THE BOOK OF ENOCH : TRUTH OR HERESY?
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Book Of Enoch, Apocrypha, Inspiration Of God's Word, Enoch's
Lineage, Elijah's Translation To Heaven, Old Testament
Paganism, Jesus' Clash With The Jews, False Brethren, False
Doctrine, Endtime Delusion, Persecution And Martyrdom,
Friendship With The World, Roman Catholic Church Compromise,
Withholding God's Word, False Shepherds, The Immaculate
Conception, The Watchers, Fallen Angels, Nephilim, Peter's
Mention Of Book Of Enoch, Jude's Mention Of Book Of Enoch,
Description Of Christ's Coming, Angelic Visitations, Azazel,
Isaiah's Martyrdom, Canned Religion, Strong Foundation In
God's Word, Satan A False Angel Of Light
As many who have read the manuscript know, the Book of Enoch
is a very powerful, vivid, prophetic work which leaves one
with a lasting impression. Due to its controversial nature,
it may not be suitable for new or young Christians who have
not yet been properly grounded in the Word of God. Because
of some of the themes it contains, the Book of Enoch is not
generally accepted as being Divinely Inspired by traditional
Christianity. One of the primary reasons for this
non-acceptance is due to its expanded account of 'The
Watchers', the fallen angels who left their heavenly abode,
and came down to the Earth to make love to mortal women.
This account, along with a few other Bibical examples, will
be examined a little later in this article.
Because of its controversial contents, the Book of Enoch
belongs to a group of writings which are referred to as
Apocryphal Works. This means that either their authenticity,
authorship, or Divine Inspiration is in doubt; or at least
it WAS in doubt at the time the early 'church fathers'
decided what should go into the Catholic and Protestant
Bibles! I don't recall what the Jewish perspective is on the
Book of Enoch; but while it is not included in the Hebrew
Scriptures either, I do believe they hold it in some
position of respect. In his second epistle to Timothy, we
find the Apostle Paul writing:
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:" (2 Timothy 3:16)
Peter also made a comment regarding the authorship of the
ancient texts received through inspiration of the Lord's
Spirit:
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost." (2 Peter 1:21)
From what I have read, this issue of Divine Inspiration has
been a point of contention since about the third or fourth
century; not only with the Book of Enoch, but with similar
texts as well, which to this day remain widely unknown to
traditional Christianity. In reading the geneologies in the
book of Genesis, we find Enoch listed as a descendant of
Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, and also the ancestor
of the patriarch Noah:
"And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son
in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name
Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were
eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And
all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty
years: and he died. And Seth lived an hundred and five
years, and begat Enos: And Seth lived after he begat Enos
eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years:
and he died. And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and
fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the
days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel: And
Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and
forty years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days
of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. And
Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: And
Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and
thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days
of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and
he died. And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and
he begat Enoch: And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight
hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the
days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he
died. 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. And Methuselah lived an hundred
eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: And Methuselah
lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two
years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of
Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he
died. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and
begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same
shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands,
because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed."
(Genesis 5:3-29)
As can be seen from the above verses, what is unique about
Enoch is that, according to Scriptures, he did not face a
normal death like mortal humans, but rather he 'walked with
God' and 'God took him'. This means that he was translated,
or transported, to the Spirit Realm, similar to what
occurred with the prophet Elijah in the second book of the
Kings:
"And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah
said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be
taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a
double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou
hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I
am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it
shall not be so. 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 Elijah
went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and
he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and
the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took
hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces."
(2 Kings 2:9-12)
Returning to Enoch, it is believed by some that it was
before his translation into Heaven that he communed with
angels and wrote what is known as the Book of Enoch.
So the question arises: If Enoch was so favored of the Lord
that he didn't taste of physical death but rather was taken
up into Heaven; and if he wrote such an awe-inspiring and
important book, why aren't his writings included in our
present-day Bible? To fully understand this, we need to go
back and review a little bit of history. To begin with,
remember that since the days of the Old Testament, the
children of Israel have had some serious problems with
paganism slipping into their midst. As I have related in
'The Children Of God And Politics' and a number of other
articles, the ancient Hebrews were surrounded by a heathen
world which worshipped other gods. In fact, let us not
forget that Abraham the Hebrew, (from the Hebrew 'ibriy'
meaning 'one from beyond'), was called from the ancient
pagan worship of Babylon, i.e., Ur in the land of the
Chaldees. From the moment he left there, he and his
descendants had constant problems with some of their family
members slipping back into the sins of their forefathers.
