Enoch & the Deity of Christ
- samshmn
- 4 hours ago
- 11 min read
In this post I will be quoting from that section of the Book of Enoch called the Watchers. I will be using the following translation: The Book of the Watchers. All emphasis will be mine.
My aim in doing so is to show that what Enoch says about God is precisely what the New Testament writings say about Christ. The very functions, characteristics and appearance of God in this section of Enoch are all ascribed to the Lord Jesus, and the reason seems obvious. Jesus Christ is being presented as the Lord God Almighty who became flesh, even though he is personally distinguished from both the Father and the Holy Spirit.
YHWH’s Coming in Judgment
The Theophany
According to Enoch, the Great holy and eternal God came with his myriads to destroy the ungodly for their ungodliness:
“The Great Holy One will come forth from his dwelling, 4 and the eternal God will tread from thence upon Mount Sinai. He will appear with his army,a he will appear with his mighty host from the heaven of heavens.
5 All the watchers will fear and,b and those who are hiding in all the ends of the earth will sing. All the ends of the earth will be shaken, and trembling and great fear will seize them (the watchers) unto the ends of the earth.
6 The high mountains will be shaken and fall and break apart, and the high hills will be made low and melt like wax before the fire.
7 The earth will be wholly rent asunder, and everything on the earth will perish, and there will be judgment on all.
8 With the righteous he will make peace, and over the chosen there will be protection, and upon them will be mercy. They will all be God’s, and he will grant them his good pleasure.c He will bless (them) all, and he will help (them) all. Light will shine upon them, and he will make peace with them.
9 Look, he comes with the myriads of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to destroy all the wicked, and to convict all humanity for all the wicked deeds that they have done, and the proud and hard words that wicked sinners spoke against him. (1:3b-9, pp. 19-20)
Remarkably, Jude actually cites this prophecy within the context of identifying Jesus as our only sovereign Master and Lord, being the One that both delivered Israel from Egypt and subsequently punished them for their rebellion in the wilderness. Jude further describes Jesus as the Lord who is coming to grant his mercy to believers, which results in their obtaining eternal life:
“For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you, though you know all things, that Jesus, having once saved a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe...
“But Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; and their mouth speaks arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of their own benefit.
“But you, beloved, must remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” Jude 1:4-5, 14-21
The Apostle Paul also speaks of Jesus being the Lord who comes with his holy ones to destroy the wicked and save the righteous:
“so that He may strengthen your hearts blameless in holiness, before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3:13
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman who is pregnant, and they will never escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10
“This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. Since it is right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give rest to you who are afflicted and to us as well at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, executing vengeance on those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our witness to you was believed.
“To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill all your good pleasure for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
YHWH’S Visible Appearance
The Book of Watchers mentions Enoch ascending to the heavenly throne room where he is permitted to see the Lord God Almighty:
Enoch’s Ascent and Vision
8 In the vision it was shown to me thus: Look, clouds in the vision were summoning me, and mists were crying out to me; and shooting stars and lightning flashes were hastening me and speeding me along, and winds in my vision made me fly up and lifted me upward and brought me to heaven.
9 And I went in until I drew near to a wall built of hailstones; and tongues of fire were encircling them all around, and they began to frighten me.
10 And I went into the tongues of fire, and I drew near to a great house built of hailstones; and the walls of this house were like stone slabs, and they were all of snow, and the floor was of snow.
11 And the ceiling was like shooting stars and lightning flashes; and among them were fiery cherubim, and their heaven was water,
12 and a flaming fire encircled all their walls, and the doors blazed with fire.
13 And I went into that house—hot as fire and cold as snow, and no delight of life was in it. Fear enveloped me, and trembling seized me,
14 and I was quaking and trembling, and I fell upon my face. And I saw in my vision,
15 And look, another open door before me: and a house greater than the former one, and it was all built of tongues of fire.
16 All of it so excelled in glory and splendor and majesty that I am unable to describe for you its glory and majesty.
17 Its floor was of fire, and its upper part was flashes of lightning and shooting stars, and its ceiling was a flaming fire.
