The Man Who Walked With God… and Never Died
Genesis 5:24 is only ten words long: “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” That single cryptic line is all the canonical Bible gives us about the great-grandfather of Noah. But in the deserts of Qumran, hidden inside clay jars for two thousand years, lay eleven Aramaic scrolls that tell the rest of the story, a story so wild, so outrageous, so heretical, so dangerous, that the early Church elders tried to erase it from history entirely. This is the story of an event experienced by Noah's, yes that Noah, own great-grandfather.
This is the Book of Enoch. Considered to still be apocryphal by many religions and people, it is 108 chapters of Angels imprisoned beneath the earth, giants who devoured mankind (literally!), secret and sacred cosmic oaths, higher beings and places that still cannot be spoken aloud in religious terms today. It is an epic journey through ten heavens that makes Dante look like a tourist, and tells the tale of exactly how the World will come to and end on graphic detail... but also how it will be rebuilt anew as the paradise it once was in the times of Eden.
Buckle up...
“In those days… the women became pregnant and bore giants whose height was three hundred cubits…”
Discovery and Rediscovery
1713 – Scottish explorer James Bruce returns from Ethiopia with three complete copies written in Ge’ez, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the only Christian tradition that never banned it.
1912 – R. H. Charles publishes the first reliable English translation.
1947-1956 – The Dead Sea Scrolls are found. Among the fragments: eleven manuscripts of 1 Enoch in Aramaic, the original language, proving it predates Christianity by centuries.
Book 1: The Book of the Watchers (Chapters 1–36)
Two hundred angels, called the “sons of heaven”, watch human women from the high heavens. By watch they mean "lusted after", those angels REALLY liked what they saw. Their leader Shemyaza and deputy Azazel swear a mutual oath on Mount Hermon to descend and take human wives. And by take, they don't meam go on a date and romantically court the human females... Their children are called the Nephilim. Monsterous giants that stand three hundred cubits tall (450 feet!) whose appetites are so great they empty the earth of food. When nothing is left, they turn to cannibalism, and start eating humans. Lots of humans.
“And they began to sin against birds, beasts, reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood.” (7:5)
Azazel, and others, teach mankind metallurgy, weapon-making, cosmetics, and sorcery. Mankind decends into a feral state. The entire Earth becomes a global slaughterhouse. God see this and sends the Archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel to basically beat the sh*t out of the bad angels. The Archangels succeed. The Watchers are bound hand-and-foot in the valleys of the Earth until Judgement Day. Their chidlren, the Nephilim, are forced to watch their own children slaughter each other, the Nephilim spirits become the demons that still torment humanity.
Book 2: The Book of Parables (Chapters 37–71)
Enoch is taken to the highest heaven and shown the “Head of Days” (God) on a throne of fire. Beside him sits the “Son of Man”, a pre-existent, divine figure with a face like lightning who will judge the world. This is the earliest known use of the title “Son of Man” in Jewish literature, the exact phrase Jesus uses for himself 80+ times in the Gospels.
Book 3: The Astronomical Book (Chapters 72–82)
The angel Uriel shows Enoch the true 364-day solar calendar (vs. the lunar calendar the Temple priests were using in Enoch's time). Portals in the sky open and close for the sun, moon, and stars. Winds are stored in crystal storehouses. Book 3 is so detailed in places that some modern astronomers have expressed they are stunned at its accuracy for a document so old.
Book 4: The Book of Dreams (Chapters 83–90)
Enoch sees two visions: the Flood as white bulls and black ravens, and a final white bull with great horns (the Messiah). The Earth is completely wiped clean. The dead who are good in life are raised to the living once more, the Earth is transformed once more into the paradise it was before in Eden.
Book 5: The Epistle of Enoch (Chapters 91–108)
A final warning to his children: the “Apocalypse of Weeks” divides history into ten “weeks.” The ninth week brings judgement, the tenth week is the final age of righteousness. The wicked are cast into an abyss of fire while the righteous live in paradise under a new heaven.
