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
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