown to me, from my heavenly vision and from the voice of the holy angels have I acquired knowledge; and from the tablet of heaven have I acquired understanding.
Holy angels-- A Qumran text reads, "Watchers and Holy Ones," clearly denoting heavenly Watchers who did not fall along with the wicked ones (Milik, p. 264). See also Dan. 4:13, "a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven"; 4:17, "watchers, and holy ones."
4 Enoch then began to speak from a book, and said, "I have been born the seventh in the first week, while judgment and righteousness wait with patience.
5 But after me, in the second week, great wickedness shall arise, and fraud shall spring forth.
6 In that week the end of the first shall take place, in which mankind shall be safe.
Or, "a man will be saved" (Knibb, p. 224).
7 But when the first is completed, iniquity shall grow up; and he shall execute the decree upon sinners.
The above verses tells us that Enoch was born the seventh from Adam during the first 1,000 years. During the 2nd 1,000 years the flood will bring an end to the first period of mankind.
8 Afterwards, in the third week, during its completion, a man of the plant of righteous judgment shall be selected; and after him the plant of righteousness shall come for ever.
This passage seems to describe Abraham, but according to the time table it applies to Moses who was given the righteous Law. The nation of Israel was planted in the land of Canaan.
9 Subsequently, in the fourth week, during its completion, the visions of the holy and the righteous will be seen, the order of generation after generation shall take place, and an habitation shall be made for them.
Then in the fifth week, during its completion, the house of glory and of dominion shall be erected for ever.
Charles says, "And a law for all generations and an enclosure shall be made for them." This seems to describe the Law of Moses and the tabernacle. According to Enoch, much more time goes by between major Biblical events than is traditionally believed. The house of glory is probably Solomon's Temple.
10 After that, in the sixth week, all those who are in it shall be darkened, the hearts of all of them shall be forgetful of wisdom, and in it shall a man ascend.
11 And during its completion he shall burn the house of dominion with fire, and all the race of the elect root shall be dispersed.
This appears to describe the burning of the temple in Jersualem, and the scattering of the Jews.
12 Afterwards, in the seventh week, a perverse generation shall arise; abundant shall be its deeds, and its deeds perverse. During its completion, the righteous shall be selected from the everlasting plant of righteousness; and to them shall be given the sevenfold doctrine of his whole creation.
This passage seems to refer to Christians, but they did not come into existance at end of the seventh week but at its beginning. The seven fold doctrine probably refers to complete and perfect doctrine which we do not yet have.
13 Afterwards there shall be another week, the eighth of righteousness, to which shall be given a sword to execute judgment and justice upon all oppressors.
14 Sinners shall be delivered up into the hands of the righteous, who during its completion shall acquire habitations by their righteousness; and the house of the great King shall be established for celebrations for ever. After this, in the ninth week, shall the judgment of righteousness be revealed to the whole world.
15 Every work of the ungodly shall disappear from the whole earth; the world shall be marked for destruction; and all men shall be on the look out for the path of integrity.
This passage obviously refers to the rule of Christ on Earth, the Millennium. After Satan deceives the nations again, another global destruction will begin. During the next thousand years the Great White Throne Judgment will take place as described in Revelation 20.
16 And after this, on the seventh day of the tenth week, there shall be an everlasting judgment, which shall be executed upon the Watchers; and a spacious eternal heaven shall spring forth in the midst of the angels.
17 The former heaven shall depart and pass away; a new heaven shall appear; and all the celestial powers shine with sevenfold splendor for ever. Afterwards likewise shall there be many weeks, which shall externally exist in goodness and in righteousness.
18 Neither shall sin be named there for ever and for ever.
19 Who is there of all the children of men, capable of hearing the voice of the Holy One without emotion?
A new heaven and a new earth are described in Revelation chapter 21.
20 Who is there capable of thinking his thoughts? Who capable of contemplating all the workmanship of heaven? Who of comprehending the deeds of heaven?
21 He may behold its animation, but not its spirit. He may be capable of conversing respecting it, but not of ascending to it. He may see all the boundaries of these things, and meditate upon them; but he can make nothing like them.
22 Who of all men is able to understand the breadth and length of the earth?
23 By whom have been seen the dimensions of all these things? Is it every man who is capable of comprehending the extent of heaven; what its elevation is, and by what it is supported?
24 How many are the numbers of the stars; and where all the luminaries remain at rest?
According to this passage, it will take Satan 1900-2000 years to deceive the nations again. It is towards the end of the 10th 1,000 years that the final judgment will take place.
93:1 And now let me exhort you, my children, to love righteousness, and to walk in it; for the paths of righteousness are worthy of acceptation; but the paths of iniquity shall suddenly fail, and be diminished.
