November 22-23, 2015

Introduction

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee… (Hosea 4:6a, 6b King James Version [KJV].)

It doesn’t have to be that way. This post is an attempt to tackle that problem head-on, and to give you some real encouragement in the process. I write this post today at the Lord’s bidding and with His guidance.

The Apochrypha is comprised of several books which are included in traditional, Roman Catholic Bibles, but not included in Protestant Bibles. These books were removed from the Protestant canon of scripture in the 4th century. Whether the religious council acted correctly in doing so, or they were governed by evil in that decision, is a question that evokes heated and emotional debate, and could be a cause of division. For that reason I will not address it here, but plead with you to pray about it for yourself. We need to rely on God as our guide in all matters. Ask Him.

The first book of The Apochrypha is the book of Enoch. [To help keep things straight, I’ll use the standard convention of italic Enoch when referring to the book, and plain Enoch for the man, in my own writing. Since quoted scripture is all italic, again following typography standards, that will be reversed. Curly brackets {like this} point out my own, explanatory comments inserted in quoted scripture.]

Enoch was the father of Methuselah, grandfather of Lamech, and great-grandfather of Noah. Genesis tells us that Enoch, like Elijah after him, never died:  “23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Genesis 5:23-24 KJV) Given that out of the entire Bible only these two men were said to be taken up by God without dying first, it’s pretty safe to say that Enoch was unusually righteous.

One thing that makes the book of Enoch unique is that Jude (New Testament) and Deuteronomy (Old Testament) both quoted from it. That should give us the freedom to rely on the book even if we reject the others in The Apochrypha. The version I am quoting from was translated into English by R.H. Charles, D.LITT., D.D., of the London Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in 1917.

In case you might like to order the book (highly recommended!), here are links to The Apochrypha containing this translation:  large-format paperback, http://www.amazon.com/Researchers-Library-Ancient-Texts-Apocrypha/dp/0983621691/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448236183&sr=1-4&keywords=apocrypha; and Kindle and any-device format, http://www.amazon.com/Researchers-Library-Ancient-Texts-Apocrypha-ebook/dp/B006IYETIG/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1448236285&sr=1-6&keywords=apocrypha. I’m not endorsing Amazon; they are not the only seller, and other translations are also available. Amazon did not have an audible version when I searched today; I don’t know whether some other bookseller might.

According to Enoch

“CHAPTER 1

“1The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed. 2And he took up his parable and said—Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come.”

{So right off the bat, Enoch tells us that he wrote the book to be a blessing for us! This “us” means the righteous saints in this current generation (part of the bride of Christ). All emphasis is added.}

“CHAPTER 104

“1I swear unto you, that in heaven the angels remember you for good before the glory of the Great One: and your names are written before the glory of the Great One.

“2Be hopeful; for aforetime {before now} ye were put to shame through ill and affliction; but now ye shall shine as the lights of heaven, ye shall shine and ye shall be seen, and the portals of heaven shall be opened to you.

“3And in your cry, cry for judgement, and it shall appear to you; for all your tribulation shall be visited on the rulers, and on all who helped those who plundered you.

“4Be hopeful, and cast not away your hopes for ye shall have great joy as the angels of heaven.

“5What shall ye be obliged to do? {This is a rhetorical question; the answer is nothing, if you are righteous and overcome to the end. (Revelation 2-3)} Ye shall not have to hide on the day of the great judgement and ye shall not be found as sinners, and the eternal judgement shall be far from you for all the generations of the world.

“6And now fear not, ye righteous, when ye see the sinners growing strong and prospering in their ways: be not companions with them, but keep afar from their violence; for ye shall become companions of the hosts of heaven.

“7And, although ye sinners say: “All our sins shall not be searched out and be written down,” nevertheless they shall write down all your sins every day.” {Some of the heavenly host are scribes, writing down everything you do and say.}

“8And now I show unto you that light and darkness, day and night, see all your sins.”

{God, in His love and mercy, is highlighting the difference between good and evil, showing you the things you do wrong by putting you in situations designed to evoke your traditional sinful responses. Recognize them and repent*.}

“9Be not godless in your hearts, and lie not and alter not the words of uprightness, nor charge with lying the idols; for all your lying and all your godlessness issue not in {do not yield} righteousness but in great sin.

“10And now I know this mystery, that sinners will alter and pervert the words of righteousness in many ways, and will speak wicked words, and lie, and practice great deceits, and write books concerning their words.

“11But when they write down truthfully all my words in their languages, and do not change or minish ought {diminish anything} from my words but write them all down truthfully—all that I first testified concerning them.

“12Then, I know another mystery, that books will be given to the righteous and the wise to become a cause of joy and uprightness and much wisdom.

“13And to them shall the books be given, and they shall believe in them and rejoice over them, and then shall all the righteous who have learnt therefrom all the paths of uprightness be recompensed.’” {The righteous who learn all the ways to be righteous from these books will be rewarded.}

“CHAPTER 105

“1In those days the Lord {God the Father} bade (them) to summon and testify to the children of earth concerning their wisdom: Show (it) unto them; for ye are their guides, and a recompense over the whole earth.

“2For I and My son will be united with them for ever in the paths of uprightness in their lives; and ye shall have peace: rejoice, ye children of uprightness. Amen.”  

“Fragment of the Book of Noah”

{incorporated as part of Enoch}

“CHAPTER 106

“1And after some days my {Enoch’s} son Methuselah took a wife for his son Lamech, and she became pregnant by him and bore a son {Noah}.

“2And his body was white as snow and red as the blooming of a rose, and the hair of his head †and his long locks were white as wool, and his eyes beautiful†. And when he opened his eyes, he lighted up the whole house like the sun, and the whole house was very bright.

“3And thereupon he arose in the hands of the midwife, opened his mouth, and †conversed with† the Lord of righteousness.

“4And his father Lamech was afraid of him and fled, and came to his father Methuselah.

“5And he said unto him: ‘I have begotten a strange son, diverse from and unlike man, and resembling the sons of the God of heaven; and his nature is different and he is not like us, and his eyes are as the rays of the sun, and his countenance is glorious.” {In other words, the description of his son Noah is literal, not figurative.}

“6And it seems to me that he is not sprung from me but from the angels, and I fear that in his days a wonder may be wrought on the earth.

“7And now, my father, I am here to petition thee and implore thee that thou mayest go to Enoch, our father, and learn from him the truth, for his dwelling-place is amongst the angels.’

“8And when Methuselah heard the words of his son, he came to me {Enoch} to the ends of the earth; for he had heard that I was there, and he cried aloud, and I heard his voice and I came to him. And I said unto him: ‘Behold, here am I, my son, wherefore {why} hast thou come to me?’

“9And he answered and said: ‘Because of a great cause of anxiety have I come to thee, and because of a disturbing vision have I approached.

“10And now, my father, hear me: unto Lamech my son there hath been born a son, the like of whom there is none {he doesn’t look like anyone else’s son} and his nature is not like man’s nature, and the colour of his body is whiter than snow and redder than the bloom of a rose, and the hair of his head is whiter than white wool, and his eyes are like the rays of the sun, and he opened his eyes and thereupon lighted up the whole house.

“11And he arose in the hands of the midwife, and opened his mouth and blessed the Lord of heaven.”

{At birth, Noah stood up and spoke legibly. Add this to his strange coloring and eyes that literally lit up the whole house like a 10,000-watt bulb, and it’s easy to understand why Lamech thought Noah’s true father must be an angel.}

“12And his father Lamech became afraid and fled to me, and did not believe that he was sprung from him, but that he was in the likeness of the angels of heaven; and behold I have come to thee that thou mayest {might} make known to me the truth.’”

{Lamech and Methuselah couldn’t figure it out between them, but they knew that Enoch walked so closely with God that he would have to know the answer, or that he could ask God and get the answer.}

“13And I, Enoch, answered and said unto him: ‘The Lord will do a new thing on the earth, and this I have already seen in a vision, and make known to thee that in the generation of my father Jared some of the angels of heaven transgressed {deliberately sinned against} the word of the Lord.

“14And behold they commit sin and transgress the law, and have united themselves with women and commit sin with them, and have married some of them, and have begot children by them.

“15Yea, there shall come a great destruction over the whole earth, and there shall be a deluge and a great destruction for one year.”

{Jared was 162 when Enoch was born; Enoch was 65 when Methuselah was born; Methuselah was 187 when Lamech was born; Lamech was 182 when Noah was born; and Noah was 600 when the Earth was flooded. So it only took somewhere between 1,034 and 1,196 years from the first of the Nephilim [neff-ill-EEM] (offspring of evil, fallen angels and human women) for sin to get so bad that God had to destroy life and start over. Adam, the first man, was 460 years old when Jared was born, so there were 1,656 years of mankind’s history at the flood.}

“16And this son who has been born unto you shall be left on the earth, and his three children shall be saved with him: when all mankind that are on the earth shall die [he and his sons shall be saved].

“17And they shall produce on the earth giants not according to the spirit, but according to the flesh, and there shall be a great punishment on the earth, and the earth shall be cleansed from all impurity.”

{The original Nephilim giants were offspring of spirit-being angels (according to the spirit). They were all killed in the flood judgment. Their eternal spirits were condemned by God to be confined to the earth, not allowed access to the second heaven where angels live. God also decreed that they would be evil spirits on the earth. (See my previous post, The Nephilim Are Here. Again.) This time around, the Nephilim evil spirits have managed to reproduce a new race of Nephilim (some giants and some not) through genetic manipulation of human DNA (according to the flesh).}

“18And now make known to thy son Lamech that he who has been born is in truth his son, and call his name Noah; for he shall be left to you, and he and his sons shall be saved from the destruction, which shall come upon the earth on account of all the sin and all the unrighteousness, which shall be consummated on the earth in his days.”

{Verses 15-18 prophesy about the great flood. The story of Noah is told in Genesis 5:28 – 9:28.}

“19And after that there shall be still more unrighteousness than that which was first consummated on the earth; for I know the mysteries of the holy ones; for He, the Lord, has showed me and informed me, and I have read (them) in the heavenly tablets.”

{No wonder God is passing judgment on every nation of the Earth! There have been approximately 4,300 years of human history after the flood—3.5 to 4 times as many years for the Nephilim to again increase wickedness. Mankind has gotten so bad that it’s actually worse now—or shortly will be as the evil continues to increase—than it was when it was so bad he had to kill everyone on the planet except for Noah’s family. Please see my earlier post, The Nephilim Are Here. Again. There is a lot of important, relevant information in that post.}

“CHAPTER 107

“1And I saw written on them that generation upon generation shall transgress, till a generation of righteousness arises, and transgression is destroyed and sin passes away from the earth, and all manner of good comes upon it.” {The generation of righteousness is now upon the earth.}

“2And now, my son, go and make known to thy son Lamech that this son, which has been born, is in truth his son, and that (this) is no lie.’

“3And when Methuselah had heard the words of his father Enoch—for he had shown to him everything in secret—he returned and showed (them) to him and called the name of that son Noah; for he will comfort the earth after all the destruction.”  

“An Appendix to the Book of Enoch  

“CHAPTER 108

“1Another book which Enoch wrote for his son Methuselah and for those who will come after him, and keep the law in the last days.”

{Technically a second book, but included in Enoch in The Apochrypha, it was written for Methuselah and us. The “law” could perhaps more appropriately be translated “teaching;” it refers to God’s word, which teaches mankind how He wants us to be and act. Advice: Be that. Do that.}

“2Ye who have done good shall wait for those days till an end is made of those who work evil; and an end of the might of the transgressors.”

{Know that evil will perish. No matter how bad it gets, the power of evil men, Nephilim, and other genetically modified creatures of abomination will be stopped. Read the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible. We win.}

“3And wait ye indeed till sin has passed away, for their names shall be blotted out of the book of life and out of the holy books, and their seed shall be destroyed for ever, and their spirits shall be slain, and they shall cry and make lamentation in a place that is a chaotic wilderness, and in the fire shall they burn; for there is no earth there.

“4And I saw there something like an invisible cloud; for by reason of its depth I could not look over, and I saw a flame of fire blazing brightly, and things like shining mountains circling and sweeping to and fro.

“5And I asked one of the holy angels who was with me and said unto him: ‘What is this shining thing? for it is not a heaven but only the flame of a blazing fire, and the voice of weeping and crying and lamentation and strong pain.’” {Enoch was astute enough to recognize that this was a spiritual place, for he compared it to Heaven rather than Earth.}

“6And he said unto me: ‘This place which thou seest—here are cast the spirits of sinners and blasphemers, and of those who work wickedness, and of those who pervert everything that the Lord hath spoken through the mouth of the prophets—(even) the things that shall be.” {You surely already know, so to state the obvious, he saw Hell.}

“7For some of them are written and inscribed above in the heaven, in order that the angels may read them and know that which shall befall the sinners, and the spirits of the humble, and of those who have afflicted their bodies, and been recompensed by God; and of those who have been put to shame by wicked men:

“8Who love God and loved neither gold nor silver nor any of the good things which are in the world, but gave over their bodies to torture.

