This book was translated by James Trimm, and is available through the Society for the Advancement of Nazarene Judaism. This book is alleged to be that which was written by Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who is one of the very few known in the scriptures that did not face death, but was transported up into Heaven. The writing itself is very apocalyptic in nature and has a special poetic quality. It coincides with much prophetic literature in the TaNaKh including and especially in relation to the Millennial reign of Yahushua Messiah. One of the more significant passages relates to the Millenial teaching that all implements ofwar shall be beat from "swords into plowshares." -Micah:4:3 It goes into detail about this in chapter 52 :
7 And it shall come to pass in those days that none shall be saved,
Either by gold or by silver,
And none be able to escape.
8 And there shall be no iron for war,
Nor shall one clothe oneself with a breastplate.
Bronze shall be of no service,
And tin [shall be of no service and] shall not be esteemed,
And lead shall not be desired.
9 And all these things shall be [denied and] destroyed from the surface of the
earth,
When the Elect One shall appear before the face of the Lord of Spirits.'
Another interesting element in this book is that the entire problem of evil is solved when Enoch boldly declares that "Man created sin."
98: 4 I have sworn unto you, ye sinners, as a mountain has not become a
slave,
And a hill does not become the handmaid of a woman,
Even so sin has not been sent upon the earth,
But man of himself has created it,
And under a great curse shall they fall who commit it.
5 And barrenness has not been given to the woman,
But on account of the deeds of her own hands she dies without children.
Enoch also talks about the abominations upon the earth in the days of the flood. After reading this book, I think the words of Yahushua Messiah was quite correct when he said "Mt:24:37: But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be," because abortion and every manner of perversion that is rampant in our society today was commited before the flood -
99: 5 And in those days the women shall become pregnant and abort their
babies and cast, them out from their midst.
so that their children shall perish through them:
Yea, they shall abandon their children (that are still) sucklings, and not
return to them,
And shall have no pity on their beloved ones.
The Book of the Secrets of Enoch, also known as 2nd Enoch (in the same Trimm translation) had some interesting things in it as well. In 2nd Enoch 31:1, it is written that Adam was given a "testament" and given commands. This demonstrates, at least according to the testimony of this book, that people before the flood did have knowledge of the commands of Elohim, and even had their own "testament." The notion that these poeple were barbarous ignorant cave dwellers, as antinomians choose to paint the period before the flood, is clearly wrong. Enoch is said to have written 366 books in total, and handed them to his son Methuselah - 2nd Enoch 68:3
2nd Enoch also echoes Jeremiah concerning the predestination of souls even from their mothers womb, and Enoch says that there is a "measure fixed" for how much a soul will be "tried" in the world.- 2nd Enoch 49:4
One of the reoccurring themes in 2nd Enoch is the apparent concern for animal life. In fact, in chapter 58, verse 7, it reads "and as every soul of man is according to number, similarly beasts will not perish, nor all souls of beasts which YHWH created, till the great judgment, and they will acuse man, if he feed them ill."
This is a peculiar verse indeed. However, it appears that YHWH does care deeply for even the animals upon the face of the earth. Again, this is reinforced in 2nd Enoch 59:5,6 "But whoever kills beast without wounds, kills his own souls and defiles his own flesh. And he who does any beast any injury whatsoever, in secret, it is evil practice, and he defiles his own soul."
I found the book a very curious read, and could find nothing at variance with the law and testimony contained in the TaNaKh.