It's worth mentioning that now in December 2025 we are currently at the end of the Seventh week, or the beginning of the Eighth week of apostasy. Something to think about.
The Crimes of the Watchers
Chapter 6-8: Two hundred angels, the “sons of heaven,” led by Shemyaza and Azazel, look down on the daughters of men and make a mutual oath on Mount Hermon to descend and take human wives. Their children are the Nephilim, giants “three hundred cubits high” (450 feet!) who “devoured all the acquisitions of men… and when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind.” Azazel teaches metallurgy and weapon-making. Other angels teach cosmetics, sorcery, and astrology. The earth becomes a horror show.
“And they became pregnant, and they bore great giants… who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood.” – 1 Enoch 7:2-5
The Punishment
God sends the archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. The Watchers are bound “in the valleys of the earth” until Judgement Day, locations still argued over today (Dudael, under the desert, or under Antarctica in some theories). The Nephilim are slaughtered in a giant-on-giant civil war, but their disembodied spirits become the demons that still plague humanity to this very day.
Dudael is located in a desert East of Jerusalem. Interestingly the word Dudael, in Hebrew דּוּדָאֵל, translates as "Cauldron of God" and that sounds pretty badass.
“Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert… and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there forever.”
Enoch’s Guided Tour of the Cosmos: 10 Heavens, 7 Hells, and Places That Should Not Exist
Enoch is bodily lifted on clouds of fire and carried by the archangels themselves on a journey that lasts thirty days and thirty nights. He is shown places the Bible never mentions and is told to write everything down exactly as he sees it. What he records is the most detailed map of the unseen universe in any ancient text.
The First Heaven: The Storehouses of Weather
Enoch is taken to the edge of the sky where he sees vast treasuries made of crystal and fire. Inside are kept:
- The storehouses of the snow and the dew
- The treasuries of the hail and the frost
- The chambers of the mist and the clouds
- The reservoirs of the winds, east, west, north, south, each guarded by an angel who releases them at God’s command
He watches angels open and close crystal doors, letting out exactly the right amount of rain or drought. When the doors are shut too long, famine comes. When opened too wide, the Flood.
The Second Heaven: The Prison of the Fallen Stars
A dark, airless place of utter silence. Here the angels who rebelled before the Watchers, the very first cosmic criminals, hang in chains of black fire, waiting for the final judgement. Their faces are like dying coals. They weep without sound. Enoch asks why they suffer so terribly. The answer:
“These are they who did not come forth at their appointed times to praise the Lord, and therefore they are kept here until ten thousand times ten thousand years have passed.” (1 Enoch 18:14–16)
The Third Heaven: Paradise of the Righteous
Here is the Garden of Righteousness. Rivers of milk, honey, wine, and oil flow between trees that bear fruit twelve times a year. The Tree of Life stands in the centre, guarded by four streams of fire. The fragrance is so strong Enoch says he can still smell it when he returns to earth. The souls of the righteous dead rest here until the resurrection, clothed in garments of glory.
The Fourth Heaven: The Courses of the Sun and Moon
Enoch is shown six great gates in the east and six in the west. Every morning the sun emerges from its gate in a chariot of fire pulled by winged horses, wearing a crown of flames. Every night it returns through the western gate and is washed clean in the Lake of Fire. The moon has its own chariot, silver and cold. The angels who drive them are named, Uriel for the sun, Gabriel for the moon, and they never deviate from their paths by a single second.
The Fifth Heaven: The Watchers’ Prison
The true horror begins. Enoch is brought to a desolate mountain range where the two hundred Watchers are chained. Their cries shake the earth. Shemyaza hangs upside-down, his face covered with darkness. Azazel is buried up to his neck in jagged rocks in the desert of Dudael, his eyes covered so he cannot see the sky he once ruled. The air is thick with despair. Enoch is terrified and begs to leave.
The Sixth Heaven: The Archangels’ Headquarters
Here dwell the seven great archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Remiel, along with hundreds of thousands of lesser angels. They keep the records of every human deed, sing endless hymns, and govern the stars. Enoch sees seven bands of angels in seven different colours, each with a specific task. Enoch explicitly states that this place is so bright he has to cover his eyes/face to view it.