Consider this example concerning a confrontation between
Jacob, Laban and Rachel:
"And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou
sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast
thou stolen my gods? And Jacob answered and said to Laban,
Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest
take by force thy daughters from me. With whomsoever thou
findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren
discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For
Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them. And Laban went
into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two
maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out
of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent. Now Rachel
had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture,
and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but
found them not. And she said to her father, Let it not
displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the
custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not
the images. And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and
Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what
is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? Whereas
thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all
thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy
brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both."
(Genesis 31:30-37)
This is a reccurring problem which we find throughout the
entire Old Testament. As I have shown in articles like
'Revelations Babylon The Great Whore', the Lord sent Prophet
after Prophet to warn the children of Israel to repent from
their wicked ways; but even at the time of Jesus, this
problem still existed. In fact, with both the Assyrian and
the Babylonian invasions, many heathen had moved into
Israel, particularly into the northern half around Samaria.
As I have explained elsewhere, this is one of the reasons
why even in Jesus' day, animosity still existed between the
Jews and the Samaritans. Another reason is because
throughout the Old Testament, when the Jews weren't warring
against their outside enemies, the king of Israel, (whose
capital was Samaria), and the king of Judah, (whose capital
was Jerusalem), were warring against each other! The fact
that Jesus was a native of Nazareth in extreme northern
Israel near Syria is also one of the reasons why the
self-righteous Jewish Elders in Jerusalem rejected Him.
Perhaps you recall the words of Nathanael when Philip first
informed him that they had found the Christ:
"And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come
out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see."
(John 1:46)
But this pagan influence on Judaism is not the only thing
that was happening at that time. As I have just pointed out,
from the moment Jesus began His public ministry, His message
was not well-accepted by those who were in power;
particularly those who were in religious power, the Jewish
Elders. Despite this fact, we know that the common people
heard Him gladly:
"David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he
then his son? And the common people heard him gladly."
(Mark 12:37)
Compared to their cold rigid system of observing the Torah,
Jesus' vibrant doctrine of love and caring and sharing was
too radical for them. He exposed their greedy materialism
and their self-satisfaction. The Jewish leaders did not want
Jesus upsetting the status quo. They didn't want Him to
strain their cozy relationship with the Roman government.
While the Jews were eventually 'successful' in getting Jesus
out of the way, they hadn't foreseen the greater threat
coming in the form of His radical followers who would
continue to carry His message of Love and Salvation into all
the world. After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts
chapter two, the situation really got out of hand in the
eyes of the Jewish hierarchy; thus they had to devise a plan
to destroy the young new Church before it destroyed their
relationship with the Romans and stripped them of their
power and control over the masses. Looking back now, we can
see that they must have devised a two-pronged plan: they
would continue to attack from without, but they would also
attack from within. There is evidence of this throughout the
Book of Acts, as well as in the Epistles of the various
writers. Jesus had warned them of this very thing when He
said:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
(Matthew 7:15)
Thus, following their well-thought-out plan, the Early
Church began to be invaded by false Jewish brethren who
tried to reinforce the Torah code on the liberated
Disciples, as well as introduce demonic doctrines and
beliefs which incorporated occult practices and pagan rites
which they had adopted from the pagan nations around them.
The Apostle Paul and others wrote quite a bit about this
problem as is revealed in the following verses:
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous
wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of
your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things,
to draw away disciples after them." (Acts 20:29-30)
"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the
concision." (Philippians 3:2)
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in
hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;"
(1 Timothy 4:1-2)
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears;"
(2 Timothy 4:3)
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even
as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that
bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of
whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."
