[SE
XXI:2 – XXII:12 PP] After I had seen all this, these
two men said, ‘Enoch, we have only been told to accompany
you this far.’ Then they left me, and I saw them no more.
I was left alone outside the Haven; and I was afraid and fell
on my face, saying to myself, ‘Whatever has happened to
me?’ Then the lord sent one of his great Archangels, Gabriel,
out to fetch me, and he said to me: ‘Enoch, do not be afraid;
stand up and come with me – and keep standing up when you
are in front of the Lord.’ So I answered: ‘O! my Lord,
my courage has failed me, and left me in fear and trembling;
please call back the men who brought me here. I have relied
on them, so far; and I should like them with me when I go in
to see the Lord.
But
Gabri-el whisked me away like a leaf carried by the wind; and
he took me in to the Lord. [Despite what I had been told] I
fell prostrate in front of the Lord and he spoke to me: ‘Do
not be afraid, Enoch; get up and, in future always stand up
when you are with me.’
Then
Micha-el, who was the chief captain, raised me up and brought
me right up to the Lord. And the Lord said to his attendants:
‘Enoch is always to have entry to me.’ And these bowed
to the Lord. And said: ‘Enoch shall be given access, as
you say.
Then
the Lord said to Micha-el: ‘Take Enoch and trip him of
his own clothes; anoint him with fine oil, and dress him like
ourselves’, and Micha-el did as he was told. He stripped
me of my clothes, and rubbed me over with a wonderful oil like
dew – with the scent of myrrh – which shone like a
sunbeam. And I looked at myself, and I was like one of the others;
there was no difference, and all my fear and trembling left
me.
Then
the Lord called one of his Archangels named Uri-el, who was
the most learned of them all, and said: ‘Bring out the
books from my library, and give Enoch a pen for speedy writing,
and tell him what the books are about.’ And Uri-el hurried
and brought me the books, smelling myrrh, and handed me a pen.
The
sincerity of this account is quite remarkable, There are no
heroics, no bombast;just an honest statement of his human frailty
in the face of what must have been a most terrifying experience.
The parallel Sumerian account showed that this building, to
which Enoch had been brought, was the large, brilliant, cedar-wood
building on the High Rock – the Great House of Enlil.
From
The Shining Ones by Christian and Barbara Joy O’Brien
THE
SHINING ONES
AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON THIS WEBSITE
Words
of Wisdom Display Prints and Key Texts
