Eternal Hope: 25–30

Part 25

Introduction

Dating the Pseudepigrapha presents a bit of a conundrum: Most acknowledged scholars tend to be liberal in their critical work. For example, because Daniel prophesizes so accurately the future, these scholars tend to date Daniel around the second century, BC, after the events prophesized by Daniel. They also tend to conclude that biblical writers borrowed from other religions rather than vice versa. Because the Pseudepigrapha uses phrases and language similar to the New Testament, these scholars argue that the literature was mostly written during the years before the coming of Christ; the New Testament writers borrowed from the Pseudepigrapha rather than vice versa.

If the authors of the Pseudepigrapha borrowed from the New Testament, as conservative scholars are wont to conclude, we lose an explanation for where the New Testament received its fully developed eternal hope. The liberal scholars solve this mystery when dating the Pseudepigrapha prior to the time of Christ, which in turns makes much of the New Testament unoriginal. Many, if not most conservative scholars consider the Pseudepigrapha as the fictions of Christians of the second and third centuries. You will see this dilemma as we analyze the various works comprising the Pseudepigrapha.

Irrespective of where you place these writings in the history of Israel, you still face the question of where the Pseudepigrapha writers received the promise of an eternal hope, if they did not borrow from the New Testament writers; either way the problem of the origin of an eternal hope remains unanswered. All we know is, from the Babylonian Exile to the ministry of our Lord, there developed a fully mature theology of an eternal hope, with all of its various components.

Continued Reflections on The Ethiopian Enoch

Charles cuts from Enoch chapters 37 – 70, dates them between 94 – 64 BC, and calls them “Similitudes.” You find in this section a rather startling account of Messiah and His mission. To begin, He is called “Son of Man:” “And from henceforth there shall be nothing corruptible; for that Son of Man has appeared, and has seated himself on the throne of his glory, and all evil shall pass away before his face, and the word of that Son of Man shall go forth and be strong before the Lord of Spirits.”[410] In Him dwells all wisdom and He will bring to light all things: “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, 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.”[411]

To Him God delegates all judgment: “And he sat on the throne of his glory, and the sum of judgment was given unto the Son of Man, and he caused the sinners to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of the earth, and those who have led the world astray.”[412] At the judgment He calls all to account: 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.”[413] “And these measures shall reveal all the secrets of the depths of the earth, and those who have been destroyed by the desert, and those who have been devoured by the beasts, and those who have been devoured by the fish of the sea, that they may return and stay themselves

On the day of the Elect One; for none shall be destroyed before the Lord of Spirits, and none can be destroyed.”[414]

Heaven and earth are transformed and God’s people enjoy the mansions prepared for them: “Then will I 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 evil-doers shall not set foot thereon.”[415] “And after that I saw all the secrets of the heavens, and how the kingdom is divided, and how the actions of men are weighed in the balance. And there I saw the mansions of the elect and the mansions of the holy, and mine eyes saw there all the sinners being driven from thence which deny the name of the Lord of Spirits, and being dragged off: and they could not abide because of the punishment which proceeds from the Lord of Spirits.”[416]

Thus, this writer portrays Christ very much like the New Testament in general and Revelation in particular: “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, and his glory is for ever and ever, and his might unto all generations.”[417]

We know that the Epistle of Jude borrowed from Enoch rather than vice versa: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”[418] Jude says he quotes from Enoch: “And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment upon 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.”[419] This, of course, means that Enoch had to predate Jude.

Reflections on The Testament of Abraham

Abraham is ostensibly 995 years old when Michael comes to him with news that he must die. In the beginning Abraham refuses to relinquish his spirit, and when he relents God rewards him with a vision of the world of spirits. In the vision Abraham sees another spirit “weighed in the balance and found wanting,” prays for him, resulting in that spirit entering Paradise.[420] From where did the author get the idea of a Paradise after death? Was he borrowing from the story told by Jesus of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31?

Reflections on The Testament of Job

Sitis, the wife of Job, grieves for her children. In a vision, Job sees their children crowned with heavenly beauty. On hearing this, Sitis dies and joins her children. We see an obvious belief in the eternal, but no date can be set on when the book was written, and no indication that a Christian wrote it.

Reflections on The Sibylline Oracles

Scholars do not know the origin of these oracles. From early times people looked to oracular utterances for divine guidance. The compilation of oracles contained in this work probably covers a period from 160 BC to the fifth century AD, although even this cannot be stated with certainty. During the days of the Maccabean revolt eschatology began to play a prominent role in Jewish thinking. “They testify to the deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the present conditions among the most loyal spirits of the Jews, and the confident hope that the apparent injustice of God’s dealings in the world as shown in the triumph of His enemies, would be righted within no very long time by the vindication of His Divine purpose for men.”[421]

The Sibylline Oracles can be classed as Pagan, Jewish, or Christian. In many cases, however, the Christians merely revised or interpolated the Jewish documents, and thus we have two classes of Christian Oracles, those adopted from Jewish sources and those entirely written by Christians.[422]

“Clement of Alexandria quotes freely from all the Jewish books and even represents St. Paul as appealing to the Sibyl (Strom. Vi), and Celsus (ap. Orig.v, 4) is moved to ridicule by their frequent use in Christian writers … Augustine is aware of the prejudice against them [Sibyl], but in discussing their claims he finds nothing in them pertaining to the worship of false gods and he gravely admits the Sibyl to the number of those who belong to the City of God (de Civ. Dei xviii.23).”[423]

In the last days a comet calls attention to the end: “In the west a star shall shine, which they shall call a comet, a messenger to men of the sword, famine, death, and the destruction of ruling men and great notables.”[424] A war, similar to that described in Revelation 15-16 and 19, destroys the evil, preserving the godly: “And then a wintry blast shall blow throughout the earth, and the plain shall be filled again with cruel war. For fire shall rain on mortal men from the fields of heaven, fire and blood, water, meteor, darkness, heaven’s night, and consumption in war and a mist over the slain shall destroy at once all kings and the best of men. Then at last war’s piteous ruin shall be stopped and no man shall fight any more with swords or steel, nor with javelins either, for these things shall no more be permitted. But the wise people that are left shall have peace, having had trial of evil that later they might rejoice.”[425]

This judgment ushers in a time of blessed peace for the godly: “And then indeed he will raise up his kingdom for all ages over men, he who once gave a holy law to godly men, to all of whom He promised to open out the earth and the world and the portals of the blessed and all joys, and everlasting sense and eternal gladness.”[426] Messiah claims His rightful place as ruler; He establishes what appears to be the New Jerusalem: “For there has come from the plains of heaven a blessed man with the scepter in his hand which God has committed to his clasp: and he has won fair dominion over all and has restored to all the good the wealth which the former men took. And he has destroyed every city from its foundations with sheets of fire, and burnt up the families of men who before wrought evil, and the city which God loved he made more radiant than the stars and the sun and the moon…”[427]

Conclusion

As this literature begins to overlap the Christian era, you can see an increasing emphasis placed on an eschatological hope that includes the individual. But nowhere in any of the Pseudepigrapha do you find a discussion on how God can satisfy His justice in allowing the sinner into heaven. The authors assume those worthy of eternal life live holy lives and thus merit an eternity with God. You don’t find a clear explanation of Jesus’ propitious death until the Pauline epistles.

