The sinfulness of men was the reason why Enoch was translated to
heaven. Thus Enoch himself told Rabbi Ishmael. When the generation of
the deluge transgressed, and spoke to God, saying, "Depart from us, for
we do not desire to know Thy ways," Enoch was carried to heaven, to
serve there as a witness that God was not a cruel God in spite of the
destruction decreed upon all living beings on earth.
When Enoch, under the guidance of the angel 'Anpiel, was carried from
earth to heaven, the holy beings, the ofanim, the seraphim, the
cherubim, all those who move the throne of God, and the ministering
spirits whose substance is of consuming fire, they all, at a distance
of six hundred and fifty million and three hundred parasangs, noticed
the presence of a human being, and they exclaimed: "Whence the odor of
one born of woman? How comes he into the highest heaven of the
fire-coruscating angels?" But God replied: "O My servants and hosts,
ye, My cherubim, ofanim, and seraphim, let this not be an offense unto
you, for all the children of men denied Me and My mighty dominion, and
they paid homage to the idols, so that I transferred the Shekinah from
earth to heaven. But this man Enoch is the elect of men. He has more
faith, justice, and righteousness than all the rest, and he is the only
reward I have derived from the terrestrial world."
Before Enoch could be admitted to service near the Divine throne, the
gates of wisdom were opened unto him, and the gates of understanding,
and of discernment, of life, peace, and the Shekinah, of strength and
power, of might, loveliness, and grace, of humility and fear of sin.
Equipped by God with extraordinary wisdom, sagacity, judgment,
knowledge, learning, compassionateness, love, kindness, grace,
humility, strength, power, might, splendor, beauty, shapeliness, and
all other excellent qualities, beyond the endowment of any of the
celestial beings, Enoch received, besides, many thousand blessings from
God, and his height and his breadth became equal to the height and the
breadth of the world, and thirty-six wings were attached to his body,
to the right and to the left, each as large as the world, and three
hundred and sixty-five thousand eyes were bestowed upon him, each
brilliant as the sun. A magnificent throne was erected for him beside
the gates of the seventh celestial palace, and a herald proclaimed
throughout the heavens concerning him, who was henceforth to be called
Metatron in the celestial regions: "I have appointed My servant
Metatron as prince and chief over all the princes in My realm, with the
exception only of the eight august and exalted princes that bear My
name. Whatever angel has a request to prefer to Me, shall appear before
Metatron, and what he will command at My bidding, ye must observe and
do, for the prince of wisdom and the prince of understanding are at his
service, and they will reveal unto him the sciences of the celestials
and the terrestrials, the knowledge of the present order of the world
and the knowledge of the future order of the world. Furthermore, I have
made him the guardian of the treasures of the palaces in the heaven
'Arabot, and of the treasures of life that are in the highest heaven."
Out of the love He bore Enoch, God arrayed him in a magnificent
garment, to which every kind of luminary in existence was attached, and
a crown gleaming with forty-nine jewels, the splendor of which pierced
to all parts of the seven heavens and to the four corners of the earth.
In the presence of the heavenly family, He set this crown upon the head
of Enoch, and called him "the little Lord." It bears also the letters
by means of which heaven and earth were created, and seas and rivers,
mountains and valleys, planets and constellations, lightning and
thunder, snow and hail, storm and whirlwind—these and also all things
needed in the world, and the mysteries of creation. Even the princes of
the heavens, when they see Metatron, tremble before him, and prostrate
themselves; his magnificence and majesty, the splendor and beauty
radiating from him overwhelm them, even the wicked Samael, the greatest
of them, even Gabriel the angel of the fire, Bardiel the angel of the
hail, Ruhiel the angel of the wind, Barkiel the angel of the lightning,
Za'miel the angel of the hurricane, Zakkiel the angel of the storm,
Sui'el the angel of the earthquake, Za'fiel the angel of the showers,
Ra'miel the angel of the thunder, Ra'shiel the angel of the whirlwind,
Shalgiel the angel of the snow, Matriel the angel of the rain,
Shamshiel the angel of the day, Leliel the angel of the night, Galgliel
the angel of the solar system, Ofaniel the angel of the wheel of the
moon, Kokabiel the angel of the stars, and Rahtiel the angel of the
constellations.
When Enoch was transformed into Metatron, his body was turned into
celestial fire—his flesh became flame, his veins fire, his bones
glimmering coals, the light of his eyes heavenly brightness, his
eyeballs torches of fire, his hair a flaring blaze, all his limbs and
organs burning sparks, and his frame a consuming fire. To right of him
sparkled flames of fire, to left of him burnt torches of fire, and on
all sides he was engirdled by storm and whirlwind, hurricane and
thundering.[61]