Tuesday 22 October 2019

The Son of Man in the Book of Enoch

In the book of Enoch, Enoch relates his heavenly visions when he is permitted to see the very Last times. in the divine court he beholds the son of man. (The Passover Plot)

46.1 And there I saw one who had a 'Head of Days' and his head was white like wool.  And with him there was another whose face had the appearance of a man and his face was full of grace like one of the Holy Angels.
46.2 And I asked one of the Holy Angels, who went with me and showed me all the secrets, about that Son of Man, who he was, and from where he was, and why he went with the Head of Days.


Enoch describes Christ at various points, employing the titles of Messiah (48:10; 52:4), the Righteous One (38:2; 53:6), the Elect One (40:5; 45:3–4; 49:2, 4; 51:3), the Lamb (90:38), and the Son of Man (46:3; 48:2; 62:9, 14). 

Christ is to judge the world in righteousness and will reveal all things: “This is the Son of Man who has righteousness, with whom dwells righteousness, and who revealed all the treasures of that which is hidden, because the Lord of Spirits has chosen him.” (46:3.)

In a passage in which God speaks of the resurrection, it is clear that Christ will play a key role in that event:

“And in those days shall the earth also give back that which has been entrusted to it, and Sheol also shall give back that which it has received, and destruction shall give back that which it owes. For in those days the Elect One shall arise; and he shall choose the righteous and holy from among them: for the day has come near that they should be saved. And the Elect One shall in those days sit on My throne, and his mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel.” (51:1–3.) 

The visions Enoch saw in this book are going to take place in the last days he did not see the Son of Man in is own time but in the latter generations the second coming of the son of man when he will return at the end time. This is not a reference to mean that the Son of Man had pre-existence before he was born.

The principle of the idea is expressed in the words of Paul (Romans 4:17) "God who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not (but are to be) AS THOUGH THEY WERE."

So the Father knew what sort of person the Son would be before he was actually born and began to exist as a person. He could plan what He would eventually accomplish through him. He could "glorify" and "love" in advance His own Son, "the only-begotten of the Father". 

As the Apostle Peter put it: 

"Christ was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake" (1 Peter 1:20, R.V.). 

So too the saying of Jesus to the Jews: 
"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad . . . Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:56-58). 

Abraham, having received the promises, looked forward to the coming of the One in whom "all families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). Jesus knew that he was that One, having priority even over Abraham in God's purpose.


The son of man is presented in the mind of God and chosen before the creation, and from time to time revealed to the righteous but the son of man is neither divine nor actually pre-existent. the son of man is named and hidden from the beginning in the secret thoughts (logos) of God, finally to be revealed in the last times as the ideal man who will justify god's creation of the world. (The Passover Plot)

In this sense he is the second Adam, the heavenly man answering to the light Adam. The son of man is an image of Enoch's own righteous self so that we are not required to go beyond the idea that when the Messiah would be manifested he would embody that perfect righteousness which God from the beginning designed for mankind and which was present in the holy saints of all ages. (The Passover Plot)

By virtue of that perfection of holiness man in the Christ is exalted to the right hand of God and is chosen to be God's representative in the reborn and redeemed world from which all sin has been banished. The son of man is so to speak the essential Messiah embodied in all the anointed ones the eternal principle of righteousness personified and manifested in all the just ones (The Passover Plot)

In Daniel the people of the saints of the Most High are likened to a son of man compare Daniel 7:9 13, 14, 26, 27

The Saints who are to possess the kingdom are the son of man.

Thus the son of man is a collective or the son is a Corporate Being the multitudinous Christ

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