"The new apologetic Crouch discovered that day is popularly referred to as "Equidistant Letter Sequencing" (ELS). I, however, prefer to call it magic apologetics. At first blush it appears compelling. On closer examination, it is little more than "smoke and mirrors."
"In sharp contrast, the Christian Research Institute has denounced esoteric methods of biblical interpretation such as ELS for almost four decades. Even a cursory examination of ELS unmasks it for what it is — little more than a fringe variety of Jewish mysticism (i.e., the cabala) repackaged for Christian consumption. While in the past, cabalistic interpretations of the Torah have not been taken seriously by the Christian community, Crouch and other leaders’ enthusiastic endorsements are today giving it widespread credence.
"Furthermore, ELS is a rigged "game" complete with after-the-fact prophecies and self-validating "messages." Although, as in the esoteric message "CRI yes" used in my illustration above, it might be tempting to conclude that its self-validating message is "the signature of God," in reality this technique is virtually identical to those used by psychics." (Magic Apologetics by Hank Hanegraaff )
For what its worth, I personally do not embrace the doctrines or traditions of men at all. So Mr. Hanegraaff's views mean no more or less to me than yours or another other poster here, the mathematicians who discovered the ELS, preachers, teachers, Calvin, Arminius, the Pope, Joseph Smith, etc.