Consider for a moment that the Book of Enoch treats the stars in heaven as heavenly beings who have transgressed the divine commands of God by not showing up at their appointed time. This may seem strange, but follow this to the end.
(this is RH Charles' translation)
Enoch 2:1. Observe ye everything that takes place in the heaven, how they do not change their orbits, ⌈and⌉ the luminaries which are in the heaven, how they all rise and set in order each in its season, and transgress not against their appointed order. 2. Behold ye the earth, and give heed to the things which take place upon it from first to last, ⌈how steadfast they are⌉, how ⌈none of the things upon earth⌉ change, ⌈but⌉ all the works of God appear ⌈to you⌉. 3. Behold the summer and the winter, ⌈⌈how the whole earth is filled with water, and clouds and dew and rain lie upon it⌉⌉.
Here "Enoch" mentions how he observes that some of the heavenly luminaries (heavenly lights) don't "transgress" their appointed order and how everything appears to happen at appointed times (see also chapters 3-5). What we will discover from Enoch is that these 'appointed times' are a particular 364 day solar calendar.
In chapter 6 we run into the story about the supposed copulation between the angels and women and we also find the names of the rebellious angels. This story continues on for several chapters
In chapter 12 we see that the watchers are identified with the fallen angels:
1. Before these things Enoch was hidden, and no one of the children of men knew where he was hidden, and where he abode, and what had become of him. 2. And his activities had to do with the Watchers, and his days were with the holy ones. 3. And I, Enoch was blessing the Lord of majesty and the King of the ages, and lo! the Watchers called me--Enoch the scribe--and said to me: 4. 'Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness, go, †declare† to the Watchers of the heaven who have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place,...
Chapters 17-36 involve Enoch's vision/travel through heaven and hell. It's here we find some interesting information about the rebellious angels:
18:13. I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains, and to me, when I inquired regarding them, 14. The angel said: 'This place is the end of heaven and earth: this has become a prison for the stars and the host of heaven. 15. And the stars which roll over the fire are they which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in the beginning of their rising, because they did not come forth at their appointed times.
Here, the prison at the ends of the earth is for the stars that have transgressed the commandments of God by not appearing at their appointed times, which as we discover if we continue reading Enoch (or Jubilees) means they didn't abide by a 364 day solar calendar.
Chapter 19 mentions the women who copulated with these rebellious angels.
In chapter 20, we meet Raguel, one of the righteous angels whose job is take vengeance on the "heavenly luminaries". Why? As we saw, these heavenly luminaries, the fallen angels, have rebelled against God by transgressing His Holy calendar:
20:4 Raguel, one of the holy angels who †takes vengeance on† the world of the luminaries.
This continues into chapter 21 where Enoch asks about the imprisoned angels:
21:4. Then I said: 'For what sin are they bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither?' 5. Then said Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and was chief over them, and said: 'Enoch, why dost thou ask, and why art thou eager for the truth? 6. These are of the number of the stars ⌈of heaven⌉, which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here till ten thousand years, the time entailed by their sins, are consummated.'
This continues in chapter 23 where Enoch sees the rebellious luminaries (lights) of heaven being punished for their transgression:
23:2. And I saw a ⌈⌈burning⌉⌉ fire which ran without resting, and paused not from its course day or night but (ran) regularly. 3. And I asked saying: 'What is this which rests not?' 4. Then Raguel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered me ⌈⌈and said unto me⌉⌉: 'This course ⌈of fire⌉ ⌈⌈which thou hast seen⌉⌉ is the fire in the west which †persecutes† all the luminaries of heaven.
What slowly becomes clear if you read all of Enoch is that he has a particular idea in mind when he mentions sinners and the elect:
38:3. When the secrets of the righteous shall be revealed and the sinners judged,
And the godless driven from the presence of the righteous and elect,
4. From that time those that possess the earth shall no longer be powerful and exalted:
And they shall not be able to behold the face of the holy,
For the Lord of Spirits has caused His light to appear
On the face of the holy, righteous, and elect.
