S5 E6: The Book of Enoch and Personal Experiences

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Season 5 covers the supernatural and paranormal from a Spirit-led perspective. In this episode, Glenn looks at The Book of Enoch which is used by both Christians and non-Christians to explain paranormal and supernatural events. Glenn also gives a personal story of a supernatural encounter with an evil spirit. Importantly, Glenn discusses how we should view non-Biblical material and personal experiences in the light of Scripture.

The Bible will be the source of truth for this season, even though extra-biblical books and podcasts will be discussed. As discussed in Episode 1, Glenn will be kind to the authors and podcast hosts discussed throughout the season.

This episode has a transcript. If your podcast player does not support transcripts, please go to the Transcripts section of https://spiritledhope.com/  These transcripts have been edited for accuracy and are typically of higher quality than those produced automatically by many podcast apps.

Transcript

S5 E6 TRANSCRIPT 

THE BOOK OF ENOCH AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone and welcome to Spirit-Led Hope. My name is Glenn Erichsen, and in this episode, we are discussing:

     THE BOOK OF ENOCH AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

In Episodes 3, 4, and 5, we discussed the book “The Unseen Realm.” In that review, I mentioned that Dr. Heiser relied on extra biblical material, like the Book of Enoch. The Book of Enoch pops up in many Christian and non-Christian books and podcasts about the supernatural and paranormal. The information found in the Book of Enoch is used to explain things like the origin of demons, the presence of aliens, the skeletons of giants, and much more.

THE BOOK OF ENOCH

So, what is the Book of Enoch and how should we think about material like this that is not from the Bible? First, let us look at who wrote it.

The Book of Enoch is composed of several sections, and the oldest part was most likely written around 300 B.C. As you might guess, the author is said to be Enoch. Enoch was the great-grandfather of Noah and, interestingly, Enoch is only one of two people in the Bible who did not die. 

Because Enoch lived long ago before the flood, scholars believe that the Book of Enoch was actually written by several authors over an extended period and then attributed to Enoch. But the possibility does exist, that portions were authored by Enoch and handed down through Noah either orally or in some other format. Because of the limited evidence, we are required to rely on speculation when it comes to authorship. But many Christians do believe that the first section of Enoch, called “The Book of the Watchers” was legitimately authored by Enoch.

Do we have any evidence that would suggest we should trust the material? What we do know for sure is that the Book of Enoch was known by the New Testament writers. In fact, portions of the Book of Enoch were found with the Dead Sea Scrolls, and it is even quoted in the book of Jude. This does give us some confidence that the Book of Enoch was considered useful and helpful by the Jewish population.

But does this guarantee that all of the material is true? No, it does not. Because the Book of Enoch is quoted by a New Testament writer, it is tempting to believe that the Book of Enoch should be part of the Bible. But just because something is quoted in the Bible, that does not mean the whole writing is true. 

Historically, when the canon of Scripture was debated, Enoch was rejected except by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and, I believe, the Eritrean Orthodox Church. Nearly all churches treat the Book of Enoch the same as other apocryphal writings. Some of the early Church Fathers did support portions of the Book of Enoch, but in the end, the consensus was that the Holy Spirit moved them away from canonizing the Book of Enoch as inspired.

But, again, this does not mean that portions of the Book of Enoch are not useful. Whether it is justified or not, there is a common belief that The Book of the Watchers gives some useful historical information. The Book of the Watchers expands on the Genesis 6 account we read in Episode 4 where spiritual beings took human women for wives. It also has some prophecies which seem to accurately foretell the coming of Jesus. This appears to give the Book of the Watchers some additional credibility. But again, that is up for debate and this material was not accepted as part of the Bible.

What I want to do now is quickly describe some of the details in the Book of Enoch that expand on the first four verses in Genesis 6. Keep in mind that these things may or may not be true.

According to the Book of the Watchers in the Book of Enoch, there is a group of spiritual beings called the Watchers. From this group, 200 of them rebelled, led by Semjaza. This all took place sometime before the flood. The 200 all took an oath to carry out their rebellion together. They left their normal spiritual dwelling place and descended to Mount Hermon, which is the highest mountain in ancient Israel. After they arrived, just like it is described in Genesis 6, these spiritual beings called angels in the translation I read, took human wives. As part of the relationship, these fallen angels taught the women things they did not know, like charms, enchantments, and things you could do with roots and plants. 

