Scripture and 1 Enoch - GBC Bulletin Column #16

Jude 14-15 tells us that Enoch prophesied concerning false teachers, saying

“Behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

Enoch, identified by Jude as “seventh from Adam” appears in Genesis 5:18-24. The genealogy in progress is interrupted to introduce this man who “walked with God” and did not die but simply “was not, for God took him” (cf. Heb.11:5). You will however search Genesis or any other Old Testament book for a prophecy of Enoch. To what then is Jude referring? The servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James is actually quoting 1 Enoch 1:9. While it is a Jewish literary work, the book of Enoch is not in the Jewish canon, and only two professedly Christian groups accept it as Scripture. It is also pseudepigraphal, that is Enoch didn’t actually write it despite what it claims - although it does contain some things Enoch did actually say, passed down through the strong oral traditions of the Hebrews. Should we join the two church groups in Ethiopia and Eritrea and accept 1 Enoch as Scripture? No, but we should accept Jude 14-15 as Scripture! Why though does Jude quote 1 Enoch? Jude’s letter was written to Hebrew background believers who were undoubtedly familiar with ancient Hebraic literature and “Enochian” themes. Working under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Jude uses an Enochian passage that truly depicts the return of the Lord, just as he also utilizes other familiar Jewish themes, such as in his allusion to The Assumption of Moses in verse 9.

So, is the Book of Enoch fiction, fact, fable, or divine revelation? Actually if we are to give it a proper genre, it is “Jewish Apocalyptic Literature”. The Book of Enoch does contain facts, and as Jude demonstrates, some of it is even brought into divine revelation, although the book as a whole cannot properly-speaking be called ‘revelation.’ But to call it outright fiction or fable is to overstep the boundaries of our knowledge – after all, history books are not inspired, inerrant, and infallible, but they do depict true events. Paul quotes both the Cretan philosopher Epimenides and the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus in Acts 17:28, Epimenides again in Titus 1:12, and Menander of Athens, a Greek Dramatist and poet, in 1 Corinthians 15:33 - but this does not mean that we accept the works of these pagan men as inspired, inerrant, and infallible. The ways in which they are used by God’s inspired messengers are, however, all three of these things. This prophecy from 1 Enoch is true: “The Lord comes…” Let’s be ready!

This was printed in the worship bulletin of Grace Baptist Church (Wood Green) on 11/08/2013.