The Son of Man
This title for the heavenly one in Enochs vision, is found in Enoch only in The Book of the Parables, where it occurs 16 times. This title is echoed throughout the four gospels in the New Testament, where Jesus Christ is the Son of Man.
"There was great joy amongst them, and they blessed and glorified and extolled because the name of that Son of Man had been revealed unto them." (Enoch 69:26)
Of the more than 100 places in the Hebrew scriptures in which the term son of man is used, only one in the Book of Daniel is clearly referring to the Messiah,
"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:13-14)
Even in this the single messianic use of the term son of man in the Hebrew scriptures, the indefinite article a is used by translators to show the term is not so much a title, rather a description of how Messiah appeared to Daniel; Messiah had something that looked like a human nature when Daniel saw him. All other references to the term son of man in the Hebrew Old Testament do not refer to Messiah; more than 90 of these occur in the Book of Ezekiel and refer to Ezekiel himself.
If you were to ask the average Bible-believing Christian to whom does the Bible refer when it uses the term 'the Son of Man'? you will surely get the answer, Jesus Christ. How is it that a description of Israel's Messiah-to-come used once in the Hebrew scriptures, became one of the most common titles used by Jesus Christ for himself in the New Testament? In Matthew's gospel the term is used nearly 30 times, in Luke's Gospel, more than 25 times. Mark's and John's gospels also use the term, but slightly less frequently. In total, the gospels refer to Jesus as the Son of Man more than 80 times; in almost every case, the term is used by Jesus to refer to himself. It is notable that Jesus does not appear to make an effort to explain what the term means. From this we gather, the term had some commonly shared meaning among his listeners.
This raises an interesting question, how would Jesus' hearers have understood the term which he was in the habit of using for himself, if Israel's Messiah is referred to as one like a son of man only once in the Hebrew scriptures? Is it possible that both Jesus and his hearers shared another source by which they understood the term?
As it turns out, there was such a source, a book containing many references to the Son of Man, a book which we now know was in fairly wide circulation in Jesus' day, which is not currently found in the Old Testament of Western Bibles based upon the Hebrew Scriptures. Popular familiarity with the prophecies contained in the Book of Enoch may have been the reason Jesus did not need to explain His use of the term.
Consider these amazing examples:
"I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, and why he went with the Head of Days? And he answered and said unto me: this is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, with whom dwelleth righteousness, and who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, and whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever." (Enoch 46:2-3)
"At that hour that Son of Man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and his name before the Head of Days. Yea, before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of the heaven were made, his name was named before the Lord of Spirits. He shall be a staff to the righteous whereon to stay themselves and not fall, and he shall be the light of the gentiles, and the hope of those who are troubled of heart. All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before him, and will praise and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Spirits. And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before him, before the creation of the world and for evermore." (Enoch 48:2-6)
"The angel came to me and greeted me with his voice, and said unto me 'this is the Son of Man who is born unto righteousness, and righteousness abides over him, and the righteousness of the Head of Days forsakes him not.' And he said unto me: 'he proclaims unto thee peace in the name of the world to come; for from hence has proceeded peace since the creation of the world, and so shall it be unto thee for ever and for ever and ever. And all shall walk in his ways since righteousness never forsaketh him: with him will be their dwelling-places, and with him their heritage, and they shall not be separated from him for ever and ever and ever. And so there shall be length of days with that Son of Man, and the righteous shall have peace and an upright way in the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.' (Enoch 71:14-16)
Scattered throughout the Book of the Parables, are many passages concerning this heavenly person called the Righteous One, Elect One, Anointed One and Son of Man.
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