2 To men of note in their generation the paths of oppression and death are revealed; but they keep far from them, and do not follow them.
3 Now, too, let me exhort you who are righteous, not to walk in the paths of evil and oppression, nor in the paths of death. Approach them not, that you may not perish; but covet,
4 and choose for yourselves righteousness, and a good life.
5 Walk in the paths of peace, that you may live, and be found worthy. Retain my words in your inmost thoughts, and obliterate them not from your hearts; for I know that sinners counsel men to commit crime craftily. They are not found in every place, nor does every counsel possess a little of them.
6 Woe to those who build up iniquity and oppression, and who lay the foundation of fraud; for suddenly shall they be subverted, and never obtain peace.
7 Woe to those who build up their houses with crime; for from their very foundations shall their houses be demolished, and by the sword shall they themselves fall. Those, too, who acquire gold and silver, shall justly and suddenly perish. Woe to you who are rich, for in your riches have you trusted; but from your riches you shall be removed; because you have not remembered the Most High in the days of your prosperity.
8 You have committed blasphemy and iniquity; and are destined to the day of the effusion of blood, to the day of darkness, and to the day of the great judgment. 9 This I declare and point out to you, that he who created you will destroy you.
10 When you fall, he will not show you mercy; but your Creator will rejoice in your destruction. 11 Let those, then, who shall be righteous among you in those days, detest sinners, and the ungodly.
The use of "woe to" in these verses is seen several times in the gospels: "Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you ..." (Luke 6:24-25). I believe Jesus got his wording from Enoch.
94:1 O that my eyes were clouds of water, that I might weep over you, and pour forth my tears like rain, and rest from the sorrow of my heart! 2 Who has permitted you to hate and to transgress? Judgment shall overtake you, you sinners.
3 The righteous shall not fear the wicked; because God will again bring them into your power, that you may avenge yourselves of them according to your pleasure.
4 Woe to you who shall be so bound by execrations, that you cannot be released from them; the remedy being far removed from you on account of your sins. Woe to you who recompense your neighbor with evil; for you shall be recompensed according to your works.
5 Woe to you, you false witnesses, you who aggravate iniquity; for you shall suddenly perish.
6 Woe to you, you sinners; for you reject the righteous; for you receive or reject at pleasure those who commit iniquity; and their yoke shall prevail over you.
These chapters indicate that moral teaching existed even before the Law of Moses.
95:1 Wait in hope, you righteous; for suddenly shall sinners perish from before you, and you shall exercise dominion over them, according to your will.
2 In the day of the sufferings of sinners your offspring shall be elevated, and lifted up like eagles. Your nest shall be more exalted than that of the avest; you shall ascend, and enter into the cavities of the earth, and into the clefts of the rocks for ever, like conies, from the sight of the ungodly.
3 Who shall groan over you, and weep like sirens.
4 You shall not fear those who trouble you; for restoration shall be yours; a splendid light shall shine around you, and the voice of tranquillity shall be heard from heaven. Woe to you, sinners; for your wealth makes you resemble saints, but your hearts reproach you, knowing that you are sinners. This word shall testify against you, for the remembrance of crime.
5 Woe to you who feed upon the glory of the corn, and drink the strength of the deepest spring, and in the pride of your power tread down the humble.
6 Woe to you who drink water at pleasure; for suddenly shall you be recompensed, consumed, and withered, because you have forsaken the fountain of life.
7 Woe to you who act iniquitously, fraudulently, and blasphemously; there shall be a remembrance against you for evil.
8 Woe to you, you powerful, who with power strike down righteousness; for the day of your destruction shall come; while at that very time many and good days shall be the portion of the righteous, even at the period of your judgment.
This passage describes the coming destruction of sinners from the face of this Earth just before Christ sets up his kingdom, and Christians will rule under the authority of Christ. During the time that sinners are being killed in the wrath of God, many Christians will be in caves and other shelters as protection from God's wrath (Isaiah 2:19).
96:1 The righteous are confident that sinners will be disgraced, and perish in the day of iniquity.
2 You shall yourselves be conscious of it; for the Most High will remember your destruction, and the angels shall rejoice over it. What will you do you sinners, and where will you fly in the day of judgment, which you shall hear the words of the prayer of the righteous?
3 You are not like them who in this respect witness against you; you are associates of sinners.
4 In those days shall the prayers of the righteous come up before the Lord. When the day of your judgment shall arrive; and every circumstance of your iniquity be related before the great and the holy one;
5 your faces shall be covered with shame; while every deed, strengthened by crime, shall be rejected.
