III

In section I we looked at how our study of the elements should be approached. Section II dealt more pointedly with the fourfold nature of the elements as the fundamental and integral building blocks of matter by, from and reflecting spirit. In this middle section we will look for what, if anything, the Bible says on the matter.

While historians have concluded, with myopic vision as indicated above, that knowledge of the four elements reaches back only so far as the sixth century B.C., the Bible itself suggests otherwise. Except for the middle and later period prophets, scholars date the earliest writings of most of the Old Testament books before the sixth century B.C., namely, the ninth through the seventh centuries. Even then they reflected what had been handed down orally from earlier times, especially from priests within the ancient mysteries of Israel, its ancestors and neighbors.⁵ Steiner also indicates that knowledge of the four elements came from primeval times. In the anthology Nature Spirits (NATS), Lect 3, April 9, 1909, he calls it the "primeval divine teaching."

Several early sacred writings, both canonical and extra-canonical, refer to the elements, and these are generally considered to mean the classical four elements, fire, air, water and earth.⁶ We will defer until section IV Paul's use of the term in Galatians and Colossians.

Without calling them elements, many passages of the canon name or describe them so that there can be no question of the writers' consciousness that these were the building blocks of all creation. In the Creation essay I showed that the first three elements, fire, air and water were etherically present in Gen 1,1-2, and that all four, including earth, came into sensibly perceptible form in Gen 2,4b et seq.

And one can hardly miss seeing that Yahweh's control over the four elements is the essential aspect of the account of Elijah's contest with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, 1 K 18-19. It opens with the need of water in the form of rain (18,1). Dramatically it then incorporates the element of earth in the form of stones, altar, wood and bull (18,32-33). The element of water is then made to drench all these (18,33-35). Then fire, that critical element that joins heaven and Earth, enters the picture and prophetically consumes all the other elements (18,38) and those (here the prophets of Baal) who fail to adapt themselves to the God of fire (18,40). Chapter 18 ends with air in the form of wind that brings with it water in the form of "a great rain" (18,45). Chapter 19 returns to the other three elements, earth in the form of a cave (19,9), air in the form of "a great and strong wind" (19,11), and fire (19,12).

Job 38,24-25 speaks of the wind, earth, rain and thunderbolt (fire). Proverbs 30,4 speaks of heaven, wind, waters and earth.⁷ Then verse 19 speaks of sky (air), rock, seas and "the way of a man with a maiden" (fire). Psalms 104,3-5 speaks of waters, wind, fire and earth, while Psalms 135,7 says earth, lightnings (fire), rain and wind.

The four elements are abundantly in evidence in Revelation. Revelation 11,4-6, speaking of the two witnesses who appeared with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah, reiterates the elements of fire, air (sky), water (rain) and earth. (Note its later reference to their initiation in the three-and-a-half-day "temple sleep" of the ancient Mysteries, Rev 11,7-12.)

But to appreciate more fully the evidence in Revelation, certain preliminary observations are needed. We will speak of the "four corners of the earth" and the "four winds," neither of which is exclusively the domain of Revelation but both of which are used here in a manner that casts light upon their usage elsewhere.

Obviously the Earth is a sphere, which has no "corners" geometrically speaking.⁸ What meanings can be given to the term? Notice that the Bible speaks of the four directions of a map, east, west, north and south (Gen 28,14; 1 K 7,25; 1 Ch 9,24; 2 Ch 4,4; Ps 107,3). These can be thought of as corners, but as such they are only an image or recapitulation, so to speak, of what the term "corners" means in the larger perspective of humanity's evolution, namely, the four Conditions of Consciousness upon which are based the four elements and the four components of the human being (physical, astral and etheric bodies plus Ego). The last of these four Conditions, that of Earth evolution itself, is the crowning event of the four, and thus can be looked upon as the one "corner" where the "cornerstone" is to be placed. It is Earth evolution when the Ego, the "I Am," enters the picture. The higher "I AM" that must become ensouled in each human being is the Christ, who during Earth evolution has been made "head of the corner" (Mt 21,42; Mk 12,10; Lk 20,17; Acts 4,11; 1 Pet 2,7; cf. Ps 118,22).

