walt2000 posted in message #10:
Don't call the bible code off ,Just because you do't see one .
There is one, it is called gemartria.
Actually, gematria isn't what is meant when people
refer to Bible Codes. Gematria is the ancient system
whereby numerical values are attributed to the letters
in an alphabet, as follows: the first nine letters are
1 through 9, the next nine letters are 10 through 90
(counting by tens), and the rest of the letters are
100, 200, 300, etc., until the end of the alphabet.
It's by this system of gematria that we'll be able to
calculate the number of the name of the Antichrist and
find that it equals 666 (Revelation 13:17b-18). That
is, the numerical values of the letters in the name of
the man who is the Antichrist add up to 666. An
example of such a name would be Nabil Abdullah Falakal
al-Hakim. Another example would be the single name
Fox.
Regarding Bible Codes, whether they will turn out in
the end to be ridiculous or not, the basic method
behind them isn't ridiculous, for it originated in
real-life cryptography, one of the methods of which
is to place a string of letters into a matrix with a
certain number of columns so that the letters spell
out the words of a secret message only when read
vertically or diagonally in that matrix.
For example, let's say a spy wanted to send the
secret message: "Enemy plans to attack Paris October
fourth".
What he could do first is place the letters of this
message into a vertical column, as follows:
E
N
E
M
Y
P
L
A
N
S
T
O
A
T
T
A
C
K
P
A
R
I
S
O
C
T
O
B
E
R
F
O
U
R
T
H
Then, he can add four columns of random letters to
the right of the message-column, as follows:
EJKLD
NDVJL
EOPWA
MXTGH
YINMS
PFHYF
LGJUI
AMFST
NDFTH
SGHJU
TYKLO
OFGJB
AHJKL
TGHBA
TQWER
APOLU
CHFTV
KDGLS
PCBHE
AYPMZ
RQFGH
IJKWA
SCGHN
OMLPE
CSTYH
TUIOZ
OXFGH
BLOTD
EBNMJ
RDFGR
FDFTH
ODFGT
UDFTG
RLOPG
TFGTH
HGYHT
Next, he can convert the matrix into a single string
of letters by connecting each row together, as follows:
EJKLDNDVJLEOPWAMXTGHYINMSPFHYFLGJUIAMFSTNDFTHSGHJUTYKLO-
OFGJBAHJKLTGHBATQWERAPOLUCHFTVKDGLSPCBHEAYPMZRQFGHIJKWA-
SCGHNOMLPECSTYHTUIOZOXFGHBLOTDEBNMJRDFGRFDFTHODFGTUDFTG-
RLOPGTFGTHHGYHT
Now the secret message has been encoded. We can still
find it by only reading the first letter of the
message and then every fifth letter after that, or by
converting the string of letters back into a five-
column matrix.
But a spy probably wouldn't send the string of letters
just as shown above, but would first convert each
letter of the secret message to some different letter
according to some rule, such as changing each letter
into the third letter after it in the alphabet. So
the "E" in "Enemy" could be made into a "H", the "N"
in "Enemy" could be made into a "Q", and so on for
the rest of the letters in the secret message.
The recipient of the message back at spy headquarters
would need to know two things in order to be able to
decode the message sent by the spy: the number of
columns in the encoding matrix, and the letter-
conversion rule.
It could have been a man who was used to dealing with
matrix-encoded messages who one day had the idea:
"What if GOD has encoded secret messages into the
Bible using the matrix method?" And so this man could
have begun to look for "Bible Codes" in the original
Hebrew of the Old Testament. He could have done so by
using the same computer software which he already had
to look for matrix-encoded messages in secret human
communications.
But a problem immediately comes up: If God did encode
secret messages into the Bible using the matrix
method, how do we know the number of columns in the
matrix that he used? And did he also employ letter-
conversion at the same time, and if so, what letter-
conversion rule?
Those who dabble in Bible Codes usually don't bother
with worrying about letter-conversion, but stick with
the original letters in the Bible, and then see how
matrices of these letters might contain hidden words.
Software has been written which can build matrices of
any number of columns out of the string of all the
letters in the Bible, and then automatically search
these matrices for any words which might be spelled
out vertically or diagonally.