18 And I was looking and I saw a lofty throne; and its appearance was like ice, and its wheels were like the shining sun, and †the voice (or sound) of†a the cherubim,
19 and from beneath the throne issued rivers of flaming fire. And I was unable to see.
20 The Great Glory sat upon it; his apparel was like the appearance of the sun and whiter than much snow.
21 No angel could enter into this house and look at his face because of the splendor and glory, and no human could look at him.
22 Flaming fire encircled him and a great fire stood by him, and none of those about him approached him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him, but he needed no counselor; his every word was deed.b
23 And the holy ones of the watchersa who approached him did not depart by night, norb did they leave him.
The Oracle
24 Until now I had been on my face, prostrate and trembling. And the Lord called me with his mouth and said to me, “Come here, Enoch, and hear my word(s).”
25/ And one of the holy ones came to me and raised me up and stood me (on my feet) and brought me up to the door. But I had my face bowed down.
15:1 But he answered and said to me—and I heard his voice— “Fear not, Enoch, righteous man and scribe of truth; come here, and hear my voice.
2 Go and say to the watchers of heaven, who sent you to petition in their behalf, ‘You should petition in behalf of humans, and not humans in behalf of you.
3 Why have you forsaken the high heaven, the eternal sanctuary; and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men; and taken for yourselves wives, and done as the sons of earth; and begotten for yourselves sons, giants?
4 You were holy ones and spirits, living forever. With the blood of women you have defiled yourselves, and with the blood of flesh you have begotten, and with the blood of men you have lusted, and you have done as they do— flesh and blood, who die and perish.
5 Therefore I gave them women, that they might cast seed into them, and thus beget children by them, that nothing fail them on the earth.
6 But you originally existed as spirits, living forever, and not dying for all the generations of eternity;
7 therefore I did not make women among you.’ The spirits of heaven, in heaven is their dwelling;
8 But now the giants who were begotten by the spirits and flesh— they will call them evil spirits on the earth, for their dwelling will be on the earth.
9 The spirits that have gone forth from the body of their flesh are evil spirits, for from humansa they came into being, and from the holy watchers was the origin of their creation. Evil spirits they will be on the earth, and evil spirits they will be called.
10 The spirits of heaven, in heaven is their dwelling; but the spirits begotten on the earth, on the earth is their dwelling.b
11 And the spirits of the giants, do violence, make desolate, and attack and wrestle and hurl upon the earth and. They eat nothing, but abstain from food and are thirsty and smite.
12/ These spirits (will) rise up against the sons of men and against the women, for they have come forth from them.
16:1 From the day of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the soul of whose flesh the spirits are proceeding, they are making desolate without (incurring) judgment. Thus they will make desolate until the day of the consummation of the great judgment, when the great age will be consummated. It will be consummated all at once.
2 And now (say) to the watchers who sent you to petition in their behalf, who formerly were in heaven,
3 ‘You were in heaven, and no mystery was revealed to you; but a stolen mystery you learned; and this you made known to the women in your hardness of heart; and through this mystery the women and men are multiplying evils on the earth.’
4 Say to them, ‘You will have no peace.’” (14:8-16:4, pp. 34-38)
What makes this so remarkable is that the New Testament portrays Christ as having the exact same appearance that God Almighty does
“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters, and having in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword which comes out of His mouth, and His face was like the sun shining in its power.
“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not fear; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.’” Revelation 1:12-18
“And six days later Jesus brought with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three booths here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’
“While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!’ And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, ‘Get up, and do not be afraid.’ And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’” Matthew 17:1-9
“And six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments were shining intensely white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.” Mark 9:2-3
“Now it happened some eight days after these words, that taking along Peter and John and James, He went up on the mountain to pray. And it happened that while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.” Luke 9:28-29
The foregoing simply provides more evidence for Jesus Christ being presented as God Almighty in the flesh.
Biblical references taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).
Further Reading