6 Woe unto you, sinners, who in the midst of the sea, and on dry land, are those against whom an evil record exists. Woe to you who squander silver and gold, not obtained in righteousness, and say, "We are rich, possess wealth, and have acquired everything which we can desire.
7 Now then will we do whatsoever we are disposed to do; for we have amassed silver; our barns are full, and the husbandmen of our families are like overflowing water."
8 Like water shall your falsehood pass away; for your wealth will not be permanent, but shall suddenly ascend from you, because you have obtained it all iniquitously; to extreme malediction [curse] shall you be delivered up. 9 And now I swear to you, you crafty, as well as simple ones; that you, often contemplating the earth, you who are men, clothe yourselves more elegantly than married women, and both together more so than unmarried ones, everywhere arraying yourselves in majesty, in magnificence, in authority, and in silver: but gold, purple, honor, and wealth, like water, flow away.
Or, "than a woman and more coloured (garments) than a girl…" (Knibb, p. 230). This sounds like a description of Earthly kings and nobels of years past.
10 Enlightenment therefore and wisdom are not theirs. Thus shall they perish, together with their riches, with all their glory, and with their honors.
11 While with disgrace, with slaughter, and in extreme poverty, shall their spirits be thrust into a furnace of fire.
12 I have sworn to you, you sinners, that neither mountain nor hill has been or shall be subservient to woman.
13 Neither in this way has crime been sent down to us upon earth, but men of their own heads have invented it; and greatly shall those who give it efficiency be execrated. 14 Barrenness shall not be previously inflicted on woman; but on account of the work of her hands shall she die childless.
15 I have sworn to you, you sinners, by the holy and the Great One, that all your evil deeds are disclosed in the heavens; and that none of your oppressive acts are concealed and secret.
16 Think not in your minds, neither say in your hearts, that every crime is not manifested and seen. In heaven it is daily written down before the Most High. Henceforwards shall it be manifested; for every act of oppression which you commit shall be daily recorded, until the period of your condemnation.
17 Woe to you, you simple ones, for you shall perish in your simplicity. To the wise you will not listen, and that which is good you shall not obtain.
18 Now therefore know that you are destined to the day of destruction; nor hope that sinners shall live; but in process of time you shall die; for you are not marked for redemption;
19 but are destined to the day of the great judgment, to the day of distress, and the extreme ignominy of your souls.
The Great Tribulation, Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:21; Revelation 7:14).
20 Woe to you, you obdurate in heart, who commit crime, and feed on blood. Whence is it that you feed on good things, drink, and are satiated? Is it not because our Lord, the Most High, has abundantly supplied every good thing upon earth? To you there shall not be peace.
21 Woe to you who love the deeds of iniquity. Why do you hope for that which is good? Know that you shall be given up into the hands of the righteous; who shall cut off your necks, slay you, and show you no compassion.
22 Woe to you who rejoice in the trouble of the righteous; for a grave shall not be dug for you.
23 Woe to you who frustrate the word of the righteous; for to you there shall be no hope of life.
24 Woe to you who write down the word of falsehood, and the word of the wicked; for their falsehood they record, that they may hear and not forget folly.
25 To them there shall be no peace; but they shall surely die suddenly.
97:1 Woe to them who act impiously, who laud and honor the word of falsehood. You have been lost in perdition; and have never led a virtuous life.
2 Woe to you who change the words of integrity. They transgress against the everlasting decree;
Or, "they distort the eternal law" (Knibb, p. 232).
3 and cause the heads of those who are not sinners to be trodden down upon the earth.
4 In those days you, O you righteous, shall have been deemed worthy of having your prayers rise up in remembrance; and shall have deposited them in testimony before the angels, that they might record the sins of sinners in the presence of the Most High.
5 In those days the nations shall be overthrown; but the families of the nations shall rise again in the day of perdition.
6 In those days they who become pregnant shall go forth, carry off their children, and forsake them. Their offspring shall slip from them, and while suckling them shall they forsake them; they shall never return to them, and never instruct their beloved.
7 Again I swear to you, you sinners, that crime has been prepared for the day of blood, which never ceases.
8 They shall worship stones, and engrave golden, silver, and wooden images. They shall worship impure spirits, demons, and every idol, in temples; but no help shall be obtained for them. Their hearts shall become impious through their folly, and their eyes be blinded with mental superstition. In their visionary dreams shall they be impious and superstitious, lying in all their actions, and worshipping a stone. Altogether shall they perish.
Mental superstition-- Literally, "with the fear of their hearts" (Laurence, p. 162).
9 But in those days blessed shall they be, to whom the word of wisdom is delivered; who point out and pursue the path of the Most High; who walk in the way of righteousness, and who act not impiously with the impious. 10 They shall be saved.
