QandA: What About the Bible Code?

A GodSaidManSaid visitor sent the following e-mail:

Have you heard anything on this Bible code? I viewed it on the History Channel and it was very interesting. I want to get your take on that, if possible. Thanks.

Signed, John

Dear Brother John:

I did not see the documentary that you mentioned. But, journalist Moshe Zeldman wrote an article in a March 28, 2003 issue of the International Jerusalem Post that deals with your question. Mr. Zeldman, whom I believe to be a non-Christian, writes and lectures all over the globe on the topic of the Bible Codes and other subjects for Aish HaTorah’s Discovery seminar. Mr. Zeldman attacks Michael Drosnin, the author of the book The Bible Code. This book made the code concept popular. But Zeldman selectively endorses some "code." In the following excerpt from his book review of Bible Code II, the second book on the subject written by Drosnin, he shows his obvious bias:

So how are we to tell a "real code" from a fake? To the untrained eye, counterfeit money can look authentic. Drosnin is essentially playing the same game as Christians who find codes in their holy books, and as critics who find codes in Moby Dick: take any text and look hard enough, play around with spellings, and you’re bound to find what you’re looking for. Real codes research is conducted by scientists who follow a rigorous protocol and publish their work in peer-reviewed journals.

Note that Zeldman believes in a "real code" in the Torah, but lumps such claims of the New Testament with fiction such as Moby Dick—simply his not-so-covert denial of the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ, the King of Glory. But proceeding with his review of Drosnin’s work, he writes:

Drosnin sparked an international wave of publicity with his first work, The Bible Code, which reported on the scientific findings of two Israeli code researchers, Doron Witztum and Eliyahu Rips. What made Drosnin’s book so famous—and controversial—was his claim that he had "predicted" the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by finding the late prime minister’s name encoded in the Torah, crossing through a verse in Deuteronomy that said "a murderer who will murder." When Drosnin’s book was published, it was roundly attacked by scientists the world over. In fact, in 1997 when the book was released, I organized a press conference in which Witztum and Rips, the original code discoverers, sharply criticized Drosnin. They demonstrated that his book was based on a fundamental misunderstanding and misuse of science, and countered his claims that one could make predictions of the future by looking for particular words. Undaunted, and with a flair for doomsday prophecies that make his first book popular among supermarket-tabloid readers, Drosnin now presents us with Bible Code II. If you took his first book seriously, be aware that his predictions regularly fail to come true (Netanyahu being assassinated while serving as prime minister, an atomic holocaust in 1996, and others).

Mr. Drosnin’s new book, Bible Code II: The Countdown, warns of a possible (sounds like a weather prediction) atomic holocaust in 2006. He also claims that space aliens have hidden steel obelisks somewhere in the earth near the Dead Sea, which bear written messages to unlock this secret code. Finally, from Zeldman’s article:

[I]f you fiddle around long enough with variations and spellings of a word or phrase, you can pretty much find whatever codes you like. In fact, critics have countered Drosnin’s Bible code by finding the assassination of Indira Gandhi "encoded" in the English text of Moby Dick.

One should certainly know that there is a hidden Bible "code" far more mysterious than fiddling around with letters via a myriad of combinations. This Bible code is impossible to decipher by the carnal eye. Jesus said in Matthew 13:10-15:

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Mark 4:10-12:

10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.

11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

"[L]est at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." Isn’t salvation the very reason Christ came to this earth? The answer to this puzzle is yes, but Christianity cannot be entered into casually, scholastically, politically, or even socially. Jesus said in Matthew 18:3:

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

God cannot be found casually. In Deuteronomy 4:29, God speaks to Israel on how to be delivered from troubles they had incurred because of their rebellion against His Word. It reads:

But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8:

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

God cannot be found casually.

The marvelous secret of the real Bible "code" is revealed through what the King of Glory defined as the born-again experience, for it is at this juncture that our blind eyes are opened so that we can begin to understand the mysteries of the Word of God and of the affairs and future of this world.

The Word of God is truth (John 17:17), God is His Word (John 1:1), and to know truth and to know God require one to be born of Him—to be born-again. In etymology, the rule or law of first occurrence states a word’s definition is dictated from its first use. The first time the word knew is used in an intimate setting is when Adam knew his wife Eve and she bore him a son. To know God is to be born of His Spirit, to be born into the oneness and substance of His family, and only there is the intimate knowledge of God and the brotherhood discovered. Only here can the "code" be understood. No matter how supposedly informed one becomes, unless he or she is BORN-AGAIN, it is impossible to decipher the Bible’s "code." When one believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, repents of his sins, and departs from iniquity, his eyes are opened and his understanding becomes fruitful. This is when the door of the true Bible "code" opens.

Finally, in regard to the Bible "code" of Mr. Drosnin and Mr. Zeldman’s ilk, we in the faith have the Word of the Almighty God, not simply someone’s imagination. II Peter 1:19- 21:

19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

II Peter 1:16:

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

II Timothy 4:3-4:

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

References:

King James Bible

Zeldman, M., "Torah Without Science," The International Jerusalem Post, 3/28/03

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