13. THE STOREHOUSES
70.1 And it came to pass, after
this, that while he was living his name was lifted from those who dwell upon
the dry ground to the presence of that Son of Man, and to the presence of the
Lord of Spirits.
70.2 And he was lifted on the chariots of the spirit, and his name vanished
from among them.
70.3 And from that day I was not counted among them, and He placed me between
two winds, between the north and the west, where the Angels took the cords to
measure for me the place for the chosen and the righteous.
70.4 And there I saw the First Fathers and the righteous who from the beginning
of the world dwelt in that place.
71.1 And it came to pass, after this, that my spirit was carried off, and it
went up into the Heavens. I saw the sons of the Holy Angels treading upon flames
of fire their garments were white, and their clothing, and the light of their
face, was like snow.
71.2 And I saw two rivers of fire, and the light of that fire shone like a hyacinth,
and I fell upon my face in front of the Lord of Spirits.
71.3 And the Angel Michael, one of the Archangels, took hold of me by my right
hand, and raised me and led me out to all the secrets of mercy, and the secrets
of righteousness.
71.4 And he showed me all the secrets of the Ends of Heaven and all the Storehouses
of the Stars and the Lights from where they come out from below the Holy Ones.
71.5 And the Spirit carried Enoch off to the Highest Heaven, and I saw there,
in the middle of that Light, something built of crystal stones, and in the middle
of those stones tongues of living fire.
71.6 And my spirit saw a circle of fire, which surrounded that house; from its
four sides came rivers, full of living fire, and they surrounded that house.
71.7 And round about were the Seraphim and the Cherubim, and the Ophannim; these
are They Who Do Not Sleep but keep watch over the Throne of His Glory.
71.8 And I saw Angels, who could not be counted, a thousand thousands and ten
thousand times ten thousand, surrounding that house. And Michael, and Raphael,
and Gabriel, and Phanuel, and the Holy Angels who are in the Heavens above,
went in and out of that house.
71.9 And Michael, and Raphael, and Gabriel, and Phanuel, and many Holy Angels
without number, came out from that house.
71.10 And with them the Head of Days, his head white, and pure, like wool and
his garments - indescribable.
71.11 And I fell upon my face, and my whole body melted, and my spirit was transformed;
and I cried out in a loud voice, in the spirit of power, and I blessed, praised,
and exalted.
71.12 And these blessings, which came out from my mouth, were pleasing before
that Head of Days.
71.13 And that Head of Days came with Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel,
and thousands and tens of thousands of Angels without number.
71.14 And that Angel, came to me, and greeted me with his voice, and said to
me: "You are the son of man who was born to righteousness and righteousness
remains over you and the righteousness of the Head of Days, will not leave you."
71.15 And he said to me: "He proclaims peace to you in the name of the
world which is to come, for from there peace has come out from the creation
of the world and so you will have it for ever and for ever and ever.
71.16 And all will walk according to your way, inasmuch as righteousness will
never leave you. With you will be their dwelling, and with you their lot, and
they will not be separated from you for ever and for ever and ever.
71.17 And so there will be length of days with that Son of Man, and the righteous
will have peace, and the righteous will have an upright way in the name of the
Lord of Spirits, for ever and ever."
59.1 And in those days my eyes saw the secrets of the flashes of lightning,
and the lights, and the regulations governing them; and they flash for a blessing
or a curse, as the Lord of Spirits wishes.
59.2 And there I saw the secrets of the thunder and how when it crashes in Heaven
above the sound of it is heard. And they showed me the dwellings of the dry
ground, and the sound of the thunder, for peace, and for blessing, or for a
curse, according to the word of the Lord of Spirits.
59.3 And after this all the secrets of the lights, and of the flashes of lightning,
were shown to me. They flash to bring blessing and satisfaction.
60.11 And the other Angel spoke to me, the one who went with me and showed me
what is secret; what is first and last in Heaven, in the heights, and under
the dry ground, in the depths, and at the Ends of Heaven, and at the Foundations
of Heaven, and in the Storehouses of the Winds.
