Question:
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I co-wrote this thesis, currently circulating on the Internet. It is a very compelling four-year examination into the genders of Bible characters, based on word cases used in the original languages, that aid the reader to determine gender. I consider it another unveiled, hidden mystery that is being revealed as knowledge is increased, similar to the Torah code or the meanings of numbers in Scripture. Tell me what you think.
I will used the words of the apostles and prophets to say what I think.
"Consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures" (II Peter 3:18).
"And the oracle of the LORD you shall mention no more. For every man's word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God" (Jeremiah 23:36).
"Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully" (I Timothy 1:5-8).
"If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness" (I Timothy 4:6-7).
"O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge--by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen" (I Timothy 6:20-21).
"Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer" (II Timothy 2:14-17).
"This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless" (Titus 3:8-9).
The monstrous document sent contains a hodgepodge of distortions to make claims that what is clearly stated in Scripture is not what is meant. I'll pull just a few quotes to establish my point.
"Again, in the Torah Code, Jewish scribes discovered that by skipping letters (Equidistant letter sequencing or E.L.S.) in the words that make up the Hebrew Bible, hidden clusters of historical events group together to explicitly record the event in the form of highlights, similar to reading newspaper headlines. It seems to have recorded all of Earth history in that hidden matrix. I enjoyed its discovery."
Perhaps it is my computer science training coming to the fore, but the Bible Code and similar books is a bunch of nonsense. The simple fact is that in any extended piece of writing, letters are used a certain frequencies because of the nature of the language. By selecting letters at fixed intervals, you are not getting random letters, but series of letters in the frequency used in that particular language. The probability of finding words in the same language in that stream of letters is very high. But the true catch is that word meanings come from the context in which they are used. The finding of "hidden" words in streams of characters is devoid of context. They are not finding full sentences or paragraphs; hence, the meaning of the words is being assigned by the searcher. In other words, the users of the Bible Code have merely come up with a sophisticated method for teaching man-made doctrines.
"Keys to knowledge, like determining in the Old Testament by the upper or lower case spelling of the name Lord God, which was directed by the Holy Spirit. The Father (LORD God) differs from Son (Lord GOD) and clarifies much."
The writer shows extreme ignorance of the original languages of the Bible. Hebrew does not have upper and lower case letters. Translators of the original Hebrew have used a convention to distinguish the English word "lord" used to refer to a ruler from the Hebrew word yahweh which is used as a name of God. Hence, when you see LORD spelled in all capital letters in English, you know that the Hebrew word yahweh is behind that translated name. There are a few cases, though, where this becomes awkward. There are a few verses where God is addressed as the ruler yahweh. Technically it should be translated "the Lord LORD," but that is awkward in English. Hence, the translators chose to use "the Lord GOD" in these cases. This writer fails by assigning more meaning to the words than what is supportable in the original text.
"My rule is, If the Spirit doesnt rebuke it, it must be the truth."
Essentially, this is classic liberalism, which claims that anything not forbidden is allowed. Jesus stated, "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:17). Jesus states that God's word, the Bible, is the embodiment of truth. The implication is that if it is not found in the Scriptures, then must not be truth. Peter stated, "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue" (II Peter 1:3). By the use of the phrase "all things," Peter is saying that if it isn't found in the Bible, then it doesn't pertain to life or godliness. Paul makes a similar point. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (II Timothy 3:16-17). If it is not found in the inspired text, then it is not a good work.
The author is claiming the right to add to God's word; something that is specifically forbidden. "You shall not add to the word which I command you" (Deuteronomy 4:2). "Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:32). "Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar" (Proverbs 30:6). "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book" (Revelation 22:18).
This constitutes sufficient evidence that the document is worthless.