Week 4: Enoch? Never Heard of Him...
1
Enoch
The
two most ancient apocalypses we have are 1 Enoch and Daniel. These writings
present some ideas that are not found specifically in Jewish writings and
helped to develop apocaplyptic ideas. These ideas eventually became very
important in Jewish belief and faith as well as helping to form the beliefs of
Christianity.1 What apocalyptic ideas surfaced in these writings for
the first time?
- Expectations of
a final judgment where God separates the righteous from sinners.
- Hope for
resurrection of the righteous dead to a heavenly realm.
- Belief that God
acts in history - all of history - past present and future - to bring
about a new age of justice and deliverance.
- Speculation
about a messianic figure (a Son of Man, Elect One, Righteous One, or
Messiah) who will administer final justice upon the world.2
1
Enoch gives us the first example of pseudonymity in apocalyptic
literature. If you'll remember, that is when an author gives credit to another
well known, usually well respected person as the writer of a letter or book.
Why Enoch? Though one scholar has described Enoch as being "a
most unlikely biblical hero," Carey says that maybe Enoch "offers the
perfect set of attributes for an apocalyptic man of mystery: timing,
exceptional righteousness, and almost unique immortality, all accentuated by a
lack of narrative detail."3
Biblically,
Enoch lived in the sixth generation from Adam, before the great flood. Both
this numerical designation and preceeding the flood make him a significant
figure.4 If you scan all of Genesis 5 and then read Gen.
5:24 you will see two notable things about Enoch. The first is that Enoch
"walked with God." This statement is not made for anyone else before
the flood.5 The second is that the wording for his "death"
is different than the others. The Bible does not say, "he died," but
that "he was no more, because God took him." This places him with
Elijah, as being one of only two people who were taken into heaven without
experiencing death. This also implies that Enoch observed heavenly secretes
that are unknown to us. All these things would qualify Enoch as a perfect
"apocalyptic visionary,"6 and he becomes a great mediator
between the heavenly realm and the world of humankind.7 Even though
Enoch is not part of our Bible and is not a book we know, it was a significant
writing for the rest of the biblical tradition. The cult at Qumran ranked it
among it's most treasured texts and the Jewish books of Jubilees and the Testaments
of the Twelve Patriarchs relied heavily on it. The New Testament's book of Jude
quotes 1 Enoch 1:9, while many other early Christian writings quote from,
allude to, or depend on 1 Enoch. Tertullian identified it as "inspired
scripture,"7 and it was included in the Bible of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church.8 - Book of the
Watchers (1 Enoch 1-36), probably written in the third century BCE
- Similitudes (or
Parables) of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71), probably from either the first century
BCE or first century CE (though it could have been written as late as the
third century CE)
- Astronomical
Book (or Book of the Heavenly Luminaries) (1 Enoch 72-82), probably from
the third century CE
- Book of Dreams
(1 Enoch 83-90), almost certainly from 170-163 BCE, which includes the
Animal Apocalypse (Chapters 85-90)
- Epistle of Enoch (1 Enoch 91-105) (second century BCE), from second century BCE, and includes the Apocalypse of Weeks (1 Enoch 91:12-17, 93:1-10)9
The
Book of the Watchers narrates two major stories. The first is an expansion
of Genesis
6:1-4,
an "odd" text of scripture that we tend to brush by. In it the
"sons of God" descend to earth to have sexual intercourse with mortal
women, who produce a race of giant called the Nephilim. This story connects
this obscure passage in scripture to the great flood. The "sons of
God" are called "Watchers" because they watch over the earth,
but violate boundaries between heaven and earth and reduce the world to chaos.
This chaos is what provokes God to intervene with the flood.10
The
second story includes a tour of the cosmos, including heaven and hell. Enoch
presents his 364 day calendar and reveals names of heavenly beings.11
This depiction of an alternative reality contain two basic categories of
revelation: a time and a spatial/material dimension. These two form the basic
model for all apocalyptic revelation. However things appear in the earth realm,
the ultimate reality of the heavenly realm or the future is where truth lies.12
"The
entire Book of the Watchers addresses itself as a blessing to the elect in the
last days and concludes by celebrating the wonders of creation (36:4)."13
It presents three related arguments:
- God's world
works according to order (born out of observation and Enoch's revelation)
- Part of God's
order is judgment. Because God has judged the angels and Watchers he will
judge humankind; therefore
- the elect should
bless God.14
We're not going to discuss the contexts in
which the books of 1 Enoch were written even though context is very important.
We'll do that a little later with a book that has more meaning for us.
Enjoy! We'll finish up 1 Enoch next week with
the specific topics in the text and than talk about Daniel, a book with which
we're all a little more familiar.
Notes
1Greg Carey, Ultimate
Things (St. Louis: Chalice, 2005), 19.
2Ibid, 19.
3Ibid, 23.
4Ibid, 23. 2Ibid, 19.
3Ibid, 23.
