In the last episode, we saw the Watchers punished
by the Archangels where they were rounded up, beaten and were damned to be thrown into the
Duadel - a void said to be located deep in the desert of East Jerusalem. Amongst them, the
Nephilim - the monstrous offspring of the women impregnated by the Watchers were also neutralised
and coerced into destroying each other. The chaos that had burdened the world
courtesy of the Watchers’ involvement had now been countervailed with the Archangels’
intervention, and mankind appears to have been allowed breathing space from the terrors they had
seen. During this time, we are told that the great scribe Enoch had been hidden and that no one knew
where he was, nor what had become of him. But we understand that his activities during this time
were to do with the Watchers, as directed to him by God and that his days in hiding were spent
with the holy ones - possibly preparing him to confront the fallen angels and eventually read
them their judgement. Enoch himself tells us, “And I Enoch was blessing the Lord of majesty
and the King of the ages, and lo! the Watchers called me -Enoch the scribe- and said to
me: 'Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven who
have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have
done as the children of earth do, and have taken unto themselves wives: "Ye have wrought great
destruction on the earth: And ye shall have no peace nor forgiveness of sin: and inasmuch as they
delight themselves in their children, The murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over the
destruction of their children shall they lament, and shall make supplication unto eternity,
but mercy and peace shall ye not attain."' From Enoch’s words, we see that
it is the Watchers who deem him ‘Enoch the Scribe’ and there is some idea that
they recognised Enoch as an important figure, despite his mortality. It is possible that
they realised God favoured Enoch and conceded that he was something of a conduit to
reaching God - especially given that they were now damned and had no way of reaching
him. We also see God’s instruction to Enoch, who tells him to go to the Watchers and tell them
that they have brought great destruction upon the earth and that they will have no peace nor
forgiveness for what they have done. With this, we understand God’s attitude towards the Watchers,
that after their defilement of the women and their teaching of warfare and magic to the mortals, they
have now been shunned and nothing they can ever do will ever see them redeemed. In a way, God
washes his hands of the Watchers so entirely, that he doesn’t even deem them worthy to hear
their punishment from himself, so instead sends Enoch - a mortal - to read the angels their fate.
It is with this that Enoch rather audaciously approaches the Watchers - without fear,
might I add, and goes straight for Azazel, telling him “Azazel, thou shalt have no peace:
a severe sentence has gone forth against thee to put thee in bonds: and thou shalt not
have toleration nor request granted to thee, because of the unrighteousness which thou
hast taught, and because of all the works of godlessness and unrighteousness
and sin which thou hast shown to men.” The fact that Enoch demonstrates no fear in this
encounter shows us how much faith he has in God, for the angel would most certainly have been more
powerful than him and given that he was willing to do such monstrous things, it would not have been
above him to strike Enoch and physically harm him. But still, Enoch does not hesitate in his approach
of Azazel and tells him that he will have no peace, that he will be bound, shunned and have
no request granted for the things he has done. With this, Azazel has no recourse
and does not seem to retaliate, but rather accepts Enoch’s words in defeat. Then Enoch speaks to all the Watchers and
Enoch tells us that they were all afraid of the judgment he brought upon them and that
each of them were trembling. With this, they begged Enoch to draw up a petition on their
behalf so that they could find forgiveness in God. Evidently, they had seen the error of their
ways and after having seen first hand the vengeance of the archangels, they were
essentially begging Enoch to convince God to absolve them. It should be noted that
they needed Enoch to become this intermediary because God had now met them with silence and
refused to speak to them - in fact, Enoch details that the Watchers were unable to lift their
eyes up to heaven, suggesting that their heads were too heavy with guilt. Enoch tells us,
“Then I went and spoke to them all together, and they were all afraid, and fear and trembling
seized them. And they besought me to draw up a petition for them that they might find
forgiveness, and to read their petition in the presence of the Lord of heaven. For from
thenceforward they could not speak (with Him) nor lift up their eyes to heaven for shame of
their sins for which they had been condemned.” But Enoch does actually write out their petition
- perhaps a sign of his compassion and sympathy for the Watchers and tells us that he detailed
all of their thoughts and feelings in regards to them seeking forgiveness and redemption.
With this, he went off to the waters of Dan, in the land of Dan, in the south west of Hermon
and he read their petition to God repeatedly until he fell asleep. So with this, we can see that
Enoch really does try to be fair to the Watchers and despite the horrible things they had done, he
still tries to commune with God in their favour and leaves the decision to God, as opposed
to damning them himself as God had permitted. After having fallen asleep after
reciting this prayer to God, Enoch tells us “And behold a dream came
to me, and visions fell down upon me, and I saw visions of chastisement, and a voice
came bidding me to tell it to the sons of heaven, and reprimand them. And when I awaked, I came unto
them, and they were all sitting gathered together, weeping in 'Abelsjail, which is between
Lebanon and Seneser, with their faces covered. And I recounted before them all the
visions which I had seen in my sleep, and I began to speak the words of righteousness,
and to reprimand the heavenly Watchers.” Here, it is believed that Enoch here’s the
voice of God telling him to reprimand the Watchers - these ‘sons of heaven’, and that when
he awakens, he finds them all gathered together, crying over the events that they had masterminded.
