Book Of Enoch Apocalypse Of Weeks Prophecy
The 'Book of Enoch' dates from the 4th century BCE and is not found within the accepted Jewish canon, yet it is attributed to Enoch, the great-granfather of Noah and the 'seventh from Adam'.
As a religious document, it is referenced in the Roman canon, in the 'Epistle of Jude', yet it is not part of their canon. It is, however, part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church canon.
As a historical work, at the time of Jesus, most of Judaism was familiar with this work, and the writers of the Roman canon New Testament were influenced by it. Fragments of the 'Book of Enoch' were also found in the Qumran Scrolls. In fact, the 'Book of Enoch' was known by the 'Men of the Great Assembly', yet was never included in the Tanakh, nor included in their Apocrypha. But, in ancient Israel, the Tanakh was primarily the canon of the sect of the Pharisees, which became modern day Rabbinical Judaism. The Sadducees did not recognize the 'Oral' law of the Pharisees and held to a different canon, of which the 'Written' law of Moses predominated. The Jewish sects of the Essenes and Therapeutae were said to have studied a set of completely different documents, as found in the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. This is interesting because the historical Jesus was believed to be a Jew from the sect of the Essenes, yet the Roman canon does not include this text, or any other that would have been studied by Jesus or his followers, in it's canon.
While the entire 'Book of Enoch' has a number of different books within it, we are only going to concentrate on one, as it relates to future prophecy, the 'Apocalypse of Weeks' as found in the 'Epistle of Enoch'. In this section, Enoch narrates the history of the world using a discussion of ten 'weeks'.
In the 'Book of Genesis', it describes Enoch as:
'And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.’
Genesis 5:19-24
Enoch was the seventh from Adam, and descendant of Seth (as opposed to the son of Cain, Enoch). Genesis tells us that Enoch 'walked with God: and he was not; for God took him'. This is a very curious entry, for all of the other descendants of Adam died. Yet, it does not say that Enoch died, but was 'taken' by God.
As the 'Book of Enoch' explains, Enoch was pure and God blessed Enoch with visions and knowledge of the Heavens. Enoch was able to peer at the 'Tablets' of knowledge, see times, and visions of the Heavens. The 'Apocalypse of Weeks' begins with Enoch speaking from these 'books', or the 'Tablets of Heaven'.
'93.1 And, after this, Enoch began to speak from the books:
93.2 And Enoch said: "Concerning the sons of righteousness, and concerning the chosen of the world, and concerning the plant of righteousness and uprightness, I will speak these things to you, and make them known to you, my children.
I, Enoch, according to that which appeared to me in the Heavenly vision, and that which I know from the words of the Holy Angels, and understanding from the Tablets of Heaven."
93.3 And Enoch then began to speak from the books, and said: "I was born the seventh, in the first week, while justice and righteousness still lasted.
93.4 And, after me, in the second week, great injustice will arise, and deceit will have sprung up. And in it there will be the First End, and in it, a man will be saved. And after it has ended, iniquity will grow, and He will make a law for the sinners.
93.5 And after this in the third week, at its end, a man will be chosen as the Plant of Righteous Judgment, and after him will come the Plant of Righteousness, forever.
93.6 And after this, in the fourth week, at its end, visions of the righteous and Holy will be seen, and a Law for All Generations, and an enclosure will be made for them.
93.7 And after this, in the fifth week, at its end, a House of Glory and Sovereignty will be built forever.
93.8 And after this, in the sixth week, all those who live in it will be blinded. And the hearts of them all, lacking wisdom, will sink into impiety. And in it, a man will ascend, and at its end the House of Sovereignty will be burnt with fire. And in it the whole race of the chosen root will be scattered.
93.9 And after this, in the seventh week, an apostate generation will arise. And many will be its deeds - but all its deeds will be apostasy.
93.10 And at its end, the Chosen Righteous, from the Eternal Plant of Righteousness, will be chosen, to whom will be given Sevenfold Teaching, concerning his whole creation.