(2 Peter 2:1-2)
"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard
that antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They
went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but
they went out, that they might be made manifest that they
were not all of us." (1 John 2:18-19)
In addition to infiltration and verbal attack, physical
persecution also became a very popular sport, both by the
Jewish spiritual hierarchy, as well as by the Roman
authorities. My article 'Biblical Cafeteria Part One' deals
with the life of the Apostle Paul, and traces his steps from
being a devout Pharisee who killed Christians, to becoming
one of the Lord's most faithful servants who eventually gave
his life for the same. Aside from the Apostle John, who is
believed to have died at an old age on the isle of Patmos of
the coast of Asia Minor, and Judas Iscariot who committed
suicide, most if not all of the Original Disciples died a
martyr's death. Jesus Himself prophesied Peter's martyrdom
when He said:
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou
girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but
when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou
wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he
should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith
unto him, Follow me." (John 21:18-19)
Within a few hundred years, the situation had deteriorated
considerably, and contrary to the teachings of the Prophets,
Christ and the First Disciples, some of the early Christian
leaders and disciples were no longer willing to die for the
faith in the Roman coliseums; or at the hands of their false
brethren who controlled the Sanhedrin, (the Jewish assembly
of Seventy Elders):
"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his
saints." (Psalms 116:15)
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall
kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's
sake." (Matthew 24:9)
"Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not
greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will
also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will
keep yours also." (John 15:20)
"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12)
Thus, as the old saying goes, they compromised their faith
and moved out of the coliseums where they had been torn by
lions, and into the safety of the grandstands. In short,
Christianity became a spectator religion. It is at this
point in time that what would eventually become known as
Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, began to gain
control over the minds and spirits of the masses. Prior to
this time, there were a number of books, scrolls and
manuscripts which the Early Disciples had viewed as being
Divinely Inspired. This included the Book of Enoch. However,
part of the compromise was to begin removing the more
radical elements and questionable teachings from the Faith.
It may be that part of their motivation in doing this was to
sincerely clean up the Faith of any questionable doctrines;
at least we can hope so. As I have already shown, there were
indeed a lot of negative influences seeking to pervert or
destroy the early Christian faith. This included the pagan
beliefs and practices inherited from such cultures as the
Assyrians and the Babylonians, Greek and Roman hedonism, and
Jewish legalism.
However, as I've already stated, they wanted to remove
anything which might make them less acceptable to the
Romans, or which might make them in any way appear similar
to 'those radical Christians' of bygone years. In short, by
becoming manpleasers and seeking the praise of men rather
than the approval and praise of God, these so-called 'Church
Fathers' went directly against the counsel of the Lord when
He told His First Disciples that while they were in the
world, they were not to be a part of it:
"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but
because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out
of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
(John 15:19)
"I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them,
because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."
(John 17:14-15)
The Apostle James also echoed the Lord's words when he wrote
the following admonition:
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of
God." (James 4:4)
While the early 'Church Fathers' removed some things which
they deemed uninspired, (or spurious text), or just plain
too radical of a teaching regardless of whether it was or
not, they didn't remove all of it as is evidenced by some of
the doctrines of Jesus Christ which are still difficult to
accept by modern-day Christians. It was probably around this
time that many of the Apocryphal Works, such as the Book Of
Enoch, began to come under heavy scrutiny, with some of them
being declared heretical in nature and thus banned from the
Scriptures. In other words, the 'Church Fathers' decided
that the common man just didn't have the spiritual integrity
or know-how to discern between the good and the evil in the
manuscripts available at that time. As such, the 'Holy
Mother Church' delegated itself the responsibility of
deciding what they, (and we), should and should not read.
From that time until now, Christianity has been carefully
molded for us by others, particularly for those who happen
to be Roman Catholics. To this day the 'Holy See' claims to
hold the sole authority for interpretting and explaining the
Scriptures to the masses. If that weren't bad enough, as I
have pointed out in other articles which deal with the sins
of this worldwide empire, the 'Mother Church' also claims to
be the only one who can forgive sins and grant salvation to
the lost masses!
I recall how as a young Catholic several decades ago, the
local Catholic church had the practice of displaying a list
which advised us of which movies we were allowed to see as
members of the Catholic church. While it is commendable that
the shepherds of the flock should go to such lengths to
ensure the spiritual integrity of their followers, at the
same time, it is an insult to our intelligence; as if we
can't decide for ourselves what we wish to see, or what we
feel is appropriate for our children to see. There was a
beautiful very inspired film a number of years ago called
'Brother Sun And Sister Moon' which dealt with the life of
Saint Francis of Assissi. This movie caused no small stir
within the Catholic Church! And why was this? Because it
expressed the genuine sincerity and purity of simple faith
in God while severely exposing the hypocrisy and
materialistic wealth of the 'Holy Mother Church.' In one
scene, which must have had the Catholic hierarchy aghast,
St. Francis removes all of his clothes and is stark naked,
symbolic of his total renouncement of worldly things.
