Son of Man: Parables of Enoch (Part 2) - Episode 110

Carey Griffel: [00:00:00] Welcome to Genesis Marks the Spot, where we raid the ivory tower of a biblical theology Without ransacking our faith, my name is Carey Griffel, and welcome to Part 2 of the conversation about the Parables of Enoch.

Just a reminder, in Episode 107, I read the Book of the Watchers, which is the first part of the Book of First Enoch. Last time I gave an overview of the second part of the Book of First Enoch, which is known as the Parables of Enoch. And I read the first parable. Today, we're going to read the second parable from that section of 1st Enoch. Next week, we'll be reading the third parable.

Now, this parable that we're going to read today and again, it's called a parable, but it's not going to sound like [00:01:00] what you think of as a parable from the New Testament. Parables actually do exist in the Old Testament, although they're rare. And it might be the case that the kind of stories that we think of as a parable, begin with Jesus in the New Testament.

Now of course, rabbinic material has a lot of parables, and it seems like that context is drawing along this time of Jesus as well. So, probably Jesus wasn't the only one doing parables at the time, we just don't have them all recorded. And it might be the case that Jesus had a massive influence on the genre of parable.

But if you think of a parable, the idea is that it's something that is designed to tell you a story, to lead you into a wise way of living. And that is certainly how we can see these parables in the parables of Enoch. It is wisdom literature. It is meant to influence and direct [00:02:00] your life to the right path so that you can repent and be amongst the righteous elect, as opposed to the wicked sinners who deny the name of the Lord.

Last time in the first parable, we saw several messianic titles. We saw the Chosen or the Elect One. We saw the Righteous One. And we saw Wisdom embodied. And Wisdom embodied was described very much like we see the embodiment of wisdom in the Old Testament, as a female character. Now, we all know that Jesus is associated with wisdom and creation in the New Testament. So we'll talk a little bit about that as we go today.

In this parable, we're going to be seeing the Son of Man crop up. Which we will also be seeing in the third parable, and at the end of this section of 1st Enoch, in chapters 70 and 71.

We [00:03:00] also, in this section, will see the anointed one, which is that specific term, Messiah. And as we said last time, the word Messiah is applied to a range of types of people, because a priest could be anointed. And kings were anointed to fulfill their kingly role. But it wasn't just Israelite kings who were called the Anointed One. The Persian king Cyrus was also called the Anointed One, because he fulfilled a specific purpose in the plan of God.

All right, so before we get into the context of the Son of Man, in this parable and on into the New Testament, I want to talk a little bit about the messianic profile in general, because I think we often teach or presume the messianic profile in a not particularly good way in Christian circles a lot of the times. Now [00:04:00] that's kind of painting with a broad brush, but it's looking at my own context and the questions that I see that a lot of people have, that they're not really getting answered well in their churches.

And a part of the reason for this is rather understandable. Because our view of prophecy today tends to be very specific and narrow. Like a prophecy is something that you are foretelling in time that you predict something is going to happen in the future, right? That's how we often view prophecy. But really, in the Old Testament and that ancient context, prophecy had a wider range of meaning.

And for the Jew and the ancient Israelite, and for the early church, prophecy is very cyclic, and it's very actionable in ways that we don't usually ascribe to prophecy. And by that, I mean that prophecy can be [00:05:00] act and fulfillment after the act. Like, look at some of those crazy prophets from the Old Testament, where they're doing really strange things to get their point across, right?

They're performing an act that is pointing forward to the fulfillment of something wider than that act that they are themselves performing. But it's not just regulated to the prophet himself. We actually have act fulfillment in many ways in prophecy. I think it's also related to the idea of ritual. Like, you perform a ritual and something happens because of that ritual. There's an act, and there's a fulfillment.

We also have typology, where we have, say, Moses. Moses is a great prophet, but there is going to be a second prophet, namely Jesus, who is going to be greater than Moses, but who is going to do [00:06:00] very similar things to what Moses did.

Now, all of these things are involved with the concept of prophecy. Prophecy is also very connected to covenant enforcement, we might say. A prophet's job was to get the people back into covenant with God in the way that they should. Like, if everything is going perfectly well, you don't need a prophet to come along and right the ship, so to speak.

And so when we think of prophecy and we think of the Messiah in the Old Testament that's pointing forward to the New Testament, if we're only looking for those things that are supposed to be predictions, we're just not going to see the complete picture that we should be seeing for the Messiah.

That's not to say that there aren't things that are predicted. That is part of what prophecy is. It's just not the whole thing. And so, when we look at the Old [00:07:00] Testament and we look at the New Testament, as Christians, as we're reading the plain reading of the text, it can be hard for us to see how the Old Testament is being fulfilled with the New Testament in the way that the ancient first century Jew would be seeing that.

There's also the problem of hindsight. Because we see Jesus, we can see that fulfillment actually being enacted in him, and then we presume that in the Old Testament, there must be an obvious, divine, royal, eschatological messiah who is going to die for the sins of Israel and the whole world. And indeed you do see that, but it's maybe less obvious than we want it to be or we think it should be.

And part of the reason that the Messiah's coming was going to be unpredicted and surprising to people is because of the way this fulfillment works, [00:08:00] right? For instance, you might have a prophecy from a prophet in the Old Testament that has an immediate fulfillment in that prophet's time. There has to be that, because that's one of the ways people could tell that a prophet was a prophet. Something that they said would actually correspond to reality that people could see at the time.

But some of those prophecies that happened at the time have a double fulfillment in Christ. And not only do you not know which prophecies are going to be which, but you're not going to know how the Messiah is going to fulfill it. Like, nobody was predicting that Jesus was going to be born, and that his family was going to be chased down to Egypt for a time, and that they would come back into the Promised Land.