Grateful for grace,

January 2008

Eternal Hope

Part 26

INTRODUCTION

I fear that this series on Eternal Hope has become too esoteric and tedious for many of you to whom I send this letter. I find the question dealing with the origin of God’s revealing His promise of an eternal hope to the individual intriguing. God’s promise of heaven to the individual believer plays such a central role in our lives, why did He wait so long before recording it in Scripture? And why, since we see evidences of it appearing in the literature between the closing of the Old Testa­ment and the beginning of the New Testament, did He tie it to a work’s right­eousness rather than a gift of His grace? It is my prayer that you will not only think on this with me but cull from this study important ramifications for our lives today.

SHEOL

Sheol is used in the Old Testament as the abode of the dead. Frequently, this state of the dead is called “sleep.” For example: “’But when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place.’ And he said: ‘I will do as thou hast said.’”[428] “And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Behold, thou art about to sleep[429] with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with them.”[430] “And why dost Thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust; and Thou wilt seek me, but I shall not be.”[431] The word “lie” also means “sleep.” “With their poison I will prepare their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may be convulsed, and sleep a perpetual (olam) sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD … And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual (olam) sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.”[432] Jeremiah calls it a “perpetual” or “eternal sleep.”

In the post-Exilic prophets it appears that the righteous must abide in Sheol (apart from God?) until the Messianic Kingdom. Later Sheol is replaced by the doctrine of Paradise or heaven. Because the hope of the individual and nation are so completely intertwined, the individual does not experience the fulfillment of the promise until God inaugurates the Messianic kingdom. This takes place after Daniel’s seventy weeks. [433]

The author of Ethiopic Enoch (1 Enoch) acknowledges the injustice of the wicked sinning with impunity, but argues that God records their evil for the Day of Judg­ment. “And 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. And, 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. And now I show unto you that light and darkness, day and night, see all your sins.”[434] These evil people will be slain in Sheol. “Woe to you who spread evil to your neighbors; for you shall be slain in Sheol.”[435] Note that Sheol is now considered the same as hell. Those sent there can never escape. “And how they have died in prosperity and in wealth, and have not seen tribulation or murder in their life; and they have died in honor, and judgment has not been executed on them during their life. Know ye, that their souls will be made to descend into Sheol and they shall be wretched in their great tribulation. And into darkness and chains and a burning flame where there is grievous judgment shall your spirits enter; and the great judgment shall be for all the generations of the world. Woe to you, for ye shall have no peace.”[436]

REFLECTIONS ON THE TESTAMENT OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS

This work, written toward the end of the power of John Hyrcanus[437] (c. 109 BC), sees the Maccabean dynasty, which by this time had reached its zenith, as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Messianic promises. Hyrcanus combined the three offices of prophet, priest, and king, and thus the Pharisaic party recognized him as the actual Messiah.[438] The Messianic Psalm 110 says, “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent: ‘Thou art a priest for ever after the manner of Melchizedek.’”[439] You will remember that the author of Hebrews quotes this to prove that Christ came to function as our high priest. The Pharisees reasoned the same way in declaring John Hyrcanus the Anointed One, or Messiah.

The author of Jubilees taught that there was no hope for the Gentiles: God had placed them under angelic guardians with the object of accomplishing their destruction (xv.31). Moreover, the Jew who intermarried with them should be put to death, and the man who gave his daughter in marriage to a Gentile should be stoned with stones (xxx.7-17). How different the spirit of the author of the Testaments. A true son of the large-hearted O.T. proph­ets, he proclaims the salvation of the Gentiles. The promised time has come.

The kingdom is already established, and all the Gentiles will be saved through Israel. In the Judgement the conduct of the best heathen will form the norm according to which Israel shall be judged.[440]

Levi plays a special role in this work: “For to Levi the Lord gave the sovereignty… There­fore I command you to hearken to Levi, because he shall know the law of the Lord, and shall give ordinances for judgment and sacrifice for all Israel until the completion of the times of anointed,[441] the High Priest whom the Lord hath declared… he shall bless Israel; and specially Judah, because him hath the Lord chosen to rule over all the peoples. And worship we his Seed, because He shall die for us in wars visible and invisible, and shall be among you an everlasting king.”[442]

The angel reveals to Levi the seven heavens and their meanings: “Hear, then, concerning the seven heavens. The lowest is for this cause more gloomy, in that it is near all the iniquities of men. The second hath fire, snow, ice, ready for the day of the ordinance of the Lord…in it are all the spirits of the retributions for vengeance on the wicked. In the third are the hosts of the armies which are ordained for the Day of Judgment, to work vengeance on the spirits of deceit and of Beliar. And the heavens up to the fourth above these are holy, for in the highest of all dwelleth the Great Glory, in the holy of holies, far above all holiness. In the heaven next to it are the angels of the presence of the Lord, who minister and make propitiation to the Lord for all the ignorances of the righteous;[443] …in the heaven below this are the angels who bear the answers to the angels of the presence of the Lord. And in the heaven next to this are thrones, dominions, in which hymns are ever offered to God. Therefore, whenever the Lord looketh upon us, all of us are shaken; yea, the heavens, and the earth, and the abysses, are shaken at the presence of His majesty; but the sons of men, regarding not these things, sin, and provoke the Most High.”[444]

The prophet Daniel predicts a period of sixty-nine weeks, followed by a week of tribulation, after which the Lord establishes His kingdom. After making reference to the “seventy weeks” Levi is told of the Judgment of the Lord: “And after their punishment shall have come from the Lord, then will the Lord raise up to the priesthood a new Priest, to whom all the words of the Lord shall be revealed; and He shall execute a judgment of truth upon the earth, in the fullness of days…He shall be magnified in the world until His ascen­sion. He shall shine forth as the sun in the earth, and shall drive away all darkness from the world under heaven, and there shall be peace in all the earth. The heavens shall rejoice in His days, and the earth shall be glad, and the clouds shall be joyful, and the knowledge of the Lord shall be poured forth upon the earth, as the water of seas… And in His priesthood shall all sin come to an end, and the lawless shall rest from evil, and the just shall rest in Him. And He shall open the gates of paradise… and He shall give to His saints to eat from the tree of life, and the spirit of holiness shall be on them. And Beliar[445] shall be bound by Him…And the Lord shall rejoice in His children, and the Lord shall be well pleased in His beloved forever.”[446]

