Gilbert House Fellowship #441: 1 Enoch 12–14

Enoch is the only human in history, as far as we know, tasked with delivering God’s judgment to a group of rebellious angels.

This week, we discuss Enoch’s mission to the fallen Watchers. We note that he was called by loyal Watchers—which suggests that “Watcher” is a class or rank of supernatural being, some of which are still faithful to God (as in Daniel 4)—to announce God’s punishment to the rebels: No peace, no forgiveness, and they would see the destruction of their sons, the giant Nephilim.

It is interesting to note that Azazel (or Asael) was singled out in 1 Enoch 13 for the forbidden knowledge he taught humanity.

The fallen Watchers then commissioned Enoch to take a petition to God on their behalf, asking for forgiveness for themselves and the Nephilim. However, there was nothing in the petition about the children of Adam and Eve who had suffered so greatly because of the Watchers’ transgressions. God rejected the plea of the fallen Watchers, which was summarized in a document called The Book of the Words of Truth and the Reprimand of the Watchers Who Were from of Old. 

We also discuss the geographic clues in this section of Enoch, which place the action in the Upper Galilee, near the ancient city of Dan and a waterfall identified by one scholar as the Ayun Stream, one of the sources of the Jordan River, near the village of Metula in the northernmost part of Israel. (We plan to take our Israel tour there in October—more details at GilbertHouse.org/travel).

Question of the week: How could Jesus be our perfect sacrifice if God “made him to be sin” (2 Cor. 5:21)?

Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and the medical bills are piling up. If you are led to help, please go to GilbertHouse.org/hopeforsarah.

Our new book The Gates of Hell is now available in paperback (https://amzn.to/4esHHgu), Kindle (https://amzn.to/3XR6KnV), and as an audiobook at Audible (https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Gates-of-Hell-Audiobook/B0DCX4YNVZ)!

Derek’s new book Destination: Earth, co-authored with Donna Howell and Allie Anderson, is now available in paperback (https://amzn.to/3YOHZJE), Kindle (https://amzn.to/3UBG1K5), and as an audiobook at Audible (https://www.audible.com/pd/Destination-Earth-Audiobook/B0DDV1ZC8R?qid=1730562326)!

If you are looking for a text of the Book of 1 Enoch to follow our monthly study, you can try these sources:

• Parallel translations by R. H. Charles (1917) and Richard Laurence (1821)
• Modern English translation by George W. E. Nickelsburg and James VanderKam (link to book at Amazon)
• Book of 1 Enoch - Standard English Version by Dr. Jay Winter (link opens free PDF)
• Book of 1 Enoch - R. H. Charles translation (link opens free PDF)