14.
It was of these also that Enoch in the
seventh generation from Adam prophesied, saying: Behold, the Lord came with His
holy myriads,
15.
to execute judgment on all.
This statement, which is
attributed to Enoch, is not found anywhere in Scripture. Consequently, some
fathers did not accept this epistle, although this is not sufficient reason for
rejecting a book. For in 2 Tim. 3:8 St. Paul also mentions two opponents of
Moses, Jannes and Jambres, whose names are not found in Scripture either. But
be that as it may, we shall let it pass. Nevertheless, it is true that from the
beginning of the world God always let His Word—which promises believers His
grace and their salvation but threatens unbelievers with judgment and
damnation—be proclaimed until after Christ’s ascension. Now it is preached
publicly in all the world. But before the birth of Christ God took for Himself
only a line from Adam to Abraham and from then on to David up to the time of
Mary, the mother of Christ. This line had God’s Word. Thus the Gospel has
always been preached in the world, but never so publicly as now in the last
times.
Thus also this father, Enoch,
devoted himself to the Word of God, which he had undoubtedly learned from his
father Adam and had received from the Holy Spirit. For in Gen. 5:24 Scripture
says about him that he “walked with God” and for this reason was taken by God
and was seen no more. This gave rise to the saying that he would return before
the Last Day. But this should not be expected, unless one wants to understand
it to mean that he will come spiritually, namely, in such a way that his
preaching is linked with the Last Day, just as in this verse he speaks with
such certainty of the Last Day, as though he were already seeing it. He says:
“Behold, the Lord came with His holy myriads,” that is, with an innumerable
host. This can refer only to the Last Day, on which God will come with all the
saints to sit in judgment. For previously He did not come to the world with
many thousands of saints. No, He came alone, not to judge but to dispense
grace. (Martin Luther, Luther’s Works,
Vol. 30: The Catholic Epistles, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald,
and Helmut T. Lehmann (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999], 210–11)