In chapters 41 we find the first mention of astronomical observations dealing with the calendar. In chapter 43, we find more mention of the stars of heaven who are the equivalent of angels:
1. And I saw other lightnings and the stars of heaven, and I saw how He called them all by their names and they hearkened unto Him. 2. And I saw how they are weighed in a righteous balance according to their proportions of light: (I saw) the width of their spaces and the day of their appearing, and how their revolution produces lightning: and (I saw) their revolution according to the number of the angels, and (how) they keep faith with each other.
Chapters 72-79 go into detail on the 364 day solar calendar. And finally in chapter 80, we find the identification of the ultimate sin of men:
1. And in those days the angel Uriel answered and said to me: 'Behold, I have shown thee everything, Enoch, and I have revealed everything to thee that thou shouldst see this sun and this moon, and the leaders of the stars of the heaven and all those who turn them, their tasks and times and departures.
2. And in the days of the sinners the years shall be shortened,
And their seed shall be tardy on their lands and fields,
And all things on the earth shall alter,
And shall not appear in their time:
And the rain shall be kept back
And the heaven shall withhold (it).
3. And in those times the fruits of the earth shall be backward,
And shall not grow in their time,
And the fruits of the trees shall be withheld in their time.
4. And the moon shall alter her order,
And not appear at her time.
5. [And in those days the sun shall be seen and he shall journey in the evening †on the extremity of the great chariot† in the west]
And shall shine more brightly than accords with the order of light.
6. And many chiefs of the stars shall transgress the order (prescribed).
And these shall alter their orbits and tasks,
And not appear at the seasons prescribed to them.
7. And the whole order of the stars shall be concealed from the sinners,
And the thoughts of those on the earth shall err concerning them,
[And they shall be altered from all their ways],
Yea, they shall err and take them to be gods.
8. And evil shall be multiplied upon them,
And punishment shall come upon them So as to destroy all.'
Here we discover that those who don't follow the just mentioned 364 day solar calendar are SINNERS who have followed the fallen angels who they mistake for gods, which are those stars (angels for Enoch) that don't arrive at their prescribed times. The "elect" for Enoch are those who have been enlightened to the TRUE commandments of God and follow the right calendar.
The problem that the author of Enoch didn't consider was that his 364 day calendar was 1.25 days off of what the real solar calendar is, and so as he observes the stars from year to year he will observe that they show up later and later each year from where he thought they would be. So, since he already thought of the stars as heavenly beings/angels, he concludes that the problem isn't the calendar, but the angels.
Especially driving this conclusion is the fact that Enoch's calendar (the Essene calendar that's also found in the book of Jubilees) is extremely symmetrical and very consistent. Unlike the calendars of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Essene calendar didn't depend on the observation of the moon, so on the Essene calendar feast days occur at the same time every year, on the same days of the week, and don't shift/rove around as they do if you are using a strict lunar calendar. Also interesting is that if you project the Essene calendar back onto the Old Testament, no "work" can be dated to have occured on the Sabbath. This is admittedly a pretty impressive accomplishment. The downside is that in order to make the calendar work out in that desired way, their new year must start on the 4th day of the week contrary to the Pharisee and Sadducee calendars which started on the first day of the week.
For "Enoch", given the nice symmetry of his calendar where feast days occur with high regularity and where no event in the Old Testament occurs on the Sabbath, the curious occurrence of the stars not showing up at appointed times must not be the fault of such a pretty calendar that had obviously been ordained by God. The problem for Enoch was that the stars were angels who transgressed God's command. Sinners were those who followed the wrong calendar (ie, the Pharisees and Sadducees). The elect (ie, the Essenes) were the ones enlightened to the truth of God's commands and so followed the proper calendar.
The book of Enoch is 2nd Temple Jewish sectarian literature, and has no bearing on Christian belief and practice other than looking at the New Testament in it's historical context.
For more see:
"Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian", Beckwith, Roger T.
"The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls", Vanderkam and Flint.
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