
God took Enoch - Illustrated by Gerard Hoet (1648-1733)
A reader emailed me last night and introduced me to the work of Dr. Andrei Orlov, a professor at Marquette University, who has done much work on Enoch pseudepigraphal material. As I was perusing some of his research I came upon one of the excerpts from his book The Enoch-Metatron Tradition that interested me. It is an account from the book of 1 Enoch which tells of Enoch’s vision of his ascension to the throne of God:
And I proceeded until I came near to a wall (t[eqm) which was built of hailstones, and a tongue of fire surrounded it, and it began to make me afraid. And I went into the tongue of fire and came near to a large house (be4t (a3biy) which was built of hailstones, and the wall of that house (was) like a mosaic (made) of hailstones, and its floor (was) snow. Its roof (was) like the path of the stars and flashes of lightning, and among them (were) fiery Cherubim, and their heaven (was like) water. And (there was) a fire burning around its wall, and its door was ablaze with fire. And I went into that house, and (it was) hot as fire and cold as snow, and there was neither pleasure nor life in it. Fear covered me and trembling, I fell on my face. And I saw in the vision, and behold, another house, which was larger than the former, and all its doors (were) open before me, and (it was) built of a tongue of fire. And in everything it so excelled in glory and splendor and size that I am unable to describe to you its glory and its size. And its floor (was) fire, and above (were) lightning and the path of the stars, and its roof also (was) a burning fire. And I looked and I saw in it a high throne, and its appearance (was) like ice and its surrounds like the shining sun and the sound of Cherubim. ((http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/enochpriest))
I believe I’ve come across this reference before, perhaps in Nibley’s writings, but it was good to go over it again. This type of psudepigrapha is full of symbolism and can be intimidating unless we have a guide. Dr. Orlov helps us in this regard:
Commenting on this passage, Himmelfarb draws the readers’ attention to the description of the celestial edifices which Enoch encounters in his approach to the Throne. She notes that the Ethiopic text reports that, in order to reach God’s Throne, the patriarch passes through three celestial constructions: a wall, an outer house, and an inner house. The Greek version of this narrative mentions a house instead of a wall. Himmelfarb observes that “more clearly in the Greek, but also in the Ethiopic this arrangement echoes the structure of the earthly temple with its vestibule (Mlw)), sanctuary (lkyh), and the Holy of Holies (rybd).” ((ibid.))
So in order to reach the highest level of the heaven, Enoch had to pass through three stages or levels of progression on his ascent. As Dr. Orlov notes, this has also been shown to follow the very structure of many ancient temples themselves, that of three levels of separation or partition from the most sacred interior, the Holy of Holies, where God dwells. Such a structure can be seen in Moses’ tabernacle, as well as Solomon’s temple and those that followed its pattern.
A lot of the “Mystery” religions who claim to have had esoteric doctrine divided things up into 3 levels or 3 degrees. From the Druids, to the Mithras, even the Jews.
At the very least, religions have always had a three tiered universe of Spirit World where the Dead go, Terrestrial Earth where we are now, and Heavenly Abode of the Gods. Nibley mentions this in many writings.
Three is often seen as a important number.
You are absolutely right Justin. Thanks for the additional insight.
On a related note, see Kerry Shirts’ fine post at:
http://www.backyardprofessor.com/the_backyard_professor/2007/01/metatron_michae.html
Please forgive the self serving, but you might also look as my couple links on a related topic:
http://mormonmysticism.blogspot.com/2007/11/4-kingdoms-of-ezekiel.html
http://mormonmysticism.blogspot.com/2007/12/ezekiel-1-four-creatures.html
-David
Thank you, Bryce, for writing this piece. Dr. Andrei Orlov is recognized world-wide for his Enoch scholarship, and I believe it is very helpful for Latter-day Saint research. I hope that his research can be an inspiration for us to delve deeper into the rich Enoch tradition (as well as other pseudepigraphal works) and realize just how amazing the treasures Joseph Smith passed on to us really are.
You’re welcome David. Dr. Orlov’s research looks very interesting. I hope to be able to delve into more of what he has written. Little is said in the Bible about Enoch, but latter-day revelation has given us much more. Joseph Smith was going out on a limb revealing so much about Enoch when not much had been said before concerning him, but it is fascinating that the pseudepigraphal works that are just now being discovered largely confirm Joseph’s revelations.