William J. Deane · 6 of 16

The Book of Enoch · Part 3

But enough of this. Let us see what is the Christology of our book, and its Messianic utterances. First, as to the names applied to the Messiah. He is called The Anointed One, the Christ (chap. xlviii. 10, lii. 4); The Righteous (xxxviii. 2); The Elect (xl. 5, xlv. 3, 4); The Son of man (xlvi. 2); Son of the Woman (lxii. 5). This last title occurs only once, and seems intended to accentuate the fact that He is very man. Of the Christian verity, that Jesus was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin, there is no trace. But to this Christ is attributed pre-existence with other Divine attributes. Thus in the second similitude we read (chap. xlvi. 1–3), “There I saw one who had a Head of days (age-marked), and His head was white as wool (Dan. vii. 9); and with Him was another, whose countenance resembled that of man; and full of grace was His countenance, like one of the holy angels. And I asked one of the angels, who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, about that Son of man, who He was, and whence He was, and why he went with the Head of days? And he answered me, and said to me: “This is the Son of man, who has righteousness, with whom righteousness dwells, and who reveals all the treasures of that which is hidden, because the Lord of spirits hath chosen Him, and His lot before the Lord of spirits hath surpassed every other through righteousness for ever and ever.” The angel goes on to say that this Son of man will raise up kings and mighty men from their thrones, and hurl those that obey not to destruction, and break the teeth of sinners, and terribly punish those who extol not the name of the Lord of spirits. Before sun and moon were created, or the stars were made, His name was named before the Lord of spirits; and, being chosen to do great things hereafter, He was hidden, and revealed only, till He came into the world, by imparting treasures of wisdom to the elect. For in Him dwells the spirit of wisdom, and the spirit of Him who gives insight, and the spirit of instruction and power, and the spirit of those who are fallen asleep in righteousness. He has not yet appeared on earth, but in due time He will come to execute vengeance on sinners, and to receive homage at the hands of the mightiest in the world. To Him all judgment is committed; He sits on the throne of Divine glory, and judges both dead and living, and even fallen angels themselves. He will be the joy of the righteous; it will be their high privilege to hold close communion with Him. In all that is said of the glory of the Messiah, He is plainly not conceived of as God; His power is delegated; He is a creature subordinated to Almighty God, joining in the universal worship offered to the Lord of all; clothed indeed with highest attributes, but set at a distance from the supreme Lord. The writer indeed has assimilated the teaching of Daniel and the Prophets, but he is far from realising the doctrine of St. John.

The eschatology of the book is somewhat confused, owing partly to the vagueness of the writer’s own opinions, and partly to the variety of authorship. Speaking generally, we may say that the author anticipated the immediate development of Messiah’s kingdom. The one object of the production, so far as unity can .be traced therein, is to assert the great truth that retribution awaits transgression; this is confirmed by the history of the past, and emphasises the announcement of the events of the later days which are matters of prediction. In one passage we are told that the eighth week of the world’s history shall be one of righteousness, when vengeance is executed upon sinners at the hands of the godly. At the end of this period occurs a time of happiness and prosperity; the righteous shall inherit a new Jerusalem and erect a new temple. In the ninth and tenth weeks the everlasting judgment will take place, the present heaven and earth will vanish away, and be succeeded by a new heaven and a new earth, which shall exist eternally in goodness and righteousness. In other passages referring to the same period there is no mention of this time of peace preceding the judgment; rather the Messianic reign is to be ushered in with war and calamity and desolation, and rest is not won till the evil angels and the wicked rulers are cast into the fiery abyss, and the Messiah, “the white steer,” is born. There is no definite statement in this passage concerning the general resurrection as preceding the universal judgment. But from other places we gather that in this matter a different mode awaits the wicked and the righteous. The spirits of the former shall be removed from Sheol, and sent into the place of torment, but the spirits of the righteous shall be united to their bodies, and live on the new earth, sharing the ineffable blessings of Messiah’s kingdom. The resurrection of the body is a boon that belongs to the just alone, who were thus compensated for the evil times which they, had passed while formerly in the flesh. The final judge is not Messiah, but God Himself, who shall descend from heaven to pass the sentence upon men and angels. This view is common to all the apocalyptic literature of the period, so that our Lord’s statement, “The Father judgeth no man, but bath given all judgment unto the Son,” was a novel idea to His hearers, even to those of them who had learned some portion of the truth concerning Christ’s nature and attributes.

Of the intermediate state the description is somewhat obscure. Enoch (chap. xxii.) is shown a place in the far west where the souls of the righteous dead are collected, different abodes being assigned to them according to a certain classification; those who suffered wrong being separated from those who died from other causes. Near them is the locality where the spirits of sinners wait. Here also a division is made between those who had been punished on earth for their sins and those who hitherto had escaped retribution. These transgressors suffer pain in this abode, even as Dives in the parable speaks of being tormented in the flame. Here they have to wait till the day of judgment, when their fate is decided for ever. But some highly favoured souls do not dwell in this western abode. They are taken to Paradise, which is the Garden of Eden in the north country, and whither Enoch himself was translated. This is their temporary home. One sees here a trace of the distinction between the destiny of the souls of the good and those of the highest saints, which is found in some mediaeval and in some Catholic theology; and in accordance with which, while some rest in Hades or Paradise, others are raised to heaven at once and enjoy the beatific vision.

As regards angelology, in some parts of the work there is a somewhat strict classification of these heavenly beings. They are innumerable, but among them are distinguished seraphim, cherubim, and ophanim, angels of power and angels of lordship. The ophanim (“wheels”) are so named from the representation in Ezekiel i. and x. There is one called the Angel of Peace (chap. xl. 8) who seems to be the highest of all, and to have the direction of things in heaven and earth. The four archangels, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Phanuel, have separate functions assigned to them in connection with Messiah’s kingdom. Michael leads the ceaseless praise of God; Raphael presides over the sick and suffering; Gabriel is mighty to assist the oppressed; Phanuel aids the repentant and those who hope for life eternal. As regards evil spirits, these are sometimes supposed to be the fallen angels, whose transgression is continually coming in view; sometimes the spirits of the giants born from their illicit connection with mortal women. Others are called Satans, and at their head is Satan himself, who is represented with his followers not only as leading men astray, but as the agent of God in inflicting punishment on sinners. In this view he is allowed, as in Job, to visit heaven and prefer accusations against men. Whence these Satans came, and whether they were originally good angels, Enoch reveals not; but he denounces their fate in Messianic times, when they shall be cast into a blazing furnace and tormented eternally.

The Book of Enoch shows its variety of authorship by the inequality of literary skill which is found in it. If some passages are of high eloquence, and redolent of piety and reverence and noble aspirations, others are characterised by wild speculation and empty bombast. But with all its faults and shortcomings, it is of great value as introducing us to the views and feelings of Jews, their hopes and convictions, at the period immediately preceding the Christian era, and helping us to estimate the moral, religious, and political atmosphere in which Christ lived. Hence the work is to be regarded, not as a mere literary curiosity, but as offering a substantial aid’ to the understanding of the most important period of the world’s history.