One of the angels named Azazel, began teaching the men metal technology so they could make weapons of war like swords, knives, shields, and breastplates. He also taught them how to make bracelets and ornaments with stones. He even taught them about makeup for the eyes. Other fallen angels taught humans astrology, the constellations, knowledge of the clouds, signs of the earth, and signs of the sun and moon. 

While this was going on, the women became pregnant and gave birth to huge hybrid giants, the Nephilim. These giants started eating all the resources of the humans. After a while, food ran out and the giants began to eat anything they could find. This included humans and eventually the giants began to eat each other. According to the Book of Enoch, the Nephilim also “sinned against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish…” and what that means is open to interpretation.

At some point in this mess, the humans cried out to God and four archangels, Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel, were commanded by God to carry out several tasks. Noah was told to hide himself, while Semjaza, Azazel, and the others were bound. Gabriel then created a situation where the giants battled each other, and the fallen Watchers were forced to see their beloved offspring kill each other. As the Nephilim died, their disembodied spirits were doomed to become demons.

So that is a quick summary of how the Book of the Watchers in the Book of Enoch, expands the first four verses of Genesis 6. That is a lot more information than the Bible has. And there is more, but I am only covering this part because what I just summarized is the source of an incredible amount of speculation by Christians and non-Christians regarding paranormal and supernatural events in the world today.

For example, I have heard Christians theorize that Mount Hermon must be a hyper-dimensional or interdimensional portal connecting the spiritual realm and earth. Or because the fallen watchers like Azazel and Semjaza taught secret arts and technology to humans, we anticipate that happening today through other fallen angels. This is supposed to provide an explanation for many of today’s occult practices, spiritual drug use, and even the appearance of new technology like extraterrestrial spacecraft. 

In addition to paranormal speculation, there are also many ideas that the Watchers were the source material for many of the gods and goddesses we see in mythology, especially in Mesopotamian religions. And the hybrid Nephilim make great models for mythological demi-gods, chimera, and ultimately explain demons.

When you look at all the speculation, some of it seems very plausible and possibly true. But some of it also seems very questionable and evokes a lot of skepticism.  As we move forward, we need to constantly remind ourselves that anything from extrabiblical material related to the supernatural or paranormal must be examined in the light of Scripture. Some things will be supported by Scripture, and some things will be rejected. In topics not discussed in the Bible, we need to use logic, common sense, and prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom.

What we need to avoid is treating our unsupported speculations as absolute truth. If we are not careful, we risk building a framework which can easily lead us astray, or the framework can collapse and leave us confused in our relationship with God. Extra-biblical material used properly, can help us. But when used incorrectly, it can be, at best, a distraction.

I hope this example from the Book of Enoch gives you some ideas on how to think about material outside of the Bible. In the same way we need to be careful about how we use our personal experiences.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

We are six episodes into Season 5, and I have already said several times that a Spirit-led life is a supernatural life. And yet, I have not given you any examples of the types of things that can happen when you follow the Holy Spirit. So, let me give you a personal example in this episode, and then we will discuss how we need to think about these experiences.

This took place on a sunny day many years ago, when the Holy Spirit instructed me to walk from my home to an occult shop a couple of miles away. When I got to the shop, the only thing the Holy Spirit directed me to do was to go in.

Often, when we live a Spirit-led life, we only get small pieces at a time, and this was one of those cases. I stepped into the shop, which was very dimly lit, and was not quite sure what to do. The only other person in the shop was the owner (I am going to call him George because I do not remember his name) and the Holy Spirit apparently trusted me to decide what to do next.

So, I began looking around the shop and started to examine the statuettes, some interesting looking ceremonial daggers, a few crystals, and other things that I had no idea what they were. It was then that the Holy Spirit instructed me to talk to George.

I walked up to the counter and said something very lame like, “I have never been here before, can you show me what you have?” It was like a switch was flipped in George. In a hostile and animated voice, George said, “Christians come in here and try to preach to me. They tell me I do the devil’s work and that I am going to hell.”

Now, there was nothing I did to warrant that type of response. Maybe I looked like a Christian to George, or maybe there were some invisible spiritual things going on that triggered George. I can tell you this, when we step out in faith and follow the Holy Spirit, God is faithful to help us. Instead of me getting upset, God gave me peace and a love for George.

I looked George right in the eyes and said something like, “I’m a Christian, but I did not come here to make fun of you or to tell you that you are going to hell. I would like to know what you believe and learn about what you do in your store.”

