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powerful, and break in pieces the teeth of sinners. He shall hurl the kings from their thrones and their dominions, because they will not exalt and praise him, nor humble themselves before him by whom their kingdoms were granted to them. Darkness shall be their habitation, and worms shall be their bed; nor from that their bed shall they hope to be again raised, because they exalted not the name of the Lord of Spirits. They shall lift up their hands against the Most High, exhibiting works of iniquity. .... They shall deny the name of the Lord of Spirits, and shall expel him from the temples in which they assemble, and with him the faithful who suffer in the name of the Lord of Spirits. In that day the prayer of the holy and righteous, and the blood of the righteous, shall ascend from the earth into the presence of the Lord of Spirits. In that day shall all the holy ones assemble, who dwelt above the heavens, and with united voice petition, supplicate, praise, laud, and bless the name of the Lord of Spirits, on account of the blood of the righteous which has been shed; that the prayer of the righteous may not be intermitted before the Lord of Spirits; that for them he would execute judgment, and that his patience may not endure for ever. At that time I beheld the Ancient of Days, while he sat upon the throne of his glory, while the § book of the living was opened in his presence, and while all the powers which were above the heavens stood around and before him. Then were the hearts of the saints full of joy, because the consummation of righteousness was arrived, the supplication of the saints heard, and the blood of the righteous appreciated by the Lord of Spirits. .... In that hour was the Son of Man invoked before the Lord of Spirits, and his name in the presence of the Ancient of Days. Before the sun and the signs were created,|| before the stars of heaven were formed, his name was invoked in the presence of the Lord of Spirits. A support shall he be for the righteous and holy to lean upon, without failing: and he shall be the light** of nations." He shall be the hope of those whose hearts are troubled.†† All who dwell on earth ‡‡ shall fall down and worship before him; shall bless and glorify him, and sing praises to the name of the Lord of Spirits. Therefore the Elect and the concealed one existed in his presence,§§ before the world was created and forever. In his presence he existed, and has revealed to the saints and to the righteous, the wisdom of the Lord of Spirits. For in his name shall they be preserved, and his will shall be their life. In those days shall the kings of the earth and the mighty men, who have gained the world by their achievements, become humble in countenance; for in the day of their anxiety and trouble their souls shall not be saved, and they shall be in subjection to those whom I have chosen. I will cast them like hay into the fire, and like lead into the water. They shall burn in the presence the righteous, nor shall a tenth part of them be found. But in the day of their trouble, the world shall obtain tranquillity. In his presence shall they fall, for they have denied the Lord of Spirits and his Messiah. The name of the Lord of Spirits shall be blessed."

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He thus farther expatiates on the glory of the Elect One." Wisdom is poured forth like water, and glory fails not before him for ever and ever; for potent is he in all the secrets of righteousness. But iniquity passes away like a shadow, and possesses not a fixed station; for the Elect One stands before the Lord of spirits; and his glory is for ever and ever; and his power from generation to generation. With him dwells the spirit of intellectual wisdom, the spirit of instruction and power, and the spirit of those who sleep in righteousness. He shall judge secret|||| things. Nor shall any be able to utter a single word before him; for the Elect One is in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, according to his own pleasure.”

* See Prov. viii. 15, and Rev. i. 5, "Jesus Christ, Prince of the kings of the Earth." + Having predicted their punishment, he next proceeds, in an inverse order, to predict the sin by which they would merit their punishment. He probably alludes to the Syrian persecutors of Israel, resisted by the Maccabees.

Compare Rev. vi. 9: "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? § Compare Dan. xii. 1., Rev. xx. 12.

Compare Prov. viii. 22-30.

**Compare Luke ii. 32.

Compare Ps. lxxii. 11, Ps. xxxlvi. 9, Zech. xiv. 9.
Compare 2 Cor. v. 10, 1 Cor. iv. 5.

¶ Compare Ps. lxxii. 7. tt Compare Micah v. 5.