As I explained in other articles such as 'Revelation's
Babylon The Great,' 'Mary Worship And Catholicism' and 'The
Children Of God And Politics', from what I have read, it was
on his death bed that Emperor Constantine, (who formerly had
a dislike for Christians), made Christianity the official
religion of the Roman Empire. Thus was completed the merger
between the compromising 'Church Fathers' and the pagan
rulers of Rome. Previously known as the 'Pontifex Maximus,'
the Roman emperor became known as the Pope from the Greek
word 'pappas'. He became the Supreme Bishop of the world;
the Vicar, or representative, of Christ...at least so the
Catholics claim! To ensure that the 'Holy Mother Church'
maintained its control over the masses, the Scriptures were
maintained in Latin, which was NOT the language of the
common man! Whereas Jesus and His Disciples had made His
teachings freely available to all men, teaching in the
synagogues, publicly and from house to house, once the Roman
Catholic Church took control of things, the Scriptures
became available only to learned scholars. I am reminded of
the Lord's warning to the false shepherds of ancient Israel
who likewise failed to feed their flocks:
"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto
the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do
feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill
them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock...As I live,
saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey,
and my flock became meat to every beast of the field,
because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds
search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and
fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word
of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against
the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand,
and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither
shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will
deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat
for them." (Ezekiel 34:2-3, 8-10)
While the 'Holy See' makes false claims of being descended
from Peter, they fail to take heed to Peter's own admonition
when he says:
"Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the
oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for
filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;" (1 Peter 5:2)
Truly, the Roman Catholic Church is guilty of these very
things! She has become the biggest, fattest, richest, most
worldly and complacent branch of Christianity in our modern
day; and all at the expense of her flocks whom she rapes
like ignorant sheep! Later on in church history we find even
more sinister and horrible attempts by this false religion
to control the common man's beliefs and destiny. Thanks to
Tomas Torquemada, (first Grand Inquisitor), and those who
followed in his footsteps, we are all familiar with the
atrocities committed during the time of the Spanish
Inquisition! Surely, this was not the religion taught by
Jesus and His First Disciples! This was a religion of fear,
and NOT a religion of love! And what techniques are being
used today to keep the faithful in bondage?
Considering the radical information contained in the Book Of
Enoch, it is no wonder that it was frowned upon by the early
'Church Fathers'. As stated previously, the idea of angels
being able to materialize in physical bodies and make love
to human women, was just too much for those tight-collared
religionists. This was nothing short of heresy and blasphemy
in their eyes! A deceptive work of Satan worthy to be
burned!
At the same time, it seems a bit odd that they have no
problem accepting other angelic encounters. For example, in
the Book of Tobit, a part of the Catholic Bible, we have the
story of the archangel Raphael taking on human form to
assist in a wedding arrangement; as well as in healing an
old man's eyes. Consider also Jesus' own birth which has
been shrouded in deep mystery. We are never told exactly
how Mary became impregnated with the Christ child. The
terminology used in our modern Bible is rather nebulous in
my view. Have you ever wondered what was meant by Mary being
overshadowed by the power of the Most High? The common view
is that this simply means that through the creative power of
the Holy Ghost, an embryo was created in Mary's womb. This
is indeed possible, but considering the Book Of Enoch, and
the incident in the sixth chapter of Genesis, we can only
wonder if another method might have been used. Could it be
that this blurring of the facts was also due to politics or
narrowminded religious views of ages gone by? Having said
that, let's take a look at the account of 'The Watchers' as
is found in Genesis chapter six. Here is the entire story as
written by Moses:
"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face
of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the
sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair;
and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the
LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for
that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and
twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days;
and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the
daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same
became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made
man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the
LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the
face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping
thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I
have made them." (Genesis 6:1-7)
As stated at the beginning of this article, the above
account is a very abbreviated version of the story compared
to what can be found in the Book of Enoch. It seems to me
that the fact that Moses even described this event is an
indication that he was probably aware of and even accepted
the writings of his forefather Enoch as being Divinely
Inspired. As the above verses demonstrate, this union of
beautiful human women and rebellious celestial beings,
resulted in the birth of wicked super-human giants referred
to as the 'Nephilim'. This word is derived from the Hebrew
word 'nephiyl' or 'nephil' which has been translated as
'giant'. From what I have also read, this word is derived
from even earlier words which mean 'to fall' or 'the fallen
ones'. Thus, the Nephilim were the children of the Fallen
Angels. This topic is discussed more in-depth in my article
'Nephilim: The Giants of Genesis'. For now though, allow me
to share with you a few verses from the New Testament which