That's not something somebody would predict. But when it happens, then the New Testament authors and the people around Jesus will [00:09:00] see that correspond to the pattern of prophecy from the Old Testament. So they were looking for patterns that match, but that weren't necessarily the same exact thing as the previous patterns.

Another example would be Jesus as priest. His actions as priest have a typological framework, but people would expect him to have been from the tribe of Levi. But instead, Jesus was of the Melchizedek priesthood, which was not something people were generally tracking on.

Now, some people will say, Well, that just means that they were able to just make anything up that they wanted to. Like, anybody, anywhere, would be able to fit the pattern if you try hard enough. Well, you might try to say that, but let's actually look at Jesus life, and no, nobody was actually fulfilling it in the way that Jesus was. At the time, there were other [00:10:00] messianic pretenders who tried to fit into the profile, and who wanted to be the Messiah, and they just didn't, and it was fairly obvious that they didn't, because they failed, or they didn't have the broad pattern of everything that we see with Jesus.

So, no, it's not cheating or fitting things in after the fact. Because, really, who amongst man could predict God? No one. But that doesn't make God unable to be seen by man. Only God could be expected to fit into the Messianic profile in a way that would be obvious, but unexpected. The prediction of man is a fallible thing, and we must expect that God's revelation will be surprising, but also noticeable and consistent with God's character.

We should also expect men to be able to follow [00:11:00] some of the patterns of revelation, though. And so this is why we can have production of texts like 1 Enoch, which do much of this dot connecting, even if they completely miss the boat in very wide ways, which we do see in the parables of Enoch. Because if Enoch is the son of man, well, that's obviously very different than Jesus being the son of man.

On the other hand, the idea of Enoch being the Messiah is really consistent with other Second Temple Judaism writings. You have Melchizedek in the Dead Sea Scrolls, for instance. And there's a suggestion that Melchizedek is going to return at some point in time, and that he's going to be the Messiah.

That also fits into the pattern with Jesus, in some ways, right, with the priesthood and all of that, and what we see of Jesus and Melchizedek [00:12:00] spoken of in the New Testament. But the Dead Sea Scrolls really talk as if it's Melchizedek himself, and that's probably why some Christians will say that Melchizedek is a pre incarnate Christ figure. Some people will say that. I disagree, and I think that's taking the Dead Sea Scrolls a little bit too literally.

What I think we have in Second Temple Judaism writing is people trying to figure out these patterns and this profile of the Messiah and what that will look like. And as they should, they're using their ancient text to try and predict what that's going to look like.

And we know that there are different sectarian groups in Second Temple Judaism, as I talked about last time. A sectarian group is just a particular group that's going to maybe break off or decide that things have to be a particular way, and this is how their particular [00:13:00] interpretations are going. It's kind of like Christian denomination, although maybe somewhat different as well. But that might be how you could think about it.

But the different sectarian groups at the time really had different ideas and different interpretations. And they each chose to use or see prior scripture in a way that would align with their particular goals and the way that they saw the eschaton.

Like I said, we don't know what group produced the parables of Enoch, but it was probably in some kind of a situation like that. So, it really shouldn't be surprising to see somebody trying to figure out how we have the Messiah coming from the Old Testament, and it potentially even being somebody who's coming back from the Old Testament.

All right, so let's talk about this Son of Man context itself. If you've heard people talk about the Son of Man and [00:14:00] why Jesus talks about himself in this form, you might have heard somebody say that the Son of Man, the term, the phrase, usually just means human. It's just a way to say that this man is human.

Now, that's possible. It could just be that kind of a terminology. There are places where it's kind of hard to see any deeper meaning than, Hey, I'm just a human, when this term is used in the Old Testament. There is, however, suggestion that often, the term or phrase Son of Man can have more specific implications, and I'm talking more than Daniel 7.

You will hear that Jesus uses this term as a messianic term because of the text in Daniel 7. And sometimes you'll hear 1 Enoch looped into that as well. There are some complications to that, [00:15:00] however. Because in Daniel, The figure is like a son of man, which we figure, well, of course that makes sense, because Jesus isn't actually a human.

Well, we get into some Christological problems when we say things like that, because yes, Jesus is legitimately a human. He's just more than that. So yeah, it gets a bit confusing. But at any rate, in Daniel, the term Son of Man isn't really being used as a title where it seems like it is being used as a title with Jesus.

And part of the problem we have with 1 Enoch and the term Son of Man is that it doesn't actually have the article The Son of Man. It could be translated The Son of Man, or it could be translated as A Son of Man. So some people will say that the Son of Man in First Enoch is a title, and some people will back [00:16:00] off from that determination and say we can't really tell if it's a title, or if it's just saying I'm only human, or if it's doing some other kind of work there.

It's actually an important question to ask if it's being used as a title in 1st Enoch, because if it is, that gives a lot of understanding as to how Jesus himself is using it as a title. If it's not being used as a title in 1st Enoch, then we're left wondering why Jesus is using it as a title. I hope that makes some sense.

Let's go ahead and read the section in Daniel seven that is going to be applicable to our topic here. I want you to note the similar language and the cadence to other things we're going to be reading.

Daniel seven verses nine through 16 says, quote, I kept looking until thrones were set up and the ancient of days [00:17:00] took his seat. His vestiture was like white snow. And the hair of his head, like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing, And coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands were attending him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before him. The court sat, and the books were opened. Then I kept looking, Because of the sound of the boastful words Which the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time. I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man was coming. And he came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion, glory, [00:18:00] and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. I approached one of those who were standing by, and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he took me, and made known to me the interpretation of these things. End quote.

Okay, so already we have some language that sounds an awful lot like First Enoch that we've read already.

Now, note, in Daniel 7, there are multiple thrones, but in the parables of Enoch, we will only see one throne. We will see the Ancient of Days described as the Head of Days, but with a similar description. And in Daniel, we have the One who is like a Son of Man coming, presented to [00:19:00] the Ancient of Days, and given dominion, glory, and a kingdom. And He is to be served by peoples and nations. So he's got a kingdom here. But in the language of First Enoch, we're going to see the same kind of thing, but in the language of First Enoch, the emphasis is not on the Son of Man getting a dominion or a kingdom himself, but on judging. Judging is going to be the big theme of First Enoch.