According to Benjamin, there will be a general resurrection: “Then shall ye see Enoch, Noah, and Shem, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, arising on the right hand in glad­ness. Then shall we also arise, each one over our tribe, worshipping the King of heaven, who appeared upon the earth in the form of a man of humility. And as many as believed on Him on the earth shall rejoice with Him; and then shall all men arise, some unto glory and some unto shame. And the Lord shall judge Israel first, even for the wrong they did unto Him; for when He appeared as a deliverer, God in the flesh, they believed Him not. And then shall He judge all the Gentiles, as many as believed Him not when He appeared upon earth.”[447]

CONCLUSION

The major issue in dispute in the scholarly literature remains whether The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs is a Jewish document with light Christian editing (which is removable with judicious redaction criticism) or a Christian document that has heavily reworked various Jewish sources. Credible scholars can be sited for both positions. “Cave placed the composition of the Testaments about a.d.192, but concedes a much earlier origin to the first portion of the work… He is a Christian awakening to the real purport of the Old-Testament Scriptures, and anxious to lead rather than drive his brethren after the flesh to the discovery of Him ‘concerning whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write:’ not a ‘Judaizing Christian,’ as Cave imagined, but the reverse, -a Christianizing Jew… The author of this book was anxious to show that the twelve patriarchs were twelve believers in the Paschal Lamb, and that they died in Christian penitence and faith.”[448] This scholar argues that the purpose of this Jewish author was the conversion to Christianity of his countrymen and thus employs the names of the patriarchs as a vehicle for winning their descendents to Christ. Strong support for this position can be seen in the Testament of Judah: “And I saw that from Judah was born a virgin wearing a linen garment, and from her was born a lamb, and on his left hand there was, as it were, a lion: and all the beasts rushed against him, and the lamb overcame them, and destroyed them, and trod them under foot.”[449]

By way of contrast, R. H. Charles dates this work, in part, in the latter half of the second century BC, and the rest in the first century BC.[450] He believes this book to be the work of a Pharisee, writing during the reign of John Hyrcanus I (2nd century BC). Only Pharisaism survived the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD), and we find no trace of this book in the life of Judaism after the cessation of the Jewish state. The reference to Christian themes probably places its origin in the 2nd century AD.

Thus, we see that whether the author’s intent is to Christianize Jews or to promote messianic Judaism, the literature that exists between the closing of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament presents to its readers a promise of heaven and a detailed eternal hope not present in the Old Testament. Even in Levi hope links more with works’ righteousness than with God’s grace.

May, 2008

Dear Co-Laborer,

Eternal Hope

Part 27

INTRODUCTION

Summarizing what we find in the strictly Jewish and pre-Christian Apocalypses: “With these writers the doctrine of the Last Things is always brought into close relationship to that of the Messiah. His coming is the signal for the end of the world, the last judgment, the punishment of the wicked and the reward of the righteous.”[451] Up to this point I have found no hint in the Old Testament, Apocry­pha, and Pseudepigrapha (with the exception of David’s statement: “How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!”[452]) that suggests people may relate to God on the basis of grace.

REFLECTIONS ON 2 ESDRAS, also called 4 EZRA

Charles reasons that it was written in the first century AD.[453] Similar in many ways to Baruch, 4 Ezra nevertheless represented a Christian worldview while Baruch a Jewish worldview. 4 Ezra contains a great deal of Apocalyptic material: The book opens much like Habakkuk, asking the question, how can Israel’s continuous affliction be reconciled with God’s justice?

First note that Ezra pictures a God who cares little for the human race as such but does commit Himself to the righteous. Those granted an eternal hope are few in number; the vast majority are alienated from God and condemned: “For whereas you have said that the righteous are not many but few, while the ungodly abound, hear the explanation for this. ‘If you have just a few precious stones, will you add to them lead and clay?’ I said, ‘Lord, how could that be?’ And he said to me, ‘Not only that, but ask the earth and she will tell you; defer to her, and she will declare it to you. Say to her, ‘You produce gold and silver and brass, and also iron and lead and clay; but silver is more abundant than gold, and brass than silver, and iron than brass, and lead than iron, and clay than lead.’ Judge therefore which things are precious and desirable, those that are abun­dant or those that are rare?’ I said, ‘O sovereign Lord, what is plentiful is of less worth, for what is more rare is more precious.’ He answered me and said, ‘Weigh within yourself what you have thought, for he who has what is hard to get rejoices more than he who has what is plentiful. So also will be the judgment which I have promised; for I will rejoice over the few who shall be saved, because it is they who have made my glory to prevail now, and through them my name has now been honored. And I will not grieve over the multitude of those who perish; for it is they who are now like a mist, and are similar to a flame and smoke — they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are extinguished.’ I replied and said, ‘O earth, what have you brought forth, if the mind is made out of the dust like the other created things! For it would have been better if the dust itself had not been born, so that the mind might not have been made from it.”[454] I again note we find no hint of God’s grace in salvation; their works determine people’s eternal destiny.

Similar to the Apocalyptic passages found in Matthew 24-25 and Revela­tion, God interprets a dream of Ezra as follows: “This is the interpretation of the vision: As for your seeing a man come up from the heart of the sea, this is he whom the Most High has been keeping for many ages, who will himself deliver his creation; and he will direct those who are left. And as for your seeing wind and fire and a storm coming out of his mouth, and as for his not holding a spear or weapon of war, yet destroying the onrushing multitude which came to conquer him, this is the interpretation: Behold, the days are coming when the Most High will deliver those who are on the earth. And bewil­derment of mind shall come over those who dwell on the earth. And they shall plan to make war against one another, city against city, place against place, people against people, and kingdom against kingdom. And when these things come to pass and the signs occur which I showed you before, then my Son will be revealed, whom you saw as a man coming up from the sea. And when all the nations hear his voice, every man shall leave his own land and the warfare that they have against one another; and an innumer­able multitude shall be gathered together, as you saw, desiring to come and conquer him. But he shall stand on the top of Mount Zion. And Zion will come and be made manifest to all people, prepared and built, as you saw the mountain carved out without hands.”[455]

