Recap

So far in 1 Enoch 1-11, we began with the Book of the Watchers, where Enoch had a vision of God establishing His kingship and authority over the Earth, accompanied by holy ones. This vision also included judgement, with blessings for the righteous and destruction for the wicked. Enoch urged the wicked to observe the faithfulness of nature in obeying God's commands and contrasted it with their own disobedience, which would lead to their punishment.

In 1 Enoch 6-11, we witnessed the rebellion of angels who desired human women, leading to the birth of giants, or nephilim. These giants wreaked havoc on Earth and the rebellious angels taught humans wicked practices, such as alchemy, magic, and astrology. Four good angels, Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel, reported these events to God, who then pronounced judgement upon the rebels and the nephilim.

God instructed the angel Raphael to bind the fallen angel Azazel and throw him into a pit, while Gabriel was tasked with hunting down the giants and causing them to fight amongst themselves. Michael was given the responsibility of declaring judgement over the fallen angels, including their leader Semyaza, and cleansing the world of all defilement, oppression, sin, and iniquity.

As we continue exploring 1 Enoch, we will delve into Enoch's visions of the fallen angels' punishments and the ultimate restoration of peace and abundance on Earth.

1 Enoch 12-16

Enoch becomes a messenger to the fallen watchers

The passage opens on Enoch who has been hidden away in God’s presence. This is a reference to Genesis 5:24 where God takes Enoch away.

And so Enoch is up in God’s presence ‘with the Watchers and the holy ones’. These are both terms used to describe spiritual beings, Angels. Some of these Watchers come to Enoch and commission him to become a messenger to the fallen Watchers.

These fallen Watchers have defiled themselves and the earth, and they will receive judgement for it.

So Enoch goes to the fallen Watchers and, starting with Azazel, speaks judgement over them. They will be bound and will never again experience any peace.

The fallen watchers beg Enoch to intercede to God for them. They can’t seek God themselves because they’ve lost access, so they need Enoch to repent on their behalf and seek forgiveness.

There’s an irony here. The role of the angels, at this time, were to be messengers from God to humans, and likewise to intercede on behalf of the humans to God. Now we have Enoch, a human, who is a messenger to angels, and is then asked to go back to God and intercede on their behalf.

In this we get a little glimpse of what is to come. While the fallen Watchers initially sort to corrupt the humans for their own gain, eventually they will find themselves replaced by humans. It is humans who will have access to God and will be his messengers.

Enoch writes down the prayers and repentance of the fallen Watchers and takes them with him.

God responds to the watchers

Enoch then falls asleep and receives a dream from God that leads him to go back to the fallen Watchers with a message.

Enoch, empowered by God, tells the Watchers that God will not listen to their prayers. No longer will they be able to come into his presence or leave the earth. Instead, they will be doomed to watch their children (the nephilim) be destroyed, unable to do anything about it.

Then Enoch proceeds to go into greater detail, sharing his commissioning by God and his message for the fallen Watchers.

In a vision, Enoch was brought into the heavens to a great house of beauty and fire. In this house was a throne room, with God in its middle. And God was so great and powerful. It was clear he did not need a council of spiritual beings to lead with, but nonetheless he kept spiritual beings near him.

God calls Enoch forward and tells him to go to the fallen Watchers with a message. He was to challenge them for failing in their responsibilities. They were meant to be the ones that interceded for men.

Instead they abandoned their position in heaven, defiled themselves and the humans, created giant offspring, and now seek a human to be their intercessor.

God points out that the spiritual and the earthly were meant to be separate, and yet the fallen Watchers thought it good to merge the two. 

The consequence being the nephilim, giants who were both spiritual beings and earthly beings. When these nephilim die their spirits will continue to be trapped on earth. They will be evil spirits roaming around that will oppress humans and cause trouble.

These evil spirits will continue to corrupt and pollute until the end of time when all things are restored. So because of this, and because of the wickedness that they taught the humans, the Watchers will no longer experience peace.

Conclusion

In 1 Enoch 12-16, we see Enoch being commissioned by the holy ones to become a messenger to the fallen Watchers who have defiled themselves and the earth. Enoch goes to the fallen Watchers and speaks judgement over them. They beg Enoch to intercede to God for them, but God tells Enoch that He will not listen to their prayers.

Enoch receives a vision from God and goes back to the fallen Watchers with a message. God challenges them for failing in their responsibilities and creating giant offspring, which leads to evil spirits that will oppress humans and cause trouble. The fallen Watchers will no longer experience peace, and the nephilim will be destroyed.

So far we’ve covered the first two sections of the first part of 1 Enoch, the Book of Watchers. We’ve read through the introduction, and the fall of the Watchers. 

Next, we start the third section of the Book of Watchers, focused on Enoch’s journey to Heaven where secrets of the universe are revealed to him.