События в пятом столетии второго тысячелетия

Methuselah, the son of Enoch, gave birth to his firstborn son, Lamech. The chroniclers give different accounts regarding the year of his life when Methuselah gave birth to Lamech. In Russian Bibles it is written: “When Methuselah lived 187 years, gave birth to Lamech” (Gen. 5:25). In the Russian chronographs, as well as in the list of years written in the great Cheti-Menia of the Most Reverend Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, in the month of August, the following is written: “Methuselah lived 167 years from his birth, and gave birth to Lamech.” In the same way, in the chronicle of John, nicknamed Naucleer, written in Latin, it is indicated that in the 167th year of his life Methuselah gave birth to Lamech. This chronicle was published in Colonia, in 1544 after the Nativity of Christ. According to Russian Bibles, it turns out that the birth of Lamech from Methuselah occurred in 1374 from the beginning of the world, and according to chronographs in 1454. Righteous Enoch, who pleased God, was raptured into heaven (according to the Russian Bibles - in 1387 from the beginning of the world, and according to the Greek chronograph Georgiy Kedrin - in 1488). This holy forefather exhorted corrupt people to repent and correct their lives, which is recalled in the Book of Sirach in the following words: “Enoch please the Lord and offer an example of repentance by birth” (Sir. 44:15). Seeing that the sinners were not corrected, the righteous man began to threaten them with the Last Judgment of God, predicting this prophetically, as the holy Apostle Jude testifies to this in his Epistle and says: “Woe to them, for they walk in the way of Cain! Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these, saying: Behold, the Lord will come in the darkness of His holy angels to execute judgment on all; and expose all the wicked of all their deeds of wickedness, in the image of your wickedness, and of all their cruel words, even the words of the sinners of wickedness” (Jude 1:11, 14, 15). Righteous Enoch not only preached his prophecy with his lips, but also committed it to writing, so that not only those present and listening, but also those living far away would fear the judgment of God and, in accordance with his admonition, would stop doing evil. There is a plausible account of some (Tertullian and Jerome) who say that this book of Enoch's prophecy was taken by Noah into the ark so that it would be preserved intact from the flood. Thus, Enoch’s prophecy about the Last Judgment of God became known to subsequent nations that multiplied after the flood. The ascension of righteous Enoch to heaven did not happen in private, but in the presence of many eyewitnesses. And if his admiration were in private, then who would see and know this and who would believe in the absence of a witness? This is certain, that when he was in the midst of a meeting of people, teaching his listeners and speaking about God’s Last Judgment, which was to take place at the end of the world, he was then taken by the power of God to a height in full view of all who saw him rising and being carried into the air. And there were many witnesses to this rapture of Enoch, as eyewitnesses, and everyone understood that by God’s will he was transferred to paradise, from where Adam was expelled. For the sake of which God deigned to move His servant Enoch to paradise, the wise make various assumptions about this. Or because he is delighted that he pleased God and became worthy of the blessings of heaven; or, so that in some way such a saint of God, living for a long time among sinners, would not be damaged by any sinful temptations, which is also recalled in Wisdom: “He was well-pleasing to God and loved, and he who was alive among sinners was caught up and was caught up, lest malice change his mind or flattery deceive his soul” (Wis. 4:10-11); or so that the righteous who were then confident in the future life that God has prepared for His saints, and so that they know what kind of life Adam himself lost through his fall and deprived us all. For if Adam had not sinned, then all people, after living for many years, would have been transported with their flesh from earth to heaven, just as Enoch was transferred to paradise. But mainly (according to the agreed understanding of all the Fathers), God moved Enoch from here to paradise with the flesh, so that before the end of the world in the days of Antichrist, he would be (together with Elijah) a witness of Christ and the forerunner of His terrible coming, which he prophesied. You might be interested in: