In a time when division runs rampant—even in the church—and believers shred each other publicly for differing opinions, one man bravely steps out to call Christians to unity in the One who binds them all together—Jesus Christ. Author Dr. James W. Walraven dares to suggest that Christians make wiser choices, forgive one another, and mature in their faith.
Walraven, author of Will God Save Everyone, doesn’t shy away from tough topics. He suggests that though doctrines diverge, rather than separate over differences, Christians rally around the truth of the gospel—believers should treat others better than themselves. In a me-first, turbulent culture, the biblical call to love one another is almost a radical concept, but Walraven is convinced unity can be achieved.
“Spiritual maturity is critical when it comes to recognizing and resisting the many false teachings that are being promoted,” Walraven says. “As the world becomes increasingly hostile toward the Christian faith, the need for unity will be increasingly important.”
Dr. Walraven’s new book, One in Christ is written with strength through supporting Scriptures and other resources, yet with personal vulnerability, each chapter concludes with thought-provoking personal challenges designed to move believers closer to oneness in Christ.
If there is one book that seems to cause near endless controversy it is the book of first Enoch. But two other Enochs exist as well: second and third Enoch. In this post we will look briefly at second and third Enoch and then turn our attention to the far more important first Enoch in the next post. All told, the three books are roughly half the length of the New Testament.
The only complete manuscript of second Enoch is found in Old Slavonic, a liturgical language used in the nineth century, centered around Thessalonica in Greece, as well as the first Bulgarian empire.
Second Enoch was probably written sometime between 100 BC–100 AD. It tells of Enoch’s rapture and travels through the ten heavenly dimensions. In it, Enoch also learns about Creation. After being in heaven for sixty days, and writing what he saw in 366 scrolls, he comes back to earth for thirty days. He then reveals all that he has learned, and upon completing his revelation is permanently taken back to heaven.
Second Enoch, while perhaps being of some historical interest, from a biblical perspective, has no doctrinal value. The content is sheer speculation.
As for third Enoch, the book claims to be written by Ishmael ben Elisha ha-Kohen or Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha. It probably was written between 0–200 AD, but there is also speculation that it might have been written anonymously as late as sometime between 500–600 AD. It is not biblical in any sense and is far more fanciful than second Enoch.
The author has a vision, is transported up to heaven, and sees Enoch. He finds that Enoch has been translated into one of the highest-ranking angels: Metatron.* At the end of chapter 12, Metatron is even referred to as “the lesser YHWH”. Biblically, such a statement is blasphemous.
Chapter 22 includes the confusing reference to “the arches of the Bozv.” The only reference to “Bozv” is found here, within third Enoch. There is some speculation that the arches relate in some way to God’s Shekinah glory, but no one knows. In any case the height of those arches translates to over 3.8 million miles.
Chapter 48 states that Metatron has 70 names, but 105 names are then given, many of them ending with “yah”. That too is potentially blasphemous since “yah” in Hebrew is one of the names for God, a shortened form of “Yahweh” (a name meaning “servant of Yah” or something similar would certainly be ok). Overall, the book consists mostly of Metatron describing various ranks of angels and the supposed court of heaven.
Although touted as being deliberately excluded from Scripture, no real argument exists for including either second or third Enoch as part of Scripture. Both directly contradict Scripture. Biblically, unlike second Enoch, Enoch does not return to earth. As for third Enoch, its highly unbiblical and blasphemous nature is self-evident.
Neither second nor third Enoch have any biblical value.
*What might we think about Enoch’s supposed new name, Metatron? We tend to think that the names used in the movies for super-heroes and villains is somehow new. One wonders of possible spiritual connections regarding those names and concepts.
The Book of Jubilees. Jubilees has been marketed as a missing secret biblical book, one of the many books omitted from Scripture. It was probably written between 160–150 BC, by a Jewish priest or scribe seeking to defend traditional Jewish Law against Hellenism. What complicates things a bit is that it is included in the Bible of some of the Ethiopian churches.
Jubilees is a retelling of Genesis, but the timeframe is set in terms of 49 year jubilee cycles, hence its name. After seven cycles of seven years Israel was to have a fiftieth jubilee year. Proberty was to revert to the original family ownership. Indeed in essence property could only be leased with payment being based on the number of years until the next jubilee when it would revert back to its original owner.
Many other special rules applied. For example no sowing of crops was to be done. The land was to rest every seventh year, and rest for a second year in a row during the 50th jubilee year. Israel was to trust that God would provide during those two years. See Leviticus 25:10–30 for details about the jubilee year. Israel never observed letting the land rest during that seventh year or the jubilee years. Oddly, in the “Book of Jubilees,” while the 49 year cycle is maintained, the jubilee cycle doesn’t include the 50th year (at least in the timeline of the edition referenced here).