If we presume that the parables of Enoch were written at one time, and that they were always intended to be seen as the son of man in the text, then the terminology, son of man, as referencing a human kind of makes some sense there. The human, Enoch, becomes divine and enthroned. There's still a suggestion of pre existence, which confuses things quite a bit.

[00:20:00] But obviously, the Son of Man is associated with the Chosen One, who's associated with the Righteous One, who's associated with the Anointed One. So this is all messianic language. The question we're going to ask is, if this is enough of an explanation. When we have Daniel 7 plus 1st Enoch, does that explain Jesus's use of the term? Or is there more to it for Jesus?

Let's go ahead and look at some verses. Again, there are places where it seems like the term son of man is just referencing human ness.

Like in Job 25, 6, which says, quote, how much less man, That maggot, and the son of man, that worm. End quote.

We have Psalm 8, 4, which says, quote, What is man, that you take thought of him, And the son of man, that you care for him. End quote.

Or [00:21:00] Isaiah 51 12, quote, I even, I am he who confronts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies? And the son of man who is made like grass. End quote.

Okay, so those parallelisms suggest that son of man is very parallel to the term man, and it really doesn't mean much more than that, or if it does mean more than that because when you have parallelism, a lot of times the second part is really strongly emphasized. So, son of man might not just mean human, but you are a descendant of other men, that makes you, like, the epitome of a human person. Like, you are super not divine because you were born of man.

But as I said, there are places where it seems like the son of man holds a deeper meaning.

In Isaiah 56, 1 through [00:22:00] 2, it says, quote, Thus says the Lord, Preserve justice and do righteousness, For my salvation is about to come, And my righteousness to be revealed. How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it, Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil. End quote.

Okay, so in that verse, the man is at least blessed. and there's a suggestion that the man is somebody who can really keep the law, right?

Okay, Psalm 80, verse 17. Quote, Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, upon the son of man, whom you made strong for yourself. End quote.

Again, we have more parallelism, still referencing man, but there's something else that is happening to the man. [00:23:00] It's a very positive thing.

So the title of Son of Man in the New Testament has got to be derived from the idiom Son of Man, which probably just means human, but the idiom itself seems to have been too widespread for the title to be solely derived from Daniel 7.

All right. so I'm going to reference a journal article from David R. Kirk in the Tyndale Bulletin number 63, number 2, called Heaven Opened, Intertextuality and Meaning in John 151.

And let's set this up a little bit. John 151 is the first instance of Jesus using the term Son of Man in the Gospel of John.

John 1 51 says, quote, and he said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, you [00:24:00] will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man.

Now, interestingly, it's been noted fairly strongly that the backdrop of the terminology here in the verse is quite likely to be the episode with Jacob, that we like to call Jacob's Ladder.

Let me read John 1 51 again. It says, quote, And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. End quote.

Okay, so, another thing to note about the term Son of Man is that one of the most common places it's used is in the Book of Ezekiel. And people say, well, that phrase, again, just emphasizes the humanity of Ezekiel.

Alright, so [00:25:00] let me read from David R. Kirk's article, where he's talking about how the term Son of Man is used very predominantly in the Book of Ezekiel to reference Ezekiel himself. And Kirk suggests that it might have a representational meaning.

He says, quote, Again, the phrase emphasizes the humanity of Ezekiel. We may think of it as the Lord addressing Ezekiel as human. However, there is perhaps a greater significance to be attached. Ian Duguid notes that God's designation for Ezekiel contrasts with that for the people. Bene Israel, the Sons of Israel. This singling out of Ezekiel is for Duguid a reflection of Ezekiel's receptivity to God. which evokes the Edenic relationship and is an aspect of the recreation theme [00:26:00] in prophecy. The recreation of Israel is thus prefigured in the prophet. Ezekiel himself is to be the founding member of a new community, empowered by the infusion of the divine spirit to a life of radical obedience. So Deguid ascribes a representative function to Son of Man, as does Walter Icredot, who writes, What the entire people should achieve is to be realized in the one Son of Man who is their representative. This same usage is also seen in Daniel 8. 17 where Daniel is addressed by the Lord as Son of Man in the same manner.

Okay, so the fact that Daniel is called the Son of Man shortly after Daniel 7, where the one who is like a Son of Man is being referenced. This is very interesting. Kirk's paper also suggests that the Son of Man [00:27:00] in 1 Enoch, again, it might not be a title, though it's definitely connected to the Messiah. And as I said, the question of when it became a title is probably pretty important. If Daniel and 1 Enoch aren't using it as a title, that doesn't mean there's no reference back to those passages. But it's startling if Jesus is the first one to use it as a title.

Kirk says, quote, N. T. Wright argues that the Christian use of the term the Son of Man is such an enormous development that the only sufficiently robust context for its origin is the ministry of Jesus himself, end quote.

And he goes on to say, quote, the title, like the idiom, emphasizes Jesus's humanity. But, the man adds an additional nuance of representation. The first Johannine use in John 1, 51 is programmatic, [00:28:00] intended to highlight the content of the title The Son of Man through the direct correlation of Jesus and Jacob, the representative and father of Israel. This representative role of the title The Son of Man also finds a faint echo in the use of it in Ezekiel and in the portrayal of the one who is like the Son of Man in Daniel. End quote.

In John 9, 35, it says, quote, Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? End quote.

Kirk says, In terms of the Johannine evidence, the response to Jesus' question in 9. 35 may lend weight to the suggestion that the idiom, Son of Man, was in some way associated with the Messiah in Second Temple Judaism, [00:29:00] reflecting its use in Daniel and First Enoch. It is difficult, however, to proceed from this to the conclusion that the Son of Man was a recognized messianic title, especially in the light of 1234.

