Enoch

And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:  And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:  And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:  And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Genesis 5:21‭-‬24 KJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Which was the son of Methuselah, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Luke 3:37‭-‬38 KJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Hebrews 11:5 KJV

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,  To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and ⁷of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Jude 1:14‭-‬15 KJV ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Probably one of the most controversial figures of the new testament pre flood era is, Enoch. The seventh from Adam who was the great grandfather of Noah. 

Though Enoch is a key figure in scripture as well as biblical history, Enoch is only actually mentioned in the Bible 4 times and that is in the scripture listed above. 

One time in the Tanakh,  which is the Hebrew Bible and three times in the new testament. That’s seven verses total. 

This first and only mention in the Torah was a record of lineage leading up to Noah and the subsequent flood narrative to follow. It also gives the disposition of Enoch in that be did not die but that he walked with God and then he was no more. 

Interpretation of this in the new testament in Hebrews, being the second mention of this historical figure in the new testament, was that Enoch didn’t see death. 

If I were to be philosophical in transposing this I would say that what we perceive is a world of four dimensions: length, width, depth, and time , which is a common concept in physics but what is not so common is a fifth dimension. 

This is the heavenly realm where we commune with God. We seek it in prayer, we find it in physical death where our spirit leaves us and passes to. It is to here where Enoch was translated to.

The only other figure in the Tanakh  to have gone in a similar fashion was  the profit Elijah who it was said was taken up in a whirlwind.

The first mention in the new testament of course was the lineage given of Christ leading back to Adam and the third was that of Jude that is in reference to a line from the Book of Enoch  which cross references a verse from Deuteronomy. 

And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

Deuteronomy 33:2 KJV

Behold, he comes with the thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done, and committed against him

1 Enoch 2:1

I’m going to flow through a plethora of related peripheral information here for the sake of clarity before I come back to the further explanation and expansion within the connection of these two verses in relation to the reference in Jude to Enoch.

First, everything that I have researched, numbers this verse from Enoch as 1 Enoch 1:9 but, every copy I have found lists it as I have here and since that was how I found it, then that will be how it lays.

Second, I have covered the word midrash in a class on the Talmud but I want to redefine it briefly here. It means, textual interpretation or study and was the method that ancient Judaic authorities interpreted scripture.

Third, Among the dead sea scrolls were found manuscripts of the book of Enoch dating back to 200 to 300 BC, this is the oldest copies ever found of the 1 Enoch and confirms that 1 Enoch was familiar to both Jews and Christians. 

Fourth,  I want to add an addendum to the classes that I have already taught on scripture which is “the Apocrypha”.

In the early days of the Israeli people the Torah stood alone as the law of God given to Moses which much scripture was later born out of.

Compilation of thus scripture didn’t take place till later during the Babylonian captivity. From a sea of scripture was decided on what was considered inspired to become canonical finding its place into the Tanakh (Hebrew bible) and what was left over came to be known as Apocryphal. 

The same applied to the new testament. What was considered to not be inspired among collected scripture was again considered Apocryphal. 

Apocryphalic literature can be expansive or quite condensed in lieu of the eye of the beholder as fact or fiction but, if we can believe that Moses parted the red sea or that Christ rose from the dead then how hard would it be to believe that fallen angels came to earth, had names, taught the people forbidden knowledge as well as begat a race of giants with the daughter’s of men.

In fact, the bible that we believe in as inspired does touch on these things that Enoch gives better explanation of.

The book of Enoch is probably the most important Apocryphalic work because of this. The difference in what was inspired and what was not was not is a division of the ages that passed: millennialism and amillenialism.

Millennialism  was the belief that a thousand year golden age would exist on earth prior to the final judgment before proceeding to the world to come. This lined up with Enoch's one thousand year reign of the messiah.

Amillenialism teaches that there will be no thousand year reign of the righteous on earth and that the thousand year reign is symbolic of the temporary peace of souls in heaven before the world to come.

In the development of Christianity and the church as an authoritative institution, millennialism was set aside for amillenialism therefore deeming the book of Enoch as uninspired. 

The only remaining denominations to consider the book of Enoch as inspired were the Ethiopian circles and the oriental orthodox. To this day the Book of Enoch is still found in their Christian Bible.

As for interpretation of the connection of these three verses I will give another plethora of information. 

First, Enoch 2:1 is considered a midrash of Deuteronomy 33:2. Then of course the verse from Jude another reference of this and this verse in Jude 1:14-15 in a sense ties the two together.

Second, a consistent motif of the three verses is the fiery wrath of God delivered by thousands of his saints. 

Enoch was given a message from God to deliver to the Grigori (watchers, fallen angels) and the Nephilim (giants, off spring of the watchers with the daughter’s of men), this message was one of final harsh, fiery judgement. 

In these verses one of the many names of God comes to mind and leads my thoughts to drift toward several verses of scripture. 

Jehovah Sabaoth, it is the lord of hosts, the armies of God.

For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

Isaiah 66:15 KJVA

 And Eli´sha prayed, and said, Lord , I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Eli´sha.

2 Kings 6:17 KJVA

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Eli´jah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

2 Kings 2:11 KJVA

Third, a personal connection, in the book of Enoch, when Noah is born Methuselah, his grandfather goes to Enoch and tells him that a son was born to his son whose hair and skin were as white as wool and when he opened his eyes they illuminated to room.

This description roughly mirrors the description of Christ in the first chapter of revelations. 

Another similarity between the two, Christ in revelations is described as having a sword coming from his mouth. Deuteronomy 33:2 , and from his right hand came a fiery law for them. 

The law being the oral torah, and Christ come to judge the wicked in revelations with the fiery word of the law.

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Revelation 1:12‭-‬16 KJV‬‬‬‬

After a time, my son Methuselah took a wife for his son Lamech.

She became pregnant by him, and brought forth a child, the flesh if 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, they illuminated all the house, like the sun; the whole house abounded with light. 

1 Enoch 105: 1-2

The fiery pit that the beast of revelations is plunged into mirrors the fate of the watcher Azazel who was chained and thrown into a pit.

Again the lord said to Raphael, bind Azazel hand and foot; cast him into the darkness; and opening the desert which is in Dudael; cast him in there..

1 Enoch 9:6

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Revelation 20:10 KJV

A little side note of some importance, Dudael is a Hebrew word that means furnace of God.

Another verse I want to throw out there that gives connection to the “devil that deceived" and the watcher Azazel.

You have seen what Azazel has done, how he has taught every species of iniquity upon earth, and has disclosed to all the world all the secret things which are done in the heavens.

1 Enoch 9:5

Deuteronomy 33:2, Jude 1:14-15, 1 Enoch 2:1, all full disclosures of the wrath of God to come and come again upon the iniquity on this earth.