INTRODUCTION

I have reworked and re-issued this blog as the more I think about the prophecies of Enoch, the more they stagger me. Ex-canonical for the reasons stated below yet there is little argument that the Book of Enoch was penned at least 2000 years ago. Yet it effectively envisages digital printing (a 1990s invention), for how else could “books be freely distributed to the righteous” other than via free e-book / pdf downloads? It makes you think – so does Enoch93:8-10 in view of the history of the Church and the process in hand.

The Book of Enoch prophecy

The Book of Enoch is ex-canonical scripture that was nevertheless regarded as inspired and a genuine work of the Patriarch by a number of the early Church Fathers such as Clement, Irenaeus, Origen, Augustine and Tertullian. This is hardly surprising since it is directly quoted in the New Testament (Jude14,15). Tertullian specifically regarded Enoch as falling within the remit of 2Tim3:16 concerning “all scripture” being inspired and useful. It was excluded from the Old Testament cannon (apart from that formulated by the Coptic Orthodox Church) and for valid reasons; perhaps most significantly there was an unacceptable degree of variation in the manuscript copies available to the early Church councils that determined the composition of the Biblical Canon. Apart from being directly quoted in the Bible, this scripture clarifies some otherwise obscure verses which themselves are quite important and cannot be properly understood by comparing canonical scripture with scripture. None more so than Genesis 6; explaining in great detail the context of vv1-3, necessary for a rounded understanding of God’s nature and modus operandi, together with the respective culpability of the human and celestial agencies that contributed to the Fall and the Flood.

The latter was another reason The Book of Enoch was more conclusively rejected by the later Fathers who believed it did not place sufficient emphasis on man’s culpability for those particular cosmic disasters, especially having endorsed Augustine’s austere take on the matter. This extra-biblical literature also clarifies less important but nevertheless intriguing issues such as “the blood that speaks better things than Abel” (Heb12:24), Enoch’s walk with God (in great detail) and the ethnicity of Adam, Eve and their offspring (hinted at in Genesis5:3).

With the aforementioned early fathers, I have no doubt the Book of Enoch is inspired and needs to be consulted in order to aid completion of the biblical jigsaw. In the context of “The Little Book of Providence” it also contains certain prophecies regarding God’s final providential mystery (cf. Rev10:4-7) that might not have remained a mystery had Enoch1 been received within the canon and historically focused upon within the churches.  But there is another reason to believe the Book of Enoch was not intended for the Church throughout its history yet is relevant for today as profitable reading – that is the very opening verse:

 “The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and the righteous who will be living in the day of tribulation when all the wicked and godless are to be removed” (Enoch1 ch1 v1)

And at the end of the Book of Enoch there is a prophecy concerning the book itself and other books:

“But when they write down truthfully all my words in their languages, and do not change or diminish anything from my words but write them all down truthfully – all that I first testified concerning them; then I know ANOTHER MYSTERY, that books WILL BE GIVEN to the righteous and the wise to become a cause of joy and uprightness and much wisdom. and to them shall the BOOKS BE GIVEN, and they shall believe in them and rejoice over them, and then shall all the righteous who have learnt therefrom all the paths of uprightness be recompensed” (Enoch104:11-13).

The idea of books or scrolls being made widely available for distribution is a concept nowhere to be found in the canon of Scripture and was beyond human envisaging before the invention of the printing press. The Book of Enoch prophecy cannot be referring to the propagation of the Protestant Bible in the Middle Ages, for the Reformers like the Catholic Church did not regard Enoch as canonical, apart from which Enoch’s prophecy pertains to the generation living at the time “when the wicked are  to be removed from the earth” (opening verse) – i.e. the generation that lives to see Christ come again. And as referred to in the introduction the concept of books being freely and universally distributed would in practice require digital printing via the internet, not available until the 1990s!

“The Little Book of Providence” – a prophetically inspired seven-part synopsis of the Bible

Free PDF of the book HERE [updated Sep 2023]

Large-print version suitable for mobiles HERE

Author’s Facebook page HERE

Related posts: Enoch explains Gen6  &  Fourteen in the bible & The Apocalypse of weeks