Here, we see Enoch tell them of what he had seen in his dream - that which he deems was a
vision - and speaks the words of righteousness, or perhaps more accurately, the words of
God, in order to chastise the Watchers. In Chapter 14, we see Enoch provide a
bit of a recap of the recent events, telling us that God had permitted him to be the
one to deliver the judgement of the Watchers and that whilst he had agreed to write their
petition, it was up to God to decide what to do… and decide, he did. Enoch reveals to us
that their petition was rejected and that no favour will be granted upon them for all the
wicked that they had committed. And henceforth, they would not be ascending into heaven -
not now, and not ever and that instead they would be bound in the earth - most likely
the Duadel as spoken of earlier. Here, they would remain for all eternity in the pits of
the underworld, buried under dirt and darkness. There, Enoch continues to tell the Watchers
of another vision that affected him where mist coalesced around him and he was taken up
into the clouds. He tells the Watchers that through the power of the wind, he was given the
ability to fly and he soared up to the heavens until he found himself at a wall built of
crystals that was surrounded by tongues of fire. And so Enoch ventured into these tongues of
fire and he tells us, “And I went into the tongues of fire and drew nigh to a large house
which was built of crystals: and the walls of the house were like a tesselated floor (made)
of crystals, and its groundwork was of crystal. Its ceiling was like the path of the stars and the
lightning and between them were fiery cherubim, and their heaven was (clear as) water. A
flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its portals blazed with fire. And I entered into that
house, and it was hot as fire and cold as ice: there were no delights of life therein: fear
covered me, and trembling got hold upon me.” So as we can gather, Enoch was lifted - or
flew - in this vision, to heaven. Though it isn’t necessarily the heaven that
is often portrayed in common beliefs. Instead, this place is a house made of crystals
and interestingly, the vicinity is consumed with tongues of fire. But perhaps one of the most
concerning things that Enoch notices is the presence of the Cherubim; a six winged angel which
is most commonly noted by Ezekiel in the bible. Naturally, Enoch is terrified of what he sees
and begins to further describe the walls of fire, the blazing portals and even the hot and cold
sensations he experiences in this strange realm. He tells us that there was no delight here, no
life - nothing but the trembling of his own self. “And as I quaked and trembled, I fell upon my
face. And I beheld a vision. And lo! There was a second house, greater than the former, and
the entire portal stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire. And in every respect
it so excelled in splendour and magnificence and extent that I cannot describe to you its splendour
and its extent. And its floor was of fire, and above it were lightning and the path of the
stars, and its ceiling also was flaming fire. And I looked and saw therein a lofty
throne: its appearance was as crystal, and the wheels thereof as the shining sun,
and there was the vision of cherubim.” Here, Enoch continues to describe his newfound
environment, telling us that a new house emerged, one that was so magnificent that there
were no words that could do it justice. Yet again, the structure was consumed with fire
and lightning and stars strode across from above. Within the house, Enoch spots a lofty, crystal
throne - that which has wheels of the shining sun. These wheels might be linked to the whirling
wheels as seen by Ezekiel, those otherwise known as the ophanim, which were sometimes
considered to be the wheels of God’s chariot. The fact that they also appear here in
Enoch’s vision, alongside the Cherubim no less, is strikingly similar to Ezekiel’s
vision, where similar wheels are also seen. Enoch continues, “And from underneath the
throne came streams of flaming fire so that I could not look thereon. And the Great Glory sat
thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow. None
of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason of the magnificence
and glory and no flesh could behold Him. The flaming fire round about Him, and a great fire
stood before Him, and none around could draw nigh Him: ten thousand times ten thousand stood
before Him, yet He needed no counselor. And the most holy ones who were nigh to Him did
not leave by night nor depart from Him.” It is with this that we realise
that Enoch actually sees God, or at least, gets a glimpse of him for
he describes him as being a radiant light that shines more brightly than the sun - so
bright that he cannot gaze upon it himself. He also declares that none of
the cherubim who were present were able to get near this light either and none
who were present could behold him. Enoch continues that he’d already been prostrate on his face by
the time he’d even realised God was present and that the Lord did call to him, telling him ‘Come
hither, Enoch, and hear my word.’ With that, one of the cherubim interrupted his prostration and
guided him to the door where the lord was seated. In the next episode, we’ll be taking a look
at Enoch’s meeting with God and we are able to understand some more interesting thoughts that
God holds towards the Watchers, including his bafflement as to why they would trade heaven for
earth, why they had fornicated with the women at all and his utter disgust towards the Nephilim -
those which he deems as the most evil of spirits. But let me know what you thought about today’s
episode of the Book of Enoch and as always, if you’ve enjoyed today’s episode then don’t
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Until next time
