Should a person read any other book outside the Bible? This question itself is a heated topic when it comes to people and churches in our day to day. However, this question should be answered by God and not men. Therefore, we will get our answer from reading the Bible itself. How is this? We do this by seeing if prophets, disciples of Jesus, or other writers spoke on these other books or quoted from them in the Bible books themselves. If so, these books must have been of some importance to them and the people at large. One of these books that we see Jude and Peter quoting and referencing from is “The Book of Enoch”. You will see this as I reference those verses below, and how they read in the book of Enoch as well. So if they used and taught with it, then we could at least read it for ourselves, to understand why. But before we do this, let us look at the verses I am referring to, in order to see if I am telling the truth or not. Jude said, 2“and Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14,15) This is in reference to the first chapter and nineth verse of the book of Enoch. It reads, “and behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones. To execute judgement upon all, and to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (Enoch 1:9) Now, isn’t this interesting that Jude would actually quote from the book of Enoch? It is just like Matthew quoting Isaiah about the birth of Jesus.
Jude also wrote, 2“and the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude 1:6,7) Which Peter also said, 1“for if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.” (2 Peter 2:4,5) This is in reference to Enoch chapters 6 and 10. Those verses read, “and it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’ And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations.” (Enoch 6:1-4) “And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire.” (Enoch 10:4-7) You can see the references to the verses in the book of Enoch above in Jude and 2 Peter. Therefore, they had the book of Enoch in their midst and quoted and referenced it.
Lastly, the book of Jubilees, which is dated around 200BC and earlier confirms the fact that there was a book of Enoch. It reads, “And in the eleventh jubilee [512-18 A.M.] Jared took to himself a wife, and her name was Baraka, the daughter of Râsûjâl, a daughter of his father’s brother, in the fourth week of this jubilee, [522 A.M.] and she bare him a son in the fifth week, in the fourth year of the jubilee, and he called his name Enoch. And he was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to the order of their separate months. And he was the first to write a testimony and he testified to the sons of men among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the years as we made (them), known to him. And what was and what will be he saw in a vision of his sleep, as it will happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the day of judgment; he saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all the children of men and for their generations. And in the twelfth jubilee, [582-88] in the seventh week thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was Edna, the daughter of Danel, the daughter of his father’s brother, and in the sixth year in this week [587 A.M.] she bare him a son and he called his name Methuselah. And he was moreover with the angels of God these six jubilees of years, and they showed him everything which is on earth and in the heavens, the rule of the sun, and he wrote down everything. And he testified to the Watchers, who had sinned with the daughters of men; for these had begun to unite themselves, so as to be defiled, with the daughters of men, and Enoch testified against (them) all.“ (Jubilees 4:16-22)
With all the references above, it should help you form your own opinion on the validity of the book of Enoch. People can try to tell you something else to believe, but now you have the facts about this specific book and if it is good to read it or not. As for me, if Jude and Peter used it, then I will never tell anyone not to. I may also read it on occasion, for it has worth. One thing that really sticks out when it comes to this book is the reference in Jubilees. These verses I just quoted above give the greatest case to seeing how the book of Enoch is actually inspired, even though many have and will say the opposite. In Jubilees 4, the writer gives us a brief summary of what you will read in the book of Enoch and it is spot on. Having read the Book of Enoch myself, I can say that it is a great read and does nothing to my belief in Christ but only strengthens it. As Jubilees says we see the vast knowledge of Enoch in his book. How he wrote down the signs of heaven, where he learned so much being in the presence with the angels of God. Even Genesis 6, of which talks about the sons of God, having married strange flesh who bore giants, is spoken of more in the Book of Enoch and in the Book of Jubilees here. Jubilees says that these sons of God were actually angels, of in other words Watchers. They sinned against God by marrying the daughters of men. This defiled them in their fornications with women. And Enoch did testify against them, as you will read in the Book of Enoch as well. Everything that was said of Enoch is true. He did write a book and God inspired him to do so. Therefore, it is good for anyone to read, like the early church members read as well. If there are other books that are referenced in the Bible, that are not in our canon, I’d love to know about them as well. Just know that the Bible will reference them in quoting or referencing them in verses if they are important for us to read. God bless you and I hope you find this message a blessing to your understanding of God.
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, I pray that people will at least have an open mind to things of God. So many people have already so much from their pastors, they are not willing to have an open mind to other things. Instead, they are caught up in what people have told them, instead of searching the scriptures to see if what they have said is true or not. This goes into the fact of if we should be reading anything else but what is in our current canon of scripture that we have today. Lord, many people have struggled when it comes to doing this since people have led them to know that anything outside the Bible is not inspired. How interesting this is, God, that people can say such derogatory and mean things about the book that they have never read before. How people can put down a book without actually opening up its covers. This is like people prejudging the Bible before they read it as well. Lord this type of understanding is man-made and I pray that these people that are locked into their current ways will repent. All I know is that if Jude and Peter quoted and referenced from another book, called “The Book of Enoch”, then I ought to research it myself. People may not agree with this, but I am hungry to know what drove these two disciples of Yours, Jesus, to reference this book for myself. I also desire for Your mysteries to fall down upon me also. I am not and will never close-minded when it comes to learning. I pray that You will unfold wisdom, knowledge, and counsel to me every day as I seek You. You are my God and I worship You. I love You more than life itself, Jesus. I give You glory and praise, this day and forever. Every book that You inspire I want to know and learn of. Thank You, God. Amen.
Let us read the Bible:
Note: Any Numbered References, found above, are listed below.