And it was like the switch in George was flipped again. He became friendly and he began to tell me that he was a solo druid who also worshipped the Hindu god Ganesh. The cool part was that as he shared his life, I was able to share mine. I was able to talk openly about Jesus in a way that George could understand. And when it was time for me to leave, George said something I will never forget. He said, “I have never met a Christian like you before. You are welcome here anytime.” And I knew, without a doubt, that I had accomplished what the Holy Spirit wanted me to do.

When I started walking home, I was walking on a cloud. It was beautiful out, and I was thanking God for what he had done and trusting that he was working in George’s life. I could not have been more elated and at peace. And that is when everything changed.

There was a moment when it was like a shadow of fear landed on me, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I knew something was coming, but I was caught totally off guard when something punched me in the stomach so hard that I doubled over and could not breathe. And yet there was no one around me. What was that?

As I began recovering my breath, I knew that I was being assaulted by a demonic being. Spiritual things are discerned spiritually, and though I could not see it, I knew that I was in the presence of an invisible, intelligent, and malevolent creature. Being attacked physically violated my personal space in a way that was scary and unsettling.  I did not even know that was possible.

I wish I could tell you that I knew right what to do, but I did not. Instead, I began to panic. And yet, I knew intellectually that God’s perfect love is meant to cast out all fear. And I knew, theoretically, that I had authority over evil spirits. So, I tried very feebly, I admit, to “push back” against the evil spirit. 

But I was struggling, and in my struggling I prayed one of the simplest prayers you can pray. I prayed, “Help!” Such a simple prayer. Simple, profound, and powerful.

And with that prayer came the courage to say, “Leave me alone. In the name of Jesus.”

The evil spirit left. My fear left. God helped me go from a fear-filled, ineffective, weakling, to a peace-filled, effective, man of authority. The rest of the walk home was awesome.

What do you do with an experience like that? What you do not do is make it into some form of doctrinal statement that every demon can punch you. 

Just like with the extra-biblical material, we need to take our experiences and look at them in the light of Scripture. In the example I just gave, it was important for me at the time to know if what had happened was explainable. Or was I going crazy? Or was something else at play?

Many people believe that spiritual beings cannot do anything physically. But then you read this story in Matthew 28:1-2 which says this:

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it.

Matthew 28:1-2 CSB

So clearly, an angel is a spiritual being and can do something physical like roll a stone and sit on it. If I encountered a fallen angel, then it seems it would have the same ability to do something physical. Now we can go down all sorts of rabbit trails and discuss if fallen angels do have the same ability as holy angels. Or if what I encountered was a demon, could it do the same thing? But the bottom line is that Scripture affirms the reality that spiritual beings can indeed, in some circumstances, encroach upon the physical realm. There might be different mechanisms, and the scope for each type of spiritual being is not clearly defined, but the possibility certainly seems allowed. I was not having a delusional or hyper-emotional experience. It was real.

Do we need to fear that something like this can happen at any time? No, we do not. In the first chapter of Job, we see that even Satan cannot harm someone without God’s permission.

Does that mean that God hates me because he allowed me to be punched? No. That experience prepared me for other things to come. God was with me, and he used that experience for my good. He never left me and if something like that ever happens again in the future, I can be confident that he will give me just what I need. This is all supported by Scripture and if it was not, I would need to do some serious reflection and make some adjustments in my life.

Now, like I said earlier, I do not go around making this into some doctrinal statement. And I do not make this into some sensational story to glorify the demonic and emphasize what demons can do. In fact, this is the first time I can recall that I have shared this story publicly. And for me, the important part is not that I got punched, it is that God equipped me through his Spirit to overcome a direct assault. My spiritual adversary lost. I always want to give God the glory when something supernatural like this happens. Every supernatural experience does not need to be turned into something that makes us look more spiritual or special. God should always get the glory.

CLOSING

We have been doing a lot of prep work in these first episodes to understand a framework many Christians use to explain the supernatural and paranormal. This will pay dividends later when we talk about creatures like Bigfoot, or aliens.

In the next episode, we are going to switch gears and look at things like consciousness and near-death experiences.

As always, you can send me comments, suggestions, or questions, by email at glenn@spiritledhope.com, or simply use the Contact Form at spiritledhope.com. You can also send me a one-way text message by going to the episode show notes and clicking on the link with your smart phone. If you find these episodes useful, please spread the word and share them with your friends.

As you lead a Spirit-led life:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  

Until the next episode, take care.

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