93.11 For is there any man who can hear the voice of the Holy One and not be disturbed? And who is there who can think his thoughts? And who is there who can look at all the works of Heaven?
93.12 And how should there be anyone who could understand the works of Heaven, and see a soul, or a spirit, and tell about it, or ascend and see all their ends and comprehend them, or make anything like them?
93.13 And is there any man who could know the length and breadth of the Earth? And to who has all its measurements been shown?
93.14 Or is there any man who could know the length of Heaven, and what is its height, and on what is it fixed, and how large is the number of stars, and where do all the lights rest?’
Epistle of Enoch, Apocalypse of Weeks 93:1-14
As we look at these 'weeks' of Enoch, the timing of Jewish Biblical history becomes clear.
In section 93.4, the 'second week' talks of Noah and the 'First End', that of the flood.
In section 93.5, the 'third week' talks of a man who was chosen as the 'Plant of Righteous Judgement' of which the 'Plant of Righteousness' will come after him, forever. This section is speaking of Abraham, that seed of which the nation of Israel, and the people whom this prophecy concerns.
In section 93.6, at the end of the 'fourth week', 'visions of the righteous and Holy' are seen, the 'Law' is written, and an 'enclosure' is constructed for these Laws. This 'fourth week' concerns Moses and Aaron. They saw God on the mount, wrote the Torah, and constructed an enclosure for the 'Ten Commandments', the Laws.
In section 93.7, the 'fifth week' talks of Solomon and his building of the first Temple in Jeruselum. It is not so much about the temple, but about Jeruselum, and the city of the chosen people.
In section 93.8, the 'sixth week' talks of everyone living in Jeruselum blinded to the true Laws and the Truth of God. It talks of their hearts of stone with the loss of wisdom and understanding. It explains that all of the people of Israel 'sink into impiety'. Yet, from within this impiety, a man 'ascends' to God. This person who ascended would be the historical Yeshua, or Jesus. For, after his ministry, the second Temple, and all of Jeruselum, was burnt by the Romans in 70 CE. It was after this that the descendants of Abraham were scattered throughout the world.
Now, starting in section 93.9, Enoch begins talking of the 'Golden Age' of Righteousness. These prophecies actually continue to explain a total of 'ten weeks', but this discussion is only concerned with 2012, and how all these prophecies have a commonality between them, across cultural and religious divides, much as the 'flood myth' is found throughout the world.
In section 93.9, after a man ascends to the Heavens, Jeruselum is burnt, it's people are scattered, an 'apostate generation' will arise. It states that there will be many 'deeds', but they will all be of 'apostasy'. Apostasy means 'abandonment of a religious belief'. If in section 93.8, the 'race of the chosen root' lost wisdom and understanding, this generation seems to have lost all aspects of the original 'Law' that was given to them by the 'visions of the righteous and Holy' in the 'fourth week'. It seems, from the text of this section, that the 'chosen race' would have some type of religious tradition, as the 'deeds are many', yet they have been corrupted.
At the end of the 'seventh week', it seems that a man will be chosen from this 'race of the chosen root' and he will be given the 'Sevenfold Teaching', in which the original 'Law' and 'Truth' will be revealed, again, 'concerning his whole creation'. This seems that there will be more, concise, information than just the 'Law' that was revealed in the 'fourth week', as it concerns the 'whole creation'.
The significance of the 'seventh week' is that of the Sabbath. Within Judaic tradition, the 'seventh' epoch of man will be one of the 'Sabbath'. Just as Saturday is the day to put away your ego, your desires and your workings, to do the workings of God, so too will the 'seventh week' be one in which Humanity lives with God in every moment of every day, forever more.
This Apocalypse, or revelation, will transform the Heavens and Earth. And, even though Enoch was speaking from the 'Tablets of Heaven', in the next few sections even Enoch seems to be in awe of the information given to this man, the 'Chosen Righteous, from the Eternal Plant of Righteousness'. While there is a sense of awe, there is also a bit of compassion in the writings, of the difficulty that this man might have when this 'Truth' is revealed.
But, from this 'enlightened' man comes a transformation of the world, according to Enoch.