deal with the fate of those who rebelled against the Lord in
the days of Noah. In his first epistle, Peter describes how
Jesus went to preach to these imprisoned rebellious angels:
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which
also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which
sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of
God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a
preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by
water." (1 Peter 3:18-20)
In his second epistle, while discussing the fate of false
prophets, Peter again makes mention of the judgment of 'The
Watchers' in the days of Noah:
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them
down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to
be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but
saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness,
bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;"
(2 Peter 2:4-5)
As with Moses, it is apparent that Peter must have either
heard of these things from Jesus directly, or else he read
them somewhere else. My guess is that the Book of Enoch was
still being read and circulated in those days prior to the
clamp-down by later church authorities. Regardless of the
source of his information, the point is that Peter believed
it, and he talked and wrote about it. Thus we have even more
support for the authenticity of the Book of Enoch. But Peter
was not the only one. In his epistle, Jude, the brother of
James, and also probably the brother of Jesus, made a short
mention of 'The Watchers' as well. In fact, in his short
letter, he made several references to the Book of Enoch.
Here is the first regarding the fallen angels:
"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left
their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."
(Jude 1:6)
Thus we see three clear examples where writers of the Bible
refer to events which are amply described in a work which
has been condemned and banned by most of modern
Christianity. If they accept the Divine Inspiration of the
words of Moses, Peter and Jude who all refer to the writings
of Enoch, why do they not accept the words of Enoch as well?
This is not the only mention of the Book of Enoch in the
Holy Scriptures. In describing the Lord's return when He
will stand upon the Mount of Olives just prior to the Battle
of Armageddon, the Prophet Zechariah wrote the following.
Please take note of the numerical reference as well:
"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of
Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount
of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east
and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley;
and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and
half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley
of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall
reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from
before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah:
and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with
thee." (Zechariah 14:4-5)
Notice in particular the very last part of verse five where
Zechariah says '...and the LORD my God shall come, and all
of the saints with thee.' In the New Testament, Jude reminds
us that Enoch also wrote of these very same things. Notice
the similarities between the Scripture references for the
Book of Zechariah, and the Epistle of Jude. Is this
simply a coincidence? Possibly:
"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 of all their hard speeches
which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
(Jude 1:14-15)
Now let's take a look at exactly what Enoch said regarding
this event. As you will see, Jude quoted Enoch almost word
for word, thus showing that he was very familiar with his
writings, and that he must have esteemed them quite a bit.
You normally don't quote someone unless you have some
respect for what they have said:
"9 And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones
To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the
ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their
ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all
the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against
Him." (Enoch 1:9-10)
In the eighth chapter of Mark, Jesus also made a similar
statement regarding His Second Coming when He said the
following:
"Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall
the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of
his Father with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38)
In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John also gives us a
vivid description of the Lord returning with the Heavenly
Host for the Battle of Armageddon:
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he
that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a
flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had
a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is
called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven
followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white
and clean." (Revelation 19:11-14)
In some of my other articles, I have mentioned some of the
angelic visitations found within the pages of the Bible.
Following is one account of Elisha the Prophet which
describes this Heavenly Host which Zechariah, Jesus, Jude,
John and Enoch all spoke about:
"And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are
more than they that be with them. And Elisha 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 Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha
prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray
thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness
according to the word of Elisha." (2 Kings 6:16-18)
So here again we have a clear example of something which is
amply discussed in the Bible as well as in the Book of
Enoch; yet for some strange reason, some modern-day
Christians accept the writers of the Bible as being divinely
inspired, while they adamantly reject the Book of Enoch.
Another shaded reference to the Book Of Enoch can be found
in the book of Leviticus where it discusses the duties and
responsibilities of Aaron the high priest. Now, unless you
are Jewish and can read Hebrew, you might not even know this
one exists. The reason for this is because they use the
English equivalent instead of the original Hebrew name;
which I have been told is found in certain other versions of
the Bible. In the sixth chapter of Leviticus we read:
"And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for
the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat."