5Ibid, 23.
6Ibid, 23.
7Ibid, 20.
8Ibid, 20.
9Ibid, 23.
10Ibid, 21.
11Ibid, 21.
12Ibid, 23.
13Ibid, 21.
14Ibid, 21-22.
7 Comments
I scanned the beginning of Enoch and definitely noticed the three items that were mentioned: God likes order, and so there are rules and seasons. There is definitely judgement that God brings the 10,000 for to destroy the ungodly, and the elect are protected. I did notice a number (and went back to last week's lesson for reference)= 14. All the trees lose their leaves in the winter except for 14. Why's that? Is it 7 and 7 - twice spiritually perfect? Or maybe, 10 - perfection and 4 - God's creative works/the world. Those were just the two that maybe made the most sense to me...
Lynn When you say Hope for the resurrection of the righteous dead to a heavenly realm what does this mean? Since when we die we go to straight to heaven is this referring to the old testament people who were righteous but were under the law and were not saved by grace that they will only be taken into heaven when Jesus returns?
Would anyone like to make their own comments or observations on either of these two comments?
Person 3 said...
I have to say that I agree
with what Person 1 wrote, finding the same items that were mentioned in the blog. I
think both of her thoughts on the number 14 sound good too. I can't think of
anything better.
Person 2, I totally agree with what you came up with in your comment. That is the way I see it too. I'm pretty sure I read about all the souls ascending into heaven after Jesus' death. I assumed they were the souls who did not have eternal life until Jesus gave us that gift.
If we aren't to discuss the content of Enoch yet, I guess I don't have anything more to add. I have to say, though some of this is difficult, I really am enjoying this course and would love to see some more conversation amongst the members too.
Person 2, I totally agree with what you came up with in your comment. That is the way I see it too. I'm pretty sure I read about all the souls ascending into heaven after Jesus' death. I assumed they were the souls who did not have eternal life until Jesus gave us that gift.
If we aren't to discuss the content of Enoch yet, I guess I don't have anything more to add. I have to say, though some of this is difficult, I really am enjoying this course and would love to see some more conversation amongst the members too.
Person 3 said...
Oh, now that I'm reading
over this again, I don't think I answered Person 2's question at all. And now I
have the same question. Lynn, help us!!! :-)
I would suggest that
whenever you read a text there are a few very important things to consider. One
is, "When was this text written?" or "When do we believe this
text was written?" Another is, "In what context was this text written?"
A third might be, "What concerns is this text addressing?"
So remember these things about 1 Enoch:
1.) It was written long before Jesus. The writers don't know anything about Jesus or about his resurrection.
2.) Justice was a big issue. Always has been and always will be, I assume. The prophets all talked about justice.
3.) So one question these types of texts often attempt to address are those concerning what happens after we die. The Jews generally believed that people went to a place called Sheol, not heaven but not really hell. There was a sort of afterlife but it was kind of a netherworld existence. Totally different than what we think happens after death today. Resurrection of the dead was a new concept, and presents as a new idea in Jewish literature, appearing for the first time in 1 Enoch and Daniel.
Another question apocalyptic literature tries to address is, is there a difference between what happens to good people (righteous - though righteous means more that "good") and evil people? This question has to do with issues of justice. Do the good and the bad get the same reward, or is there justice in the afterlife, since there often appears to be no justice in this life? Apocalyptic literature points to an answer of, "Yes. Since there is no justice in this life, justice will be meted out in the next life." Of course, God, who sees all and knows all, even what is each person's heart, will be the judge.
We're going to get to some of this in our next lesson, which I should have written tonight and already posted...except I was tired. However, guilt now gets the best of me and I'll start working on it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll post it tonight. We'll see...
So remember these things about 1 Enoch:
1.) It was written long before Jesus. The writers don't know anything about Jesus or about his resurrection.
2.) Justice was a big issue. Always has been and always will be, I assume. The prophets all talked about justice.
3.) So one question these types of texts often attempt to address are those concerning what happens after we die. The Jews generally believed that people went to a place called Sheol, not heaven but not really hell. There was a sort of afterlife but it was kind of a netherworld existence. Totally different than what we think happens after death today. Resurrection of the dead was a new concept, and presents as a new idea in Jewish literature, appearing for the first time in 1 Enoch and Daniel.
Another question apocalyptic literature tries to address is, is there a difference between what happens to good people (righteous - though righteous means more that "good") and evil people? This question has to do with issues of justice. Do the good and the bad get the same reward, or is there justice in the afterlife, since there often appears to be no justice in this life? Apocalyptic literature points to an answer of, "Yes. Since there is no justice in this life, justice will be meted out in the next life." Of course, God, who sees all and knows all, even what is each person's heart, will be the judge.
We're going to get to some of this in our next lesson, which I should have written tonight and already posted...except I was tired. However, guilt now gets the best of me and I'll start working on it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll post it tonight. We'll see...
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