The Seventh Heaven: The Throne Room
Enoch is then carried past the boundaries of the visible universe. He sees the fiery cherubim with thousands of eyes, the six-winged seraphim, and the living creatures full of eyes within and without. At the centre is the Throne of Glory, wheels within wheels of fire, and upon it the “Head of Days” (God) whose hair is white as wool and whose robe is brighter than the sun. Beside Him sits the “Son of Man”, the Chosen One, with a face like lightning. On seeing God himself Enoch falls to his knees and is transformed into a being of fire himself (this is the origin of the later tradition that Enoch became the angel Metatron).
The Western Abyss: Chaos and Nothingness
Beyond the edge of creation lies a place with no earth, no heaven, no stars, only roaring fire above and darkness below. Here the builders of the Tower of Babel are imprisoned, and here the Leviathan and Behemoth are kept patiently waiting until the final feast of the righteous when they will be unleashed.
The Valley of Judgement
Enoch see's a vast plain divided into four hollows:
- One for the righteous who suffered
- One for the sinners who were never punished on earth
- One for the righteous who sinned a little
- One for the wicked who were punished on earth
Each soul waits in its appointed place until the final trumpet. Some people see this place as Purgatory. But...
The Place Where the Souls of the Dead Await
Enoch is shown a mountain of pure fire in the west where the souls of all who have died are gathered. Some are at peace, some in torment, some in a grey twilight. He hears their prayers rising like smoke.
The Final Vision: The New Heaven and New Earth
After the judgement, the old heaven and earth are rolled up like a scroll. A new heaven descends, radiant and transparent. The righteous live under a sky that never darkens, eating from the Tree of Life forever. The wicked are cast into the great abyss of fire where the Watchers already burn.
Once the final vision ends Enoch is returned to Earth with one single command:
“Write all these things and give them to your children, for the generations to come will forget the fear of the Lord.” (1 Enoch 81:1–2)
And so Enoch did. He wrote exactly what he saw and heard in great detail. This became the Book of Enoch.
Why the Church Banned It
Technically the Book of Enoch was never banned from the Bible. It was never included in the first place. That said I could go write a huge paragraph here on various theories as to why it wasn't canonised, but as far as I can tell, and to save time, the main reason the Church didn't want anyone to think "divine beings" (such as Angels) could, or indeed would, be capable of r*pe. Which is understandable for the times. Even so, it does open up the question: Wait, if literal divine beings are capable of committing these kind of atrocities, then...
Final Verdict
The Dead Sea Scrolls proved the Book of Enoch was far older than most of the New Testament. The Ethiopian Church (who also have the Ark of the Covenant) never stopped reading it. And every single time someone opens 1 Enoch for the first time, they understand why the early Church fathers woke up in a cold sweat after reading its contents. Because once you read the Book of Enoch, the Bible you thought you knew will never read the same way again. In a good way!
It's my opinion that The Book of Enoch doesn't diminish the Bible in any way at all. It provides a very vivid, very graphic account of an event in history as told by Noah's own great-grandfather. While Enoch's words can be a bit too symbolic in places, he was clearly telling his story in terms he was accustomed too for his times as truthfully as he could. I'm very glad it was found and we can read it today.
Here is a link to a free version of The Book of Enoch (PDF format. Will open in new tab.)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE COMPLETE BOOK OF ENOCH
I do wonder what other books/manuscripts/stories we are still yet to hear tho. A remote cave might contain some insanely good stories of other events from those times just waiting to be found.
Maybe the library under the Sphinx has them...
PS: For those that read all this and are wondering.. If Enoch never died and God simply “took him” in 2948 BC (using the standard Masoretic chronology that lines up with the timeline of Genesis 5 in the Bible), then today in December 2025 Enoch would be approximately 5,973 years old (give or take a decade depending on exact chronology).
PPS: Happy Christmas! Thank you all for visiting. I hope you have a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year. ❤️