Paralleling Paul’s teaching on the resurrection at the return of Christ, 4 Ezra says, “At that time friends shall make war on friends like enemies, and the earth and those who inhabit it shall be terrified, and the springs of the fountains shall stand still, so that for three hours they shall not flow. ‘And it shall be that whoever remains after all that I have foretold to you shall himself be saved and shall see my salvation and the end of my world. And they shall see the men who were taken up, who from their birth have not tasted death; and the heart of the earth’s inhabitants shall be changed and converted to a different spirit. For evil shall be blotted out, and deceit shall be quenched; faithful­ness shall flourish, and corruption shall be overcome, and the truth, which has been so long without fruit, shall be revealed.’”[456]

Messiah returns to rule 400 years, the time that Israel was held captive in Egypt:[457] “For behold, the time will come, when the signs which I have foretold to you will come to pass, that the city which now is not seen shall appear, and the land which now is hidden shall be disclosed. And every one who has been delivered from the evils that I have foretold shall see my wonders. For my son the Messiah shall be revealed with those who are with him, and those who remain shall rejoice four hundred years. And after these years my son the Messiah shall die,[458] and all who draw human breath. And the world shall be turned back to primeval silence for seven days, as it was at the first beginnings; so that no one shall be left. And after seven days the world, which is not yet awake, shall be roused, and that which is corruptible shall perish. And the earth shall give up those who are asleep in it, and the dust those who dwell silently in it; and the chambers shall give up the souls which have been committed to them.”[459]

Evidently, Ezra believed in two resurrections, the first in anticipation of Messiah’s reign and the second after His death at the judgment. Ezra describes the judg­ment as follows: “And the Most High shall be revealed upon the seat of judgment, and compassion shall pass away, and patience shall be withdrawn; but only judgment shall remain, truth shall stand, and faithfulness shall grow strong. And recompense shall follow, and the reward shall be manifested; righteous deeds shall awake, and unrighte­ous deeds shall not sleep. Then the pit of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of hell shall be disclosed, and opposite it the para­dise of delight. Then the Most High will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, ‘Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised! Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest, and there are fire and torments!’ Thus he will speak to them on the day of judgment — a day that has no sun or moon or stars, or cloud or thunder or lightning or wind or water or air, or darkness or evening or morning, or summer or spring or heat or winter or frost or cold or hail or rain or dew, or noon or night, or dawn or shining or brightness or light, but only the splendor of the glory of the Most High, by which all shall see what has been determined for them. For it will last for about a week of years. This is my judgment and its prescribed order; and to you alone have I shown these things.”[460]

Although in many ways similar to 2 Baruch, it differs in its close relationship to Christianity; much of it is eschatological, covering a number of subjects found in Daniel and Revelation. As a result, it was warmly received in the church. Much of the eschatological material borrows from Scripture, while at the same time being fantastic. For example, the author describes the last days: “Now concerning the signs: behold, the days are coming when those who dwell on earth shall be seized with great terror, and the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land shall be barren of faith. And unrighteousness shall be increased beyond what you yourself see, and beyond what you heard of formerly. And the land which you now see ruling shall be waste and untrodden, and men shall see it desolate. But if the Most High grants that you live, you shall see it thrown into confusion after the third period; and the sun shall suddenly shine forth at night, and the moon during the day. Blood shall drip from wood, and the stone shall utter its voice; the peoples shall be troubled, and the stars shall fall. And one shall reign whom those who dwell on earth do not expect, and the birds shall fly away together; and the sea of Sodom shall cast up fish; and one whom the many do not know shall make his voice heard by night, and all shall hear his voice. There shall be chaos also in many places, and fire shall often break out, and the wild beasts shall roam beyond their haunts, and menstruous women shall bring forth monsters. And salt waters shall be found in the sweet, and all friends shall conquer one another; then shall reason hide itself, and wisdom shall withdraw into its chamber, and it shall be sought by many but shall not be found, and unrighteousness and unrestraint shall increase on earth. And one country shall ask its neighbor, ‘Has righteousness, or any one who does right, passed through you?’ And it will answer, ‘No.’ And at that time men shall hope but not obtain; they shall labor but their ways shall not prosper. These are the signs which I am permitted to tell you, and if you pray again, and weep as you do now, and fast for seven days, you shall hear yet greater things than these… Behold, the days are coming, and it shall be that when I draw near to visit the inhabitants of the earth, and when I require from the doers of iniquity the penalty of their iniquity, and when the humiliation of Zion is complete, and when the seal is placed upon the age which is about to pass away, then I will show these signs: the books shall be opened before the firmament, and all shall see it together. Infants a year old shall speak with their voices, and women with child shall give birth to premature children at three and four months, and these shall live and dance. Sown places shall suddenly appear unsown, and full store­houses shall suddenly be found to be empty; and the trumpet shall sound aloud, and when all hear it, they shall suddenly be terrified. At that time friends shall make war on friends like enemies, and the earth and those who inhabit it shall be terrified, and the springs of the fountains shall stand still, so that for three hours they shall not flow.”[461]

Following these calamities, God saves a remnant: “And it shall be that who­ever remains after all that I have foretold to you shall himself be saved and shall see my salvation and the end of my world. And they shall see the men who were taken up, who from their birth have not tasted death; and the heart of the earth’s inhabitants shall be changed and converted to a different spirit. For evil shall be blotted out, and deceit shall be quenched; faithfulness shall flourish, and corruption shall be overcome, and the truth, which has been so long without fruit, shall be revealed.”[462]

Next the author explains that Israel had to experience a history of tribula­tion to prepare her restoration: “’If now that city is given to a man for an inheritance, how will the heir receive his inheritance unless he passes through the danger set before him?’ I said, ‘He cannot, lord.’ And he said to me, ‘So also is Israel’s portion. For I made the world for their sake, and when Adam transgressed my statutes, what had been made was judged. And so the entrances of this world were made narrow and sorrowful and toilsome; they are few and evil, full of dangers and involved in great hardships. But the entrances of the greater world are broad and safe, and really yield the fruit of immortal­ity. Therefore unless the living pass through the difficult and vain experiences, they can never receive those things that have been reserved for them.’”[463] In an interesting passage, Ezra refers to original sin, the product of Adam’s transgression. In the New Testament only Paul discusses this.[464] Because Paul alone, of all biblical writers, calls attention to the imputed sin of Adam, it seems best to conclude that 4 Ezra was written after the Pauline epistles.

As in other literature of this genre, the author(s) conclude that only righteous people gain admittance to heaven, and they are few in number. I cannot find the author making mention of a person relating to God by grace.