(Leviticus 16:8)
This set of verses dealing with Aaron sacrificing a bullock
as a sin offering and then choosing between two goats, has
some very deep spiritual implications. What is important for
this discussion is the Hebrew equivalent for the word
'scapegoat'. The word actually used is 'Azazel'. Most people
have never heard of the word. However, if you read the Book
of Enoch, you will discover that Azazel happens to be the
name of one of the leaders of the two hundred angels which
left their heavenly domain and rebelled against God by
making love to Earthly women and teaching humankind other
things as well. That's right; he was one of the leaders of
'The Watchers' who are currently bound in chains in the dark
interior of the Earth. If you would like to know more about
this topic, please read the article 'Hell and the Lake of
Fire'.
As can be seen, were it not for the Book of Enoch, this
mention of Azazel in the KJV Bible would be completely
overlooked; and what is interesting is that this is the only
verse in the entire King James Bible where there is even a
shaded reference to the sins of Azazel and his followers.
Could it be that this is just one that was overlooked by
those who so 'kindly' purged the Bible for us?
Another possible reference to a little-known Apocryphal Work
can be found in the famous eleventh chapter of Paul's
epistle to the Hebrews. In this chapter, Paul expounds on
the necessity of having faith, and mentions many of the
heroes of faith of the Old Testament. In one place, in
referring to how some were martyred, Paul mentions how some
of the Old Testament saints were sawn asunder. Now, in case
you don't know what that means, it means that the prophets
of God were literally cut in half while still alive, with a
two-man saw!:
"They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted,
were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;"
(Hebrews 11:37)
How does Paul know this? Did someone tell him this, or did
he read it somewhere, or were people still be cut in half in
his day? One possibility is that he may have read 'The
Martyrdom Of The Prophet Isaiah By King Manasseh'. This
account very graphically describes how, after many years of
faithfully prophesying the Word of the Lord, old man Isaiah
is strapped in and literally cut in half! We are told that
he kept praising the Lord the whole time!
As with the previous examples from the Book of Enoch, this
account fits right in with the rest of the Scriptures; yet
the 'Church Fathers' apparently decided that we had no
business reading about it! Perhaps they felt that it was not
inspired of God; or maybe they were afraid no one would want
to become a Christian if they thought they might get cut in
half! If that is the case, then we might as well throw out
the entire Old Testament; as it is full of blood, guts and
gore in very graphic detail; if you take the time to read
it. Sadly, we can probably look forward to the day when the
entire Bible will be banned anyway! At any rate, if the
Martyrdom of the Prophet Isaiah is not true scripture, then
we can only wonder why it is that the Apostle Paul appears
to be making a reference to it.
So returning to our main theme, exactly why is it that the
early 'Church Fathers' rejected the Book of Enoch? Did they
honestly feel that it was not of the Lord? The examples I
have shared in this article seem to indicate otherwise.
There appears to be agreement between what Enoch said, and
what has come to be accepted as Sacred Scripture. The
accepted writers have referred to Enoch's work, and he has
greatly expanded upon some of the things they wrote about.
Given the puritanical time period in which our current Bible
was being translated and compiled, I suspect that the Book
of Enoch was rejected primarily due to the account of 'The
Watchers' and the 'Nephilim'. I think that this talk of
angels having sex with human women which bore giants is what
those early Bible compilers could not stomach. Either that,
or perhaps the idea of angelic beings physically
materializing in our realm was just a little bit too much
for them. I honestly cannot say. All I am saying is that the
Book of Enoch was rejected, and I am not sure that it should
have been.
Well, I am sure you have seen my point by now. In short, we
have been carefully spoon-fed all of our lives to teach us
what we can read, what we should believe, how we should act,
how we should dress, etc. The powers that be, both
political and religious, have made every attempt to keep our
lives under their control. They want to make sure that we
keep the blinders on; and that we continue to walk down the
path which they have chosen for us. They want us to remain
mindless robots who don't think for ourselves; and peer
pressure, public acceptance and the fear of the opinions
of men are some of the tools of their trade.
This mentality is particularly prevalent in many churches
and religious organizations today. Each one has their own
set doctrine which you either accept, or else you can't be a
full member of their church. We have millions of private
members-only clubs all over the world called organized
religion who all claim to possess the proper interpretation
of the Holy Scriptures, chiefly among them being the Roman
Catholic Church. Some of them would rather have you read
their wisdom of men, and the interpretations of their
'Church Fathers' and 'Saints', rather than allow you to go
straight to the source of information for yourself. I still
consider the Authorized King James Bible to be the most
cherished, inspired Holy Book I will ever read; but at
the same time, I have come to realize that by reading other
materials, even if organized religion rejects them, I can
gain a wider understanding of things which might not have
been possible otherwise.