“9Who, since they came into being, longed not after earthly food, but regarded everything as a passing breath, and lived accordingly, and the Lord tried them much, and their spirits were found pure so that they should bless His name.

“10And all the blessings destined for them I have recounted in the books.” {So many blessings await us that it has taken books, plural, to record them all.} “And he hath assigned them their recompense {reward}, because they have been found to be such as loved heaven more than their life in the world, and though they were trodden under foot of wicked men, and experienced abuse and reviling from them and were put to shame, yet they blessed Me.

“11And now I will summon the spirits of the good {righteous} who belong to the generation of light, and I will transform those who were born in darkness, who in the flesh were not recompensed with such honour as their faithfulness deserved.

“12And I will bring forth in shining light those who have loved My holy name, and I will seat each on the throne of his honour.

“13And they shall be resplendent for times {years} without number {eternity}; for righteousness is the judgement of God; for to the faithful He will give faithfulness in the habitation of upright paths.

“14And they shall see those who were, born in darkness led into darkness {Hell}, while the righteous shall be resplendent.

“15And the sinners shall cry aloud and see them resplendent, and they indeed will go where days and seasons are prescribed for them.’” {Those whose eternal destiny is Hell will see with their eyes the bride of Christ shining with His glory as we are taken up to join Him in the clouds.}

Your Checklist

Here’s a summary of what God is looking for in you. These would be good to make priorities in your life:

• Fear not. (104:6) The command to fear not, to not hold anything in awe other than God, is one of the most often-repeated commands in scripture. If you fear anything other than God, then you don’t trust God to keep you safe.
• Don’t be companions with the sinners, meaning don’t join with them in doing the wrong they do. (104:6) Love them, pray for their salvation, and share the gospel with them.
• Don’t participate in the violence with the wicked, but stay far away from it. (104:6) For example, if you happen to be participating in a peaceful protest that turns violent, that violence will not be Godly. Leave, and pray.
• Study God’s word, the Holy Bible. (108:1) Do more than just read it. Feast on it. Delve deeply into it. Pray for the Holy Spirit, Who reveals truth (John 16:13a), to give you wisdom, understanding, and the fear of the Lord. (Job 28:28; Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 15:33; Isaiah 11:2)
• Afflict your body. (108:7) This does not mean self torture or mutilation, both of which are evil. (Leviticus 19:28, 21:5) But deny your body some of what it craves for the purpose of focusing on what is right: Fast, meaning go without food, or without food and water, during daylight hours and delay eating until after sunset. (Matthew 6:16-18, Luke 5:35, 18:12) Get your body into the good physical condition that God intended. (1 Corinthians 9:27)
• Love God more than anything. (108:8) (Deuteronomy 6:5) Love Him more than wealth or other good things. (Joshua 23:10,11; Matthew 6:19-21, 10:37; Luke 16:13; John 14:15,21,23)
• Love Him so much that you would rather submit to torture than deny Him. (108:8) (Matthew 22:37,38; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; John 12:25, 15:13; Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 11:35)
• Look to Heaven, not Earth. (108:9) Everything here is temporary and not worth obsessing on. Focus on eternal things. (Matthew 6:19,20)
• Purify your spirit. (108:9) You do this in partnership with God. Pray that He grant you a pure spirit. (Psalm 51:10; Matthew 5:8) To do this, He will put you through His Refiner’s Fire—you will be tempted and tested, put through whatever trials the Father knows are needed in your case to purify you. (Deuteronomy 13:3b; Romans 8:28; James 1:12-15) In this process, it’s up to you to recognize what problems you have that He’s showing you through those trials (anger, doubt, fear, greed, whatever) and then repent*, forgive*, and turn it over to Jesus. Don’t worry. If you miss a lesson one way, God is creative enough to show you in a different way. And remember, He Who has begun a good work in you will carry it through to completion in the day of Jesus Chris. (Philippians 1:6)
• Bless God’s name. (108:9) Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. (Psalms 103:1, 145:21; John 4:23, 24)
• Love heaven more than your life (lifestyle) on Earth. (108:10) (John 12:25; Revelation 2:10)
• Bless God. (108:10) Even in the midst of your troubles. (Job 1:20b-22)
• Love God’s holy name. (108:12) (Psalms 33:21)