July 2008

Eternal Hope

Part 28

Introduction

Because we don’t know when much of the Pseudepigrapha was written, we cannot determine whether the New Testament writers borrowed from the Pseudepigrapha, as was the case of Jude quoting Enoch, or vice versa. In either case, the origin of an eschatological hope for the individual remains a mystery. It may have come into existence in the Essenes community, to which John the Baptist probably belonged. With the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., not only did the apocalyptic emphasis within Judaism disappear, but the Essenes community disappeared as well.

Reflections on The Psalms of Solomon

A collection of eighteen Psalms, Charles places the date of this work between 70 – 40 BC. It contains two references to eternal life: “They that fear the Lord shall rise unto life eternal, and their life shall be in the light of the Lord, and it shall fail no more.”[465] Again: “And the inheritance of the sinners is destruction and darkness, and their iniquities shall pursue them as far as Hades beneath.”[466] Although these Psalms were well known in the early church, for some reason they did not have a great influence on Christian thinking and passed out of sight until they were rediscovered in the seventeenth century.

Reflections on 2 Baruch

Written during the last half of the first century AD, and thus contemporaneous with most of the New Testament literature, the author(s) represented Orthodox Judaism. Also called The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, the various authors were orthodox Jews and probably represented the thinking of the Judaizers Paul faced in his ministry. “In this apocalypse we have almost the last noble utterance of Judaism before it plunged into the dark and oppressive years that followed the destruction of Jerusalem.”[467]

Baruch speaks of the resurrection from the dead: “And it shall come to pass after these things, when the time of the advent of the Messiah is fulfilled, that He shall return in glory. Then all who have fallen asleep in hope of Him shall rise again. And it shall come to pass at that time that the treasuries will be opened in which is preserved the number of the souls of the righteous, and they shall come forth, and a multitude of souls shall be seen together in one assemblage of one thought, and the first shall rejoice and the last shall not be grieved. For they know that the time has come of which it is said, that it is the consummation of the times. But the souls of the wicked, when they behold all these things, shall then waste away the more. For they shall know that their torment has come and their perdition has arrived.”[468]

Using an analogy of a cedar when it dies, the author states of the wicked: “And you kept conquering that which was not yours, and to that which was yours you did never show compassion, and you did keep extending your power over those who were far from you, and those who drew near you, you did hold fast in the toils of your wickedness, and you did uplift thyself always as one that could not be rooted out! But now your time has sped and your hour is come. Do you also therefore depart, O cedar, after the forest, which departed before you, and become dust with it, and let your ashes be mingled together. And now recline in anguish and rest in torment till your last time come, in which you will come again, and be tormented still more.”[469]

In what appears to be a reference to Antichrist, Baruch is told: “The last leader of that time will be left alive, when the multitude of his hosts will be put to the sword, and he will be bound, and they will take him up to Mount Zion, and My Messiah will convict him of all his impieties, and will gather and set before him all the works of his hosts. And afterwards he will put him to death, and protect the rest of My people which shall be found in the place which I have chosen. And his principate will stand for ever, until the world of corruption is at an end, and until the times aforesaid are fulfilled.”[470]

In all probability Baruch refers to the millennium when he says: “And it will come to pass, when he has brought low everything that is in the world, and has sat down in peace for the age on the throne of his kingdom, that joy will then be revealed, and rest appear. And then healing will descend in dew, and disease will withdraw, and anxiety and anguish and lamentation will pass from amonst men, and gladness will proceed through the whole earth. And no one shall again die untimely, nor shall any adversity suddenly befall. And judgments, and revilings, and contentions, and revenges and blood, and passions, and envy, and hatred, and whatsoever things are like these, shall go into condemnation when they are removed… And women shall no longer then have pain when they bear, nor shall they suffer torment when they yield the fruit of the womb. And it shall come to pass in those days that the reapers shall not grow weary, nor those that build be toilworn; for the works shall of themselves speedily advance together with those who do them in much tranquility.”[471]

Paul, in I Corinthians asks, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”[472] Baruch asks God the same question: “’In what shape will those live who live in Your day? Or how will the splendor of those who (are) after that time continue? Will they then resume this form of the present, and put on these entrammelling members, which are now involved in evils, and in which evils are consummated, or will you perchance change these things which have been in the world as also the world?”[473] God answers: “’Hear, Baruch, this word, and write in the remembrance of your heart all that you shall learn. For the earth shall then assuredly restore the dead, (which it now receives, in order to preserve them). It shall make no change in their form, but as it has received, so shall it restore them, and as I delivered them unto it, so also shall it raise them. For then it will be necessary to show the living that the dead have come to life again, and that those who had departed have returned (again). And it shall come to pass, when they have severally recognized those whom they now know, then judgment shall grow strong, and those things which before were spoken of shall come… For they shall behold the world which is now invisible to them, and they shall behold the time which is now hidden from them: And time shall no longer age them. For in the heights of that world shall they dwell, and they shall be made like unto the angels, and be made equal to the stars, and they shall be changed into every form they desire, from beauty into loveliness, and from light into the splendor of glory.”[474] Evidently, Baruch believed that God would resurrect the body in the exact same condition in which it died, for the sake of recognition, and afterward would transform it into a body more glorious than the angel’s, each according to his desire.

Baruch becomes evangelistic, warning: “And again prepare your souls, so that when ye sail and ascend from the ship ye may have rest and not be condemned when ye depart. For lo! When the Most High will bring to pass all these things, there shall not there be again (a place of repentance, nor) a limit to the times, nor a duration for the hours, nor a change of ways, nor place for prayer, nor sending of petitions, nor receiving of knowledge, nor giving of love, nor place of repentance for the soul, nor supplication for offences, nor intercession of the fathers, nor prayer of the prophets, nor help of the righteous. There is the sentence of corruption, the way of fire, and the path which bringeth to Gehenna. Then He will preserve those whom He can forgive, and at the same time destroy those who are polluted with sins.”[475]

Observations Regarding 3 Baruch

This book of seventeen short chapters probably came into existence in the second century AD. We don’t know much about it and didn’t even know of its existence until the end of the nineteenth century. Scholars deduce that a Jew heavily influenced by Greek thought wrote it, and later a Christian edited it.

I will not delve into it for two reasons: First, its late date means it was probably written after the New Testament. Second, I can find no significant assistance in the material pertaining to an eternal hope.

Conclusion

Much of the Pseudepigrapha that we will study appear repetitive; after reading a couple of the books, you gain few fresh insights. It seems as though, once the eschatological picture took shape, no new ground was broken. The writers gave it their own personal interpretation, but apart from that they all agreed: each individual will be judged according to his deeds; the righteous will be resurrected to a life of bliss; the ungodly will receive his just desert in the after-life; when Messiah comes he will rule the world in after a material recreation.