§§ Compare John i. 2.

That the saints may be fitted to participate in the glorious government of the Son of man, they shall be changed. "In those days the saints and the chosen shall undergo a change.* The light of day shall rest upon them; and the splendour and glory of the saints shall be changed: in that day of trouble, evil shall be heaped upon sinners, but the righteous shall triumph in the name of the Lord of Spirits." A general resurrection is predicted, apparently at the commencement of the reign of the Son of Man upon earth.

"In those days shall the earth deliver up from her womb,† and hell deliver up from hers, that which it has received; and destruction shall restore that which it owes. He shall select the righteous and holy from among them, for the day of their salvation has approached. And in those days shall the Elect One sit upon his throne, while every secret of intellectual wisdom shall proceed from his mouth; for the Lord of Spirits has gifted and glorified him. In those days the mountains shall skip like rams, and the hills shall leap like lambs, and all the righteous shall become angels in heaven.§ Their countenance shall be bright with joy; for in those days shall the Elect One be exalted. The earth shall rejoice; the righteous shall inhabit it, and the Elect possess it."

He then beholds mountains of iron, copper, silver, gold, quicksilver, and lead; and on inquiring what was their use, the angel tells him, "All these things which thou beholdest shall be for the dominion of the Messiah, that he may command, and be powerful upon earth." He further assured him that these mountains should melt "like a honeycomb before the fire," in the presence of the Elect One.

He, in another place, describes the Almighty as thus speaking :-"O ye kings, O ye mighty, who inhabit the world, you shall behold my Elect One sitting on the throne of my glory:" aud this throne of glory is also represented as the seat of universal judgment. "Then the Lord of Spirits seated upon the throne of his glory the Elect One, who shall judge all the works of the holy in heaven above; and in a balance shall he weigh their actions. And when He shall lift up his countenance to judge their secret ways in the word of the name of the Lord of Spirits, and their progress in the path of the righteous judgment of God Most High, they shall all speak with united voice, and bless, glorify, exalt, and praise in the name of the Lord of Spirits."

The Elect One, or the Son of Man, is again and again brought before us, seated on the throne of glory, and the kings and princes of the earth are described as amazed when they behold him :--" One portion of them shall look upon another, they shall be astonished, and shall humble their countenance, and trouble shall seize them, when they shall behold this Son of Woman sitting upon the throne of his glory." The kings and princes, when it is too late, endeavour to worship the Son of man; they bow down before him, and humbly seek his mercy, and “fix their hopes on the Son of man ;" but the Lord of Spirits hastens to expel them from his presence :-" Then the sword of the Lord of Spirits shall be drunk with their blood; but the saints and the elect shall be safe in that day, nor the face of sinners and the ungodly shall they henceforward behold. And with this Son of Man shall they dwell, eat, lie down, and rise up, for ever and ever. The saints and the Elect have arisen from the earth, have left off to depress their countenances, and have been clothed with the garment of life. That garment of life is with the Lord of Spirits, in whose presence your garment shall not wax old, nor shall your glory diminish."

Here it will be perceived are apparently contradictory passages; sometimes the saints are described as inhabiting and possessing the earth, in the power of a changed and renovated nature; and here they "arise from the earth" to be with the Lord. To reconcile these statements, we perhaps may suppose that the saints are placed by this writer aloft, with the Son of Man, who, in his throne of glory, reigns in a visible elevation above the earth, and yet so as to be in constant communication with it-an elevation not too distant for all immediate intercourse, and yet sufficient to establish pre-eminence and superiority. This seems to be further illustrated in the 104th chapter. "In those days, saith the Lord, the saints shall call to the children of the earth, and make them listen to their wisdom. Shew them that

Compare 1 Cor. xv. 51, Phil. iii. 21.

Compare Matt. xxv. 31.

Compare Rev. i. 7, Rev. vi. 15.

+ Compare Rev. xx. 13.
§ Compare Luke xx. 36.
Compare Rev. xix. 18.

you are their leaders, and that remuneration shall take place over the whole earth; for I AND MY SON will for ever hold communion with them in the paths of uprightness in their lives. Peace shall be yours. Rejoice, children of integrity, in the truth."

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In one passage, he apparently assigns a heavenly state to the saints; but whether "the heaven" he there speaks of is more than a state of power over the earth it is not easy to determine. "Blessed are ye, O ye saints and elect, for glorious is your lot: the saints shall exist in the light of the sun, and the elect in the light of everlasting life, the days of whose life shall never terminate; nor shall the days of the saints be numbered, who seek for light, and obtain righteousness with the Lord of Spirits. Henceforward shall the saints be told to seek in heaven the secrets of righteousness, the portion of faith; for like the sun has it arisen upon the earth, while darkness has passed away. There shall be light interminable; nor shall they enter upon the enumeration of time; for darkness shall be previously destroyed, and light shall increase before the Lord of Spirits; before the Lord of Spirits shall the light of uprightness increase for ever" (chap. 56). In another place it is pro mised the saints that they shall “ shine like the luminaries of heaven” (chap. 104). One principal object of the Book of Enoch seems to have been to dogmatise on the arcana of nature; for many are the wonderful facts in astronomy, meteorology, and geography which the author declares he discovered in his visions, and which he narrates as divine revelations. He saw the "four winds which bear up the earth, and the firmament of heaven"--he saw "the winds which turn the sky, which cause the orb of the sun and of all the stars to set"-he saw "the path of the angels"— and, "at the extremity of the earth, the firmament of heaven above it." The earth, he supposes to be an immeasurable flat superficies, and the heavens to rest upon extremities. He saw "the stone which supports the corners of the earth"-and "terrestrial fountains deep in the fiery columns of heaven." At the extremities of the earth he discovered twelve gates; three in the north, three in the east, three in the south, three in the west. Out of the three gates of the north proceed rain, dew, snow, frost, hail, and cold winds, &c. Besides these, he saw six gates in the east, and six in the west, to represent, it is to be presumed, the compartments of the Zodiac. He saw the gates out of which the sun and moon came forth on their journeys: "The sun sets in heaven, and returning by the north, to proceed towards the east; is conducted so as to enter by that gate, and illuminate the face of heaven." The dimensions of the sun and moon, he says, are "both equal." The year is "completed with correct precision in three hundred and sixty-four days;" and, he says, those persons "greatly err" who compute otherwise. His astronomical speculations he endeavours to establish in several chapters, weaving philosophy and theology together with a curious hand. He assigns president angels and conductors to the sun and moon, and to all the stars. He gives a spirit to thunder and to lightning:"When the lightning lightens, the thunder sounds, and the spirit at a proper period pauses, making an equal division between them. There is a spirit in the sea, causing the flux and the reflux of the tides-a spirit of water-a spirit of frost-an angel of hail—a spirit of mist—a spirit of dew, &c. The stars are punished or rewarded according to their obedience in the firmament. Some stars are made to roll over fire, and these "had transgressed the commandment of God before their time arrived; for they came not in their proper season. Therefore was he offended with them, and bound them, until the period of the consummation of their crimes in the secret year."

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According to the scheme of the Pantheists, this writer considers every part of nature animated and intellectual, and acting with a responsible conscience. The motions of the heavenly bodies, and the revolutions of the celestial machinery are not the result of the laws of nature, called into existence and sustained by a divine providence, but are effected by an intelligent Spirit, pervading the mighty whole, and every part and portion of it: hence the stars and all the phenomena of nature are capable of understanding and appreciating the Divine government.* He teaches that

* The following extract is from "Views of the Architecture of the Heavens," by J. P. Nichol, LL.D. F.R.S.E., professor of practical astronomy in the university of Glasgow; it is a curious instance of the revival of these speculations :-" We have been advancing very rapidly let us pause now and look back on the grand perspective below us. We set out by asking, Can the nebular hypothesis explain the stars? Some which indeed remain to be fathomed, and phenomena apparently disparate, may still be found in the sky; yet, short

the Most High pronounced an oath and a secret name, which he commanded Michael to impose on the angels; and by this oath and secret name he enjoined all things that he had created to obey him: the spirits in all the parts of nature received the oath and the name, and fulfil the offices assigned to them by a constant respect to the oath. "By this oath the stars complete their progress; and when their names are called, they return an answer for ever and ever. Thus in the heavens take place the blowings of the winds: all of them have breathings, and effect a complete combination of breathings. There the treasures of thunder are kept, and the splendour of lightning; there the treasures of hail and of frost, of snow, of rain, and of dew. All these confess and laud before the Lord of Spirits; and with them he establishes this oath, by which they and their paths are preserved; nor does their progress perish. Great was their joy. They blessed, glorified, and exalted, because the name of the Son of Man was revealed to them. He sat upon the throne of his glory, and the principal part of the judgment was assigned to him, the Son of Man" (cap. 68).

The great oath administered to the phenomena of nature is called BEKA.

The chief dramatis persona in the Book of Enoch are the angels; without them nothing is done in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath. Every thing has its angel, and all the commands of God are executed by angels. There are angels "conductors of the days and nights; the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the ministers of heaven, which make their circuit with all the chariots of heaven." Moreover there is a kindred star appointed for each of the angels and the saints, so that every saint has his star. Enoch saw God weighing stars in a righteous balance, and calling them "all by their respective names, and they heard." When he asked what was the meaning of this, he was told that they were the names of the righteous who dwell upon the earth, and who believe in the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever" (cap. 43). By this scheme, therefore, a saint upon earth has a star created for him at his birth; and he is known in heaven by the name which has been given to his star. But as every star has its angel; and again, every angel its star, there ought to be stars and angels for each saint, ad infinitum. This was a difficulty which the Pseudo-Enoch had never contemplated.

66

The names of the chief angels of heaven are Michael, Raphael, Rakiel, Gabriel, Raguel, Serakiel, Suryal, Uriel, and Phanuel.

The four angels of the highest order who "stand on the four sides of the Lord of Spirits, and continually magnify the Lord of Glory," are Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Phanuel; "these are the four angels of the Most High God, and their four voices which at that time I heard."

Michael presides over mercy and patience, Raphael over suffering and affliction, Gabriel over every thing powerful upon earth, Phanuel over repentance and righteousness.

way as we have gone, every one of the grand features of the stars-facts which, but to mark, have often worthily conferred deathless fame-are seen in union and harmony the most unexpected, proceeding hand in hand from the bosom of previous Night, and going through untold ages in singular companionship, as if we had even attained the privilege of witnessing the arranging influence of that Dove-Spirit which erst brooded over chaos. It is, indeed, an impressive spectacle! Who can ascend so far up that vast chain which unites the eternal past with the fleeting present?-Who, to go no higher, can dwell on the idea of our sun being born from one of those dim nebulæ, order growing within him by effect of law, and the worlds he illumines and sustains springing gradually into being-without engrossing emotions? Sometimes, on contemplating this mighty progression, and thinking of the changes, visible and concealed, which must have marked the advance of an organisation so majestic-asking, too, What is man, save a transient organisation, with whose progress a Spiritual Being has been for a moment connected?-I confess I have been so fanciful as to doubt whether those great and good men who endowed the stars with spiritual principles ought to be deemed mistaken; whether that orb, during its fathomless evolutions, may not have been the seat of a SPIRITUAL POTENTATE, gifted with the glorious capacity to rise in knowledge, power, and beneficence, by experience of all the vast events of which he is the centre; whether we should not look upon these HOSTS of HEAVEN as something still more awful than inanimate worlds fitted to sustain a life like ours. Far as our ken has reached between us and the HIGHEST, there is still vastness and mystery. Sometimes to take wing beyond terrestrial precincts, perhaps, is not wholly forbidden, provided we go with unsandalled feet, as if on holy ground." 3 M

VOL. II.

Uriel presides over clamour and terror; Raguel is the superintendant of all the stars, and of the body of the earth, which he punishes and keeps in order; Serakiel presides over sinners. It is the high office of Gabriel, also, to preside over the Cherubim. Besides the Cherubim and Seraphim, there is also another rank of holy beings, called the Ophanim.*

The fallen angels are divided into companies of hundreds, fifties and tens. Gadrel, third in rank amongst the great generals, seduced Eve, and taught the sons of men to fabricate instruments of war.

Penemue taught reading and writing, "therefore numerous have been those who have gone astray from every period of the world, even to this day. For men were not born for this, thus with pen and ink to confirm their faith, since they were not created, except that, like the angels, they might remain righteous and pure; nor would death, which destroys every thing, have affected them; but by this their knowledge they perish, and by this also, its power consumes them" (cap. 68). This writer was certainly no friend of the schoolmaster; and yet he forgets that he himself says elsewhere," My son, Methuselah, all these things I speak unto thee and write for thee. To thee have I revealed all, and have given thee books of every thing. Preserve, my son, Methuselah, the books written by thy father, that thou mayest transmit them to future generations" (cap. 81).

The judgment of the fallen Angels seems to be the most important doctrine of the Pseudo-Enoch's theology, indeed by the general bearing of the whole legend, we may conjecture that to establish this point was the principal object of the book, for it is the consummation to which all the visions are more or less directed, and to which allusions are frequently occurring. The author's religion, such as the religion of an Apocryphist may be, is based on this dogma that all evil came into the world by the apostasy of the Angels, who had received a commission to watch over mankind; and, consequently, that the justice of God will not be manifested, nor his authority vindicated till these fallen Angels, or watchers, are punished for the mischief of which they are the cause. The flood was brought upon the earth to destroy the race of giants, the progeny of the fallen Angels and of women. is the name of the Angel who taught his associates how to consort with women. The punishment of "the watchers" is the great catastrophe which is to precede the millennium of this book, an event that is to take place in the tenth week. The passage, with all its obscurities, is as follows::

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"Afterwards in the seventh week, a perverse generation shall arise; abundant shall be its deeds, and all its deeds perverse. During its completion, the righteous, selected from the plant of everlasting righteousness, shall be rewarded, and to them shall be given sevenfold instruction respecting every part of his creation. Afterwards there shall be another week, the eighth of righteousness, to which shall be given a sword to execute judgment and justice upon all oppressors. Sinners shall be delivered up into the hands of the righteous, who during its completion shall acquire habitations by righteousness, and the house of the great King shall be built up for ever. After that, in the ninth week, shall the judgment of righteousness be revealed to the whole world. Every work of the ungodly shall disappear from the whole earth; the world shall be marked for destruction; and all men shall be on the look-out for the path of integrity. And after this, on the seventh day of the tenth week, there shall be an everlasting judgment, which shall be executed upon the watchers, and a spacious eternal heaven shall spring forth in the midst of the Angels. The former heaven shall depart and pass away; a new heaven shall appear; and all the celestial powers shine with sevenfold splendour for ever. Afterwards, likewise, there shall be many weeks, which shall eternally exist in goodness and righteousness. Neither shall sin be named there for ever and ever."

Amongst the miscellaneous curiosities in the Book of Enoch, may be mentioned the prediction that Leviathan and Behemoth are to be distributed for food in the great time of judgment. This is a tradition also of the Talmud, and it is not improbable that the Talmudists may have borrowed the idea from this writer, embel

* This is merely the Hebrew word "wheels" in the vision of Ezekiel. The Jews in the prayers for the morning service of the Sabbath speak of them in connection with the Seraphim, and they explain them to be Angels.-See De Sola's ann 770

p. 84.

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