John 1234 says, quote, the crowd then answered him. We have heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever. And how can you say the son of man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? End quote.

So that suggests there's some question about the son of man being a Messianic title.

Kirk goes on to say, quote, although it is hard to argue from this that therefore the Son of Man was a recognized messianic title, messianic overtones in Daniel may have led to an association of one like a Son of Man with Messiah, but this does not suggest that this developed into the title the Son of Man. End quote.

[00:30:00] He goes on to say that the Son of Man figures in Daniel and Enoch are, quote, both in the texts and in interpretations in Second Temple Judaism, figures of a developed Messiah concept, human, and yet more than merely human figures, and not figures of any latent Son of Man concept, end quote.

In other words, he's saying that Daniel and Enoch preceded the idea of a concept of the Son of Man itself. They could be forming the basis of that, though, right? However, in 1 Enoch, the Son of Man is Enoch, and as we've talked about, there's multiple problems with the idea of Son of Man in the Book of Enoch. Now the Son of Man in Enoch is the one who is judging. He is the eschatological judge, and he's a divine figure. [00:31:00] Enoch is angelified, or made divine.

Obviously the Son of Man is connected to the Messiah in First Enoch, but again, that doesn't mean that people were latching onto the idea of Son of Man as a complete picture. As far as Jesus and the Son of Man, it does highlight Jesus's humanity and Jesus as a divine man. It can also be synonymous to the Son of God. And so Jesus is both heavenly and divine, and also a man. Now, we pick up on that in Christological ways where we're formulating ideas like the Trinity, right?

But there's so much more to it than that. Because when you're reading Scripture in a Biblical theology way, as I like to do, you're seeing the themes of Scripture and you're seeing things that are mentioned before and mentioned after, and you're seeing how those things connect through time. And [00:32:00] those connections through time and those intertextual connections matter a great bit. So if Jesus is connecting himself back to Jacob here, that really is a very important thing.

Kirk says, quote, The portrait of the Son of Man in the Gospel of John consists of three key themes. Firstly, the death of the Son of Man, controlled by the metaphor of Moses and the serpent, and allied with the theme of glory. This is entirely consistent with the title that emphasizes humanity. Secondly, the theme of belief in, or participation in, the Son of Man, see john 6, 53, and 9, 35, lends a representative nuance already highlighted in our proposal. The third theme is the heavenly origin of the Son of Man, see john 3, [00:33:00] 13, and 6, 62. This theme has been the foundation for proposing that the Son of Man is a non human, or at least a pre human, heavenly figure. It may seem to present difficulties for the proposal here, However, Chalcedonian orthodoxy makes clear that the human Jesus also has an identity that pre exists his humanity. That the man has, in some sense, come from heaven does not imply that the man is a title that conveys preexistence. Indeed, he is only the man because he has come from heaven. End quote.

Again, the idea is that Jesus and Jacob are connected together in the title.

David Kirk says, quote, John Pryor writes that one of the least noticed motifs in John's Christology is the presentation of Jesus as the embodiment of [00:34:00] Israel. The vine imagery of John 15 is one example of Jesus's self conceptualization of his representative role. This too is what we encounter in John 1 51. Jesus in portraying himself in Jacob's place, does not merely have in view the patriarch as an individual. Just as Jacob represents his descendants before the Lord and gives his name, Israel, to them, Jesus portrays himself as the representative of a new Israel, a new people of God.

He continues to say, the significance of Jesus' self identification with Jacob is that it portrays Jesus as the originator of a new Israel. In answer to our second question, the title, The Son of Man, carries the new Israel motif to its telos, a new humanity. End quote.

At Bethel, the gate of [00:35:00] heaven suggests a breach in the realm of the divine and man. While Genesis 28 is not apocalyptic literature, it holds similar themes as a key to its meaning. Jesus is a recapitulation of the Bethel event. We can also look at the baptism narratives of the Synoptic Gospels, which show a descent from heaven. John doesn't have a baptism narrative, but he does have this verse in 151. Here's another interesting point that Kirk brings out.

Let's back up a few verses in John 1. Verse 49 says, Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these. And he said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and [00:36:00] descending on the Son of Man. End quote.

What are the greater things that he is going to see?

Kirk says, quote, Jesus' own designation by God as the embodiment and representative of a new Israel, the representative and father of a new humanity, and the inheritor of the reality of the promises of redemption given to the patriarchs. End quote.

So Jesus is not just a king. The Son of God, the King of Israel, but he is the representation of a new humanity. And that's a greater thing than just being the King of Israel. I don't know about you, but that gives me goosebumps. Because we can see the Son of Man in these really specific, very semantic connections with Daniel. But once you see that broader picture that Jesus is actually bringing out with the connection of Jacob and [00:37:00] Israel, that helps us to see a more complete picture of who Jesus is, what he's doing, and how great his actions of what he's doing.

As great as it is that he is the King of Israel, the Son of God, and he is going to be enthroned for everyone, the fact that it's not just that, but that he's doing that in order to bring about a new humanity.... that's really not something that they were expecting, and that was really part of the messianic profile in a very clear way at all.

Now, you might say that this isn't clear either. This is really complicated and we wouldn't see that. But put yourself in the minds of the ancient person who really understood Scripture well. And by Scripture, I mean the Old Testament, particularly the Torah. But also the prophets who are representative of the Torah.

Think also of Jesus's relationship with Torah. [00:38:00] As I've said, the Book of First Enoch also suggests that Torah is being worshipped and that it is Torah observance that makes one saved or not. This is connected very much and very strongly to wisdom literature. Because wisdom literature is trying to teach you how to walk in a way that is instructive. And what does Torah mean? It means instruction.