The "word of wisdom" is probably the Gospel. Before Christianity was called Christianity, it was called "the Way." The writers of the New Testament used the same phraseology, "the way of salvation," "the way of truth," "the way of righteousness (2 Peter 2:21), "the way of salvation," "the way of peace," "the way of God."
11 Woe to you who expand the crime of your neighbor; for in hell shall you be slain.
The word hell appears five times in Enoch, but does not appear even once in the Old Testament; however, it appears 14 times in the New Testament. Its use in the N.T. must be derived from Enoch.
12 Woe to you who lay the foundation of sin and deceit, and who are bitter on earth; for on it shall you be consumed.
13 Woe to you who build your houses by the labor of others, every part of which is constructed with brick, and with the stone of crime; I tell you, that you shall not obtain peace.
14 Woe to you who despise the extent of the everlasting inheritance of your fathers, while your souls follow after idols; for to you there shall be no tranquillity.
15 Woe to them who commit iniquity, and give aid to blasphemy, who slay their neighbor until the day of the great judgment; for your glory shall fall; malevolence shall He put into your hearts, and the spirit of his wrath shall stir you up, that every one of you may perish by the sword.
16 Then shall all the righteous and the holy remember your crimes.
98:1 In those days shall fathers be struck down with their children in the presence of each other; and brethren with their brethren shall fall dead: until a river shall flow from their blood.
2 For a man shall not restrain his hand from his children, nor from his children's children; his mercy will be to kill them.
3 Nor shall the sinner restrain his hand from his honored brother. From the dawn of day to the setting sun shall the slaughter continue. The horse shall wade up to his breast, and the chariot shall sink to its axle, in the blood of sinners.
Revelation says, "and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles" (14:20).
99:1 In those days the angels shall descend into places of concealment, and gather together in one spot all who have assisted in crime.
2 In that day shall the Most High rise up to execute the great judgment upon all sinners, and to commit the guardianship of all the righteous and holy to the holy angels, that they may protect them as the apple of an eye, until every evil and every crime be annihilated.
3 Whether or not the righteous sleep securely, wise men shall then truly perceive. 4 And the sons of the earth shall understand every word of that book, knowing that their riches cannot save them in the ruin of their crimes. The Bible.
5 Woe to you, you sinners, when you shall be afflicted on account of the righteous in the day of great trouble; shall be burnt in the fire; and be recompensed according to your deeds.
The Great Tribulation will include destruction by fire.
6 Woe to you, you perverted in heart, who are watchful to obtain an accurate knowledge of evil, and to discover terrors. No one shall assist you.
7 Woe to you, you sinners; for with the words of your mouths, and with the work of your hands, have you acted impiously; in the flame of a blazing fire shall you be burnt.
8 And now know you, that the angels shall inquire into your conduct in heaven; of the sun, the moon, and the stars, shall they inquire respecting your sins; for upon earth you exercise jurisdiction over the righteous.
9 Every cloud shall bear witness against you, the snow, the dew, and the rain: for all of them shall be withheld from you, that they may not descend upon you, nor become subservient to your crimes.
This refers to the world-wide drought during the Great Tribulation.
10 Now then bring gifts of salutation to the rain; that, not being withheld, it may descend upon you; and to the dew, if it has received from you gold and silver. But when the frost, snow, cold, every snowy wind, and every suffering belonging to them, fall upon you, in those days you will be utterly incapable of standing before him.
100:1 Attentively consider heaven, all you progeny of heaven, and all you works of the Most High; fear him, nor conduct yourselves criminally before him.
2 If He shut up the windows of heaven, restraining the rain and dew, that it may not descend upon earth on your account, what will you do?
"Progeny" means "an offspring or a descendant." Who is Enoch calling an offspring of heaven?
3 And if He send his wrath upon you, and upon all your deeds, you are not they who can supplicate him; you who utter against his righteousness, language proud and powerful. To you there shall be no peace.
4 Do you see the commanders of ships, how their vessels are tossed about by the waves, torn to pieces by the winds, and exposed to the greatest peril?
5 That they therefore fear, because their whole property is embarked with them on the ocean; and that they forbode evil in their hearts, because it may swallow them up, and they may perish in it?
6 Is not the whole sea, all its waters, and all its commotion, the work of him, the Most High; of him who has sealed up all its exertions, and girded it on every side with sand?
7 Is it not at his rebuke dried up, and alarmed; while all its fish with everything contained in it die? And will not you, you sinners, who are on earth, fear him? Is not He the maker of heaven and earth, and of all things which are in them?
