Satan Part 2 (Satan in the Book of Enoch)

Author's note: This multipart work comes from a comprehensive essay I am writing for my Bible as Literature class. I am just posting the unrevised copies immediately as I finish them. Please forgive any stylistic errors, as I have not reviewed the piece. Feel free to make comments or ask questions, as they can only help to improve my essay.

Yours,

kyle a gregory

The Book of Enoch is divided into three parts. According to R. H. Charles, 1 Enoch was composed throughout the 3^rd and 1^st centuries BCE. The dating of the two later sections is debated, however, the consensus is that they were both composed after the 1^st century CE. (The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 547-548). 1Enoch relates the story of Enoch (mentioned in Genesis 5 as “walking with God”) as he is granted a vision of the heavens.

1 Enoch 6-8 (in parallel to Genesis 6) a band of 200 angels, led by Semjaza and Azazel, bind themselves with a curse and descend from Heaven in order to fornicate with homely human women. The inbreeding creates a race of giants that threaten mankind. The angels are also said to teach humans magic and divination, how to make metal armor and weapons, how to ornament themselves with make up and jewels, and the value of the metals of the Earth. 1 Enoch 8:2 says, “And there was great wickedness and much fornication, and they sinned, and all their ways were corrupt.”

1 Enoch 9 tells of how the holy angels in Heaven – Michael, Gabriel, Surjan, and Urjan – witness the actions of the fallen angels and hear the cries of mankind. They ask God what should be done and lament that the fallen angels have “revealed to (mankind) these sins.”

These passages in 1 Enoch 8 and 9 provide us with an example of fallen angels corrupting mankind, in the same way that Satan, in the modern conception, is said to corrupt an individual. They reveal sins to humanity that had been heretofore undiscovered. The fall of the angels and their corruption of mankind seems to mirror the downfall of the King of Babylon (the morning star, or lucifer) in Isaiah 14, whom Christian writers come to associate with Satan. The connection between the King of Babylon, Lucifer, and Satan will be addressed later in this paper.

1 Enoch 10 offers God's response to the questions of the holy angels. He first sends a messenger to Noah, warning him about the coming flood and destruction of humanity and the giants. He then tells the angel Rufael to, “Bind Azazel hand and foot and put him in the darkness; make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael and put him there. And lay upon him rough and pointed rocks, and cover him with darkness that he may remain there forever, and cover his face that he may not see the light! And on the great day of judgment, he will be cast into the fire... And the whole Earth was defiled through the example of the deeds of Azazel; to him ascribe all the sins. ” (1 Enoch 10:4-6,8). The fallen angel trapped under the earth awaiting his eternal judgment seems to provide us with several enduring images of Satan. The fallen angel trapped in the darkness under the desert seems to parallel Dante's Satan bound in ice in Hell. The idea that on the day of judgment Azazel will be cast into the fire appears to influence the later author of Revelation who writes that, “The devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” We're also provided with another example of the fallen angel being responsible for influencing mankind to sin.

Chapters 10 and 11 concludes with an apocalyptic vision of all the fallen angels being bound until the end of days, when they will be cast into the fire. After they have been destroyed and final judgment rendered, the Earth will be a righteous place where all men worship God as just. It will be a land of peace and plenty. This, too, echoes the Book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament.

1 Enoch 12-15 detail Enoch's role in the story of the fallen angels. The angels in Heaven instruct Enoch to go down to Earth and prophesy to the fallen angels about the Lord's commands. Upon hearing what God has planned, the fallen angels lament and ask Enoch to petition for their souls. So, Enoch prays that they may find mercy from God. Unfortunately for the fallen angels, Enoch learns that their judgment is final, and they will not be allowed to return to Heaven. God also declares to Enoch, “And now the giants, who have been begotten from body and flesh, will be called evil spirits on the earth, and their dwelling-places will be upon the earth. Evils spirits proceed from their bodies; because they are created from above, their beginning and the first basis being from the holy watchers, they will be evil spirits upon the earth, and will be called evil spirits. But the spirits of heaven have their dwelling-places in heaven, and the spirits of the earth, who were born of the earth, have their dwelling-places on earth.” (1 Enoch 15:8-10). While it is not explicit in the text, it seems reasonable to believe that these evil spirits that dwell on Earth could be interpreted as demons. Since they are spiritual beings bound to the earth, it is possible that they could continue the nefarious influencing of humanity that their forefathers began. This may be the source of the belief (seen in C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters) that the fallen angel Satan has a legion of demons at his command, who work to corrupt human souls.

While the Book of Enoch does not fully consolidate many of the common beliefs about Satan, it does provide us with pre-Christian examples of ideas like Satan being a fallen angel, evil spirits roaming the earth, and a lake of fire where the rebellious angels are punished for eternity that serve as components of Satan mythos. We will return to the Book of Enoch when we explore the development of the Satan mythos in the writings of early Christians in the New Testament.