Let me read a bit from the article about wisdom in the Lexham Bible Dictionary. It says, quote, Proverbs personifies wisdom as a woman who woos young men in competition with the personified folly. The young men must choose between the two. Proverbs also presents woman wisdom as being intimately involved in the process of creation, aiding God as he created the cosmos. Proverbs thus implies that wisdom is built into the very fabric of the [00:39:00] universe. Some scholars have connected personified wisdom in Proverbs with Jesus' involvement at creation. Terrence Mullins, for example, claims that wisdom is personified by Jesus twice in the New Testament, in Luke 7, 35, and 11, 49. However, many commentators also see Proverbs 8 lying behind Colossians 1, 15 17, and John 1, 1 4. If this passage does bear such connotations, Beale notes that Paul would be affirming that whereas the fullest manifestation of earthly wisdom in the Old Testament was the Torah, now the Messiah is the greatest expression of divine wisdom on earth, the former pointing to the latter. However, although the New Testament does identify Jesus as the wisdom of God, in 1 Corinthians 1, 24, it does not [00:40:00] directly use the language of Proverbs 8. Thus, the New Testament authors appear to be making a general association between Jesus and wisdom, rather than specifically appealing to Proverbs 8. End quote.

Okay, so what does all of that mean? What all of that means is that at the time, people were thinking of wisdom and Torah as this combined idea. If you're going to live a life of wisdom, you are going to follow Torah, and they were kind of exchangeable ideas. Now we have God who is incarnated into the world, and suddenly it is Jesus who is going to be the expression of divine wisdom on Earth, as G. K. Beale says.

So there's something greater than the written Torah. We have the Word of God Himself. And so, yes, there's a connection of Jesus and [00:41:00] wisdom. And it's a very strong one here. And it's a connection with Jesus and Torah. But Jesus isn't literally the written Torah anymore than he is literally Lady Wisdom.

What this is is a matrix of ideas that people would have in their minds that we need to be importing into ours. Instead of seeing Jesus as feminine or created or all of these direct comparisons that we just pull these details from, this is the pattern of thinking rather than propositional logic, like one equals the other thing exactly. Like some sort of math equation.

And let's go ahead and read some passages about Jesus and wisdom.

In 1 Corinthians 1 24 and 30 it says, but to those who are the called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of [00:42:00] God and the wisdom of God. But by his doing, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. End quote.

It's not that people had all of these ideas already in mind. These were revelatory. These were new concepts that people had to wrap their mind around that Wow, we have God amongst us. Although in certain ways they were already thinking about that, and that was already a heavy theme for them, the reality of it, with Jesus standing right in front of them, was something a bit deeper and more important than just intellectually thinking about it. Right?

Luke 11, verses 46 through 52 says quote, but he said woe to you lawyers as well for you weigh men [00:43:00] down with burdens hard to bear While you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers Woe to you, for you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. So you are witnesses, and approve the deeds of your fathers, because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. For this reason also, the wisdom of God said, I will send to them prophets and apostles, And some of them they will kill, and some they will prosecute. So that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel, to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation. Woe to you, lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering. End quote.

So here we have wisdom as the [00:44:00] judge, and Jesus as the judge.

Hebrews 1, 1 3 says, quote, God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets, in many portions, and in many ways, in these last days, has spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. And he is the radiance of his glory, and the exact representation of his nature, and upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. End quote.

Alright, We haven't even gotten to the reading of the second parable yet. , I think that I will probably just read this more or less straight through. I might stop here and there to say a few things before or after we read something. But I think this section is fairly easy to read and [00:45:00] understand, and I'll just give a few comments just in case. A lot of this material will be very familiar to you in the way that it's presenting it, the way that it's talking. And I really want you to just listen to messianic concepts here and how it is presenting the Son of Man.

Again, we're going to have the Head of Days and the Son of Man. We're going to notice fountains and wisdom and water. In chapter 48, we have the suggestion of the pre creation of the Son of Man.

And He is going to be a light to the nations in that chapter as well. And there's also connections to the Servant of Yahweh. Which that itself can have a whole lot of connotation with it and be very messianic as well. And associated with kingship and the kings of Israel in particular.

We're going to see language about resurrection and the fate of the wicked, which is going to kind of [00:46:00] bounce around from eternal conscious torment to maybe it's just temporary torment. It could go either way in some of these passages.

Oh, another thing I want you to note is that in chapter 50, it's going to reference the works of their hands. When you see the works of their hands, it's specifically referencing idolatry. So it's probably talking particularly about Gentiles, and even idolaters can repent.

When it says Sheol, or the earth, gives back, that's resurrection language. When it talks about deep valleys, or mouths, that's referencing the realm of the dead. Some interesting points as well, we have the angels of punishment, which also show up in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Angels of Destruction.

We'll see some possible references back to the Book of the Watchers and maybe Leviticus [00:47:00] 16 and the Day of Atonement, but it's pretty loose, and again, there's no real atonement language here.

And we're going to see angelic and human conflict, and those kind of merge together in chapter 56.

All right, again, I am going to be reading from Dr. Heiser's A Companion to the Book of Enoch, a Reader's Commentary, Volume 2.

Chapter 45. Quote, And this is the second parable, concerning those who deny the name of the dwelling of the holy ones, and the Lord of Spirits. And into the heaven they shall not ascend, and on the earth they shall not come. Such shall be the lot of the sinners, who have denied the name of the Lord of Spirits. Who are thus preserved for the day of suffering and tribulation. On that day, mine elect one shall sit on the throne of glory, And shall try their works, and their places of rest shall be innumerable. And their souls shall grow [00:48:00] strong within them, when they see mine elect ones. And those who have called upon my glorious name. Then I will cause mine elect one to dwell among them. And I will transform the heaven and make it an eternal blessing and light. And I will transform the earth and make it a blessing. And I will cause mine elect ones to dwell upon it. But the sinners and evildoers shall not set foot thereon. For I have provided and satisfied with peace my righteous ones, and have caused them to dwell before me. But for the sinners, there is judgment impending with me, so that I shall destroy them from the face of the earth.