60.12 And how the spirits are distributed, and how they are weighed. And how
the springs, and the winds, are counted according to the power of their spirit.
And the power of the light of the Moon. And the divisions of the stars according
to their names. And how all the divisions are made.
60.13 And the thunder - according to the places were it falls. And all the divisions
that are made in lightning - so that it may flash. And its hosts - how they
quickly obey.
60.14 For the thunder have fixed intervals, which have been given to its sound,
for waiting. And the thunder and the lightning are not separate although not
the same. Through a spirit the two of them move inseparably.
60.15 For when the lightning flashes the thunder utters its voice, and the spirit,
at the proper time, causes it to rest, and divides equally between them because
the storehouse of the times for their occurrence is like that of the sand. And
each of them, at the proper time, is held by a rein, and turned back by the
power of the spirit, and likewise driven forward, according to the number of
the regions of the Earth.
60.16 And the spirit of the sea is male and strong, and according to the power
of its strength, the spirit turns it back with a rein, and likewise it is driven
forward, and scattered amongst all the mountains of the Earth.
60.17 And the spirit of the hoarfrost is its own Angel; and the spirit of the
hail, is a good Angel.
60.18 And the spirit of the snow has withdrawn because of its power, and it
has a special spirit, and that which rises from it is like smoke and its name
is frost.
60.19 And the spirit of the mist is not associated with them in their storehouse
but has a special storehouse; for its course is glorious both in light and darkness,
and in winter and in summer, and its storehouse is an Angel.
60.20 The spirit of the dew has its dwelling at the ends of Heaven and is connected
with the storehouses of the rain. And its course is in winter and in summer
and its clouds. And the clouds of the mist are associated and one gives to the
other.
60.21 And when the spirit of the rain moves from its storehouse the Angels come
and open the storehouse and bring it out. And when it is scattered over all
the dry ground it joins with all the water that is on the dry ground. And whenever
it joins with the water that is on the dry ground.(.…..)
60.22 For the waters are for those who dwell upon the dry ground, for they are
nourishment for the dry ground, from the Most High who is in Heaven. Therefore
there is a fixed measure for the rain and the Angels comprehend it.
60.23 All these things, I saw towards the Garden of Righteousness.
Notes
(13) THE STOREHOUSES (pages
87-90)
Enoch often mentions storehouses throughout the book. Storehouses were probably
first introduced to Enoch's people by the runaways. Since they were considered
as angels their storehouses were probably considered divine and magical. Many
people probably believed that the storehouses created the goods that were stored
inside them.
Enoch probably knew better than that since he may have been the keeper of records
and inventories. However, he does seem to regard storehouses as basic to God's
way of distributing natural things such as the weather.
At the beginning he again describes his journey (70.2-3) - he was lifted on
a chariot of the spirit and they went northwest. I assume this is some kind
of flying machine today we would probably call it a UFO rather than a chariot
of the spirit.
Enoch goes on to describe the land of the angels and a meeting with the Head
of Days. Four of the Watchers are named at 71.9; they may have been assigned
to look after Enoch because they could speak his language well.
Enoch seems to have asked questions and made some notes, and this section, and
the next section, and "the Law of the Stars" is the result. My opinion
is that the Watchers knew the answers to Enoch's questions but it was difficult
for them to explain the answers to Enoch in terms that he could understand.
This is shown clearly at 60.14 and 60.15 where Enoch reports an explanation
of thunder and lightning and why you see the flash before you hear the bang.
This is common knowledge now - but not to Enoch. I think that Enoch believed,
initially, that the bangs and flashes occurred separately made by different
processes. He reports that they are not separate although not the same, 60.14,
because a spirit makes them inseparable. Since Enoch assumes that you see and
hear things at the instant they happen he finds it hard to understand why the
sound has to wait and so brings a storehouse into the explanation.