Just for an example of how the Bible Codes method
works to find possible hidden messages in the original
languages of the Bible, let's take the first five
verses of the Bible (Genesis 1:1-5) in a common
English translation such as the KJV, connect the words
in those verses into a single string of letters, place
that string into a 24-column matrix, and then look for
words spelled out vertically or diagonally.
Genesis 1:1-5:
inthebeginninggodcreated
theheavenandtheearthandt
heearthwaswithoutformand
voidanddarknesswasuponth
efaceofthedeepandthespir
itofgodmoveduponthefaceo
fthewatersandgodsaidlett
herebelightandtherewasli
ghtandgodsawthelightthat
itwasgoodandgoddividedth
elightfromthedarknessand
godcalledthelightdayandt
hedarknesshecallednighta
ndtheeveningandthemornin
gwerethefirstdayandgodsa
(Even though the matrix looks ragged, each row has
exactly 24 letters in it.)
One can see that this is like those "Circle-A-Word"
puzzle books where the pages are filled with matrices
of letters with a list of words underneath them which
are contained within the matrices, whether
horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Because in
the matrix above the horizontal sequence of letters
already makes up the words of the KJV of Genesis
1:1-5, we need only search for any hidden vertical or
diagonal words in the matrix.
Some of the words which the matrix contains have been
placed in capital letters below.
inthebeginninggoDcreated
thehEavenandtheeArthandt
heeaRthwaswithouTformand
voidAnddarknesswAsuponth
efaceofthedeepandthespir
itofgodmoveduponthefaceo
fthewatersandgodsaidLett
herebelightandtherewAsli
ghtandgoDsawthelightThat
itwaSgoOdAndgoddividEdth
eligHtfRomThedarknessand
godcAllEdthElightdayandt
hedaRknesshecallednighta
ndthEeveningandthemornin
gwerethefirstdayandgodsa
(Even though the lining-up of the capital letters
in the vertical words looks ragged, they are all
in the same column of the matrix.)
In the 17th column, the vertical word "DATA" is
found.
In the 5th column, the vertical words "ERA" and
"SHARE" are found.
In the 21st column, the vertical word "LATE" is
found.
In the 8th column, the vertical word "ORE" is found.
In the 9th column, the diagonal word "DATE" begins.
Putting these words together into a hidden "Bible
Code" message, one could come up with: "(In a) late-
date era, (they will) share ore data".
The word "data" brings to mind computers, and only
in this late-date era have computers been
constructed which can rapidly create scriptural
matrices and search them for hidden words.
Ore means a source from which valuable matter is
extracted. In this case the source would be the
scriptural matrices, and the valuable matter
extracted would be the hidden messages.
But what Bible Code people usually do is not start
with a certain passage of scripture and then look for
a hidden message within it, but rather start with a
search word like "Obama", and then ask the computer
to show all the scriptural matrices (of whatever
number of columns) where that word is found. Then the
Bible Code people look at all the "Obama" matrices and
see what other words thay can find. Just for a made-up
example, one matrix containing "Obama" could also
contain the word "President". Bible Code people would
then say that the Bible contains an encoded prophecy
that Obama will become the President, or at least that
he would be nominated for President.
Of course, statisticians would say that any large
text such as the Bible, War and Peace, or Moby Dick,
will, just by random chance, contain all sorts of
supposedly "hidden messages" if one has a computer
create any number of different-sized matrices from
the letter-sequence of that text, and then has the
computer search those matrices for certain words. One
will no doubt find the name "Obama" "hidden" many
times in War and Peace matrices. Are we then to search
those War and Peace matrices for other words as if
they must be "prophecies" as to the fate of Obama?
Bible Code people might answer, "Look, just because
one might find 'Obama' and other words in some War
and Peace matrices, doesn't mean that looking for
'Obama' and other words in scriptural matrices is
necessarily a wild goose chase. For the Bible was
inspired by God, and he certainly is intelligent
enough to intentionally, not just by chance, conceal
innumerable prophecies in his word, many of which he
would have known we would be able to search out and
discover in the end times through computers (cf.
Proverbs 25:2, Revelation 5:10)".