Faith, as the sine quo non of a relationship with God, is not discussed. The individual relates to God on the basis of works. Messiah comes to rule, not to die for His people’s sins. None of the authors discuss the concept of God providing a substitutionary sacrifice so that He can be both “just and the justifier of him that believes.”[476]

Judaism, with the Old Testament teaching that the temporal is eternal – as seen in passages such as “…I will give you the land forever…”[477] – had a hard time adjusting to an eternal hope divorced from the nation and the land. We can easily see that with Judaism’s rupture and separation from Christianity, an emphasis on an eternal hope began to fade as well.

September 2008

Eternal Hope

Part 29

Introduction

When Alexander the Great conquered the Middle East in the fourth century B.C., Greek thought began to influence Judaism. Because of the late development of a doctrine of the resurrection and an eternal hope, what role, if any, did the Greeks play in influencing it? The Greeks held two views of the afterlife, sometimes at the same time, although they were conflicting if not incompatible.

As depicted in epics like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, hope in an afterlife was reserved for those chosen few who were physically related to the gods. Belief in the gods provided no hope for human immortality as such, although most believed that some form of the person continued to exist after death.

Concurrent with this belief in the gods, the Greeks believed in the transmigration of the soul. They viewed the soul as having an eternal existence, but not apart from the body. Through a series of reincarnations they hoped that the individual would eventually blend mystically into an oneness with God – monism. The Greeks are indebted to the Hindus for this worldview.

Both views conceived of the body as a prison from which the soul sought deliverance. Biblically, the soul does not exist prior to birth, and history is linear rather than cyclical. In the Old Testament, even before the development of an eternal hope, the soul, once separated from the body at death, did not migrate back in a different life form.

Greek thought did, however, influence Judaism. After the death of Alexander the Great, his empire divided in four factions, the Seleucids of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt having the greatest influence on Israel. Because the Greeks were the conquerors and considered their culture superior to all others, a natural trend toward embracing Greek thought developed in the conquered territories. The strongest opposition came principally from two groups: The Pharisees, who were the scribist legal party, emphasized the Law and its importance in Hebrew life. The Chasidim, and later the Essenes, retired from the affairs of this life and as mystics tended toward visions, dreams, and feelings.

A third sect, the Sadducees, sought to adapt to Greek thought by harmonizing their belief in Yahweh with the philosophical ideas of men like Plato and Aristotle. Because Greeks saw the body as the soul’s prison, the Sadducees argued against the resurrection of the body. They confronted Jesus on this point, asking Him which husband a woman would have in the resurrection if she had been widowed and remarried.[478] Again, when the Apostle Paul defended himself before the Sanhedrin, he divided the Pharisees and Sadducees by saying he believed in the resurrection.[479] Some scholars conclude that the Sadducees denied the immortality of the soul, although on this point I am dubious. In all probability, like the Greeks, they believed in the immortality of the soul.

The Sadducees differed from the writers of the Pseudepigrapha in that the former denied the existence of much that the latter promoted: the Pseudepigrapha emphasized a Messianic hope, angelic beings, immortality with rewards and punishments – all of which the Sadducees denied. For this reason, it seems best to conclude that the Sadducees did not contribute to the apocalyptic literature.

The Essenes, as already noted, gave themselves to fantastic practices such as visions and dreams. This fits perfectly with the apocalyptic genre. With the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., both the Sadducees and Essenes faded from the stage of history, and Judaism was primarily defined by Pharisaism. The Pharisees excluded the apocalyptic literature from both the canon and their commentaries on the Law, while including the apocryphal books. We can deduce from this that Pharisees probably did not contribute to the apocalyptic literature. The Rabbis majored on the first five books of the Bible, the Torah.

Rabbinic literature has few traces of Messianic belief, and as far as I can tell, the Mishna was not committed to writing until the end of the second century. By this time a sharp difference existed between the beliefs of the synagogue and church with the Rabbis accentuating the differences by rejecting the apocalyptic contributions of the Essenes.

Reflections on The Book of Jubilees

This book may be (along with Enoch) the most important of the pseudepigrapha writings, although I could not find much dealing with eschatology. It advocates the absolute supremacy of the law along with a glorification of the Levitical priesthood. Written in the Maccabean period (c. 153 BC), the author sees the law as everlasting; it preceded time. Thus, it will continue throughout eternity. The author seeks to chronicle the history of the Bible with the objective of defending Judaism against the attacks of Greek thought. We will look at the Targum[480] later in our study, but note that the author of Julilees’ “work constitutes an enlarged Targum on Genesis and Exodus, in which difficulties in the biblical narrative are solved, gaps supplied, dogmatically offensive elements removed, and the genuine spirit of later Judaism infused into the primitive history of the world.”[481] Both the Patriarchs and the descendents of King David consistently followed the Law. Because the Law was supreme, prophecy could not in any way modify it. For this reason, as already observed, the Intertestamental “prophets” had to write under the guise of pseudonymity.

The author makes reference to the end times, probably the millennium as evidenced by his use of “one thousand years:” “And in those days the children shall begin to study the laws, and to seek the commandments, and to return to the path of righteousness. And the days shall begin to grow many and increase amongst those children of men till their days draw nigh to one thousand years. And to a greater number of years than (before) was the number of the days. And there shall be no old man nor one who is satisfied with his days, for all shall be (as) children and youths. And all their days they shall complete and live in peace and in joy, and there shall be no Satan nor any evil destroyer; for all their days shall be days of blessing and healing. And at that time the Lord will heal His servants, and they shall rise up and see great peace, and drive out their adversaries. And the righteous shall see and be thankful, and rejoice with joy for ever and ever, and shall see all their judgments and all their curses on their enemies. And their bones shall rest in the earth, and their spirits shall have much joy, and they shall know that it is the Lord who executes judgment, and shows mercy to hundreds and thousands and to all that love Him.”[482] Messiah rules over this kingdom, having descended from the tribe of Judah, rather than Levi as some in the priesthood argued. Although the author believes in the immortality of the just, he makes no mention of the resurrection of the body.

