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From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game: Why the Genealogy Puzzles of Genesis 5 and 11 Are in the Bible
This book will challenge your intellect while challenging your view of the Bible. If you're unsatisfied with traditional views, this radical view proves that the Bible is founded on science and engineering. You will re-think everything you've read there.
From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game shows that the genealogy of Adam in Genesis 5 is a number puzzle containing a fully-functional, highly-accurate calendar, accurate to 4 seconds per year. Our calendar is only accurate to 10 seconds a year. This Divisible Calendar has a 364-day common year, a 369-day leap year and one 365-day year every 33 years. The calendar is a major work of science and the number puzzle is a major work of engineering.
Why hide a calendar in a number puzzle posing as a genealogy? A "wisdom culture" existed in this region where wise men taught with riddles, puzzles, and parables. Teachers hid their lessons in these parables and their students had to solve the riddles to learn their lessons. In Proverbs, Solomon tells his students that he will teach them how to understand "the wise and their riddles." These wise men were the scientists and engineers of this time and they used their riddles and puzzles to protect their scientific discoveries.
These ideas may be hard to accept, but From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game won't talk down to you. It invites you to think. It invites you to use the math you learned in high school. It invites you to respect the abilities and the intelligence of those who wrote the Bible. If you can do that, you can understand the Bible.
From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game shows that the genealogy of Adam in Genesis 5 is a number puzzle containing a fully-functional, highly-accurate calendar, accurate to 4 seconds per year. Our calendar is only accurate to 10 seconds a year. This Divisible Calendar has a 364-day common year, a 369-day leap year and one 365-day year every 33 years. The calendar is a major work of science and the number puzzle is a major work of engineering.
Why hide a calendar in a number puzzle posing as a genealogy? A "wisdom culture" existed in this region where wise men taught with riddles, puzzles, and parables. Teachers hid their lessons in these parables and their students had to solve the riddles to learn their lessons. In Proverbs, Solomon tells his students that he will teach them how to understand "the wise and their riddles." These wise men were the scientists and engineers of this time and they used their riddles and puzzles to protect their scientific discoveries.
These ideas may be hard to accept, but From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game won't talk down to you. It invites you to think. It invites you to use the math you learned in high school. It invites you to respect the abilities and the intelligence of those who wrote the Bible. If you can do that, you can understand the Bible.
- GenresNonfictionReligion
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 5, 2012
3 people are currently reading
268 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 28, 2012
What do the ages of the first humans in the Bible mean? Could people really have lived that long? Leonard Timmons has found an ancient calendar hidden in these numbers, and feels this discovery is key to understanding the Bible.
Timmons’s calendar is constructed by charting, on a timeline, the births and deaths of the men between Adam and Noah, fudging a little here and there to create a few more meaningful points on the timeline, and then discovering that it breaks down into four portions of 364 years plus one 5-year portion. Turn that into days, and you have a 364-day year, plus a 5-day seasonal correction after four years (think of our leap day). 364, for calendar aficionados, is the Jubilees calendar from the Qumran texts, so-liked because it plays nice, dividing neatly into 52 seven-day weeks.
Timmons’s analysis is founded on arithmetic combinations of round numbers (such as 500 or 1000) and of the number seven. Lamech’s age at his death, 777 years, appears to be a clue. For example, 56 is a nice number because it is 7x7+7. 84 is an excellent number because it is 77+7. Seven is recognized as God’s number, a perfect number, the number of days in the week. Readers of Revelation are quite aware of how important seven, and in particular three sevens (777), are in Biblical thinking.
Timmons is correct that numerology was important to the ancients, often used as a means of Biblical enlightenment. Consider the 666 of Revelation, and the miraculous catch of 153 fish by Jesus’ disciples. Timmons takes a stab at solving both of these riddles, which might be a mistake on his part; while no convincing solutions to the second puzzle have been offered, making the 153 puzzle fair game for speculation, scholars are nearly unanimous and surely correct in solving the 666 puzzle. (See http://www.dubiousdisciple.com/2011/0... and http://www.dubiousdisciple.com/2011/0... ) In any case, I would not be surprised at all to discover that there is meaning in the ages of the earliest humans in the Bible. It’s far more likely that the numbers have some sort of meaning to the authors than that people actually lived that long! However, even after reading Timmons’s book, a hidden calendar code seems a bit too conspiratorial for my taste. Timmons may be on the right track with his “meaningful numbers,” but attributing the whole thing to a hidden calendar doesn’t feel right to me.
