Jude, Enoch's Historicity

Jude 14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,

In verse 9 we learned that Jude cited the Assumption of Moses regarding the fate of Moses’ body. Now, in verse 14, Jude quotes from 1 Enoch, another Psuedopigraphical book. The quote is from 1 Enoch 1:9. Whatever correlation there is between the books, I maintain that 1 Enoch (like the Assumption of Moses) was not a part of Scriptural canon for reasons. Read such works with a pinch of salt and remember that these extra Biblical works are not considered Scripture. That being said, I would like to focus on the man Enoch.

Jude informs us that Enoch was born seven generations removed from Adam. Straight away this passage creates problems for Christians that subscribe to Darwinian Evolution and all of the pseudo-Christian theories that attempt to accommodate this godless and foundless theory. Many liberal-minded Christians dismiss Genesis’ first 11 chapters (which include Adam and Enoch) as mythology. It is a mingling of Mesopotamian or Babylonian myth, reworked by zealous Hebrews with a single all-powerful Creator God, they propose. But Jude, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, mentions both Enoch and his ancestor Adam in the same breath in the closing pages of the New Testament. Jude is not speaking hyperbole; he is mentioning genuine historical figures that the Jews would know, and the Gentiles should know since all of mankind descends from them.

Theistic Evolution is a farce; if Evolution is at all true, then the Bible is completely wrong. There can be no compromise here. Christ Himself descended from both Adam and Enoch as Luke records, Luke 3:37, 38. This gives our Lord a mythological feel, since His bloodline is not grounded in reality and Luke erred in his historical findings. This means that God the Holy Spirit likewise erred, and recorded incorrect factual and historical statements. If we cannot trust God to be honest or correct with what is seen, then how can we trust Him with anything unseen, such as the fate of our soul after death? Why should you or I trust such an incompetent or lying God? Praise be to God, however, that God is true and men are liars; Darwinian Evolution is a shield to remove God from the public conscience as man continues endeavoring to fulfill the Devil’s will in seeking emancipation and deification apart from Jesus Christ and His gospel.

The chronicler or compiler of Genesis begins chapter 5, stating, “This is the book of the genealogy (or generation) of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God,” Genesis 5:1. 1 Chronicles also begins with a list of names detailing Israel’s birthright, and it starts with Adam, and seven names in we likewise find Enoch, 1 Chronicles 1:1, 3. Right away we are confronted with a historical narrative compiling the ancestry of Adam’s heirs leading to the events of the Flood. We are told that Enoch is seven generations removed from Adam, and a little quick math reveals that Adam was 622 when Enoch was born; since Adam lived to be 930 years old, Enoch was 308 years old when Adam passed away. This was just 57 years prior to Enoch’s translation into Heaven.

Yes, Enoch is undoubtedly most famous for being the man that never saw death, like Elijah after him. Unlike the rest of his lineage Enoch’s life on earth was comparatively brief. Also unlike the others, the compiler of Genesis recorded this about him: “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him,” Genesis 5:24. The writer of Hebrews contributes a little to Enoch’s history by adding, “for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God,” Hebrews 11:5.

Continuing, Jude makes us aware that Enoch, like Noah and Abel prior to the Flood, was a prophet. Enoch foresaw the coming of these false teachers and spoke of them. Though Enoch was Raptured 669 years or so prior to the events of the Flood, he undoubtedly saw the wickedness of man becoming great as Cain’s progeny filled the earth and corrupted it, energized by the demonic influence of the sons of God that married the daughters of men. Here he began a proclamation for them (and us) to hear and determine what to do with. He prefaces his announcement with, “behold.” Turn your attention to or observe this thing that needs to be heeded. The very first utterance that follows divides believers and unbelievers. The Lord is coming with ten thousands of His saints.

A similar prophecy is found in Malachi. We read, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble, and the day which is coming will burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts,” that will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings,” Malachi 4:1, 2. Malachi wanted men to observe the soon coming of the Lord. To the wicked it would be their ultimate undoing in its truest sense. The proud and wicked will be stubble or dry grass fit for burning, with no root and no branch. There is no foundation and no prospect. There is only utter destruction. But the same advent that brings the Lord to burn the wicked with His coming is a warming, healing sun for the righteous who are set at liberty by His arrival. Christ divides, as He warned us, Matthew 10:34. And this division will be made painfully clear at His coming when the wheat is preserved and the chaff cast into the unquenchable fire. When the Lord returns in the Second Coming, all the saints will be with Him. We shall rule at His side for the thousand years, 1 Corinthians 4:8, 6:2, Revelation 2:26, 27, 5:10, 20:4. God willing, we will continue with the remainder of Enoch’s prophecy later.