Chapter 46 Quote And there I saw one who had a head of days, and his head was white like wool. And with him was another being, whose countenance had the appearance of a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels. And I asked the angel who went with me, and showed me all the hidden things [00:49:00] concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, and why he went with the Head of Days. And he answered and said unto me, This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, with whom dwelleth righteousness, and who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, and whose lot hath the preeminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever.

And this Son of Man, whom thou hast seen, Shall raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats, And the strong from their thrones, And shall loosen the reins of the strong, And break the teeth of the sinners. And he shall put down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms, Because they do not extol and praise him, Nor humbly acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them.

And he shall put down the countenance of the strong, And shall fill them with shame, And darkness shall be their dwelling, And worms shall be their bed. And they shall have no hope of rising from their beds, [00:50:00] because they do not extol the name of the Lord of Spirits. And these are they who judge the stars of heaven, and raise their hands against the Most High, and tread upon the earth and dwell upon it.

And all their deeds manifest unrighteousness, and their power rests upon their riches, and their faith is in the gods whom they have made with their hands. And they deny the name of the Lord of Spirits. And they persecute the houses of his congregations, and the faithful who hang upon the name of the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 47, quote, And in those days shall have ascended the prayer of the righteous, and the blood of the righteous from the earth before the Lord of Spirits. In those days the holy ones who dwell above in the heavens shall unite with one voice, and supplicate, and pray, and praise and give thanks and bless the name of the Lord of Spirits on behalf of the blood of the righteous, which has been shed, and that the prayer of the righteous may not be in vain before the Lord [00:51:00] of Spirits, that judgment may be done unto them, and that they may not have to suffer forever.

In those days I saw the head of days when he seated himself upon the throne of his glory, and the books of the living were opened before him, and all his host, which is in heaven above, and his counselors stood before him. And the hearts of the holy were filled with joy, because the number of the righteous had been offered, and the prayer of the righteous had been heard, and the blood of the righteous had been required before the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 48, quote, And in that place I saw the fountain of righteousness, which was inexhaustible, and around it were many fountains of wisdom. And all the thirsty drank of them, and were filled with wisdom, and their dwellings were with the righteous and holy and elect. And at that hour, that Son of Man was named, in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and his name before the head of days.

Yea, before the sun and the signs were [00:52:00] created, before the stars of the heaven were made, his name was named before the Lord of Spirits. He shall be a staff to the righteous, whereon to stay themselves, and not fall. And he shall be the light of the Gentiles, and the hope of those who are troubled of heart.

All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before him, And will praise and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Spirits. And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before him, before the creation of the world and for evermore.

And the wisdom of the Lord of Spirits hath revealed him to the holy and righteous, for he had reserved the lot of the righteous Because they have hated and despised this world of unrighteousness and have hated all its works and ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits.

For in His name, they are saved and according to his good pleasure had that been in regard to their life. In those days, downcast and countenance shall the kings of the earth have become. And the strong who possess the land because of the works of [00:53:00] their hands. For on the day of their anguish and affliction, they shall not be able to save themselves.

And I will give them over into the hands of mine elect. As straw in the fire, so shall they burn before the face of the holy. As lead in the water, shall they sink before the face of the righteous. And no trace of them shall any more be found. And on the day of their affliction, there shall be rest on the earth.

And before them, they shall fall and not rise again. And there shall be no one to take them with his hands and raise them. For they have denied the Lord of Spirits and his anointed. The name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed.

Chapter 49, quote, For wisdom is poured out like water, and glory faileth not before him for evermore. For he is mighty in all the secrets of righteousness, and unrighteousness shall disappear as a shadow, and have no continuance. Because the Elect One standeth before the Lord of Spirits, [00:54:00] and his glory is for ever and ever, and his might unto all generations.

And in him dwells the spirit of wisdom, and the spirit which gives insight, and the spirit of understanding and of might, and the spirit of those who have fallen asleep in righteousness. And he shall judge the secret things, and none shall be able to utter a lying word before him, for he is the Elect One before the Lord of Spirits, according to his good pleasure.

Chapter 50, quote. And in those days, a change shall take place for the holy and elect, and the light of days shall abide upon them, and glory and honor shall turn to the holy, on the day of affliction on which evil shall have been treasured up against the sinners, and the righteous shall be victorious in the name of the Lord of Spirits, and he will cause the others to witness this, that they may repent and forgo the works of their hands. They shall have no honor through the name of the Lord of Spirits, yet through His name [00:55:00] shall they be saved. And the Lord of Spirits will have compassion on them, for His compassion is great, and He is righteous also in His judgment. And in the presence of His glory, unrighteousness also shall not maintain itself. At his judgment the unrepentant shall perish before him, and from henceforth I will have no mercy on them, saith the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 51, quote, And in those days shall the earth also give back that which has been entrusted to it, and Sheol also shall give back that which it has received, and hell shall give back that which it owes. For in those days the Elect One shall rise, and he shall choose the righteous and holy from among them.

For the day has drawn nigh, that they should be saved. And the elect one shall in those days sit on my throne, and his mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel. For the Lord of Spirits hath given them to [00:56:00] him, and hath glorified him. And in those days shall the mountains leap like rams, and the hills also shall skip like lambs satisfied with milk. And the faces of all the angels in heaven shall be lighted up with joy. And the earth shall rejoice, and the righteous shall dwell upon it, and the elect shall walk thereon.

Chapter 52, quote, And after all those days in that place where I had seen all the visions of that which is hidden, for I had been carried off in a whirlwind, And they had borne me towards the west. There mine eyes saw all the secret things of heaven that shall be. A mountain of iron, And a mountain of copper, And a mountain of silver, And a mountain of gold, And a mountain of soft metal, And a mountain of lead.