That is, however, the book’s premise: Not only is there a calendar hiding within the ages of the earliest humans, but it has been purposefully hidden. This is not just numerology, it’s a devised puzzle, and (in my opinion) an inelegant one. The authors were not content just to lay out a calendar; they carefully hid the calendar, purposefully confusing us, swapping the meaningful number 56 here and there with 65 (the reverse of its digits) to confuse us, doubling and halving numbers here and there to bewilder us.
So who imbedded these puzzles? Perhaps collators of the Bible while in Babylonian captivity, or shortly after they returned to Jerusalem? That sounds somewhat believable, but Timmons thinks not; he argues instead that the Bible should be thought of as an ancient educational textbook for the enlightened, a sort of test to divide good puzzle-readers from bad. The Bible is a book of riddles to help the initiate develop his talent for insight. We’re not just talking about the creation stories; the Bible’s authors have encapsulated hidden knowledge in its texts from Genesis to Revelation! An “insight school” that lasted a thousand years! (Timmons actually suggests thousands).
Timmons rejects the Documentary Hypothesis (which proposes that the Torah was written by at least four distinct authors, none of them Moses). I cannot help but think he commits another error by pitting his puzzle theory against the Documentary Hypothesis; it seems far more reasonable to me that the Documentary Hypothesis disproves the ancient textbook idea rather than vice-versa.
Anyway, the hidden calendar is not really the important thing. It’s just a discovery that should prompt us to read the Bible differently; to reveal to us the surprising intellect and understanding of its authors. Free now to explore a deeper meaning in the scriptures than a literal reading, Timmons next launches into his interpretation of the Bible’s themes; how the ancients thought of demons, angels, soul, spirit, faith, even God … and it’s nothing like what we thought they meant. This insight helps Timmons decode stories like the Flood and the Garden of Eden, and he provides two creative and fascinating interpretations. Even Jesus’ parables and Revelation’s mysteries are revealed.
I found the book to be an interesting fringe theory, and fun with numbers (right up my alley), but not something I found convincing. However, my feeling is that there is surely a 4- or even 5-star book idea here, that Timmons’s interpretations are ingenious, but that he overreaches by claiming them to be the correct interpretation … as if the Bible writers actually meant their stories to be read this way.
Timmons’s calendar is constructed by charting, on a timeline, the births and deaths of the men between Adam and Noah, fudging a little here and there to create a few more meaningful points on the timeline, and then discovering that it breaks down into four portions of 364 years plus one 5-year portion. Turn that into days, and you have a 364-day year, plus a 5-day seasonal correction after four years (think of our leap day). 364, for calendar aficionados, is the Jubilees calendar from the Qumran texts, so-liked because it plays nice, dividing neatly into 52 seven-day weeks.
Timmons’s analysis is founded on arithmetic combinations of round numbers (such as 500 or 1000) and of the number seven. Lamech’s age at his death, 777 years, appears to be a clue. For example, 56 is a nice number because it is 7x7+7. 84 is an excellent number because it is 77+7. Seven is recognized as God’s number, a perfect number, the number of days in the week. Readers of Revelation are quite aware of how important seven, and in particular three sevens (777), are in Biblical thinking.
Timmons is correct that numerology was important to the ancients, often used as a means of Biblical enlightenment. Consider the 666 of Revelation, and the miraculous catch of 153 fish by Jesus’ disciples. Timmons takes a stab at solving both of these riddles, which might be a mistake on his part; while no convincing solutions to the second puzzle have been offered, making the 153 puzzle fair game for speculation, scholars are nearly unanimous and surely correct in solving the 666 puzzle. (See http://www.dubiousdisciple.com/2011/0... and http://www.dubiousdisciple.com/2011/0... ) In any case, I would not be surprised at all to discover that there is meaning in the ages of the earliest humans in the Bible. It’s far more likely that the numbers have some sort of meaning to the authors than that people actually lived that long! However, even after reading Timmons’s book, a hidden calendar code seems a bit too conspiratorial for my taste. Timmons may be on the right track with his “meaningful numbers,” but attributing the whole thing to a hidden calendar doesn’t feel right to me.
That is, however, the book’s premise: Not only is there a calendar hiding within the ages of the earliest humans, but it has been purposefully hidden. This is not just numerology, it’s a devised puzzle, and (in my opinion) an inelegant one. The authors were not content just to lay out a calendar; they carefully hid the calendar, purposefully confusing us, swapping the meaningful number 56 here and there with 65 (the reverse of its digits) to confuse us, doubling and halving numbers here and there to bewilder us.
So who imbedded these puzzles? Perhaps collators of the Bible while in Babylonian captivity, or shortly after they returned to Jerusalem? That sounds somewhat believable, but Timmons thinks not; he argues instead that the Bible should be thought of as an ancient educational textbook for the enlightened, a sort of test to divide good puzzle-readers from bad. The Bible is a book of riddles to help the initiate develop his talent for insight. We’re not just talking about the creation stories; the Bible’s authors have encapsulated hidden knowledge in its texts from Genesis to Revelation! An “insight school” that lasted a thousand years! (Timmons actually suggests thousands).
Timmons rejects the Documentary Hypothesis (which proposes that the Torah was written by at least four distinct authors, none of them Moses). I cannot help but think he commits another error by pitting his puzzle theory against the Documentary Hypothesis; it seems far more reasonable to me that the Documentary Hypothesis disproves the ancient textbook idea rather than vice-versa.
Anyway, the hidden calendar is not really the important thing. It’s just a discovery that should prompt us to read the Bible differently; to reveal to us the surprising intellect and understanding of its authors. Free now to explore a deeper meaning in the scriptures than a literal reading, Timmons next launches into his interpretation of the Bible’s themes; how the ancients thought of demons, angels, soul, spirit, faith, even God … and it’s nothing like what we thought they meant. This insight helps Timmons decode stories like the Flood and the Garden of Eden, and he provides two creative and fascinating interpretations. Even Jesus’ parables and Revelation’s mysteries are revealed.
I found the book to be an interesting fringe theory, and fun with numbers (right up my alley), but not something I found convincing. However, my feeling is that there is surely a 4- or even 5-star book idea here, that Timmons’s interpretations are ingenious, but that he overreaches by claiming them to be the correct interpretation … as if the Bible writers actually meant their stories to be read this way.
March 21, 2012
"The genealogy of Adam in Genesis Chapter 5 is a number puzzle that encodes a fully functional calendar "From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game" shows you precisely how the Bible writers encoded a calendar into the ages of Adam and his children in Genesis 5. It then goes on to show how the Bible writers designed their calendar puzzle so that anyone who managed to solve it would be certain they had the correct solution. Proof of a highly accurate calendar encoded within the numbers of Genesis 5 is a revolution in our understanding of Genesis. It allows us to dramatically revise our understanding of the entire Bible.To truly understand why a calendar puzzle exists within the Bible, we have to explore the reasons why someone several thousand years ago would enshrine a calendar in such an ingenious puzzle."
When reviewing a book that deals with such a sensitive topic as religion, one must be quite attuned to the diversity of thought on the subject. I will not comment on the content of Mr. Timmons book therefore, as I have great respect for the views of all- regardless of individual religious affiliations as well as those with no affiliations..I leave that to the individual to believe as they do- and respect all! I have included a capsule description of Mr. Timmons' book above.
What I will comment on is my respect for the enormous amount of dedication, research and effort that has gone into producing -From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game: Why the Genealogy Puzzles of Genesis 5 and 11 Are in the Bible. Mr. Timmons has obvious put a great deal of time and thought into this book, and his extensive research and dedication in competing a very detailed book is to be lauded! Whether one agrees or not with his conclusions, Mr. Timmons deserves a great deal of credit for taking a strong belief of his, spending what must be countless hours researching and writing, and producing a published book that expresses the deeply held understanding and unique view of his.
Regardless of one's personal beliefs, one must admire both Mr. Timmons strong dedication to his thoughts and the enormous work and tenacity that has gone into putting it in print!
When reviewing a book that deals with such a sensitive topic as religion, one must be quite attuned to the diversity of thought on the subject. I will not comment on the content of Mr. Timmons book therefore, as I have great respect for the views of all- regardless of individual religious affiliations as well as those with no affiliations..I leave that to the individual to believe as they do- and respect all! I have included a capsule description of Mr. Timmons' book above.
What I will comment on is my respect for the enormous amount of dedication, research and effort that has gone into producing -From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game: Why the Genealogy Puzzles of Genesis 5 and 11 Are in the Bible. Mr. Timmons has obvious put a great deal of time and thought into this book, and his extensive research and dedication in competing a very detailed book is to be lauded! Whether one agrees or not with his conclusions, Mr. Timmons deserves a great deal of credit for taking a strong belief of his, spending what must be countless hours researching and writing, and producing a published book that expresses the deeply held understanding and unique view of his.
Regardless of one's personal beliefs, one must admire both Mr. Timmons strong dedication to his thoughts and the enormous work and tenacity that has gone into putting it in print!
February 6, 2012
In this book Mr. Timmons shows that there is a calendar hidden in Chapter 5 of Genesis among all of the "begats" that most of us skip over in our reading of the Bible. He uses the ages of the patriarchs to prove his thesis. I admit that I got lost a confused when he begins to talk numbers and subtracting or adding a year here and there. And when he talks about "sliders" he left me completely behind. That being said I can see that there is some reason behind the writing of Genesis 5. I accept Mr Timmons thesis that it is a calendar and the very good possibility that the Bible was written as a textbook for those people with "insight". Mr. Timmons says that the Bible is full of parables and riddles that are there to test the readers' insights into the riddles and parables.
Mr. Timmons then expands his thesis to the first eleven chapters of Genesis. The two stories of creation, the eating of the forbidden fruit, the Cain and Able story, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel are all tied together and in most cases are the same lessons, only expanded upon. The quest of man is eternal life and these stories show how to reach that and how to avoid the things that might get in our way of achieving that goal. His description of the Flood as actually being a siege of a fort build by Noah is extremely interesting. He closes the book by looking at Chapter 13 of Revelations through his thesis and also some of Jesus' parables.
Mr. Timmons has given me a lot to think about. I found the math part of the book a little hard to keep up and the diagrams that are included took a while to wrap my mind around. But it is an interesting look at a part of the Bible that we all know the stories from and think that we understand them. He gives us a new way of looking at those stories. Nine hundred sixty-nine years old was a long life span and to those who have had difficulty in that one fact, then Mr. Timmons' book is well worth the reading. I know I will be thinking of the the things that I highlighted in my reading and looking at those beginning stories a little differently.
Mr. Timmons then expands his thesis to the first eleven chapters of Genesis. The two stories of creation, the eating of the forbidden fruit, the Cain and Able story, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel are all tied together and in most cases are the same lessons, only expanded upon. The quest of man is eternal life and these stories show how to reach that and how to avoid the things that might get in our way of achieving that goal. His description of the Flood as actually being a siege of a fort build by Noah is extremely interesting. He closes the book by looking at Chapter 13 of Revelations through his thesis and also some of Jesus' parables.
Mr. Timmons has given me a lot to think about. I found the math part of the book a little hard to keep up and the diagrams that are included took a while to wrap my mind around. But it is an interesting look at a part of the Bible that we all know the stories from and think that we understand them. He gives us a new way of looking at those stories. Nine hundred sixty-nine years old was a long life span and to those who have had difficulty in that one fact, then Mr. Timmons' book is well worth the reading. I know I will be thinking of the the things that I highlighted in my reading and looking at those beginning stories a little differently.
January 20, 2013
This is a difficult book. Mr. Timmons shows how the genealogies of the patriarchs and the story of the flood conceal a complete and accurate calendar. Having done so, he argues the purpose of the bible has been, to some extent, misunderstood. He posits that the people of the time would have used this material to identify those having insight, and to train them in that skill. He then proceeds to a discussion of the relationship of insight, knowledge and understanding. From that point, he begins a remarkable dissertation interpreting the scripture from that perspective.
I have long been convinced the divide between science and religion in modern society is most often the result of at least one misapprehension. In the first place, they are concerned with two totally different aspects of life. The second is one Mr. Timmons addresses very effectively. We attempt to understand the bible in terms of our culture, rather than that of those who lived in those times, and therefore fail to realize the degree to which the writings, in fact, aligned with science as it was then practiced.
In the course of his discussion, Mr. Timmons offers a number of thought-provoking views. You may or may not agree with him, but if you follow his argument, I can almost guarantee you will never again read the bible with the same understanding you had before.
I received a free copy from Goodreads First reads.
I have long been convinced the divide between science and religion in modern society is most often the result of at least one misapprehension. In the first place, they are concerned with two totally different aspects of life. The second is one Mr. Timmons addresses very effectively. We attempt to understand the bible in terms of our culture, rather than that of those who lived in those times, and therefore fail to realize the degree to which the writings, in fact, aligned with science as it was then practiced.
In the course of his discussion, Mr. Timmons offers a number of thought-provoking views. You may or may not agree with him, but if you follow his argument, I can almost guarantee you will never again read the bible with the same understanding you had before.
I received a free copy from Goodreads First reads.
December 19, 2011
This is an interesting book. The author did extensive research on the subject material and I never knew something like a calendar was hidden within Genesis.
The material is explained in full, however, I did not grasp most of the concepts. I was confused from the beginning, but I kept reading hoping an explanation would help me understand. There wasn't any.
Obviously, I wasn't the target audience. Someone who reads the bible frequently would have a better understanding of the concepts displayed.
The material is explained in full, however, I did not grasp most of the concepts. I was confused from the beginning, but I kept reading hoping an explanation would help me understand. There wasn't any.
Obviously, I wasn't the target audience. Someone who reads the bible frequently would have a better understanding of the concepts displayed.
December 31, 2012
38th book read in 2012.
Number 267 out of 270 on my all time book list.
Follow the link below to see my video review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUOH1z...
Number 267 out of 270 on my all time book list.
Follow the link below to see my video review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUOH1z...
October 31, 2014
I received this book through Goodreads give away.
I have read many books in the past on this type of subject and found some to be more "flaky" then others, but this one was the worst! First of all the author's attitude turned me off, he says "the Bible is a riddle and a puzzle written in some kind of code only for the person with "insight." He comes across as the first and only person who has had the "insight" to crack its code, just to arrogant for me. According to his theories the bible is all about numbers hidden in plain sight and all you have to be is a mathematician to solve it.
To be fair the author has an engineering background so his style of writing is very technical, and unless you have a love of solving math equations much of what he tries to convey will be lost.
I have read many books in the past on this type of subject and found some to be more "flaky" then others, but this one was the worst! First of all the author's attitude turned me off, he says "the Bible is a riddle and a puzzle written in some kind of code only for the person with "insight." He comes across as the first and only person who has had the "insight" to crack its code, just to arrogant for me. According to his theories the bible is all about numbers hidden in plain sight and all you have to be is a mathematician to solve it.
To be fair the author has an engineering background so his style of writing is very technical, and unless you have a love of solving math equations much of what he tries to convey will be lost.
February 12, 2012
Mr. Timmons writes of the idea that embedded in Genesis 5 of the bible is a calendar. After a lot of adding and subtracting and math theories(I always did hate math!) he comes up with a calendar written thousands of years ago. I totally believe there is more to the bible than what we read and have no reason to believe or disbelieve the theory. I'm still on the fence about his ideas. Some people will love this book and enjoy cracking the code along with Mr. Timmons. For me, I enjoyed it after the math class part was over.
Want to read
April 30, 2012I received an autographed copy of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. The author assumes that the extreme ages given in the book of Genesis are not the actual ages, but must have been put there for another reason, so he endeavored to learn what those ages truly meant.
More to come as I continue reading it, but I have another book to review that I would like to finish first. I read the Preface and first chapter to get a feel for it beforehand.
More to come as I continue reading it, but I have another book to review that I would like to finish first. I read the Preface and first chapter to get a feel for it beforehand.
August 10, 2013
Mr. Timmons was kind enough to send me a copy of his book and the description of the book was intriguing, but I struggled to get through reading the book. I could not fully agree with Mr. Timmons' theory about these puzzles and it seemed that he repeated his points numerous times which increased the book in pages, but not in value. Once again, I appreciate Mr. Timmons providing me a copy of his book and I was hoping that I would enjoy this book more, but I just could not get into it.
Want to read
March 27, 2012People can invent anything to explain away the direct, clear meaning of the Bible, according to which we rebelled against a good God and now we are suffering the consequences and are in need of the Savior. There seem to be a lot of contradictions in this book, the most striking being that it seems to promote pride, while the God of the Bible clearly asks for a humble heart (James 4:6).
September 2, 2012
While I don't disbelieve that there are mysteries hidden within the Bible and that the argument within this book might be true, I couldn't follow the argument, the numbers or the purpose of the riddle.
January 17, 2012
I'm confused.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews