Latest / A Tithe of Time Podcast / 1 Enoch 1–5 Recap — Judgment and the Promise of Peace
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: Welcome to A Tithe of Time, recaps through the Bible, judgment and the promise of peace.
- 0:06SPEAKER_00: Today we're looking back at the opening five chapters of the book of Enoch using the R.H.
- 0:11SPEAKER_00: Charles translation.
- 0:13SPEAKER_00: The book begins with a blessing spoken into a scene of coming judgment.
- 0:17SPEAKER_00: Enoch addresses the righteous who will be living in a time of trouble.
- 0:21SPEAKER_00: Before the mountains shake or the earth is torn apart, the account identifies people for whom God's arrival will bring mercy and peace.
- 0:30SPEAKER_00: That opening gives us a way to follow everything that comes next.
- 0:33SPEAKER_00: The same arrival that terrifies the wicked brings protection to the righteous.
- 0:38SPEAKER_00: Judgment and hope stand together from the beginning.
- 0:42SPEAKER_00: Enoch describes a vision shown through angels, with his eyes opened by God.
- 0:47SPEAKER_00: Within the account, he presents what he has seen and heard as a message for a distant generation.
- 0:53SPEAKER_00: But he gives no calendar date.
- 0:55SPEAKER_00: The words look ahead without telling us that their intended audience is specifically our own generation.
- 1:01SPEAKER_00: Then the Holy Great One comes forth.
- 1:04SPEAKER_00: The language reaches from heaven to earth, mountains shake, hills melt like wax before a flame.
- 1:10SPEAKER_00: Even the watchers tremble, although the opening does not yet explain their identity.
- 1:15SPEAKER_00: Nothing in the landscape is too strong or too secure to be moved.
- 1:20SPEAKER_00: Yet amid that upheaval comes a different promise.
- 1:23SPEAKER_00: Reading from the R.
- 1:24SPEAKER_00: H.
- 1:24SPEAKER_00: Charles translation.
- 1:26SPEAKER_00: But with the righteous he will make peace.
- 1:29SPEAKER_00: Notice who acts.
- 1:31SPEAKER_00: God protects, shows mercy, helps, and makes peace.
- 1:36SPEAKER_00: The account says the righteous will belong to him.
- 1:38SPEAKER_00: Their future is described through his care for them.
- 1:42SPEAKER_00: After that immense scene, the book turns our attention towards something familiar, the world we see every day.
- 1:49SPEAKER_00: Look at the heavens.
- 1:50SPEAKER_00: Notice the rising and setting of the lights.
- 1:53SPEAKER_00: Watch the seasons, the falling leaves, the return of growth, and the movement of the waters.
- 1:59SPEAKER_00: These observations prepare a moral comparison.
- 2:03SPEAKER_00: Creation is portrayed as carrying out the order God has appointed for it.
- 2:07SPEAKER_00: The trees change with the seasons, yet those changes are part of the pattern the account calls steadfast.
- 2:13SPEAKER_00: Here, remaining faithful to an appointed order does not mean remaining in one unchanging condition.
- 2:20SPEAKER_00: Leaves fall and grow again.
- 2:22SPEAKER_00: The recurring pattern is the point.
- 2:24SPEAKER_00: The summer scene makes that observation personal.
- 2:28SPEAKER_00: People seek shade.
- 2:29SPEAKER_00: The ground and rocks grow too hot to tread upon.
- 2:32SPEAKER_00: The listener is invited to recognize an order already encountered through ordinary experience.
- 2:38SPEAKER_00: Then the address turns sharply toward human conduct.
- 2:41SPEAKER_00: Reading from the R.H.
- 2:43SPEAKER_00: Charles translation.
- 2:44SPEAKER_00: But ye, ye have not been steadfast, nor done the commandments of the Lord.
- 2:50SPEAKER_00: The comparison now comes into focus.
- 2:52SPEAKER_00: Creation follows its appointed course, while the people being addressed have turned away.
- 2:58SPEAKER_00: Their failure includes both conduct and speech, disobeying commandments and speaking proud, hard words against God.
- 3:06SPEAKER_00: That connection reaches back to chapter 1, where judgment concerns both ungodly works and words spoken against him.
- 3:14SPEAKER_00: Across the opening section, speech is treated as part of a person's accountability.
- 3:19SPEAKER_00: The consequences are expressed through opposing futures.
- 3:22SPEAKER_00: The hard-hearted find no peace.
- 3:25SPEAKER_00: The elect are promised light, grace, and peace, and they will inherit the earth.
- 3:30SPEAKER_00: Part of chapter 5 requires particular care.
- 3:33SPEAKER_00: Our edition marks a portion as restored, and one line contains missing words.
- 3:39SPEAKER_00: We can identify the surrounding themes of mercy and judgment, but we should not fill in what has been lost or treat every disputed phrase as certain.
- 3:48SPEAKER_00: The closing lines bring wisdom and humility together.
- 3:52SPEAKER_00: Pride appears among the failures being condemned.
- 3:55SPEAKER_00: Humility accompanies the wisdom bestowed upon the elect.
- 3:58SPEAKER_00: The promised future includes an end to their sin and lives increased in peace and joy.
- 4:04SPEAKER_00: Taken together, these chapters move from God's coming, through creation's ordered patterns, to the question of human faithfulness.
- 4:12SPEAKER_00: The world around the listener becomes the setting for an accusation, and for a promise that wrongdoing will not have the final word.
- 4:20SPEAKER_00: This concludes judgment and the promise of peace, covering 1 Enoch chapters 1 through 5.
- 4:26SPEAKER_00: Next, we'll begin chapter 6 The Angels Bind Themselves by an Oath.
- 4:31SPEAKER_00: And remember, tithe your time.