And I asked the angel who went with me, saying, What things are these which I have seen in secret? And he said unto me, All these things which thou hast seen Shall serve the dominion of his anointed that he may be potent and [00:57:00] mighty on the earth. And that angel of peace answered, saying unto me, Wait a little, and there shall be revealed unto thee all the secret things which surround the Lord of Spirits.

And these mountains which thine eyes have seen, The mountain of iron, and the mountain of copper, And the mountain of silver, and the mountain of gold, And the mountain of soft metal, and the mountain of lead, All these shall be in the presence of the elect one, As wax before the fire. And like the water which streams down from above, upon those mountains, And they shall become powerless before his feet, And it shall come to pass in those days that none shall be saved, Either by gold or by silver, And none shall be able to escape, And there shall be no iron for war, Nor shall one clothe oneself with a breastplate, Bronze shall be of no service, And tin shall be of no service, And shall not be esteemed, And lead shall not be desired. And all these things shall be denied and destroyed from the surface of the earth, when the Elect [00:58:00] One shall appear before the face of the Lord of Spirits. End quote.

Okay, just a moment here to talk about these mountains of all of these metals. These are probably referencing specific kingdoms, and it's definitely in the context of war. Very similar to Daniel 2 with its list of me tals and so they're probably empires and kings. And we're seeing the end of war.

Moving on to chapter 53. Quote, There mine eyes saw a deep valley with open mouths, and all who dwell on the earth and sea and islands shall bring to him gifts and presents and tokens of homage. But that deep valley shall not become full, and their hands commit lawless deeds, and the sinners devour all whom they lawlessly oppress.

Yet the sinners shall be destroyed before the face of the Lord of spirits, and they shall be banished from off the face of his earth and they shall perish forever and ever. [00:59:00] For I saw all the angels of punishment abiding there and preparing all the instruments of Satan.

And I asked the angel of peace who went with me, for whom are they preparing these instruments? And he said unto me, they prepare these for the kings and the mighty of this earth that they may thereby be destroyed. And after this, the righteous and elect one shall cause the house of his congregation to appear. Henceforth, they shall be no more hindered in the name of the Lord of spirits. And these mountains shall not stand as the earth before his righteousness, but the hills shall be as a fountain of water and the righteous shall have rest from the oppression of sinners.

Chapter 54, and I looked and turned to another part of the earth. And saw there a deep valley with burning fire. And they brought the kings and the mighty, And began to cast them into this deep valley. And there mine eyes saw how they made these their instruments, Iron chains of immeasurable weight. And I asked the angel of peace who [01:00:00] went with me, saying, For whom are these chains being prepared?

And he said unto me, These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel. So that they may take them, and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones, as the Lord of Spirits commanded. And Michael, and Gabriel, and Raphael, and Phanuel shall take hold of them on the great day, and cast them on that day into the burning furnace that the Lord of Spirits may take vengeance on them for their unrighteousness in becoming subject to Satan, And leading astray those who dwell on the earth.

And in those days shall punishment come from the Lord of Spirits, and he will open all the chambers of waters, which are above the heavens, and of the fountains which are beneath the earth. And all the waters shall be joined with the waters. That which is above the heavens is the masculine, and the water which is beneath the earth is the feminine.

And they shall destroy all who [01:01:00] dwell on the earth, and those who dwell under the ends of the heaven. And when they have recognized their unrighteousness, which they have wrought on the earth, then by these shall they perish.

Chapter 55 quote, and after that, the head of days repented and said, In vain have I destroyed all who dwell on the earth. And he sware by his great name, Henceforth I will not do so to all who dwell on the earth, And I will set a sign in the heaven, And this shall be a pledge of good faith between me and them for ever, So long as heaven is above the earth.

And when this is in accordance with my command, I have desired to take hold of them by the hand of the angels on the day of tribulation, And pain because of this. I will cause my chastisement and my wrath to abide upon them, saith God, the Lord of Spirits. Ye mighty kings who dwell on the earth, ye shall have to behold mine elect one, how he sits on the throne of glory, and judges [01:02:00] Azazel, and all his associates, and all his hosts in the name of the Lord of Spirits. End quote.

It's interesting we have in chapter 54 it they're being judged in part because they became subject to Satan and leading astray the people of the Earth. This was before the time of the Flood, right? So there's definite connection now, with Genesis 6, with the Flood narrative, with Azazel, with Satan, and these are ideas that have taken time in the Second Temple period to really coallate into one idea. And it gets a bit confusing and fuzzy, like, is Azazel Satan? Is Satan the same as every other kind of evil figure? And how did they become subject to one being who is head over them?

And my suggestion is to not get too caught up in all of the details, Because you have to remember that all of these people are writing in [01:03:00] different contexts with slightly different perspectives. So even what's written in the parables of Enoch doesn't have to match up with whoever wrote the Book of the Watchers exactly.

So again, there's continuity, but there's also a lot of disconnect and specific ideas being brought up. for specific purposes . Alright, at any rate, let's finish the reading here. Chapter 56, quote, And I saw there the hosts of the angels of punishment going, and they held scourges and chains of iron and bronze.

And I asked the angel of peace who went with me, saying, To whom are these who hold the scourges going? And he said unto me, To their elect and beloved ones that they may be cast into the chasm of the abyss of the valley, and then that valley shall be filled with their elect and beloved, and the days of their lives shall be at an end. And the days of their leading astray shall not then forward be reckoned.

[01:04:00] And in those days, the angels shall return and hurl themselves to the east upon the Parthians and Medes. They shall stir up the kings, so that a spirit of unrest shall come upon them, and they shall rouse them from their thrones, that they may break forth as lions from their lairs, and as hungry wolves among their flocks, and they shall go up and tread under the foot the land of his elect ones, and the land of his elect ones shall be before them a threshing floor and a highway, but the city of my righteous shall be a hindrance to their horses.

