The immense distance between the spiritual and the mundane collapses, and we find holiness in the ordinary. What we see in these texts should be considered the ritual ascension of the human community to heaven, where they experience a vision of Gods throne and are temporarily transformed into an angelified or deified state.21 Scott Mackie and Philip Alexander specifically refer to the Songs as implying a communal heavenly ascent. I will not go into an in-depth description of the content of the Songs but quote here from Alexanders analysis: The communal chanting of these numinous hymns on successive Sabbaths was apparently deemed sufficient to carry the earthly worshippers up to the courts of the celestial Temple, through the nave and into the sanctuary, and to set them before the throne of God. In this final installment, well continue the story with new details of the ascent of Enochs city to heaven and its return in the last days. Reprint, Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft, 1966. The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 8. . Men and angels are to be co-workers in bringing to pass this great work, and Zion is to be prepared, even a new Jerusalem, for the elect that are to be gathered from the four quarters of the earth, and to be established an holy city, for the tabernacle of the Lord shall be with them. The book of 3 Enoch features archangel Metatron (who had originally been the prophet Enoch before becoming an angel in heaven) reflecting on what happened when archangel Haniel came to take him on a trip from Earth to heaven. Cf. and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven (Heb. "And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and Son; . Enoch is taken up to Heaven - YouTube However, Enoch and Elijah did not die. See also Mackie, Eschatology and Exhortation. 2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch. In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by James H. Charlesworth. He goes on to declare that those who walk in the way of your heart listen to me; they are drawing themselves up before you in the council of the holy ones.30. Enoch in the Bible Was the Man Who Walked With God - Learn Religions How Does John Portray Jesus as the Way of the Temple? Reprinted in J. Smith, Jr., Teachings, December 1835, p. 98; J. Smith, Jr., Teachings 2007, p. 301): Let us now take the Book of Mormon, which a man took and hid in his field; securing it by his faith, to spring up in the last days, or in due time; let us behold it coming froth out of the ground, which is indeed accounted the least of all seeds, but behold it branching forth; yea, even towering, with lofty branches, and God-like majesty, until it becomes the greatest of all herbs; and it is truth, and it has sprouted and come forth out of the earth; and righteousness begins to look down from heaven; and God is sending down his powers, gifts and angels, to lodge in the branches thereof. Hebrews 9:8. Genesis 5:22-23. Jim Davila has noted that in 2 Enoch (7172) we find the unusual tale of Melchizedek being taken away to paradise during the Flood so that he may serve later as a high priest.3 Additionally, in the Qumran texts known as 11QMelchizedek and the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, Melchizedek appears to be depicted as a high priest who serves in the heavenly temple.4 Davila describes the trajectory of the figure of Melchizedek in ancient literature as moving from Melchizedek the priest-king to Melchizedek the god.5. 1975. "City of Enoch" (December 1994 Friend) Solve this code to figure out why the people in the city of Enoch were so righteous. Finally, while MCP depicts Mount Sumru with thirty-two or thirty-six palaces at its summit, the plat for the city of Zion prominently featured twenty-four numbered temple sites at its center. Regarding the first, we find in numerous places of 1QHodayota the speaker thanking God for delivering him from suffering and for having raised him to the eternal height, or heavenly realm. Fulfilling his covenant to preserve the lineage of Enoch upon the earth, the Lord left behind Enoch's son, Methuselah, and grandson, Lamech (Moses 8:2, 5). The righteous people described in Moses 7:27 were translated and "caught up" to join those in the city of Zion. R. D. Draper et al., Commentary, p. 146. We can see the parallel here between Enoch and Melchizedek of the Joseph Smith revelations, Jesus in Hebrews, and the leader of the Sabbath Songs: in each the leader gains access to the heavenly temple through his faithfulness and is then able to lead his followers in that same path of ascent. 3 (1982): 31132. They were all equal in height, had brilliant faces and identical robes. Lee observes that the early Christian church understood Psalm 110:1 to refer to Jesus, who had taken up his throne on Mount Zion (Ps. 11:1316). Elder Alvin R. Dyer observed that the dimensions of the drawing of the Prophets proposed temple structures for Zion were 610 x 870, thus matching the dimensions of the Latter-day Saints Visitors Center, finished in 1981 and located on part of the Independence Temple Lot owned by the Church (Alvin R. Dyer, Report of Meeting with President David O. McKay, diary, March 10, 1967, accn. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1983. Declaration of familial relationship between Father and Son (naming ritual)Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee (1:5; 2:1213). One of the most significant additions to the biblical record in Joseph's revelation on Enoch is not only that Enoch was taken up alive into heaven, as the Genesis passage implies, but also that the entire city of Enoch was eventually received up into heaven as well. All the inhabitantsgone. However, as in the previous instance, there is an important difference. But that didn't mean that those who weren't in the city at the time were out of luck. As time progressed toward the flood, the righteous were caught up to join . Son of Cain (Gen. iv. Three authors who are experts in ancient cultures bring you this verse-by-verse, even word-by-word commentary, the most thorough and reader-friendly treatment available. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University FARMS, 2000. 1. 17. They are the only ones in recorded history to skip death. Later in Hebrews, we get more insight into his disappearance: "By faith . 1 (2013): 3-24. http://archive.atsjats.org/Paulien_-__Resurrection.pdf. Rashi imagines a landscape in which all Israelites will kiss one another., Differing with the Lords previous instruction to Enoch, He delivers His word as a monologuethere is no reply from Enoch this time, only an epilogue from the narrator. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2007. 1 Enoch 2: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 37-82. James R. Davila, Heavenly Ascents in the Qumran Scrolls, in The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment, ed. The Prophet Joseph Smith explained:[17]. For instance, in 4 Ezra13:35 we read:[19] Zion will come and be made manifest to all people,preparedand built, as you saw the mountain carved out without hands. Similarly, 2 Baruch4:23 reads:[20] [I]t is that [city] which will be revealed, with me, that was alreadypreparedfrom the moment that I decided to create Paradise., The nature of the gathering place of Gods elect as a Holy City is described in 1 Enochs Book of the Parables 45:5:[21] And my chosen ones I shall make to dwell on it, but those who commit sin and error will not set foot on it. Jewish tradition also describes a New Jerusalem.[22] According to theTestament of Levi10:5:[23] For the house which the Lord shall choose shall be called Jerusalem, as the book of Enoch the Righteous maintains. This account may be citing1 Enoch90:2829, whichtells of how the old house (that is, the old city of Jerusalem) is removed and replaced with a new house (that is, New Jerusalem). With Enochs Zion removed from the world, the residue of the people left behind continued to increase in wickednessa downward spiral that ultimately ended with the coming of the Great Flood to cleanse the earth of their iniquity. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 2:465. They were taken from earth to heaven by God. 11:10, NKJV). According to the Bible, Enoch and Elijah are the only two people God took to heaven without them dying. This seems to indicate that communication between heaven and the children of men would be severed due to wickedness. 254255. Yes, but the answer requires some explaining. Upon entry into the heavens, the Christian community hears the declaration, Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant (Heb. 10. 2 vols. . The description of the flood of righteousness and truth that will result in the gathering of the elect in the last days is in deliberate counterpoint to the account of the flood of water that brought about the destruction of the wicked in Noahs day. 27. Who lived there? 3. However, we know from History of the Church that those who are translated are often given ministry assignments, as with Enoch. 18. Draper, Richard D., S. Kent Brown, and Michael D. Rhodes. The Book of Enoch chapter 71 1. And the righteous and the chosen will be saved on that day; and the faces of the sinners and the unrighteous they will henceforth not see. [26] The Lord and Enoch's City will Receive the Righteous (7:63) N. T. Wright, the well-known Anglican bishop and New Testament scholar, described the uniting of heaven and earth as follows: [27] God made heaven and earth; at last he will remake both and join them together forever. . So it is possible the City of Enoch could have been around these biblical regions. Noel Reynolds (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1997), 32374, an expanded and updated version of The Narrative of Zosimus and the Book of Mormon, BYU Studies 22, no. And the righteous and chosen will have arisen from the earth. When he was 65 years old, Enoch, the seventh patriarch after Adam, was called by God to be a prophet. He saw God receive Zion "up into his own bosom" (Moses 7:69). It seems also to refer to renewed revelation in the last days. In this article, I will explore the notion of communal ascent to heaven in ancient Jewish and Christian literature and seek to answer the questions, Can an entire community ascend to heaven? Based on the translation by Newsom in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert XL, 166. See also pp. And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw. It's unclear where the City of Enoch was located. . He saw the God of Heaven weep as He looked upon the wickedness of the world and the eventual flood that would destroy the wicked, events that would not happen for hundreds of years. Son confers family membership on community (they are his siblings)Behold I and the children which God hath given me bringing many sons unto glorynot ashamed to call them brethren (2:1015). . Then Cain built a city and named the city Enoch. Does John 3:13 mean that no one went to Heaven before Jesus? Enoch and the City of Zion: Can an EntireCommunity AscendtoHeaven? This is what happened to the City of Enoch. We are then told that "Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven" (Moses 7:21). [15] Significantly, however, some of the earliest and most explicit of the extant descriptions of the resurrection in Jewish literature that do exist are found in the Enoch literature, in particular the Parables of Enoch which is so rich in its descriptions of the Son of Man:[16].