Reflections on The Assumption of Moses

This book probably consists of two separate documents: The Assumption of Moses and the Testament of Moses. Written during the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (between AD 7 and 29), parts of it appear in II Baruch, Acts 7:36, Jude 9, 16, 18, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. “The book was written by a Pharisaic Quietist and was designed by its author as a protest against the growing secularization of the Pharisaic party through its fusion with political ideals and popular Messianic beliefs… for he looked for the return of the Ten Tribes, the establishment of the theocratic kingdom, the triumph of Israel over its foes … The duty of the faithful was not to resort to arms, but simply to keep the law, and prepare, through repentance, for the personal intervention of God in their behalf.”[483]

The author discusses the “Heavenly One” (Messiah?), and His coming: “And then His kingdom shall appear throughout all His creation, and then Satan shall be no more, and sorrow shall depart with him. Then the hands of the angel shall be filled who has been appointed chief, and he shall forthwith avenge them of their enemies. For the Heavenly One will arise from His royal throne, and He will go forth from His holy habitation with indignation and wrath on account of His sons. And the earth shall tremble: to its confines shall it be shaken: And the high mountains shall be made low and the hills shall be shaken and fall. And the horns of the sun shall be broken and he shall be turned into darkness; And the moon shall not give her light, and be turned wholly into blood. And the circle of the stars shall be disturbed. And the sea shall retire into the abyss, and the fountains of waters shall fail, and the rivers shall dry up. For the Most High will arise, the Eternal God alone, and He will appear to punish the Gentiles, and He will destroy all their idols. Then you, O Israel, shall be happy, and you shall mount upon the necks and wings of the eagle, and they shall be ended. And God will exalt you, and He will cause you to approach to the heaven of the stars, in the place of their habitation. And you will look from on high and see your enemies in Ge(henna) and you shall recognize them and rejoice, and you shall give thanks and confess thy Creator.”[484]

Reflections on The Book of the Secrets of Enoch

One of the passages of the Slavonic Enoch dramatizes eternity. Whether it influenced the writings of other authors, or was influenced by others, the author proposes that the world was made in six days, so its history would be accomplished in 6,000 years, and this would be followed by 1,000 years of rest, when the balance of conflicting moral forces has been struck and human life has reached the ideal state. Revelation 20:1-6 teaches that the anticipated 1,000 years of rest is what many Christians call the Millennium.

Heaven or hell awaits each person living: “And I swear to you, yea, yea, that there has been no man in his mother’s womb, but that already before, even to each one there is a place prepared for the repose of that soul, and a measure fixed how much it is intended that a man be tried in this world. Yea, children, deceive not yourselves, for there has been previously prepared a place for every soul of man.”[485] “Stretch out your hands to the poor according to your strength. Hide not your silver in the earth. Help the faithful man in affliction, and affliction will not find you in the time of your trouble. And every grievous and cruel yoke that come upon you bear all for the sake of the Lord, and thus you will find your reward in the day of judgment.”[486]

Those who live righteously will not only escape judgment, they shall inherit everlasting life: “When all creation visible and invisible, as the Lord created it, shall end, then every man goes to the great judgment, and then all time shall perish, and the years, and thenceforward there will be neither months nor days nor hours, they will be adhered together and will not be counted. There will be one aeon, and all the righteous who shall escape the Lord’s great judgment, shall be collected in the great aeon, for the righteous the great aeon will begin, and they will live eternally, and then too there will be amongst them neither labour, nor sickness, nor humiliation, nor anxiety, nor need, nor brutality, nor night, nor darkness, but great light. And they shall have a great indestructible wall, and a paradise bright and incorruptible, for all corruptible things shall pass away, and there will be eternal life.”[487]

The sinner will go to hell, his eternal inheritance: “And those men said to me: This place, O Enoch, is prepared for those who dishonour God, who on earth practice sin against nature, which is child-corruption after the sodomitic fashion, magic-making, enchantments and devilish witchcrafts, and who boast of their wicked deeds, stealing, lies, calumnies, envy, rancour, fornication, murder, and who, accursed, steal the souls of men, who, seeing the poor take away their goods and themselves wax rich, injuring them for other men’s goods; who being able to satisfy the empty, made the hungering to die; being able to clothe, stripped the naked; and who knew not their creator, and bowed to the soulless and lifeless gods, who cannot see nor hear, vain gods, who also built hewn images and bow down to unclean handiwork, for all these is prepared this place among these, for eternal inheritance.”[488]

Conclusion

Jews, who embraced an eternal hope, saw its fulfillment entailing the resurrection of God’s people who died during the time of the Old Testament. At that time the material re-creation of the world provided the restoration of the Old Testament system, along with the Temple and the fulfillment of the national promises. Some believed this included King David once again sitting on his throne.[489]

Grateful for the hope of heaven,

November 2008

Eternal Life

Part 30

Introduction

In the Pseudepigrapha, “soul” and “spirit” are used interchangeably. At death the entire personality, minus the body, descends into Sheol. Such people are as much alive as those living on the earth. Interestingly, Daniel does not contain the word “soul;” the writer uses only “spirit.”

Reflections on The Letter of Aristeas

You will remember that when Alexander the Great died in the midst of his conquests, his kingdom was divided into four parts. One of his generals, Ptolemy, took control of Egypt. (Cleopatra was the last of the Ptolemys.) Ostensibly, Aristeas was an officer at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.). He writes to his brother to chronicle the events leading to the Septuagint version of the Old Testament Law.

He is the first Jewish apologist to use allegory, a method of interpretation widely used in the church. He believed, as did many Jewish apologists, that Greek philosophers derived their wisdom from the Law of Moses. “It is not too much to say that the writer’s one object is to demonstrate the supremacy of the Jewish people – the Jewish priesthood, the Jewish law, the Jewish philosophy, and the Jewish Bible.”[490] I can find nothing of the eternal in the letter.

Reflections on The Books of Adam and Eve

The story begins after the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden. Subsequent to Cain and Abel’s birth, Eve dreams of Abel’s pending murder. Michael, the archangel, comforts her with the promise of Seth. From here the story moves to the dying of Adam surrounded by his sixty-three children. Seth, having never been exposed to death, seeks to reverse the process by returning to the Garden of Eden. Opposed by the devil, Seth returns. Before Adam dies, he makes Eve promise to tell the children of their sin and separation from God. God comforts them with the promise of the resurrection, and Michael brings Adam for cleansing and keeping in paradise until the fulfillment of the promise.

The author probably wrote between the first and fourth centuries A.D. “…the uniform absence of polemic against the Christians, the wide and tolerant view of the future of the Gentiles, the conception of Adam’s or rather Eve’s sin (so nearly akin to that in Paul and 4 Ezra), the old simple hopes of the future Resurrection, the glaring dissimilarity of the Christian interpolated passages… render the earlier date far the more probable for the bulk of the work.” [491]

I find no mention of Messiah in this work, although the author does make reference to the resurrection as illustrated by: “… and Eve wept and said: ‘Woe is me; if I come to the day of the Resurrection, all those who have sinned will curse me saying: Eve hath not kept the commandment of God.’”[492]

Reflections on The Martyrdom of Isaiah

Before dying, King Hezekiah of Judah calls his son Manasseh and Isaiah the prophet into his presence with final instructions before he dies. Isaiah warns the king that Manasseh will ignore his instructions; he will serve the forces of evil. Taking a number of prophets with him, Isaiah departs into the mountains in order to pray and fast for Manasseh. Manasseh, now King of Judah, finds and arrests Isaiah charging him with a number of capital offenses. The king executes Isaiah by sawing him asunder.