And they shall begin to fight amongst themselves, And their right hand shall be strung against themselves, And a man shall not know his brother, nor a son his father or his mother, Till there be no number of the corpses through their slaughter, and their punishment be not in vain.

In those days Sheol shall open its jaws, And they shall be swallowed up therein, And their destruction shall be at an end. Sheol shall devour the sinners in the presence of the [01:05:00] elect.

Chapter 57, quote, And it came to pass, after this, I saw another host of wagons, and men riding thereon, and coming on the winds from the east, and from the west to the south. And the noise of their wagons was heard. And when this turmoil took place, the holy ones from heaven remarked it.

And the pillars of the earth were moved from their place, and the sound thereof was heard. From the one end of heaven to the other in one day. And they shall all fall down and worship the Lord of Spirits. And this is the end of the second parable. End quote.

Okay, so chapter 57, the host of wagons and men. That might actually not be a reference to war, but a reference to the people coming back from exile.

In chapter 56, where it mentions the Persians and the Medes, This is one reason to date the parables of Enoch before the time of Jesus, because quite [01:06:00] likely it's referencing a time that happened in 40 BC. Now, if it was written much after that, we would expect more Roman context or something like that. So that's one of the few places that they kind of latch on to try to date the parables of Enoch. Because otherwise, there's not a whole lot of specific detail to place it in time, other than in general idea and concept.

Now, another kind of interesting thing that I think of in regards to the Book of Enoch and the way that we see things being talked about here, as well as what we see in the Dead Sea Scrolls, is related to the question of, will we be able to sin in heaven? Right? That's a common question we see in Christian circles sometimes, because we're like, well, if we have free choice now, and that is the source of our rebellion, and we [01:07:00] continue to have free choice in the eschaton, then what is going to prevent us from sinning at that time?

Now, different people are going to have different responses to that. But if you're looking at the Second Temple context, which, again, it doesn't have to mean that these are universal ideas that we're just going to accept as canon, but it's really interesting nonetheless to think of the time period and the way people were thinking about this, because the way we are thinking about it is A plus B plus C equals D. And there's, like, this linear progression, and if we have this, then why don't we have that kind of a thinking.

But, again, referencing back to last week's episode where I talked about the two spirits in the Dead Sea Scrolls and we see similar ideas here in the Book of Enoch where there's a conflict and there's two [01:08:00] sides to things and once the side of darkness is defeated, we no longer have to worry about it because it's no longer leading us astray and we no longer are being under the influence of that darkness or that spirit of falsehood.

Does that mean that we then lose our free agency and our free will? I don't think so. I don't think it's talking about free will in the way that we are thinking about free will, because we have all these later philosophical concepts wrapped up in that, right?

For this period of time, it seems like they had kind of a more straightforward thinking. There was a side of good and a side of bad. The side of bad is going to be completely defeated. And so there's no reason why the side of bad is going to show up again in the new creation.

As Christians, it helps us to understand that we are being [01:09:00] sanctified by Jesus and the Spirit of God in ourselves. And the presentation that we have in all of these texts, including in the Bible, I think, is that when you're in the presence of God, and you have matured, and you have lived the life of wisdom, and you have repented from previous wrongdoings, then you are set in Realm of the Righteous Elect, and there's no reason for you to then return to your old ways, or being wicked, or denying the name of the Lord, because you have experienced something that has been part of rebellion against God, and you have repented from that, and you have grown and developed in wisdom. So I think looping the idea and concept of wisdom into this whole thing, not just as head knowledge, but as [01:10:00] practical lived out existence.

I think that's really part of this. It's kind of like, as an adult, could you sit down in the middle of a store and throw a tantrum because you're not going to be able to buy the toy that you want? That's not likely to happen. Why? Because you've matured beyond that. Because you've experienced things, and you see the world in a different way.

So that prevents you from acting like the toddler, and the only way you would reverse yourself back to that development of the toddler, is if something really strange was amiss. Right? Something weird would have to happen in order for you to revert back to the super immature things that you might have done when you were younger.

Because you've lived that already, you've learned to move past it. So that's part of wisdom and the idea of actually [01:11:00] living that out, as opposed to just learning head knowledge, rather than actual lived out discipleship walk.

Anyway, I hope that this was really helpful and useful to you. Personally, I really love the insight on the concept of the Son of Man and Jesus coming not just in response to what happened in Genesis 3, but rather, in response to everything that we have in the Old Testament, right? Like, that's a big, wide picture.

Jesus is the Son of Man, who connects to not just Genesis 3, but Genesis 1, and not just the primeval history either, but the patriarchal narratives of the creation of the nation of Israel, which is the overarching story and guideposts of how we should be reading Scripture. it's not about biology, it's not about direct DNA [01:12:00] family line, it's about something broader than that.

And Jesus coming to be the new humanity and to make us the new humanity means that we get to move past what we have been before. And, we are something new rather than something old, which, again, I think that speaks a lot about the question of the eschaton and sin in heaven, or the new creation at least.

Alright, so, pretty cool stuff, I think. Next week we will be reading the third parable of Enoch, and kind of concluding this section of things. If you guys have questions or insights, I would absolutely love to hear them. Please go ahead and contact me through my Facebook discussion group or Facebook Messenger, or through my website at GenesisMarksTheSpot. com where you can find blog posts and guest profiles and my store. You can buy [01:13:00] merchandise and artwork and whatever else I have up there at the time. And I want to thank those of you who support me financially Because you do a lot for me and I really really appreciate it.

Also, some fun news, if you guys have recently been listening to the Two Trees podcast, they've announced some fun things coming this year, and I will also announce that here, starting in April, there's going to be some really cool things that I hope will really help people to really connect with others and start discussing some great content but more on that will be forthcoming. That's it for now. I wish you all a blessed week and we will see you later.