8 And who has given erudition and wisdom to all that move progressive upon the earth, and over the sea?
9 Are not the commanders of ships terrified at the ocean? And shall not sinners be terrified at the Most High?
There is no chapter 101.
102:1 In those days, when He shall cast the calamity of fire upon you, whither will you fly, and where will you be safe? 2 And when He sends forth his word against you, are you not spared, and terrified?
3 All the luminaries are agitated with great fear; and all the earth is spared, while it trembles, and suffers anxiety.
In these verses, "spared" means "leanness."
4 All the angels fulfill the commands received by them, and are desirous of being concealed from the presence of the great Glory; while the children of the earth are alarmed and troubled. 5 But you, you sinners, are for ever accursed; to you there shall be no peace.
5 Fear not, you souls of the righteous; but wait with patient hope for the day of your death in righteousness. Grieve not, because your souls descend in great trouble, with groaning, lamentation, and sorrow, to the receptacle of the dead. In your lifetime your bodies have not received a recompense in proportion to your goodness, but in the period of your existence have sinners existed; in the period of execration and of punishment.
This says that the righteous will go through the Great Tribulation. (Many Christians believe that they will be taken to heaven before the start of the Great Tribulation.
7 And when you die, sinners say concerning you, "As we die, the righteous die. What profit have they in their works? Behold, like us, they expire in sorrow and in darkness. What advantage have they over us? Henceforward are we equal. What will be within their grasp, and what before their eyes for ever? For behold they are dead; and never will they again perceive the light." I say unto you, you sinners, "You have been satiated with meat and drink, with human plunder and rapine, with sin, with the acquisition of wealth and with the sight of good days. Have you not marked the righteous, how their end is in peace? for no oppression is found in them even to the day of their death. They perish, and are as if they were not, while their souls descend in trouble to the receptacle of the dead."
It is not clear which group, the righteous or the sinners, are mentioned in the last sentence. But notice that the "souls descend ... to the receptacle of the dead" which must be the places where the dead go, such as Abraham's Bosom, which are separated by chasms.
103:1 But now I swear to you, you righteous, by the greatness of his splendor and his glory; by his illustrious kingdom and by his majesty, to you I swear, that I comprehend this mystery; that I have read the tablet of heaven, have seen the writing of the holy Ones, and have discovered what is written and impressed on it concerning you.
2 I have seen that all goodness, joy, and glory has been prepared for you, and been written down for the spirits of them who die eminently righteous and good. To you it shall be given in return for your troubles; and your portion of happiness shall far exceed the portion of the living.
Or, "in righteousness and in much goodness" (Laurence). This is another passage that is evidence that our souls continue to exist after the death of our bodies.
3 The spirits of you who die in righteousness shall exist and rejoice. Their spirits shall exult; and their remembrance shall be before the face of the mighty One from generation to generation. Nor shall they now fear disgrace.
4 Woe to you, sinners, when you die in your sins; and they, who are like you, say respecting you, "Blessed are these sinners. They have lived out their whole period; and now they die in happiness and in wealth. Distress and slaughter they knew not while alive; in honor they die; nor ever in their lifetime did judgments overtake them."
5 But has it not been shown to them, that, when to the receptacle of the dead their souls shall be made to descend, their evil deeds shall become their greatest torment? Into darkness, into the snare, and into the flame, which shall burn to the great judgment, shall their spirits enter; and the great judgment shall take effect for ever and for ever.
6 Woe to you; for to you there shall be no peace. Neither can you say to the righteous, and to the good who are alive, In the days of our trouble have we been afflicted; every manner of trouble have we seen, and many evil things have suffered.
7 Our spirits have been consumed, lessened, and diminished.
8 We have perished; nor has there been a possibility of help for us in word or in deed: we have found none, but have been tormented and destroyed.
9 We have not expected to live day after day.
10 We hoped indeed to have been the head;
11 But we have become the tail. We have been afflicted, when we have exerted ourselves; but we have been devoured by sinners and the ungodly; their yoke has been heavy upon us.
12 Those have exercised dominion over us who detest and who goad us; and to those who hate us have we humbled our neck; but they have shown no compassion towards us.
13 We have been desirous of escaping from them, that we might fly away and be at rest; but we have found no place to which we could fly, and be secure from them. We have sought an asylum with princes in our distress, and have cried out to those who were devouring us; but our cry has not been regarded, nor have they been disposed to hear our voice;
14 But rather to assist those who plunder and devour us; those who diminish us, and hide their oppression; who remove not their yoke from us, but devour, enervate, and slay us; who conceal our slaughter, nor remember that they have lifted up their hands against us.
104:1 I swear to you, you righteous, that in heaven the angels record your goodness before the glory of the mighty One.
