1 Enoch was written in preparation for the End Times in which we now live, and also how we arrived there, for example, via the Nephilim...
"Test everything on its merits and hold fast what is good.", 1 Thessalonians 5:21
RCC rejects, apostles don't!
The first book of Enoch was rejected by the Roman Catholic Church and is not even considered an apocryphal book, even though the apostles clearly read and knew this book, as evidenced by their quotations in our Bible, compiled by the same Roman Catholic Church.
However, the Book of Enoch already existed more than 200 years before the coming of Christ and was part of the priestly literature. That is why the apostles knew this book. The most beautiful example of this, I think, is how the apostle Jude quotes from 1 Enoch 1:9 with reference to Enoch:
"Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about these, saying: 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh words which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.'" Jude 1:14-15.
Peter also seems to quote from 1 Enoch 10:4-15 in 2 Peter 2:4, describing how fallen angels in heaven are bound/imprisoned by God in chains and darkness, exactly what Enoch (alone) describes.
1 Enoch is about the End Times.
The short first chapter makes it clear that the book is dedicated to the last generation in the End Times; to prepare for what will happen in Heaven and on Earth.
Explanation of Biblical matters crucial
I found it extremely important to have an explanation of who those giants "Nephilim" (Genesis 6:4) are and how we get demons on Earth. I also found it extremely important to understand who Azazel is (not the devil!), for whom a young goat was sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement. These are all matters unexplained in the Bible, but which Enoch tells us about! So I definitely want to explain that first.
"There were giants on the earth in those days, and they were children born to the Nephilim (giants) by the daughters of men. They are known as the famous heroes of antiquity." Genesis 6:4.
Nephilim offspring of angels & women
In 1 Enoch, we learn that angels were appointed as watchmen over the people. They made a joint vow (1 Enoch 6:4-5) to have intercourse with human wives (1 Enoch 6:2), and they did so. Their offspring were part angel, part human, but of gigantic proportions and were therefore called giants; the Nephilim.
Azazel: One of the Highest Leaders
Enoch mentions the leaders of the 200 angelic watchmen (1 Enoch 6:6-8), of whom Shemjaza and Azazel were arguably the most fearsome. Shemjaza, the actual supreme leader (1 Enoch 6:3), taught the people magic and enchantments (1 Enoch 7:2 and 8:3), and Azazel taught the people to make swords, knives, shields, and breastplates, and how to work metal (1 Enoch 8:1). The other leaders taught the people even more evil, corrupting things (1 Enoch 8:3). Azazel, however, was greatly resented by God for learning to make weapons on top of everything else (1 Enoch 13:1-3) and punished for his actions; bound in the desert underground. The other Watchers were also cut off from God and heaven and were bound.
The Nephilim after death: evil spirits
And not only the heavenly Watchers, the fallen angels, received judgment and punishment. Their descendants through human women also received judgment and punishment: they die as human beings of the flesh, but their spiritual component will live on, which we know as demons or evil spirits (1 Enoch 15:8).
Descendants of Nephilim through time
Unfortunately, the spiritual component was already connected to human DNA, and so Nephilim continued to emerge. This is especially characterized by their gigantic bodies compared to normal humans. The Anakim and Rephaim, for example, are believed to be direct descendants of the Nephilim.
Besides the fact that these giants were and are good fighters because of their size (think of Goliath and his brother), even after their death there would be demonic consequences because of the spiritual component that was reflected in the behavior and (anti)social manner of the peoples in which they lived and lived.
Moses and Joshua already knew them
As we know from Numbers, Moses' spies encountered them and feared their size, which is why they defied God by entering the land:
"And we saw there the giants (05303 Nephilim), Anakim, who belong to the giants (05303 Nephilim), and we were like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and in their eyes as well." (Numbers 13:33).
These giants are the descendants of the Nephilim through the Anakim and thus existed among the Anakim, Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites (Joshua 3:11). And since God's judgment is directed against them and they bring only violence, sin, demonic misery, and other problems, God wants them gone and gives His people the land to possess. Unfortunately, this never entirely succeeded (Joshua 13:13, 15:63, 16:10, Judges 1:19, 20-28), because the Jews repeatedly allowed a few who carried Nephelim DNA to live, contrary to God's instructions. And so the whole world is now saddled with them; from Palestine to Asia, from India to Egypt; everywhere. When the Nephilim die, their spirits remain as demons and thus plague the world. Although the current Nephilim will now be increasingly smaller and have other characteristics to a lesser extent, such as six toes, six fingers, and so on;
2 Sam 21:20.
"And there was war again in Gath; and there was a man of very great stature, who had six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet, twenty-four in all; he also was a descendant of the giant." 2 Sam 21:20.
Nephilim as extra misery on top!
The daily consequences of the Nephilim are perhaps, in practical terms, almost as bad as the devil himself. The later books of Enoch indicate that Satan, as a "Prince" was also behind the uprising of the fallen angelic Watchers; out of jealousy, he allegedly wanted to corrupt people for God and incited the Watchers to do so. More on this in a future issue.
=====================