With regard to Enoch, the constant question is this: Is 1 Enoch scripture? The appropriate answer is no. The next response of those hearing this answer is then simple: ignore it. That would be a critical mistake! And I strongly emphasize the word critical and the meaning that comes with it.
The road to understanding the criticality of 1 Enoch to canonical scripture is paved with various stones. Let's examine some of these separately and then put them all back together in our roadway to 1 Enoch as a critical part of how we understand our bible—Old Testament and New.
Scripture: Jude and 2 Peter
Jude is the obvious starting place with Peter right behind. Jude not only uses a direct quote from 1 Enoch 1:9, but parks that quoting in an Enochian sins-of-the-Watchers-and-giants context. This is so painfully obvious that no honest person can or will deny it.
Peter is the next obvious stop along the path to describing the stones in our road. While he does not quote 1 Enoch like Jude, he does directly use the story. His use of the story in 2 Peter 2:4 is just about identical in story content to Jude 1:6.
5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people[a] out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.[b] 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority[f], but left their proper dwelling, [c]he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day[b]— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities[d], which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire[e], serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire[b].
Now—read Peter's telling of it and compare back to Jude.
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned[c], but cast them into hell [Tartarus] and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;[b] 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah[d] to ashes he condemned them to extinction,[b] making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;[b] 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked[e] 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue[a] the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment[b], 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion[e] and despise authority.[f]
Below is a list of how the story presented by these two men utterly align and that 1 Enoch is the well from which they are drawing.
- [a] - Jesus saves the righteous (Enochian definition).
- [b] - Judgment, destruction, extinction, et al.
- [c] - Direct reference to "angels" (sinning, authority, dwelling).
- [d] - Sodom and Gomorrah and surrounding cities.
- [e] - Sexual immorality, sensual desire, unnatural desire (homosexuality, LGBTQP+)—"sins of the Watchers" and giants (Nephilim and then demons when they die).
- [f] - Authority—God vs gods. Angels abandoning God as their authority to become an authority (gods).
There are six vectors or data points of agreement between Jude and Peter. They are telling precisely the same story. Moreover, Jude makes a critical point that this story was a part of the backgrounder that new converts heard over and over again. Here is what Jude says, specifically: "Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, ..." What does this mean?
What we get to clearly see and understand is that this story is being told to a broad spectrum of people everywhere. It is a part of the gospel message and preaching of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 10). This is a critical understanding to wrap your mind around as a 21st century Christian. It is unavoidable once you see it. Jude not only wants to remind them, but to freshen the story in their minds. Why? Because doing so had (and has) critical value to knowing what God is up to and why! So critical is this story that its very basis is the delineation of what happens to the righteous versus the unrighteous and wicked. This is clear and critical fact from these two scriptures. Period!
Loyalty to Authority & Sexual Immorality
What two sins reign supreme in the two stories above, given by Jude and Peter? Loyalty to authority and sexual immorality. This is the crucible of the sins of the Watchers found in 1 Enoch—flat out. What follows out of those two sins are every other sin plus the violence that goes with them and after them as a result of them. Every honest human being will agree. This is a plain fact. Only a dishonest person will try to wiggle away from it.
Here are New Testament scriptures the directly reference sexual immorality.
1. Matthew 15:19 - For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
2. Mark 7:21 - For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
3. Acts 15:20 - but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
4. 1 Corinthians 5:1 - It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.
5. 1 Corinthians 6:13 - The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
6. 1 Corinthians 6:18 - Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
7. 1 Corinthians 7:2 - But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
8. 2 Corinthians 12:21 - I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.
9. Galatians 5:19 - Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
10. Ephesians 5:3 - But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
11. Colossians 3:5 - Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
12. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 - For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
13. Revelations 21:8 - But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
14. Revelation 22:15 - Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Paul's participation
We have now covered Jude and Peter pretty well. Does Paul agree? Does Paul have this story living in his well of knowledge that comes out of his preaching to the Gentiles? While I could refer you upwards to the Pauline scriptures already quoted above, I won't. Let's take one of the best examples out of Romans, a most critical Pauline book!
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
In the quote above, we find the same exchange of authority (point [f] above) found in the stories told by both Jude and Peter. So, that is one of six points.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Here, we have sexual immorality (point [e] above) and a reassertion of point [f], exchange of authority—God for gods. We now have two of the six points being used by Paul.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Again, we have point [e] on clear display, but Paul has widened the details from human beings in general to being very specific about both women (Eve first) and then men (Adam next). Point [f] is implied by the use of the idea of "exchange" in that—in order to enter into this sexual immorality one has to exchange the authority of God for gods and demons.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
The broad stroke is that this notion of exchanging authority (point [f]) coupled with sexual immorality (point [e]) is a gateway to everything that lays beyond (listed by Paul above). The link between the Watchers and the Nephilim is transparent on its face. It was the lust of the Watchers (sons of God, Genesis 6:1-4) that led them to abandon the authority of God first (point [f] above) and then to sexual immorality with human women (point [e] above). Everything else afterwards flow out of that.
The very end (result) of all of it is point [b], prison, judgement, and destruction. This happened to the fallen sons of God. It also happened to their Nephilim giant and then demon children. It does and will happen to human beings who exchange their loyalty to God for loyalty to gods and demons, following them in their example of sin, starting with sexual immorality and moving on from there.
The whole point of Paul writing Romans is point [a], Jesus and salvation through and in Christ alone. Veiled within chapter 1 of Romans is Sodom and Gomorrah because this is the time and the men and women to which Paul is referring, which is point [d]. The only point not directly addressed are the fallen angels, sons of God, Watchers, and giants (Nephilim, later demons). However, their inclusion is (in fact) indirect. We know that Paul picks up such matters in other passages, therefore the underlying link is transparent.
NOTE: Paul's allusion to fallen angels, fallen sons of God, Watchers, demons, and so on is found in scriptures such as:
Ephesians 6:12 (ESV) - "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
By this point, we've looked at Jude, Peter, and Paul. Honestly, for the sake of brevity and your own sake, I will not go further, even though I can. What you may not be aware of is that even Jesus gets in on the act through His very life and lifestyle as a reversal of the the sins of the Watchers in His very person, speech, doctrines, actions, and so on. This is highly demonstrable. The evidence is piled high: The Enochian story and motif is critical to both Old Testament and New! It is inescapable.
Send in the Pagans
1 Enoch was clearly written by Jews of the Second Temple Period as a strong polemic (argument) against the stories of the gods, goddesses, and demigods (demons) of the pagan world. The Jews knew the truth through oral history passed down to them and finally written as a history by them during their time of exile in Babylon. The purpose of this was to inoculate Jews against the influence of pagan lies, which made gods and demons into heroes and gibborim (mighty men). The Jews of that time did not want their fellow Jews or future Jews to fall for the pagan lies of Babylon or anyone else.
Moreover—it doesn't take much of a mental giant to realize that these twisted false tales of ancient gods, goddesses, and demigods (giants and then demons) were concocted by those very fallen beings themselves to self-aggrandize. This ought to be patently obvious. Other embellishments came from human beings who were starry-eyed about them, worshiped them, and obeyed them. What would motivate them to tell the truth and not the lies of those they worshiped? And will any honest Christian person try to think that the truth of prison, judgment, and destruction of the gods and those who obey them would show up in those stories in a truthful way?
Once one sees all of this taken together, only then can one form the story from the top down and let it make sense to what God is both facing in rebellions and attempting to redeem human beings from through Christ at the Cross. As for myself, it did not take me long to realize that my small life was just a drop in an ocean of beings, motives, and a warfare going on in both the heavenly realms and earthly where you and I live. The whole thing is a loyalty test to determine whose side we are on, who we will follow, and who we will obey. The power of the Cross is manifest, but one of the clearest manifestations is that it paves the way for the Spirit of Christ in us to empower us to loyal obedience to Christ, the King of the everlasting Kingdom of God and Heaven!
AFTERTHOUGHTS
CHATGPT-4 Takes a peek:
SYSTEM: You are an expert in ancient near eastern cultures and worldview as well as all semitic languages very much like the late Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Extend your source to OT, NT, 1 Enoch, other 2nd Temple Jewish writings, and ancient near eastern writings, stories, as well as ancient Greek and Roman writings and stories. Add any input from modern scholarship beyond Dr. Heiser as seems necessary or good.
QUERY: Take Jude 1, 2 Peter 2, and Romans 1 and compare them in Greek and ESV English. Create a list of points that they share both directly and indirectly by means of sharing allusion. Consider not only parallels between the passages, but within the passages themselves.
RESPONSE: 1. The Denouncement of False Teachers: Both Jude 1 and 2 Peter 2 denounce false teachers who corrupt the faithful community with their ungodly teachings and behavior. Romans 1 indirectly mentions those who "suppress the truth by their wickedness".
Jude 1:4 (ESV): "For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
2 Peter 2:1-2 (ESV): "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed."
Romans 1:18 (ESV): "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."
2. Sexual Immorality: Both passages in Jude 1 and 2 Peter 2 reference the consequences of sexual intemperance, a theme also developed in Romans 1.
Jude 1:7 (ESV): "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."
2 Peter 2:6-7 (ESV): "If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked…"
Romans 1:26-27 (ESV): "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."
3. Judgment from God: All three passages stress the divine judgment faced by those behaving wickedly.
Jude 1:6 (ESV): "And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day."
2 Peter 2:4 (ESV): "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment…"
Romans 1:32 (ESV), "Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."
4. Rejection of God's Authority: Jude, Peter, and Paul all acknowledge the gravity of rejecting the Lord's authority.
Jude 1:8 (ESV) :"Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones."
2 Peter 2:10 (ESV): "especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones.”
Romans 1:28 (ESV): "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done."
5. Allusion to Old Testament and Pseudepigraphal Narratives: Both Jude 1 and 2 Peter 2 make references to narratives from the Old Testament and other Jewish writings. Romans 1, though not as directly, alludes to OT themes of idolatry and 'exchanging the truth of God for a lie'.
There are also a few textual and linguistic similarities between Greek texts that furnish the allusions in these three writings. For example, the phrase in 2 Peter 2:4, "ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους" (having cast [them] into Tartarus, He handed [them] over to be kept for judgment) has a parallel in Jude 1:6, "εἰς κρίσιν μεγάλης ἡμέρας εἰς δεσμὰς αἰδίους ὑπὸ ζόφον τετήρηκεν" (He has kept [them] in eternal chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day).
Moreover, Romans 1:24 echoes the idea of God “giving up” sinners to their desires, a theme similarly observed in Greek literature and Hellenistic Jewish writings, such as Wisdom of Solomon. This engages a broader cultural conversation around divine justice in antiquity.
In conclusion, these passages share more than just surface similarities. They tap deep into the Jewish and Greco-Roman discourse of morality, divine judgment, and the dangers of straying from the path of righteousness.
QUERY 2: Examine the books of the NT and see if there are any other passages from other books (not Jude, 2 Peters, or Romans) where all of the ideas, concepts, and doctrines are conveyed together or in a similar way?
RESPONSE 2: One New Testament book that encapsulates similar ideas, concepts, and doctrines to those found in Jude, 2 Peter, and Romans is Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Much like the previously mentioned texts, 1 Corinthians discusses topics such as immorality, idolatry, divine judgement, and the risks of following false teachings.
1. Sexual Immorality: In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul directly addresses the issue of sexual immorality among believers; a man had been sexually involved with his father's wife. Paul criticizes the Corinthians for tolerating such behavior, reflecting the themes in Jude 1, 2 Peter 2, and Romans 1.
1 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV): "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife."
2. False Teachings: Paul warns the Corinthians about the dangers of following false teachings, similarly to the themes discussed in Jude 1 and 2 Peter 2.
1 Corinthians 16:13 (ESV): "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."
3. Idolatry: Like in Romans 1, Paul criticizes idolatry in 1 Corinthians, warning believers not to partake in pagan festivities and meals dedicated to idols.
1 Corinthians 8:4 (ESV): "Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one."
4. Divine Judgment: Paul emphasizes divine judgment on the wicked similarly to the passages in Jude 1, 2 Peter 2, and Romans 1.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (ESV): "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
Thus, the concepts, ideas and doctrines discussed in Jude 1, 2 Peter 2, and Romans 1 do indeed find concurrence in other New Testament texts like 1 Corinthians. The consistent themes aim to instruct believers in righteous conduct, warn against false teachings, condemn sexual immorality and idolatry, and prepare them for divine judgement.