There are numerous differences between Jubilees and Genesis. In the first chapter, the “angel of the presence of the Lord” tells Moses on Mt. Sinai all that will befall the Israelites. The creation of the angels becomes part of the first day of Creation. The Mosaic Law is backdated into Jubilees, and both Adam and Eve had to be ritually purified after God created them. Did God created them unclean in some way? Why after God’s very good perfect creation, would they need to be ritually purified? As there was no sin at that point, what did they need purificiaton from? That makes no sense.
In addition, Noah expounds on part of what would become the Law, and the Feast of Weeks is backdated into Noah’s time. For details on the actual Feast of Weeks, see Exodus 34:24ff.
Prior to the Fall, all animals could talk. Corruption comes not through Adam and Eve’s sin buth through the birth of the Nephilim, fathered by the Watchers. Evil spirits—the dead Nephilim—pollute the post-flood world. Legendary tales of Abram’s rejection of Terha’s idols are also added in.
Events recorded in Genesis are often skipped in Jubilees. Some of the omitted items include: the consequences of the Fall; Shechem’s rape of Dinah and Simeon and Levi’s murderous response; Tamar’s deception and Judah getting her pregnant; Jacob’s wrestling with what is best understood as the angel of the Lord; and Jacob’s blessing of his 12 sons. Notice that much of what is missing would be considered embarrassing within Jewish history. It also lets Adam and Eve off the hook for their choice that brought sin into this world.
When looking at all of the modifications found in Jubilees compared to Genesis, coupled with the very late date of its writing, it is clear that Jubilees is not inspired Scripture. It was not part of the Old Testament Scriptures. Regarding its placement in some Ethiopian Bibles, it is worth remembering that in ancient times Ethiopia was an isolated region, having little contact with other churches.
As with other supposedly suppressed “biblical” books, Jubilees does not offer a “true” accurate account of events. While it may be of some historical interest regarding Jewish thought in the second century prior to Christ’s birth, it is not Scripture. If read as supposed “truth,” as its marketers would wish, there is a real danger of it causing confusion, of drawing people away from what Scripture actually says.
In no way, shape, or form is the “Book of Jubilees” worth the hype and attention it is getting.
If there is any extra-biblical book that has caused controversy over whether it should be included or not, it is first Enoch. Favored by some conspiracy theorists and fringe Christian groups, a loud vocal minority trumpets the supposed importance of this book. The only complete manuscript is found in the Ethiopian Bible. Many fragments of it are also in the Dead Sea Scrolls, along with others in Greek, Coptic, and Latin. First Enoch was a well-known book. It was written between 300 BC–100 AD, although many say it was written between 200 BC and 0 BC
Should 1 Enoch be considered Scripture, given that it is part of the Ethiopian Bible? As we’ve seen, in ancient times Ethiopia was an isolated region with relatively little contact with other churches. The Ethiopian church developed independently, with its own traditions.
Two things about 1 Enoch stand out. First, it purports to provide extra-biblical information about the Watchers, the angelic beings that took human women as wives, resulting in the birth of the Nephilim. Second, Jude 1:14–15 appears to quote 1 Enoch, as Jude 14–15 while not an exact match, closely resembles 1 Enoch 1:9.
1 Enoch 1:9 (The Complete Enoch): And behold, He comes with myriads of His holy ones to execute judgment on all. And to destroy all the ungodly, And to convict all flesh of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed. And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
Jude 1:14–15 (ESV): It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
The biggest difference is that Jude does not include “And to destroy all the ungodly.” That reference in Enoch is undoubtedly to the forthcoming destructive world-wide flood of Noah’s time. That Jude does not precisely follow the text found in 1 Enoch is important.
Was Jude quoting 1 Enoch? Advocates for 1 Enoch insist that Jude was, and thereby insist that 1 Enoch should be included as Scripture. But, was he quoting it? Ii is quite possible that Jude was indeed quoting it. As previously stated, it is highly likely that early Christians were aware of 1 Enoch. It has been suggested that as Paul referenced a secular poet in his preaching at Athens, Jude was using 1 Enoch to relate to his readers. It is also theorized that both Jude and the writer of 1 Enoch were referencing earlier source material. Many ideas have been presented; all are hypothetical conjectures.
Whatever the case, in the end it doesn’t matter. It has no impact on the authority or inerrancy of Scripture. Even given that Jude was quoting 1 Enoch, only what he quoted would then be included as inspired, since all Scripture is God-breathed, and Jude 14–15 is part of Scripture. It certainly does not automatically follow that 1 Enoch is an inspired book. It is here that the difference between the two verses in Jude and the corresponding verse in 1 Enoch is important.
The resulting arguments that insist Enoch should be considered Scripture, are something of a sidetrack. As we will see in the next two posts, 1 Enoch cannot be considered Scripture. First, some of what is said in 1 Enoch contradicts Scripture by letting humans mostly off the hook when it comes to the origin of human sin. Second, we will also see that 1 Enoch contains serious and obvious errors. Those facts alone disqualify 1 Enoch from consideration as God-breathed inspired Scripture.