The Mystery of the Pigeon Code

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Last year, a message was discovered in a canister attached to the leg of a dead pigeon that had become stuck in a chimney.

Program Transcript

In our
modern age of smart bombs and unmanned drones, it may seem hard to believe that
once the most effective unmanned flying machine was the humble pigeon. Because
these birds could find their way home over long distances, they were used
during the World War II as a highly accurate way of carrying coded messages.

Last
year, one of these messages was discovered in a canister attached to the leg of
a dead pigeon that had become stuck in a chimney. The message, which has 27
five-letter code groups, is said to be impossible to crack without its
codebook.

There
is something fascinating about messages, isn’t there? Some people seem to think
the Bible is just as mysterious as the code found in the chimney, containing top-secret
information that must somehow be unraveled so the real truth may be known.

Ever
since the scriptures were written, scholars have pored over them, in search of
a better understanding of God’s will. These studies left them with many
unanswered questions. This is what Paul was referring to when he wrote to the
church at Colossae that the word of God was to some extent “a mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations.”  However, he says, it is no secret anymore. “I have become its servant by the
commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness”
(Colossians 1:25-26).

The
mystery has been revealed – God has come to us through Jesus.  Jesus himself told the biblical scholars of
his day, “You search the
Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is
these that bear witness of me; and you are unwilling to come to me, that you
may have life” (John 5:39-40).

Experts
may never decipher the mystery of the Pigeon Code, but with Christ as our key,
there’s no mystery left in the message of the Bible.

I’m
Joseph Tkach, Speaking of LIFE.

Program Transcript

In our
modern age of smart bombs and unmanned drones, it may seem hard to believe that
once the most effective unmanned flying machine was the humble pigeon. Because
these birds could find their way home over long distances, they were used
during the World War II as a highly accurate way of carrying coded messages.

Last
year, one of these messages was discovered in a canister attached to the leg of
a dead pigeon that had become stuck in a chimney. The message, which has 27
five-letter code groups, is said to be impossible to crack without its
codebook.

There
is something fascinating about messages, isn’t there? Some people seem to think
the Bible is just as mysterious as the code found in the chimney, containing top-secret
information that must somehow be unraveled so the real truth may be known.

Ever
since the scriptures were written, scholars have pored over them, in search of
a better understanding of God’s will. These studies left them with many
unanswered questions. This is what Paul was referring to when he wrote to the
church at Colossae that the word of God was to some extent “a mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations.”  However, he says, it is no secret anymore. “I have become its servant by the
commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness”
(Colossians 1:25-26).

The
mystery has been revealed – God has come to us through Jesus.  Jesus himself told the biblical scholars of
his day, “You search the
Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is
these that bear witness of me; and you are unwilling to come to me, that you
may have life” (John 5:39-40).

Experts
may never decipher the mystery of the Pigeon Code, but with Christ as our key,
there’s no mystery left in the message of the Bible.

I’m
Joseph Tkach, Speaking of LIFE.

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