The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

IV. “Slavonic Enoch”—7,000-Year Theory and Immortality

The Secrets of Enoch, also called the Slavonic Enoch, or sometimes 2 Enoch, exists, so far as we know, only in a Slavonic version. It is not a translation of the Ethiopic Enoch, but is a different pseudepigraph, although the subject is treated similarly. In both, Enoch is led through the heavens to learn the secrets of the universe in order to instruct his children and to teach them the fear of the Lord. The final editor of this little work was a Hellenistic Jew who lived in Egypt. The date can be confined to the beginning of the Christian Era, probably between A.D. 1 and 50. PFF1 195.1

1. Six THOUSAND YEARS FOLLOWED BY MILLENNIUM

The most remarkable feature of this book, in respect to our quest, is that we find here, for the first time in Jewish literature, the equation that one day of creation corresponds to one thousand years of the world’s history—a theory which has played an important role in both ancient and modern chiliasm, and which, consciously or subconsciously, has been accepted by many exegetes who attempted to compute the time to the end of the world. It is certainly true that older documents, especially of Persian origin, mention one-thousand-year periods, ¹⁴ but they are not connected with the creation week. This link was first formed by the writer of the Slavonic Enoch. There we find the following statements: PFF1 195.2

“And I blessed the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, on which he [Adam] rested from his works. And I appointed the eighth day also, that the eighth day should be the first-created after my work, and that the first seven revolve in the form of the seventh thousand, and that at the beginning of the eighth thousand there should be a time of not-counting endless, with neither years, nor months nor weeks nor days nor hours.” Slav. Enoch 32:2; 33:1, 2. PFF1 195.3

Therewith the stage was set for speculation of a worldweek of seven thousand years-six thousand years of labor and toil from creation to the judgment, followed by a millennium of rest and blessedness before the gates of eternity will open. We find Irenaeus taking up this subject later, as will be discussed in a subsequent chapter. ¹⁵ PFF1 196.1

2. ETERNAL MANSIONS FOR IMMORTAL SOULS

In the question of individual life the Slavonic Enoch teaches that all souls are prepared from eternity before they take up their abode in a materialistic, earthly form (Slav. Enoch 23:4, 5), and that places are prepared for them for all eternity before the formation of the world. “Many mansions [are] prepared for men, good for the good, and bad for the bad, without number many. Blessed are those who enter the good houses, for in the bad (sc. houses) there is no peace nor return (sc. from them).” Slav. Enoch 61:2, 3. Paradise is in the third heaven, placed between corruptibility and incorruptibility. In the midst of it stands the tree of life, and two springs come out which send forth milk and honey, and from them go forth oil and wine. (Slav. Enoch 8:2-6.) PFF1 196.2

3. TORTURED IN HELL FOREVER

The graphic description continues: At the northern end of the third heaven is hell, a place of cruel darkness, lighted only by sheets of flame of murky fire. Everywhere is fire, and everywhere is frost. Cruel and merciless angels apply fearful tortures to those who are condemned to live therein forever, because of their sins against God. (Slav. Enoch 10:1 ff.) The picture of the guardians of hell is so dramatic that it is worth while to quote: PFF1 196.3

“I saw the guardian of the keys of hell standing over against the gates like great serpents, their faces like lamps that are gone out, their eyes like darkened flames, and their teeth naked down to their breasts.” Slav. Enoch 42:1, incomplete version, col. B. PFF1 196.4

4. VIBRANT INTER-TESTAMENT PERIOD

Through these documents, which have come down to us, and many of which have been rediscovered less than a century ago, we now see that this period between Malachi and the New Testament writers was by no means bleak and barren, but was a period vibrant with intellectual and spiritual activity. We also begin to understand that the New Testament does not start in a spiritual vacuum. The minds of mete were filled with conflicting ideas of truth and error, and apprehensions of things to come, which inevitably influenced their understanding of the teachings of Christ and the apostles. Especially in eschatology various ideas were already current; some of these were in harmony with Old Testament truth, and God saw fit to incorporate them into the New Testament revelation, whereas others were disapproved of and combated by Christ. Nevertheless, some of these incipient errors persisted and later developed into full-blown apostasy. PFF1 197.1

Later we will turn to other representatives of Jewish apocalyptic writings in the Christian Era, but they must wait for another chapter which will discuss the relation between the Jewish apocalyptic writings and Christian chiliasm. ¹⁶ For the present, having surveyed representatives of extra-Biblical Jewish apocalypticism preceding the New Testament period, we now turn to Josephus to pick up the thread of the prophetic interpretation of the outline prophecies of Daniel. PFF1 197.2