*Forgive

Forgive means to choose in your heart to release someone from the obligation or consequence of their wrong. It wipes the “you owe me” off the record, and means you refrain from talking about the wrong; you “forget” to mention it. It does not mean that you literally forget the wrong, although you can pray for God to erase the memory after you forgive. Nor does it mean that you trust the person who wronged you if that person is untrustworthy. When you forgive from the heart, it releases you to joyfully pray blessings for that person.

If the person who committed the wrong asks for your forgiveness, freely give it to them. But if they do not ask for forgiveness, it’s best to keep the forgiving between you and God. (They may not have realized the wrong, or may not believe it was wrong, and that could start a whole new problem.)

Nobody deserves to be forgiven, but everybody needs to be forgiven, and everyone needs to forgive. You don’t forgive because they deserve it, or because it doesn’t matter, or because it wasn’t a really bad wrong. You forgive everyone of every wrong against you (or your family, friends…) because God tells you to forgive others as He forgives you. (Matthew 6:12, 18:21,22,32-35; Luke 11:4, 17:3,4)

Every command of God has its blessing(s) if you obey. The blessings of forgiveness are many. When you forgive, it:

• Closes an otherwise open door to Satan.
• Allows God to forgive you.
• Turns your offense, anger, and fear into joy, peace, and love.
• Prevents offense from turning to resentment.
• Prevents resentment from turning to bitterness.
• Prevents bitterness from turning to disease.
• Prevents anger from turning to rage.
• Prevents rage from turning to disease.
• Prevents fear from turning to disease.
• Allows the possibility of restoration in relationship.
• Restores your right standing with God to one of holiness, righteousness. (If you are a saint and there are no other pending forgiveness or repentance issues between you.)

Of course, there are also curses for failing to obey God’s commands. If you refuse to forgive, you create the possibility for the opposites of each blessing above:

• Opens a door to Satan, giving him legal right to mess with you.
• Interferes with God’s forgiveness of your wrongs.
• Breeds offense, anger, and fear; blocks joy, peace, and love.
• Opens the door to disease.

If for any reason you still just can’t bring yourself to forgive someone, then please pray about it. Ask God to soften your heart and enable you to forgive. Thank Him for the things He’s forgiven you for; it helps to specifically name several. Ask Him whether you are believing any untruth, and to show you the truth if you are. Continue to pray that way whenever the unforgivable incident occurs to your mind. Persevere and sooner or later, that hard crust over your heart will be melted, the once-impossible forgiveness will flow from you like liquid love, and you will be healed.

*Repent

To repent means to have a change of heart about your wrong attitude, emotion, thought, words, behavior, or lack of behavior. Enough to confess the wrong to God, the person you wronged, or a trusted saint (James 5:16); to apologize; and to stop engaging in that wrong. If you repent and then slip up and do it again, repent again. Repeat as necessary until the new behavior is automatic. Each time you repent, God is righteous to forgive you. (1 John 1:9) If you are a saint and there are no other repentance or forgiveness issues pending between you and God, then this act also restores your status as holy and righteous in God’s sight.

If you make a vow or promise (especially to God) and then break it, you must still fulfill that promise even after having repented for breaking it. (Deuteronomy 23:23; Psalms 50:14, 56:12, 65:1, 76:11; Ecclesiastes 5:4; Jeremiah 44:25; James 5:12)

Just as with forgiveness, repentance carries with it the blessings of God. And refusal to repent – deliberately choosing to continue in known sin – carries with it the curses of God. In God’s sight, you can be 98% holy, but if you don’t eliminate that 2% sin in your life, then you are lukewarm and he is about to spit you out. (Revelation 3:16) Scripture commands us to be holy, for God is holy. (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15,16) God would not command us to do something that is impossible for us to do. If you struggle with this (we all do), then earnestly seek His face and ask His assistance. He will help you.

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Quotations from the book of Enoch:
(2011-11-15). The Researchers Library of Ancient Texts: Volume One The Apocrypha Includes the Books of Enoch, Jasher, and Jubilees (Kindle Locations 59-63 and 2352-2474). Defender Publishing LLC. Kindle Edition.