Enoch is a prophet that is spoken of sparingly within Christianity, unfortunately. Enoch is a folk tale within Christendom, quite literally, as it tends to focus more on traditions, such as Easter, Christmas and Sunday worship more than what's actually written in the bible. It really only uses Christian principles as it pleases, a topic for another time.
Who is Enoch in Jude 1:14?
We see mention of Enoch in the book of Jude.
Jude 1:14
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones
Here Enoch is called the 7th from Adam and we are told that he also prophesied the second Coming of Christ.
These very scriptures can be found in the 1 Enoch 1:9
1 Enoch 1:9
9 And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement 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.
Here we will be discussing Enoch and scriptures attributed to him, the most notable 1 Enoch, which is the longest and most complete version of scriptures concerning Enoch.
There are also 2 other books of Enoch’s i.e. 2 Enoch and 3 Enoch. The latter two are not what I will be showing the validity of, as they appear to have no primary source to prove them.
1 Enoch has validity as shown above it is quoted from by Jude, so it clearly was seen as a credible source.
1 Enoch can also be found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1948 (https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-Book-of-Enoch), which are ancient scrolls that were found in the Qumran caves 4, alongside other scrolls including the book of Jubilees and also the Law and the Prophets.
We can also find Enoch’s origins in the scriptures in the book of Genesis where we are told that he was taken by God, meaning he never experienced death.
Genesis 5:21-24
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Here we see that Enoch lived 365 years and that he had sons and daughters. This gives us clear proof that Enoch was a man tha God blessed and respected highly.
Where is the Book of Enoch referenced in the Bible?
The book of Enoch is referenced in the book of Jude in the New testament Jude 1:14 and this is what makes it a reliable source. The reason for its exclusion is very dubious when we look at the facts. The claim from Judaism is that the book is heretical, but the basis of this claim are flimsy, at best.
Who Wrote the Book of Jubilees
The book of Jubilees is also called the Little Genesis. The book itself tells us that it is written by Moses, so we do not need to guess at who wrote it. It is said to have been written when Moses was on Mount Sinai. The information was given to Moses by an angel of God.
Jubilees 1:1-6
1 And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt, in the third month, on the sixteenth day of the month, that God spake to Moses, saying: 'Come up to Me on the Mount, and I will give thee two tables of stone of the law and of the commandment, which I have written, that thou mayst teach them.'
2 And Moses went up into the mount of God, and the glory of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and a cloud overshadowed it six days.
3 And He called to Moses on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud, and the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a flaming fire on the top of the mount.
4 And Moses was on the Mount forty days and forty nights, and God taught him the earlier and the later history of the division of all the days of the law and of the testimony.
5 And He said: 'Incline thine heart to every word which I shall speak to thee on this mount, and write them in a book in order that their generations may see how I have not forsaken them for all the evil which they have wrought in transgressing the covenant which I establish between Me and thee for their generations this day on Mount Sinai.
6 And thus it will come to pass when all these things come upon them, that they will recognise that I am more righteous than they in all their judgments and in all their actions, and they will recognise that I have been truly with them.
The Book of Jubilees: Banned From the Bible
There is nothing within church circles that says that the book of Jubilees was banned from the bible. But it is definitely true that the book of Jubilees is not included in a number of different sects collections of books that make up their bibles; they include the Catholic, Christian and Jewish canons.
The book of Jubilees is only found in the Ethiopian orthodox church which was established in 328AD. This only proves that there really is no authoritative cannon. The best way to determine which books should be part of the bible is by reading them, together with determining authenticity and proof that the real Hebrews used the books. And we find this evidenced with both the Book of Enoch and Jubilee being found amongst the Dead sea scrolls.
Where is the Book of Jubilees Mentioned in the Bible
The book of Jubilees is not mentioned directly in the Catholic or Christian canons of the bible like the book of Enoch. But since the book of Enoch is mentioned and the mentioned event can be found in 1 Book of Enoch, this and both the book of Enoch and Jubilee being found in the Qumran cave 4 in Israel are strong reasons to read and trust these books.
When we read the 1 Book of Enoch and Jubilees they both substantiate God's 364 day calendar, which has been lost today, a loss that was actually prophesied in the book of Jubilees. You can see this in the scripture below:
Jubilees 6:36-38
36 For there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the moon -how (it) disturbs the seasons and comes in from year to year ten days too soon
37 For this reason the years will come upon them when they will disturb (the order), and make an abominable (day) the day of testimony, and an unclean day a feast day, and they will confound all the days, the holy with the unclean, and the unclean day with the holy; for they will go wrong as to the months and sabbaths and feasts and jubilees.
38 For this reason I command and testify to thee that thou mayst testify to them; for after thy death thy children will disturb (them), so that they will not make the year three hundred and sixty-four days only, and for this reason they will go wrong as to the new moons (months) and seasons and sabbaths and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of blood with all kinds of flesh.
Here we are told that Jews would start to calculate the months according to the moon and not with the equinox and God's ordained 364 day year.
We find the start of the year in the book of Enoch as well as the days each month has which corresponds exactly to the book of Jubilees 364 day year calendar. This scripture can be seen below:
Enoch 72:32
32 On that day the night decreases and amounts to nine parts, and the day to nine parts, and the night is equal to the day and the year is exactly as to its days three hundred and sixty-four.
Here we see the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees confirming God's calendar year, which should give more credence to both books. The only reason to ignore these findings would be because of allegiance to preconceived religious or personal biases.
We also see scripture in the book of Jubilees which confirms the book of Deuteronomy. Here we say how God mad Israel to be his people from the beginning and made the other Nations to serve other gods (Spirits').
Deuteronomy 32:8
8 “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel.
Here we see the scriptures telling us that the Most High separated all the nations around Israel. Whom he chose as his people and this is confirmed in the book of Jubilees in more detail:
Jubilees 15:31-32
31 And He sanctified it, and gathered it from amongst all the children of men; for there are many nations and many peoples, and all are His, and over all hath He placed spirits in authority to lead them astray from Him.
32 But over Israel He did not appoint any angel or spirit, for He alone is their ruler, and He will preserve them and require them at the hand of His angels and His spirits, and at the hand of all His powers in order that He may preserve them and bless them, and that they may be His and He may be theirs from henceforth for ever.
Here we see expansion of Deuteronomy 32:8, we are told exactly how the God of Israel separated the sons of man around Israel, by assigning spirits to the other nations, but for Israel he made himself their God.
Biases that are likely to make you reject Jubilees and Enoch may be as follows:
1. You are a part of a Christian denomination, such as Orthodox, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic, Mormon or countless other man-made religious Christian organizations.
2. You’re just unwilling to accept that reading and studying the bible is something you need to do, when you have church fathers.
Conclusion
Hopefully you understand from the information presented that a Canon is not an authority for anything. Within Christendom, the different church sects don’t agree on the books that should be part of their bibles. This shows that a Canon is subjective within Christianity. It also shows that Christianity is not a unified religion.
On the brighter side of things, what is clear is that there are more books that we should be reading, because these are books that have been accepted by the christian sects individually. Even though they don’t all agree on the books to be included in their canons, when we look at the books they do include, they all appear to be those that have credible primary sources, which lends to their credibility.
All this being said, the best litmus test for the books that should be included is, us reading them, together with evidence of primary sources that point to the books being in use by the actual Israelites in the bible. Some of the foremost primary biblical sources are the dead sea scrolls, Hebrew translations and the Septuagint.