Pastor John,
I’ve been reading the book of Enoch and the book of Jasher. When I was a kid I heard the story of Enoch but his story is so short in Genesis 5:24. “And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him.” I amazed of that story until now of what kind of Enoch was. Enoch is an upright man.
Then the book of Jude said Enoch had a prophecy – Jude 1:14-15. “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard [speeches] which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” And I did not find it in the Old Testament that he prophesied.
I came across of the book of Enoch that I didn’t know that exist and it is not part of the Bible. The prophecy that is written in Jude is found in the book of Enoch. That means that the book of Enoch is true…the same prophecy of John in Revelation and Ezekiel. Pastor John, have you read the book of Enoch? And why it is not part of the Bible? Enoch is so detailed of his prophecy and I wonder of his heart towards God.
Leika
=========
Hi Leika.
I have read the book of Enoch. That book and others in the Apocrypha have some parts that sound true, but they are not completely trustworthy. Most of them appear to have been tampered with by early Christians. They have a different spirit in them from the Spirit that is in the New Testament books. Sometimes, those who made up parts of this book said ridiculous things, such as this, about the giants mentioned in Genesis, chapter 6: 7.1 “And they took wives for themselves and everyone chose for himself one each. And they began to go into them and were promiscuous with them. And they taught them charms and spells, and they showed them the cutting of roots and trees. 7.2 And they became pregnant and bore large giants. And their height was three thousand cubits.” That is nonsense. Three thousand cubits is close to a mile! Giants close to a mile high?!?
The book of Jasher is much the same, with pages of fictitious conversations between real biblical characters, and with much made-up information, building upon the true Bible story.
All the apocryphal books are a mixture of true and false, and they cannot be trusted.
Thank you for the question.
Pastor John