I Have discovered something very interesting in the Book of Enoch. In the 18th chapter, he is describing a journey with the angels, where they are flying in an angelic "spaceship" southwards on the earth, and coming to a place where there are pillars of heavenly fire.

To me, this sounds like they were flying over Africa (from the Middle East), and coming to the South Pole, and watching the Southern Lights.

Enoch describes how he is passing several mountains, which quite well fits in with the mountains in east and south Africa 1. He passes over where the "waters collect", which obviously is where the oceans gather south of Africa 2. Then when they come to the place further south, he sees a deep rift, or abyss 3, which would suggest that Antarctica at that time was free from ice. And we know that there are ancient maps that seem to depict Antarctica as an ice-free landmass 4.

Now, over this abyss, where the heavenly fire goes up and down like immense pillars, there are seven stars 5. This is of course not stars here on earth, but stars hovering over the South Pole horizon. A well known formation of seven stars is the Pleiades. Were the stars Enoch saw the Pleiades? Several things seems to confirm this. Firstly, the angels tells him that certain fallen angels were to be bound to those stars, because of their mingling with women on earth 6.

"The Pleiades", by Elihu Wedder (1885).

This story is very similar to myths in Greece and Mesopotamia. In the Greek myth, seven women were put in the starry heaven because of their mingling with the Titans, by which they were made pregnant 7. This is also a clear parallel to Genesis 6. And in Enoch, which describes this story in detail, we read, in the chapter after chapter 18, that the women who were seduced by the fallen angels, were to be imprisoned together with those angels, among those seven stars 8. These Greek women were called the Pleiades, and therebye we know that those seven stars in Enoch must be the Pleiades.

Then there is also a myth from Mesopo­tamia, where seven demons were bound as seven stars in the sky. Also here those stars are identified as the Pleiades 9. This star formation was very well-known to all the ancients, because of its beautiful appearance and for its role for agricultural dates.

Thus we can be quite sure that the stars Enoch saw on the horizon above Antarctica, were the Pleiades.


NOW, THIS OF COURSE can be put to test with a modern astronomy program. At first I wondered if those stars really can be viewed at the southern hemisphere of the Earth. It's a totally different sky there. So was my interpretation of the Enoch text true, or would an astronomy program debunk the whole idea?

I opened the Stellarium, which is a free download program, and entered the South Pole as the viewing position. Then I changed the date to a thousand years back in time. And then I looked through the night sky, around the celestial globe - and found nothing. The Pleiades were not viewable from the South Pole a thousand years ago. And they are certainly not viewable from there today.

Then I put the date back to the time of Christ, and found nothing. The Pleiades were under the horizon all the year and all day and night, at that time.

Then I set the date to the time of Noah's Flood, about 2300 BC. Nothing. By that moment I thought my idea was destroyed. Clearly, I thought, one cannot see these stars on the other side of the earth. I should have understood that from the beginning.

But then I remembered, that Enoch lived a couple of hundred years before the flood. In fact more than 700 years before the flood, between 622 and 977 after the creation of Adam - which is about 3000 BC.


The Pleiades at the South Pole, ocean level, in July, 3000 BC.

So, with my last hope, and with a great feeling of exitement, I put the date to 3000 BC, and started to rotate the scene. And there they were! The Pleiades could be seen at that time, just above the horizon, at the South Pole! Wow! And Hallelujah!

Because of the Precession of the Equinoxes, they had a time-window in that age, when they were just visible above the South Pole horizon, a certain time of the year. Since then they have never been seen from such southerly positions on earth 10.
...


HOW IS THIS TO BE EXPLAINED? Was it just a very good guess of who ever that wrote the supposed "pseud-epigraphical" book, supposedly around the 3rd century BC (as they say about the book)? Note that it is never stated that the stars are the Pleiades in Enoch, or that the route goes over Africa. Why would a writer in that period not mention such well-known names, if he was just putting together a fantasy story?

Or was this journey real, and written down by someone who really lived five thousand years ago? And who obviously must have known, or seen, Africa and the Southern Ocean from above, and then the South Pole, with its pillars of light? How could anyone just guess all that, or put it together in a story, when all of it is perfectly accurate - geographically, astronomically, and in exactly the right timeframe?


I think this is a stunning evidence that the Book of Enoch really is written before the Great Flood, and that he really did travel with the angels of God in some sort of a flying vehicle, around the world.
- and also into outer space, which is depicted in other parts of the book.


"And I, Enoch, alone saw this vision, the ends of all; and no man has seen them as I have seen them." (Enoch 19:3)

To See so much more plus the many photos on this subject of what Enoch Saw: http://bibeltemplet.net/Enoch-southpole.html

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bump

Isaiah 40:22 (KJV)

22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:


Disclaimer: Rapture Bible Prophecy Forum, ( http://www.rapturebibleprophecyforum.com ) does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article posted on this site. We do however, encourage a healthy and friendly debate on the issues of our day. Whether you agree or disagree, we encourage you to post your feedback by using the reply button.

this is a stunning evidence that the Book of Enoch really is written before the Great Flood, and that he really did travel with the angels of God in some sort of a flying vehicle, around the world.
- and also into outer space, which is depicted in other parts of the book.