Dr. Couch, I know of some Bible teachers who believe in what they call the "hidden Bible codes." Is this heresy?
ANSWER: I know some of these brothers personally and I think it is unfortunate that they take this view. The problem is God has revealed to us His revelations in full without any hidden messages or methods needed to find out what the truth is. This means that some people are "in" on secret truth and some are "out" in knowing what God has revealed. This makes them special and gives them an "up" on the rest of us.
If God is giving us His truth why would He then give a secret code in order to unlock what He has to say? It does not make sense! The book of Acts says the Bereans searched the Scriptures daily in order to confirm the truth of the gospel (Acts 17:11). They used inductive reasoning and searching and did not employ some secret key to try to understand the Word of God. Paul says the Thessalonians "received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God" (1 Thess. 2:13). Again, no secret code was needed.
Some people like to be sensationalists and mystics in interpreting the Bible. Don't fall for it. God spoke to us in plain language!
Is the "code" view heresy? No, maybe not, but it is certainly wrong and terribly misleading!
Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch
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