What does it mean to take someone to heaven in a society dominated by many religions in which God or Gods reside in heaven and have supernatural powers? Isn’t this a form of death by which we, simple people, explain the end of life and being taken to heaven? This is a very simplified but unambiguous form – the person taken to heaven has died.
What if someone was taken to heaven alive and therefore did not die on the earth?
Enoch is the son of Jared from the line of Seth, son of Adam and Eve. Enoch was the father of Methuselah, who was the father of Lamech, who was the father (doubtful, but that’s another story) of Noah.
Unfortunately, there is not much information about Enoch in the Bible, only how old he was and how he “disappeared”.
Genesis 5:21-24:
21 And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala.
22 And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
23 And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
24 And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.
And what does the Book of Enoch say about him?
Book of Enoch 1, 2-4:
2 Enoch, a blessed and righteous man, to whom the Lord opened his eyes and gave him a holy vision in heaven, spoke up and said, “What the angels have shown me.” I heard everything from them and understood what I saw, although it is not intended for this generation, but for distant generations that are yet to come.
3 I have spoken concerning the elect, and about them I have composed a parable: The Holy and Great One will come forth from his dwelling
4 and the Eternal God will descend on Mount Sinai and appear with his host, and will reveal himself in the power of his heavenly power.
Chapter 14 is interesting because it presents the “vision” of the Glory of the Lord.
Chapter 14, 8-20:
8 I saw this vision: Behold, the clouds called to me in the vision, and the mist called to me, and the path of the stars and the flashes of lightning urged me and pushed me, and in the vision the winds lifted me and carried me away and carried me up to heaven.
9 I went in until I came to a wall made of hail stones, with a tongue of fire surrounding it. I started to feel afraid.
10 I entered into the tongue of fire and came to a great house which was made of hailstones, and the wall of the house was like a mosaic made of hailstones, and its floor was made of snow.
11 Its roof was like the path of the stars and the flashes of lightning, and among them were cherubim of fire, and their sky was like water.
12 Fire burned around its wall, and fire flowed around its doors.
13 I entered this house. He was hot as fire and cold as snow. There was no joy or life in him. I was overcome with fear and trembling.
14 And as I trembled and shook, I fell upon my face. And I saw in a vision, 15 that another house, larger than the first, with all its doors open to me, was made of a tongue of fire.
16 In all of them he was so superior in glory and splendor and greatness that I cannot describe to you his glory and greatness.
17 Its floor was made of fire, and above it there were lightnings. The path of the stars and its roof were also made of burning fire.
18 I looked and saw in him a high throne. He looked like crystal, his surroundings were like the shining sun and the voice of the Cherubim was heard.
19 From under the high throne flowed rivers of burning fire, so that it was impossible to look at it.
20 And He who is great sat upon him in glory, and his radiance was brighter than the sun and whiter than snow.
This is a vision called “The Vision of God’s Palace”, which can be easily compared to the vision that Ezekiel had hundreds of years later.
It can be assumed that Enoch saw in his vision the Glory of the Lord, which of course he did not understand.
Chapters 17 and 18 describe his journey to heaven.
Book of Enoch 17, 1-8:
1 They took me and carried me to a place where the beings looked like burning fire, but when they wanted, they took on the appearance of men.
2 I was led to the place of the storm and to a mountain whose highest peak touched the sky.
3 And in the uttermost parts I saw places of lights and thunders, and in their depths bows of fire and arrows, and their quivers, and a flaming sword, and all the reflections of lightning.
4 I was led to the water called the water of life and to the western fire that receives every sunset.
5 And I came to the river of fire, whose fire flows like water, and flows into the great sea that is on the west side.
6 I saw all the great rivers and came into great darkness, and I found myself where everyone goes.
7 I saw the mountains of the darkness of winter, and the place where the water of all the deep is poured out.
8 I saw the mouth of all the rivers of the earth, and the mouth of the deep.
And the Book of Enoch 18, 1-14:
1 I saw the storehouses of all the winds. I saw how all creation was decorated with them and I saw the foundations of the earth.
2 I saw the cornerstone of the earth, and I saw the four winds that support the earth and the firmament of the sky.
3 I saw how the winds raise the height of the sky and how they position themselves between the sky and the earth. They are the pillars of heaven.
4 I saw the winds that turn the sky and cause the sun to set and all the stars to set.
5 I saw the winds of the earth under the clouds, and I saw the ways of angels. At the end of the earth I saw the firmament of heaven above.
6 I went southward, and it was hot day and night, where there were seven mountains of precious stones, three on the east side and three on the south side.
7 Those on the east side were of colored stone, and those on the south side were of red stone.
8 The middle [mountain] reached up to heaven, like the Lord’s throne. It was of antimony, and the top of the throne was of sapphire.
9 I saw a fire burning and everything that was in all the mountains.
10 I saw a place beyond the great earth, where the waters join together.
11 I saw a deep cleft of the earth with pillars of heavenly fire, and among them I saw the fiery pillars of heaven descending [downward], whose height and depth could not be measured.
12 Beyond the cleft I saw a place that had neither the firmament of the heaven above it nor the foundation of the earth under it. There was neither water nor birds there. It was a desert.
13 There I saw a terrible thing – seven stars like great burning mountains. When I asked about them,
14 The angel said to me, “This is the end of the heavens and the earth. This is the prison for the stars of heaven and the host of heaven.
Are the seven stars the constellation of the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) and the destination of Enoch’s journey? It’s a conservative guess, but it could make sense.
In Chapter 19, Enoch confirms that he PERSONALLY saw all this things, so he gives it in first person, not from other people’s stories:
3 I, Enoch, myself saw the vision, the end of all things. No man has seen what I have seen.
By providing all the information, Enoch proves that after his first journey he was returned to earth and could tell everything he saw to his descendants.
At the age of 365, Enoch was taken by God again, but this time for good. There is no information about the number of years he lived until his death, as is the case with most biblical patriarchs. He was simply TAKEN OFF the earth.
His words were written down in the form of the Book of Enoch, the content of which was too incomprehensible or inconvenient for biblical holders and did not find its way into the mainstream of the Bible. The Coptic Orthodox Church was the only one to include it in its canon of Holy Bible as inspired.
The question for today is: did Enoch have “visions” or “nightmares” that resulted in his fantasies? Or was Enoch taken on a spaceship by alien visitors to their home planet?
Quotes from:
– The Holy Bible DOUAY-RHEIMS VERSION
– The Book of Enoch translated to Polish by Fr. Ryszard Rubinkiewicz and back to English by me.