Enoch 81
1 And he said unto me: 'Observe, Enoch, these heavenly tablets, And read what is written thereon, And mark every individual fact.'
2 And I observed the heavenly tablets, and read everything which was written thereon and understood everything, and read the book of all the deeds of mankind, and of all the children of flesh that shall be upon the earth to the remotest generations.
3 And forthwith I blessed the great Lord the King of glory for ever, in that He has made all the works of the world, And I extolled the Lord because of His patience, And blessed Him because of the children of men.
4 And after that I said: 'Blessed is the man who dies in righteousness and goodness, Concerning whom there is no book of unrighteousness written, And against whom no day of judgement shall be found.'
5 And those seven holy ones brought me and placed me on the earth before the door of my house, and said to me: 'Declare everything to thy son Methuselah, and show to all thy children that no flesh is righteous in the sight of the Lord, for He is their Creator.
6 One year we will leave thee with thy son, till thou givest thy last commands, that thou mayest teach thy children and record it for them, and testify to all thy children; and in the second year they shall take thee from their midst.
7 Let thy heart be strong, For the good shall announce righteousness to the good; The righteous with the righteous shall rejoice, And shall offer congratulation to one another.
8 But the sinners shall die with the sinners, And the apostate go down with the apostate.
9 And those who practice righteousness shall die on account of the deeds of men, And be taken away on account of the doings of the godless.'
10 And in those days they ceased to speak to me, and I came to my people, blessing the Lord of the world.
Common Questions About Enoch 81
What are the 'heavenly tablets' Enoch is shown in chapter 81?
Enoch is instructed to observe and read heavenly tablets recording every individual fact and deed of humanity, from all generations past to the most remote generations still to come, and after reading them he blesses God for His patience and for His care toward the children of men.
What happens to Enoch at the end of this chapter, and what final instructions does he receive?
Seven holy angels bring Enoch back down and place him on earth before the door of his own house, instructing him to declare everything he has seen to his son Methuselah and to all his children, warning that no flesh is righteous before God their Creator, and telling him he will have one final year on earth with his family before being taken from their midst permanently.
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Questions to Think About
- Enoch's response to reading the record of all humanity's deeds is not despair but blessing God for His patience toward people. When you consider how patient God has been with humanity's failures, including your own, does your first response tend toward gratitude or toward taking that patience for granted?
- Even after receiving overwhelming cosmic visions, Enoch is sent back to do something very ordinary and relational: teach his own children face to face. What extraordinary insight or growth in your own life still needs to be translated into ordinary, faithful conversations with the people closest to you?
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