I woke-up about 4 am, rolled over and hit the button on my speakers that hold & charge my ipod and began to listen. (I transferred all my Hugh Nibley lectures to MP3)
Nibley was talking about the prophet Enoch. Not much is known about Enoch, unless you look at some of the apocalyptic literature. And Moses 7. In the Bible there are only two or three verses about Enoch, but in the apocalyptic treasures (and some were once part of the Bible), there is much to learn.
God weeps.
This may seem strange to those who believe in a God without body and passions. Â I believe that God was once a man. This is not blasphemy, but makes sense. Who better to understand the plights of man, the experiences, than one who has experienced them first hand. And in some way, unimaginable to my mind, his Son suffered all that we experience. That is why he employs no servant at the gate. No one knows how you feel, except maybe someone who has had the same experience. Only He can know and judge you.
God has passions, and He weeps.
Enoch weeps.
“In the Syriac Apocalypse of Paul, the apostle also is introduced to Enoch, being told when he is asked, “Who is this weeping angel?”: “It is Enoch, the teacher of righteousness.”
“So I entered into that place,” Paul reports, “and saw the great Elijah, who came to meet us.” He too was weeping, saying, “Oh Paul, how great are the promises of God and his benefits and how few are worthy of them!”“There is, to say the least, no gloating in heaven over the fate of the wicked world. It is Enoch who leads the weeping, as it is in the Joseph Smith account. Enoch puts forth his arm and weeps, and says, “I will refuse to be comforted.” (Moses 7:44.) Enoch is the great weeper in the Joseph Smith version. Of course, he doesn’t want the destruction of the human race. But in the Joseph Smith version, the amazing thing is that when God himself weeps and Enoch says, “How is it that thou canst weep?” (Moses 7:29), Enoch bears testimony that the God of heaven actually wept. It is a shocking thing to say, but here again, if we go to another Enoch text, there it is! When God wept over the destruction of the temple, we’re told in one of the midrashim that it was Enoch who fell on his face and said, “I will weep, but weep not thou!” God answered Enoch and said, “If thou [Enoch] wilt not suffer me to weep, I God will go whither thou canst not come and there I will lament”— (Nibley)
We have many circumstances that cause us to weep. Some may say this is a human characteristic, but it is actually a godly, divine quality. We weep with those who weep, and our inner soul is transparent.
