The 7 Week Prophecy of the Book of Enochby Craig Paardekooper

There is a prophecy in the Book of Enoch that describes history from the birth of Enoch until the time of theMaccabees. It divides this history into 7 weeks, and describes what happens in each of the 7 weeks. The
prophecy comes from the Book of Enoch, chapters 93. Fragments of this prophecy are found in the Dead Sea
Scrolls, Cave 4.
We have some fragments of the prophecy from the Dead Sea Scrolls to compare with what we havefrom the Ethiopic version. While we don’t have the complete prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls, we haveenough to compare it to the Ethiopic version of Enoch. They match considerably well. If the parts wehave match, it stands to reason that the rest would have as well. After all, for the translators of theEthiopic version to invent the prophecy, they would have had to know exactly what parts would be
discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls and what parts would be lost to time and degradation [10]Dead Sea Scrolls – fragment (4QEng) dating to the time of the Maccabees.

You can download chapter 93 of the Book of Enoch Enoch ch 93

XCIII, XCI. 12-17. The Apocalypse of Weeks.
CHAPTER XCIII.
And after that Enoch both †gave† and began to recount from the books. And Enoch said: ‘Concerning thechildren of righteousness and concerning the elect of the world, and concerning the plant of uprightness, I will
speak these things, yea, I Enoch will declare (them) unto you, my sons: According to that which appeared to mein the heavenly vision, and which I have known through the word of the holy angels, and have learnt from theheavenly tablets.’
And Enoch began to recount from the books and said: ‘I was born the seventh in the first week, while
judgement and righteousness still endured.
And after me there shall arise in the second week great wickedness, and deceit shall have sprung up; and in it
there shall be the first end. And in it a man shall be saved; and after it is ended unrighteousness shall grow up,
and a law shall be made for the sinners.
And after that in the third week at its close a man shall be elected as the plant of righteous judgement, and his
posterity shall become the plant of righteousness for evermore.
And after that in the fourth week, at its close, visions of the holy and righteous shall be seen, and a law for all
generations and an enclosure shall be made for them.
And after that in the fifth week, at its close, the house of glory and dominion shall be built for ever.
And after that in the sixth week all who live in it shall be blinded, and the hearts of all of them shall godlessly
forsake wisdom. And in it a man shall ascend; and at its close the house of dominion shall be burnt with fire,and the whole race of the chosen root shall be dispersed.
And after that in the seventh week shall an apostate generation arise, and many shall be its deeds, and all its
deeds shall be apostate. And at its close shall be elected The elect righteous of the eternal plant ofrighteousness, to receive sevenfold instruction concerning all His creation.
For who is there of all the children of men that is able to hear the voice of the Holy One without being troubled?
And who can think His thoughts? and who is there that can behold all the works of heaven? And how should
there be one who could behold the heaven, and who is there that could understand the things of heaven andsee a soul or a spirit and could tell thereof, or ascend and see all their ends and think them or do like them?
And who is there of all men that could know what is the breadth and the length of the earth, and to whom has
been shown the measure of all of them? Or is there any-one who could discern the length of the heaven andhow great is its height, and upon what it is founded, and how great is the number of the stars, and where all theluminaries rest?

Week
1
2

3

456Prophecy

History

Justice still strong“And after me there shall arise in thesecond week great wickedness, Anddeceit shall have sprung up; And in it
there shall be the first end. And in it aman shall be saved; And after it is ended
unrighteousness shall grow up, And alaw shall be made for the sinners.”
And after that in the third week at its
close a man shall be elected as theplant of righteous judgement, And his
posterity shall become the plant ofrighteousness for evermore. (Enoch93:5)
And after that in the fourth week, at its
close, Visions of the holy and righteous
shall be seen, And a law for allgenerations and an enclosure shall bemade for them. (Enoch 93:6)
And after that in the fifth week, at its
close, The house of glory anddominion shall be built for ever. (Enoch93:7)
And after that in the sixth week all who
live in it shall be blinded, And the heartsof all of them shall godlessly forsake
wisdom. And in it a man shall ascend;
And at its close the house of dominion
shall be burnt with fire, And the wholerace of the chosen root shall bedispersed. (Enoch 93:8)

At its close : Noah
Increase in evil before the Flood

At its close : Abraham

At its close : Moses
Law and the Tabernacle.

