Matthew Parker’s Decoder #2016-04

Two Adventures in Odyssey characters look at a treasure map

Did you dust off a solution to April’s code? Here it is again:

Matthew's Decoder -- April '16

How It Works

First, count how many letters appear in the message. In this case, it’s nine. Spell out those numbers (from one to nine) and arrange them in alphabetical order. Here’s how Matthew did it: eight, five, four, nine, one, seven, six, three and two. Remember, the order will change depending on how many letters the message contains (ten would come before three, eleven would be after eight, etc.).

Now write the alphabetized numbers over the coded message.

8

5

4

9

1

7

6

3

2

e

s

a

d

t

r

u

e

r

Finally, rearrange the letters in correct numerical order, from lowest to highest.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

t

r

e

a

s

u

r

e

d

Coolness!

Following directions is important, whether they’re from God’s Word, your parents or a map. Geographic directions have existed since the beginning of time. The Bible says God “planted a garden in Eden, in the east” (Genesis 2:8).

The words we use for directions today—North, South, East and West—come from the Germanic languages and are tied to the sun. The word east originates from the word for dawn, because the sun rises in the east. West comes from the word for evening or “shining red.” North means “to the left of the rising sun.” South is a little bit different. It just means “really hot!”

Look for a new code in the next issue of Clubhouse magazine.

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