Hebrews 11:37 and a number of the Patristics refer to this work. Because the early church quickly turned anti-Semitic, and because the author was in all probability a Jew, it seems best to date it somewhere in the first century A.D.; later Jewish works were not accepted in the church. I can find no reference to the eternal in this writing.

Reflections on The Secrets of Enoch

This work is also called “Slavonic Enoch” or “2 Enoch.” Charles dates the author of this work 1 – 50 AD. The Epistle of Barnabas, and other writings of the Patristics, divides time into seven 1000-year periods. At the end of the sixth 1000-year period Messiah establishes His kingdom lasting 1000 years, following the pattern of God in creation. Thus, the Messianic kingdom is a period of rest. From this comes the Christian idea of the millennial reign of Christ.[493] The author of the Secrets of Enoch adopts the same view of history: “I said to him: Earth you are, and into the earth whence I took you you shalt go, and I will not ruin you, but send you whence I took you. Then I can again receive you at My second presence. And I blessed all my creatures visible and invisible. And Adam was five and half-hours in paradise. And I blessed the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, on which he rested from all his works. And I appointed the eighth day also, that the eighth day should be the first-created after my work, and that the first seven revolve in the form of the seventh thousand, and that at the beginning of the eighth thousand there should be a time of not-counting, endless, with neither years nor months nor weeks nor days nor hours.”[494]

As in Revelation 20, the millennium ends with the final judgment: “And those men took me and led me up on to the second heaven, and showed me darkness, greater than earthly darkness, and there I saw prisoners hanging, watched, awaiting the great and boundless judgment, and these angels were dark-looking, more than earthly darkness, and incessantly making weeping through all hours. And I said to the men who were with me: Wherefore are these incessantly tortured? They answered me: These are God’s apostates, who obeyed not God’s commands, but took counsel with their own will, and turned away with their prince, who also is fastened on the fifth heaven.”[495]

Interestingly, the author believes in the pre-birth existence of the individual. I am not sure, but this may be the influence of some of the Greek philosophers who believed in the transmigration of the soul. Or maybe it comes from his concept of election and the fact that God knew us before the foundation of the world: “And Pravuil[496] told me: All the things that I have told you, we have written. Sit and write all the souls of mankind, however many of them are born, and the places prepared for them to eternity; for all souls are prepared to eternity, before the formation of the world.”[497]

Although it is a fairly long quote, note how Enoch contrasts Paradise with the abode of the damned: “And those men took me thence, and led me up on to the third heaven, and placed me there; and I looked downwards, and saw the produce of these places, such as has never been known for goodness. And I saw all the sweet-flowering trees and beheld their fruits, which were sweet-smelling, and all the foods borne by them bubbling with fragrant exhalation. And in the midst of the trees that of life, in that place whereon the Lord rests, when he goes up into paradise; and this tree is of ineffable goodness and fragrance, and adorned more than every existing thing; and on all sides it is in form gold-looking and vermilion and fire-like and covers all, and it has produce from all fruits. Its root is in the garden at the earth’s end. And paradise is between corruptibility and incorruptibility. And two springs come out which send forth honey and milk, and their springs send forth oil and wine, and they separate into four parts, and go round with quiet course, and go down into the PARADISE OF EDEN, between corruptibility and incorruptibility. And thence they go forth along the earth, and have a revolution to their circle even as other elements. And here there is no unfruitful tree, and every place is blessed. And there are three hundred angels very bright, who keep the garden, and with incessant sweet singing and never-silent voices serve the Lord throughout all days and hours. And I said: How very sweet is this place, and those men said to me: This place, O Enoch, is prepared for the righteous, who endure all manner of offence from those that exasperate their souls, who avert their eyes from iniquity, and make righteous judgment, and give bread to the hungering, and cover the naked with clothing, and raise up the fallen, and help injured orphans, and who walk without fault before the face of the Lord, and serve him alone, and for them is prepared this place for eternal inheritance. And those two men led me up on to the Northern side, and showed me there a very terrible place, and there were all manner of tortures in that place: cruel darkness and unillumined gloom, and there is no light there, but murky fire constantly flaming aloft, and there is a fiery river coming forth, and that whole place is everywhere fire, and everywhere there is frost and ice, thirst and shivering, while the bonds are very cruel, and the angels fearful and merciless, bearing angry weapons, merciless torture, and I said: Woe, woe, how very terrible is this place. And those men said to me: This place, O Enoch, is prepared for those who dishonor God, who on earth practice sin against nature, which is child-corruption after the sodomitic fashion, magic-making, enchantments and devilish witchcrafts, and who boast of their wicked deeds, stealing, lies, calumnies, envy, rancor, fornication, murder, and who, accursed, steal the souls of men, who, seeing the poor take away their goods and themselves wax rich, injuring them for other men’s goods; who being able to satisfy the empty, made the hungering to die; being able to clothe, stripped the naked; and who knew not their creator, and bowed to the soulless and lifeless gods, who cannot see nor hear, vain gods, who also built hewn images and bow down to unclean handiwork, for all these is prepared this place among these, for eternal inheritance.”[498]

“I saw those who keep the keys, and are the guardians of the gates of hell, standing, like great serpents, and their faces were like quenched lamps, and their eyes were fiery, and their teeth were sharp. And they were stripped to the waist. And I said before their faces, ‘Would that I had not seen you, nor heard of your dongs, and that those of my race had never come to you!’ Now they have sinned only a little in this life, and always suffer in the eternal life.”[499]

Because Greek thinking influenced him, the author of this work does not consider the body worth redeeming. Nevertheless, he does see Enoch clothed with a spiritual body after his transfiguration: “And the Lord said to Michael: ‘Go and take Enoch from out of his earthly garments, and anoint him with my sweet ointment, and put him into the garments of My glory.’ And Michael did thus, as the Lord told him. He anointed me, and dressed me, and the appearance of that ointment is more than the great light, and his ointment is like sweet dew, and its smell mild, shining like the sun’s ray, and I looked at myself, and I was like one of the seven highest angels.”[500]

Most of those who die righteous go to the third heaven; Enoch has the privilege of entering the seventh heaven. The Secrets of Enoch, following the pattern of other writings in this era, consider good works the condition that must be met to gain eternal life.

Your friend in Christ throughout eternity,

January, 2009