Before concluding this article, allow me to offer an
admonition: While I personally sometimes look into other
materials to fill in some of the gaps, I do not recommend
this practice for Christians who are still young in the
faith. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Hebrews:
"For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need
that one teach you again which be the first principles of
the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of
milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk
is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even
those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to
discern both good and evil." (Hebrews 5:12-14)
Until you have a solid foundation in the 'recognized' Word
of God, it is best to stay away from these other writings.
The reason for this is quite simple: Until you have been a
Christian for a while and have reached a level of spiritual
maturity where you can differeniate between what is of the
Spirit of God, and what isn't, it is just plain dangerous
business to become involved with these things. As I explain
in some of my other articles such as 'Lying Wonders Of The
Endtime', 'Age Of Deception, Age Of Delusion', etc., right
now there is a lot of spiritual deception in the world; and
it is only going to get worse as the many false christs and
false prophets begin to perform their lying wonders.
The best way to differeniate between what is true and what
is false is by studying the True Standard until you know it
inside and out. This is precisely what bank tellers must do.
They learn to identify the real currency of their land so
that when a false bill comes along, they will immediately
recognize it as such. In the same manner, we must study the
Word of God to learn the Spirit of God, so we are not
deceived by the false teachings of those who follow not
after The Truth. As the Apostles John and Paul wrote:
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
"Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is
good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil
hath not seen God." (3 John 1:11)
In my case, I have been studying the Word of God for close
to thirty years, and even more fervently now as we draw
closer to the Perfect Day. Because of this, I feel I have
learned enough to go safely exploring into other areas which
I might have avoided before. Such is the case with the Book
Of Enoch. As stated at the beginning of this article, it is
a powerful book. I was definitely moved by its contents;
although I must admit that some of it was even too profound
for me to understand. Due to the support I have found for it
in my King James Bible, I do not entirely reject it as being
heretical in nature; neither do I fully embrace it. As to
its accuracy, I cannot say. All works with time tend to
become a bit exaggerated or distorted so that some truths
are lost or mishaped. This is how myths are born. As far as
its Divine Inspiration is concerned, if I were to compare
the Book of Enoch with the books of the Maccabees, I would
easily choose the Book of Enoch.
In conclusion, there are many other apocryphal and
pseudepigraphical works in addition to the Book of Enoch. I
have not read them all yet; and of the ones I have read, I
will readily admit that I have some serious reservations
regarding quite a few of them. However, in my view, the main
consideration here is that unless we read some of them, we
will never know. Not only does reading such works help to
confirm and strengthen our own Christian convictions, but it
also helps us to become aware of the enemy's deceptions so
that we know how to combat them. When Jesus was rebuking the
unbelieving Jews in the Gospel of John, He told us exactly
who Satan is:
"...He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar,
and the father of it." (John 8:44b)
The Apostle Paul also offered a number of admonitions such
as the following:
"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not
ignorant of his devices." (2 Corinthians 2:11)
"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14)
And finally, remember, there are many precious jewels and
deep truths to be found hidden in the Word of God; but if we
are close-minded and set in our ways and doctrines, we may
never see them. Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a
treasure on a number of occasions such as in the following
examples:
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a
field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for
joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth
that field." (Matthew 13:44)
"Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is
instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man
that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his
treasure things new and old." (Matthew 13:52)
By the grace of God, we can learn new things everyday.
Sometimes the things which are revealed to us contradict
what we have believed previously. When this happens, we must
be willing to admit that we were wrong and simply accept the
New Truth which we have been given; keeping in mind of
course that the New Truths the Lord gives us will never
contradict what is already contained in His Word. We cannot
be afraid to change; otherwise we lose all opportunities for
spiritual growth. This is the mistake the Jews of old made
when they rejected Jesus. Because they were satisfied with
what they already had, and because they rejected the Light
of the World, Jesus told them that they were blind leaders
of the blind walking in darkness. We must ask ourselves: How
much Light and Truth have we each been willing to accept? I
hope this article has been a blessing and a help in your
life.