2 Wait with patient hope; for formerly you have been disgraced with evil and with affliction; but now shall you shine like the luminaries of heaven. You shall be seen, and the gates of heaven shall be opened to you. Your cries have cried for judgment; and it has appeared to you: for an account of all your sufferings shall be required from the princes, and from every one who has assisted your plunderers.
3 Wait with patient hope; nor relinquish your confidence; for great joy shall be yours, like that of the angels in heaven. Conduct yourselves as you may, still you shall not be concealed in the day of the great judgment. You shall not be found like sinners; and eternal condemnation shall be far from you, so long as the world exists.
4 And now fear not, you righteous, when you see sinners flourishing and prosperous in their ways.
5 Be not associates with them; but keep yourselves at a distance from their oppression; be you associated with the host of heaven. You, you sinners, say, "All our transgressions shall not be taken account of, and be recorded." But all your transgressions shall be recorded daily.
6 And be assured by me, that light and darkness, day and night, behold all your transgressions. Be not impious in your thoughts; lie not, surrender not the word of uprightness; lie not against the word of the holy and the mighty One; glorify not your idols; for all your lying and all your impiety is not for righteousness, but for great crime.
7 Now will I point out a mystery: Many sinners shall turn and transgress against the word of uprightness.
8 They shall speak evil things; they shall utter falsehood; execute great undertakings; and compose books in their own words. But when they shall write all my words correctly in their own languages,
Execute great undertakings-- Literally, "create a great creation" (Laurence).
9 they shall neither change or diminish them; but shall write them all correctly; all which from the first I have uttered concerning them.
Sadly, some of Enoch's words have been changed or mistranslated or mis-transcribed.
10 Another mystery also I point out. To the righteous and the wise shall be given books of joy, of integrity, and of great wisdom. To them shall books be given, in which they shall believe;
11 and in which they shall rejoice. And all the righteous shall be rewarded, who from these shall acquire the knowledge of every upright path.
In case you did not recognize it, the last two verses contain a prophecy of the coming of the Holy Bible. (chapter 104 occurs twice) (The quotation marks below, were added.)
104A:1 "In those days," says the Lord, "they shall call to the children of the earth, and make them listen to their wisdom. Show them that you are their leaders;
2 and that remuneration shall take place over the whole earth; for I and my Son will for ever hold communion with them in the paths of uprightness, while they are still alive. Peace shall be yours. Rejoice, children of integrity, in the truth."
"Remuneration" means, "recompense, pay, judgment." This refers to the Day of Judgment.
The passage appears to be the words of God, much like the later Biblical prophets recorded God's words. Notice the statement, "I and my Son will for ever hold communion with them." This no doubt refers to God and his Son Jesus, and indicates the coming of the Holy Spirit by which we have fellowship with God and Jesus.
105:1 After a time, my son Mathusala took a wife for his son Lamech. 2 She became pregnant by him, and brought forth a child, the flesh of which was as white as snow, and red as a rose; the hair of whose head was white like wool, and long; and whose eyes were beautiful. When he opened them, he illuminated all the house like the sun; the whole house abounded with light.
3 And when he was taken from the hand of the midwife, opening also his mouth, he spoke to the Lord of righteousness. Then Lamech his father was afraid of him; and flying away came to his own father Mathusala, and said, "I have begotten a son, unlike other children. He is not human; but resembles the offspring of the angels of heaven; is of a different nature from ours, being altogether unlike us.
4 His eyes are bright as the rays of the sun; his countenance glorious, and he looks not as if he belonged to me, but to the angels.
5 I am afraid, lest something miraculous should take place on earth in his days.
6 And now, my father, let me entreat and request you to go to our progenitor Enoch, and to learn from him the truth; for his residence is with the angels.
7 When Mathusala heard the words of his son, he came to me at the extremities of the earth; for he had been informed that I was there, and he cried out.
8 I heard his voice, and went to him saying, "Behold, I am here, my son; since you are come to me."
9 He answered and said, "On account of a great event have I come to you; and on account of a sight difficult to be comprehended have I approached you."
10 "And now, my father, hear me; for to my son Lamech a child has been born, who resembles not him; and whose nature is not like the nature of man. His color is whiter than snow; he is redder than the rose; the hair of his head is whiter than white wool; his eyes are like the rays of the sun; and when he opened them he illuminated the whole house.
11 When also he was taken from the hand of the midwife, he opened his mouth, and blessed the Lord of heaven.
12 His father Lamech feared, and fled to me, believing not that the child belonged to him, but that he resembled the angels of heaven. And behold I am come to you, that you might point out to me the truth."
