Bible Code Revelations

QUESTION: Can ELS Bible code revelations be trusted?

ANSWER:

Before we can effectively answer the question whether we can trust ELS Bible code revelations, we must get a general understanding of what an ELS Bible code is. The technical name for this method of finding words hidden in the text of the Bible is Equidistant Letter Sequences or ELS.

To make the code work, you need a computer and a copy of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. The computer then finds the first letter of a word in the original Hebrew and from that point begins counting off letters until the next letter of the word can be found. The distance between the two letters then becomes the skip code and the computer will then count off the same interval of letters to see if the next letter of the word can be found. Basically the computer starts by skipping every other letter, then every two letters and so on and so on until it finds the right interval.

The real dilemma is trying to decide if the revelations from the ELS Bible codes can be trusted. Many people believe they can. In fact Michael Drosnin in his book, The Bible Code claims that by using the ELS Bible code, he has discovered within the text of the ancient Bible manuscripts, prophecies of many currents events like The Gulf War and the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. He even claims to have found a prophecy predicting his own death.

Of course, anything or anyone who claims to predict the future is going to bring out eager followers as well as skeptical scholars. The validity of the revelations themselves have been questioned because of the method used to find them. Many biblical scholars do not feel that God would bury a code in the Bible when man would not have the technology to find that code for thousands of years. They feel that the Bible is the revelation of God and point to the fact that not one author in the Bible ever mentions the use of a code in writing the Bible or the use of a code to help us interpret the Bible.

Some skeptics of the Bible code say the Bible does warn us to beware of false teachings and they believe the Bible code is the clever work of Satan to once again try and draw us away from the truth. There are also cries among skeptics and Christians that the Bible code revelations cannot be trusted because of the fact that the original experiment was not analyzed or verified according to proper scientific methods.

If the code were truly from God, then God would have provided a way long before this to reveal it to us. Still others wonder if they should trust the Bible code because they feel they are once again being subjected to some kind of sleight-of-hand. What does this all mean for us?

Any revelations taken from these codes must be dealt with using a lot of God given judgment and care. We must also remember that the Bible is the very word of God and is suitable for preaching and teaching others about God and for helping us to understand our relationship to God.

So, no matter if there is a Bible code or not hidden in the original Hebrew, we must not let it take away from or alter our perception of God's Word and most assuredly we should not let it take away from our trust in the Bible. In the end, the Bible code could be from God, or it may be another cleaver deception designed by Satan to confuse and disillusion us as to the truth. Whichever choice you make, you owe it to yourself to find out as much about the Bible code as possible and as always to turn to God to show you the truth.