At its close : David & Solomon.
Temple built during this period
At its close : Babylonian Captivity
Apostasy during the time of the monarchy
Elijah ascends to heaven.
The Jerusalem Temple is burned
The Hebrews are dispersed

7

9. And after that in the seventh week
shall an apostate generation arise, And
many shall be its deeds, And all its
deeds shall be apostate. 10. And at its
close shall be elected The electrighteous of the eternal plant ofrighteousness, To receive sevenfoldinstruction concerning all His
creation. (Enoch 93:9–10)

At its close : Essenes
During the Times of the Gentile Empires,people become apostate because theyseek to assimilate with the gentiles
The phrase “the eternal plant ofrighteousness” is an Essene phrase. It was
how they described themselves – as arighteous remnant. Link
The Essenes followed a sevenfold path ofpeace. They were the first to become
Christians – “the Elect righteous”
The Essenes dated their founding to 390
years after the destruction of the temple.

Covenants
The Bible is a record of God’s dealings with people, covering the time from Adam until Jesus – a period of 77
generations. God’s interaction with people takes the form of a series of Covenants or agreements.
These covenants are –
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Edenic CovenantNoahic Covenant
Abrahamic Covenant
Mosaic Covenant
Davidic Covenant
The New Covenant

Notice how closely these coincide with the weeks described by Enoch. Each week there is a new covenant. Acovenant is often accompanied by a judgement representing the end and destruction of what was before andthe beginning of something new.

The Length of a Week
Let us assume that each of Enoch’s weeks are of equal duration. Then we can look at the date of each of theevents Enoch describes to determine the length of a week.
All of these dates are taken directly from the Ussher chronology –•••••Noahic Covenant (2348 B.C.)
then 427 years
Abrahamic Covenant (1921 B.C.)
then 430 years
Mosaic Covenant (1491 B.C.)
then 437 years
Davidic Covenant(1055 B.C.)
then 430 years
New Covenant (625 B.C.) first mentioned by Jeremiah

So, God entered into a new covenant every 430 years.
During the interval between the Old and New Testaments, the community of the Essenes was founded and anew covenant made with them – called the Damascus Covenant. The Damascus document states –"During the period of wrath, 390 years after He had given them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, kingof Babylon, He visited them and caused a Root of His planting to spring forth from Israel and Aaron toinherit His land."
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Jerusalem Temple and took the Israelites into captivity in 586 B.C. , so 390
years later is 196 B.C.

So we have•
••
•
•
•

Noahic Covenant (2348 B.C.)
then 427 years
Abrahamic Covenant (1921 B.C.)
then 430 years
Mosaic Covenant (1491 B.C.)
then 437 years
Davidic Covenant(1055 B.C.)
then 430 years
New Covenant (625 B.C.) first mentioned by Jeremiah
then 429 years
New Covenant of Damascus (196 B.C.)

Each covenant between God and Israel was separated from the previous one by a 430 year period .

Note
The Davidic Covenant came into effect with Solomon. There was a period of 430 years of monarchs fromSolomon till the last king. During this time, the people turned away from God, and a man ascended – Elijah. At
the end of this period the Temple was burned and the people dispersed.
The 7th week is the Time of the Gentiles that lasted through the period of Babylonian rule, then Persian rule thenGreek rule. During this time there was great apostasy which culminated during the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes. Many people opted to adopt Greek ideas and religions and abandon the Israelite religion. In 196
B.C. (430 years after Jeremiah began to preach, and 390 years after the destruction of the Temple) the Essenes
were founded as a righteous remnant. They referred to themselves as “the Eternal Plant of Righteousness”

Why is it called a week ?
A “week” is a “seven”. Every 7th year is a Sabbath year when the land rests, and every 50th year is also a Jubilee
year, when the land rests again. So in 430 years there are 61.4 Sabbath Years + 8.6 Jubilee Years = 70 sabbaticalyears.
••

1 “week”, a 430 year period, covers 70 sabbatical years.
7 “weeks”, cover 70 x 7 sabbatical years.

