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,
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