13 Then I, Enoch, answered and said, "The Lord will effect a new thing upon the earth. This have I explained, and seen in a vision. I have shown you that in the generations of Jared my father, those who were from heaven disregarded the word of the Lord. Behold they committed crimes; laid aside their class, and intermingled with women. With them also they transgressed; married with them, and begot children. 14 A great destruction therefore shall come upon all the earth; a deluge, a great destruction, shall take place in one year.
This last statement is obviously a scribal error, the flood did not take place when Noah was one years old.
15 This child which is born to you shall survive on the earth, and his three sons shall be saved with him. When all mankind who are on earth shall die, he shall be safe.
16 And his posterity shall beget on the earth giants, not spiritual, but carnal. Upon the earth shall a great punishment be inflicted, and it shall be washed from all corruption. Now therefore inform your son Lamech, that he who is born is his child in truth; and he shall call his name Noah, for he shall be to you a survivor. He and his children shall be saved from the corruption which shall take place in the world; from all the sin and from all the iniquity which shall be consummated on earth in his days. Afterwards shall greater impiety take place than that which had been before consummated on the earth; for I am acquainted with holy mysteries, which the Lord himself has discovered and explained to me; and which I have read in the tablets of heaven.
"Afterwards" that is, after the Flood.
17 In them I saw it written, that generation after generation shall transgress, until a righteous race shall arise; until transgression and crime perish from off the earth; until all goodness come upon it.
18 And now, my son, go tell your son Lamech,
19 that the child which is born is his child in truth; and that there is no deception."
20 When Mathusala heard the word of his father Enoch, who had shown him every secret thing, he returned with understanding, and called the name of the child Noah; because he was to console the earth on account of all its destruction.
21 Another book, which Enoch wrote for his son Mathusala, and for those who should come after him, and preserve their purity of conduct in the latter days. You, who have labored, shall wait in those days, until the evil doers be consumed, and the power of the guilty be annihilated. Wait, until sin pass away; for their names shall be blotted out of the holy books; their seed shall be destroyed, and their spirits slain. They shall cry out and lament in the invisible waste, and in the bottomless fire shall they burn. There I perceived, as it were a cloud which could not be seen through; for from the depth of it I was unable to look upwards. I beheld also a flame of fire blazing brightly, and, as it were, glittering mountains whirled around, and agitated from side to side.
Is it possible that this contains a prophecy that the Book of Enoch will become widely read and taught at the close of the present age? The book was virtually unheard of during the Middle Ages because of the church ban, but now it is being published widely, especially on the internet.
22 Then I inquired of one of the holy angels who was with me, and said, "What is this splendid object? For it is not heaven, but a flame of fire alone which blazes; and in it there is the clamor of exclamation, of woe, and of great suffering."
23 He said, "There, into that place which you see, shall be thrust the spirits of sinners and blasphemers; of those who shall do evil, and who shall pervert all which God has spoken by the mouth of the prophets; all which they ought to do. For respecting these things there shall be writings and impressions above in heaven, that the angels may read them and know what shall happen both to sinners and to the spirits of the humble; to those who have suffered in their bodies, but have been rewarded by God; who have been injuriously treated by wicked men; who have loved God; who have been attached neither to gold nor silver, nor to any good thing in the world, but have given their bodies to torment.
24 To those who from the period of their birth, have not been covetous of earthly riches; but have regarded themselves as a breath passing away.
25 Such has been their conduct; and much has the Lord tried them; and their spirits have been found pure, that they might bless his name. All their blessings have I related in a book; and He has rewarded them; for they have been found to love heaven with an everlasting aspiration. God has said, "While they have been trodden down by wicked men, they have heard from them revilings and blasphemies; and have been ignominiously treated, while they were blessing me. And now will I call the spirits of the good from the generation of light, and will change those who have been born in darkness; who have not in their bodies been recompensed with glory, as their faith may have merited."
26 I will bring them into the splendid light of those who love my holy name, and I will place each of them on a throne of glory, of glory peculiarly his own, and they shall be at rest during unnumbered periods." Righteous is the judgment of God;
27 for to the faithful shall he give faith in the habitations of uprightness. They shall see those, who having been born in darkness unto darkness shall be cast; while the righteous shall be at rest. Sinners shall cry out, beholding them, while they exist in splendor and proceed forwards to the days and periods prescribed to them."
Here ends the vision of Enoch the prophet. May the benediction of his prayer, and the gift of his appointed period, be with his beloved!
Amen.
Enoch said the fallen angels that seduced mankind and taught them all the evil ways will be bound in chains of darkness in hell until the last judgment. The book of Jude in the New Testament states,
And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. (v.6)
The angels abandoned heaven and went to Earth. It is evident that Jesus and the disciples, and therefore the early church, were heavily influenced by Enoch. The offspring of the fallen angels, which were giants, were condemned to war with each other for hundreds of years before the flood would wipe them out completely. The spirits of the giants would then be condemned to roam the earth as evil spirits or demons. The righteous offspring of man would all die before the flood except Noah and his family who would be saved.
So how it is that the writings of Enoch were available to the apostles and the early church? The book of Enoch, the authentic parts, is probably the oldest book in use in the world, having been written more than 700 years before the Flood. Which means Noah must have preserved the Book of Enoch from the Flood and handed it down to his desendants. According to the Genesis Chronology, Abraham was 58 years old when Noah died, so Noah could have personally given a copy of Enoch to Abraham.
Genesis Chronology
GENESIS CHRONOLOGY
All dates are AFTER CREATION (A.C.) unless indicated.
YEAR
1-Adam born (4115 B.C.), lived to 930 years old, died in 931 A.C.
Adam was 130 years old when he became the father of Seth in 131 A.C.
131- Seth born, lived 912 years, died in 1043 A.C.
Seth was 105 years old when Enosh was born in 236 A.C.
236- Enosh born, lived 905 years, died 1141 A.C.
Enosh was 90 years old when Kenan was born in 326
326- Kenan born, lived 910 years, died 1236 A.C.
Kenan was 70 years old when Mahalel was born in 396
396- Mahalel born, lived 895 years, died in 1291 A.C.
Mahalel was 65 years old when Jared was born in 461
461- Jared born, lived 962 years, died in 1423 A.C.
Jared was 162 when Enoch was born in 623
623- Enoch born, lived 365 years, taken up in 988 A.C.
Enoch was 65 years old when Methuselah was born in 688
688- Methuselah born, lived 969 years, died in 1657
Methuselah was 187 years old when Lamech was born in 875
875- Lamech born, lived 777 years, died in 1652 A.C.
Lamech was 182 years old when Noah was born in 1057
1057- Noah born, lived 950 years, died in 2007
Noah was 500 years old when Shem was born in 1557
1557- Shem born, lived 600 years, died in 2157
Shem was 102 years old when Arphaxed was born in 1659
1657- Noah’s Flood (2458 B.C.)
Noah was 600 years old, Shem was 100 years old
1657- Noah’s Flood (2458 B.C.)
Noah was 600 years old, Shem was 100 years old
1659- Arphaxed born, lived438 years, died in 2097 A.C.
Arphaxed was 35 years old when Shelah was born in 1694
1694- Shelah born, lived 433 years, died in 2127 A.C.
Shelah was 30 years old when Eber was born in 1724
1724- Eber born, lived 464 years, died in 2188 A.C.
Eber was 34 years old when Peleg was born in 1758
1758-Peleg born, lived 239 years, died in 1997 A.C.
Peleg was 30 years old when Reu was born in 1790
1790- Reu born, lived 239 years, died in 2029 A.C.
Reu was 32 years old when Serug was born in 1820
1820- Serug born, lived 230 years, died in 2050 A.C.
Serug was 30 years old when Nahor was born in 1850
1850- Nahor born, lived 148 years, died in 1998 A.C.
Nahor was 29 years old when Terah was born in 1879
1879- Terah born, lived 205 years, died in 2084 (Ge. 11:32)
Terah was 70 years old when Abram was born in 1949
1949- Abram born, lived 175 years, died in 2124 A.C.
2007- Noah died, Abram was 58 years old
According to the Old Testament book of Joshua, Abraham's father and grand father were idol worshipers. Even so, that does not mean that Abraham was an idol worshiper. The Bible describes several occasions when the son's of rightieous men became idol worshipers, and the sons of idol worshipers were righteous men, having been influenced by their mothers.
Perhaps Terah and Nahor allowed themselves to be influenced by their wives, but since Noah was still alive, Abraham could have spent time with him and chosen to follow the true God. The only way for the writings of Enoch to have been read by the apostles and now us, is for Noah to have given a copy of those writings to Abraham, the father of the Israelites. Which means that Abraham was probably never an idol worshiper.
Bibliography
Charles, R. H. 1912. "The Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch". Oxford: Clarendon.
Knibb, Michael A., in consultation with Edward Ullendorff. 1978. "The Ethiopic Book of Enoch: A New Edition in the Light of the Aramaic Dead Sea Fragments". 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon.
Milik, J. T., with the collaboration of Matthew Black. 1976. "The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumrn Cave 4". Oxford: Clarendon.
Laurence, Richard. The Book of Enoch The Prophet. San Diego: Wizards Bookshelf, 1983. (Photograhic reproduction of 1883 edition, London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co.).