The similarity of this prophecy to that of Daniel’s 70 weeks is evident. Both prophecy predicted the long span of
human history down until the time if Antiochus Epiphanes, and both framed that history using the period ofseventy “sevens”

Why Did God Choose to Separate Each Covenant by a “Seven” ?
The Jubilee year was to be a year when debts were cancelled, slaves were set free and people received backtheir inheritance. Bearing this in mind, consider the timing of the Biblical Covenants.
The seventh “day” was appointed as a day of mercy. The mercy of God is shown
1. on the Seventh day, which is the Sabbath
2. on the 7th year , which is the Sabbath year,
3. on the seventh sabbath year, which is the Jubilee year,4. on a Covenant year , which is a total of 70 Sabbath years,
5. after 70 years , which is the end of the Captivity in Babylon
6. after 77 generations, which is when Christ was born
If God is Holy, then to draw close to sinful mankind is an act of mercy, and the day of mercy is the Sabbath;that’s why every covenant was after a period of 70 Sabbath years.

The Adamic Covenant
After the 7 days of creation, Genesis 5 provides a record of Adam’s descendants until the time of the Flood,
which brought an end to Adam’s world.
5 This is the written account of Adam’s family line.
When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male andfemale and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind”[a] when they were created.
When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named
him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Altogether,
Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.
3When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father[b] of Enosh. 7 After he became the father ofEnosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912years, and then he died.
6

When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. 10 After he became the father of Kenan,
Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years,and then he died.
9

When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 After he became the father ofMahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Altogether, Kenan lived a total of910 years, and then he died.
12

When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. 16 After he became the father ofJared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Altogether, Mahalalel lived a totalof 895 years, and then he died.
15

When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 19 After he became the father ofEnoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962
years, and then he died.
18

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father ofMethuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons anddaughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he
was no more, because God took him away.
21

When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 After he became the fatherof Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Altogether, Methuselah
lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.
25

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah[c] and said, “He will comfort
us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed.” 30 After Noah
was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Altogether, Lamech lived a totalof 777 years, and then he died.
28

We are told that the Flood occurred in Noah’s 600th year, so we can calculate the duration from the Creation
Week till the Flood 130 + 105 + 90 + 70 + 65 + 162 + 65 + 187 + 182 + 600 = 1656 years
There are 365.2422 days in a year, so 1656 years is a period of 365.2422 x 1656 =777.7 x 777.7 days
This is interesting, since Adam’s world was said to be created in 7 days, and now we see that it was destroyed
after 777.7 x 777.7 days.
What is perhaps even more curious is that a day divides into intervals of seconds, minutes and hours thus
60 seconds = 1 minute60 minutes = 1 hour
24 hours = 1 day
and777.77 x 777.7 days = (60 x 60 x 24) x 7 days.
So, the world was created in 7 days, and lasted 7 “days”.

Expanding the Pattern
Adamic Covenant :Adamafter 7 "days"
Noachic Covenant :Noahafter 1 “week”
Abrahamic Covenant :Abrahamafter 1 “week”Mosaic Covenant :Moses

after 1 “week”
Davidic Covenant :Davidafter 1 “week”
New Covenant :Jeremiah

after 1 “week”
Damascus Covenant :Essenes

The Purpose of Enoch’s Prophecy“And after that Enoch both †gave† and began to recount from the books. And Enoch said: ‘Concerning
the children of righteousness and concerning the elect of the world, and concerning the plant ofuprightness, I will speak these things, yea, I Enoch will declare (them) unto you, my sons: According tothat which appeared to me in the heavenly vision, and which I have known through the word of the holyangels, and have learnt from the heavenly tablets.’
The prophecy outlines the cycles of weeks until the children of righteousness, who are the elect of God – whoare also referred to as the plant of uprightness. The prophecy seems to equate these with the Essenes, whocalled themselves by these names, and who were among the first to embrace Christianity. It is more thansymbolic that John the Baptist became a follower of Jesus; in his wake, many of John’s followers also became
followers of Jesus.
Enoch’s extraordinary prophecy of “seven seventies” regards God’s children as the consummation of history
after the Flood, in the same way that Daniel’s prophecy of “seventy sevens” culminates in the Kingdom of God.