You’ll never guess what Enoch sees next!
Well, actually you might do. Indeed, it is another mountain, in fact, one you might
say is much less remarkable than the last one given that this mountain doesn’t have a giant
throne carved into its face, nor is it on fire. Instead, Enoch tells us that he is brought to
the middle of the earth and beholds a ‘blessed place’ in which there were trees. He tells us
specifically, “And there I saw a holy mountain, and underneath the mountain to the east there
was a stream and it flowed towards the south.” Much like the previous chapters, little can
be actually deduced from Enoch’s fascination with mountains, other than that mountains were
considered to be a spiritual place - the highest places on all the earth, and thus, the closest
that man could ever be to God. He then sees even more mountains and tells us, “And I saw towards
the east another mountain higher than this, and between them a deep narrow ravine: in it
also ran a stream underneath the mountain.” But wait, he’s not done! For there in Enoch’s
vicinity he sees… even more mountains. He tells us, “And to the west thereof there was
another mountain, lower than the former and of small elevation, and a ravine deep and dry
between them: and another deep and dry ravine was at the extremities of the three mountains.”
You’ll see here that he finally begins to ponder less on the mountains and seems more
drawn to the ravines between them. There in this particular space he notes that
the ravines are deep and dry which you might say doesn’t inspire him with the usual sensations
of wonder that he feels towards the mountains, or the blessed ‘centre of the earth’ where he had
seen trees. In fact, the adjectives ‘deep’ and ‘dry’ paint the landscape as lifeless, bleak or
barren. But then, he does continue that, “And all the ravines were deep and narrow, being formed of
hard rock, and trees were not planted upon them. And I marvelled at the rocks, and I marvelled
at the ravine, yea, I marvelled very much.” So once more, despite the unremarkable
sight of these deep and dry ravines, he still marvels at them, perhaps taking
nothing of what he sees for granted anymore. Perhaps, in having seen such
hellish and desolate places, the sight of a mundane set of ravines fills him
with relief, and maybe some much needed normalcy. In the subsequent chapter, this area is described
as a valley, but we cannot know for sure where on earth it actually is. Some scholars suggest
that this valley was indeed Jerusalem, or more specifically, the land outside of
Jerusalem and that Enoch had been brought here first after his visits to the
other unearthly plains of existence. In chapter 27, we see him turning to the
Archangel Uriel and asking him “For what object is this blessed land, which is entirely filled
with trees and this accursed valley between?” ‘Accursed’ might have been a strong term,
given that the text does not suggest there is anything ‘cursed’ about the land.
It is described once again as deep and dry, but there is nothing to suggest that it is
anything other than a barren land. Perhaps in a time where fertile land was imperative
to every man, this valley outside of Jerusalem may very well have been considered cursed, given
that nothing could grow on it. It might also be suggested that because this valley was devoid
of plants and trees, it was also devoid of life and because nothing lived here, it
was a place that had been forsaken. Uriel supplies Enoch with a more direct answer, telling him “This accursed valley is
for those who are accursed forever: Here shall all the accursed be gathered together
who uter with their lips against the Lord unseemly words and of His glory speak hard things.”
With this, we can understand that this area, presumably, the area outside of what was once
ancient Jerusalem, is where the accursed would flock too. Remember that at this time,
many ancient civilisations around Israel still worshipped other deities from the Cannanite
Gods, to the Babylonian Gods to name a few. What Uriel may have been trying to show Enoch here
is that everyone at the time who did not recognise Israel as the site of God’s chosen people,
were ultimately doomed to gather in the valley. Naturally, these civilisations who did not believe
in the biblical God were more likely to antagonise him, much as those who did believe in him would
antagonise their gods. Ultimately, the biblical God and the ancient gods of Mesopotamia and
surrounding regions could not coincide and thus, lines were drawn in the sand. What Uriel seeks to
tell Enoch here is that those who had not joined ancient Israel and who had not recognised their
God as the one true God, would forever be cursed. He continues, “Here shall they be gathered
together, and here shall be their place of judgement. In the last days there shall be
upon them the spectacle of righteous judgement in the presence of the righteous forever: here
shall the merciful bless the Lord of glory, the Eternal King. In the days
of judgement over the former, they shall bless Him for the mercy in accordance
with which He has assigned them their lot” Once more, Uriel tells Enoch that in the final
days, the valley outside of Jerusalem would also serve as the ground for which non-believers
would be judged and that upon them righteous judgement would be delivered. Yet, Uriel does
also speak of his God’s mercy and that those outside of Jerusalem will also come to bless
him, and in effect, be shown some clemency. This also drives home the idea that ‘God’s chosen
people’ aren’t necessarily of a race or a place, but that the chosen or the ‘elect’ can be from any
place, so long as they recognise this God as their creator and lord and forsake the ways of their
own lifestyles that aren’t congruent with worship. This would include the
worshipping of other deities, which around Canaan and the Egyptian
domain would have been significant. The chapter ends with Enoch blessing his
god, which has become customary after learning something new from the angels, and he
tells us “Then I blessed the Lord of Glory and set forth his glory and lauded Him gloriously.”
As always guys, if you’ve enjoyed today’s episode on the Book of Enoch Explained, then don’t forget
to give this video a thumbs up and don’t forget to subscribe for more content just like this.
If you’d like to support the channel and help me continue to make these types of videos, then you
may wish to consider becoming a channel member! Just click the blue ‘Join’
button beneath the video! Until next time
