When Enoch had ascended to the heavens and beheld God, he was overcome with fear. He’d already
witnessed the intense fires that blazed around him and had already made the acquaintance of an
imposing Cherub. Now, he was present before God and he could do nothing but prostrate before him
in terror. We understand that by this point, Enoch had read the Watchers their rites and
as per God’s words, had condemned them for their reprehensible actions
upon the human race, that saw them teach mankind the secrets of heaven, impregnate the mortal women
and sire the giant abominations known as the Nephilim. The archangels had already subdued the
fallen angels by this point and had brought them to heel and the Watchers were shown to be helpless
in the face of Enoch, as they pleaded with him to carry their sorrow and regret to God.
Enoch obliges them, but God is seen to be adamant in their punishment and deems them to be cursed to
witness the desolation of their offspring and to be imprisoned in a void beneath the earth.
But his exact feelings and thoughts on this matter are left absent beyond the obvious anger… until
Chapter 15, where God details to Enoch the specifics as to why he’s so wroth with the angels.
He tells him, “Fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither
and hear my voice. And go, say to the Watchers of heaven, who have sent thee to intercede for them:
“You should intercede” for men, and not men for you: Wherefore have ye left the high holy, and
eternal heaven, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to
yourselves wives, and done like the children of earth, and begotten giants as your sons.
And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with
the blood of women, and have begotten children with the blood of flesh, and,
as the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also do who die and perish.”
Here, we see that God specifies the wrongs committed by the Watchers, in that they
had left heaven and lain with the woman and defiled not only them, but also themselves.
Worse yet, God states that they had behaved like the children of earth by cultivating such
an unwholesome appetite for sex and that in doing so, they had created monsters.
He condemns the Watchers here by highlighting that they were holy, spiritual and were living
eternal life, so it was inconceivable that they had sought after the flesh and blood of women
and sought to sire offspring. In essence, God is rebuking the Watchers for having behaved like
mortal men, for they were eternals, and were above men and so should have been setting an example.
In a way, the Watchers had made God look foolish, for it would seem to the mortals that not even the
angels listened to him and thus, he really didn’t have as much power as he claimed. Furthermore,
it provided the mortals with an excuse to do as they pleased,
for if the angels defied God, then surely the mortals could get away with it too. Perhaps
this is why God comes down so hard upon the Watchers for their transgressions, for it is
not just a result of his anger, but to restore a sense of order and fear into the mortals,
that if anyone turns against him like the Watchers had done, then they will be punished as such. It’s
also a demonstration by God that he is not afraid to punish his own angels with extreme prejudice
and that if he’s prepared to do this, then he wouldn’t think twice about punishing the mortals.
He continues of his judgement, “Therefore have I given them wives also that they might impregnate
them, and beget children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on earth.
But you were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all
generations of the world. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as the spiritual
ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling.” Here, God explains that he had given mortal men
wives so that they could carry their children and through these children, man’s legacy could live
forever. But the angels themselves were immortal and so, they had no need to procreate
and extend their lineage. This was the reason why he did not give the angels wives. But
by taking the mortal women as their own, the Watchers defied God’s purpose for them and took
things that were not meant for them. This is an interesting parallel to mankind taking the secrets
of heaven from the Watchers and also angering God by taking that which was not meant for them.
But having now understood the animosity that God fosters for the Watchers, it’s time to look
at the animosity he holds for the children of the Watchers - the Nephilim. He tells Enoch, “And now,
the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the
earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies;
because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin;
they shall be evil spirits on the earth, and evil spirits they shall be called.”
As we can see, God determines that the Nephilim, presumably after their destruction at the hands of
Archangel Gabriel, (or their own hand for that matter) would become evil spirits, having lost
their physical form. He also determines that they inherited this spirit form because their fathers,
the Watchers, were in a sense spirits themselves as angels, but because they had become evil,
their offspring would be evil too. They were also bound to the earth on the account that their
mothers were mortal and so belonged on the earth. He continues, “As for the spirits of heaven,
in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon
the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling. And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress,
destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no
food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise
up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them.”
In this, the Book of Enoch provides us with a unique perspective of where the idea of evil
spirits come from and how many of the evils on the earth come about not because of a
‘Satanic figure’, but because of the Nephilim, who continue their rampage in their spirit form.
It would appear that as spirits, these Nephilim no longer have the ability to physically destroy,
at least not in the same capacity that they once did, but their appetite for destruction
is as potent as it always was and whilst their powers remain ambiguous, they are certainly
capable of attacking, oppressing and causing trouble. It would appear that their angst is
not satiated by food, but instead satiated only by the causing of more and more chaos.
And God allows this to happen as a reminder to the mortals of how they had sinned against
him by choosing to absorb the teachings of the Watchers and engross themselves in the secrets
that were not meant for them. Furthermore, it can also be seen as a punishment of the women
who allowed themselves to be seduced by the fallen angels, though one might argue this is unfair,
especially considering that it is probable that the Watchers took the women by force.
Chapter 16 continues of the fate of the Nephilim, “From the days of the slaughter and destruction
and death of the giants, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall
destroy without incurring judgement - thus shall they destroy until the day of the consummation,
the great judgement in which the age shall be consummated, over the Watchers and the godless,
yea, shall be wholly consummated.” Here, we see that God tells us that the Nephilim,
no longer as giants, but instead wicked spirits, will be allowed to continue their desolation
without judgement, for now they serve him, at least indirectly, to punish humanity.
In a poetic kind of way, it might be said that in entertaining the Watchers,
humanity tailored its own consequences for their sin, as what were meant to be divine children
born of angel and man, instead become wicked spirits that haunt man until the end of days.
It is only until the great judgement when the evil spirits will be vanquished,
but the wicked will go along with them as well as any who have not accepted God as their Lord.
In the conclusion of this chapter, God gives Enoch his final rebuttal of the Watchers,
telling him, “And now as to the Watchers who have sent thee to intercede for them, who had
been aforetime in heaven, say to them: “You have been in heaven, but all the mysteries had not
yet been revealed to you, and you knew worthless ones, and these in the hardness of your hearts you
have made known to the women, and through these mysteries women and men work much evil on earth.”
Here, we see that despite all the things that the Watchers had taught mankind
including sorcery, deception, the beautifying of the face, conflict and war, not everything
had been revealed to the Watchers and the most important secrets were hidden from even them.
In this, God tells them that they knew only the worthless secrets, ones that would still
evoke man to work much evil on the earth, but ones that were not so detrimental to his plan.
This plot twist sees that the Watchers, in their arrogance,
believed they knew all the secrets in heaven and knew all of God's plans, but evidently
this was not the case and the message behind this section is that no one can know of God’s plans or
the secrets of heaven, but God himself. This also allows God to save some face,
for many were likely questioning the idea that if God knew everything, then why were the Watchers
able to betray him in the way that they did. Through this revelation, it becomes less about
the Watchers being cunning to betray God and more about them being foolish and arrogant,
in assuming that they had so easily acquired all of his secrets and sullied his world. He
concludes his judgement of them by telling Enoch, “Say to them therefore: “You have no peace.”
Let me know what you thought about today’s installment of the Book of Enoch in the
comments below as well as your thoughts on the Fate of the Nephilim. As always, if you’ve enjoyed
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more content just like this. Until next time!