That the phrase "four corners" has a meaning tied to the entire evolution of the human being seems evident from Rev 4,7. It speaks of a lion, an ox, the face of a man, and an eagle. These represent, respectively, the zodiacal symbols Leo, Taurus, Aquarius and Scorpio (see "Peter, James and John" in The Burning Bush, pp. 516-518, and The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved [DWJL], p. 34, showing that the eagle is the higher name for the scorpion). The charts (I-18 and I-19 for example) in The Burning Bush show that these four animals are spaced at ninety degree intervals from each other, thus constituting the "four corners" of the creative cycle of the heavens.⁹

In considering the "four winds," we need first to remember that the term interpreted as "wind" in the Bible can mean wind as we know it or it can mean "spirit." We learn this elementary point in the second verse of the Bible (Gen 1,2) where the Hebrew word used for "spirit" (ruah) of God primarily means "wind"; see 1 AB 5 and 1 NIB 343. And the close relationship between the concepts is utilized by Jesus in John 3,7-9 where, in the RSV, there is a footnote stating, "The same Greek word means both wind and spirit." That word is pneuma.¹⁰ But while pneuma can mean wind in either a material or spiritual sense, another Greek word, anemos, means wind in a material sense only. The term "four winds" is found in both the Old and New Testaments, but in the Old Testament it is almost always part of the phrase "four winds of heaven," or has similar meaning (Jer 49,36; Ezek 37,9; Dan 7,2; 8,8; 11,4; Zech 2,6; 6,5¹¹), clearly suggesting a spiritual nature. In the New Testament, the Greek word used for wind in the phrase "four winds" is anemos. In Matthew 24,31 the Old Testament usage is carried forward in the phrase, "from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other," while Mark 13,27 says, "from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven." But in both of these "little apocalypse" passages God is sending out his angels to gather in the elect, clearly suggesting the connection of the spiritual with the material element of wind. In Revelation 7,1 the "four winds" are tied in with "four spirits" and "four corners":

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.

So, when Revelation speaks of the "four angels" (see also Rev 7,2; 9,14-15; and Rev 20,8 speaks again of the "four corners") we are quite warranted in seeing in them the four spirits (i.e., hierarchies) that are primarily related to the four Conditions of Consciousness in humanity's evolution (see I-16):¹²

The term "four corners" and "corners" are often used in the canon.¹³ Notably, "corners" appears in some translations of Job 37,3, the chapter immediately preceding the list of the four elements (Job 38,24-25 above).¹⁴ Important non-canonical books also speak of the "four winds." Perhaps most notable is Enoch 76,1-4, which speaks of the "twelve gates" that open from the four corners of heaven from which the winds come. These "twelve gates" bear a strong resemblance to those in Revelation 21,12 and to the clearly spiritual influences of the zodiac as reflected in the twelve tribes and twelve apostles. From the Old Testament pseudepigrapha, the book of Jubilees speaks of "the angels of the spirit of the winds" as one of "all of the spirits which minister before him" created by God on the first day (Jub 2,2). Included in that group are "all of the spirits of his creatures which are in heaven and on earth." This "heaven" fits well with I-11 which shows that the locus of the Ego of the three lower kingdoms (animal, plant and mineral "creatures") is in the astral, and lower and higher spiritual, realms, respectively.¹⁵

In Revelation 8,1 Christ opens the seventh seal and the angels, after a period of silence in heaven,¹⁶ begin blowing the first six "The Trumpets". The seventh Evolutionary Epoch of the Physical Condition of Form is underway. The dissolution of the elements is beginning. We are told that first a third of the Earth and then a third of the waters were destroyed. See The Burning Bush, p. 395, "The "The Trumpets," for a tabulation showing the progression of human evolution as revealed in St. John's Apocalypse.

But it is in Revelation 16, following the blowing of "the last trumpet" (1 Cor 15,51-52; 1 Th 4,16; Mt 24,31; Mk 13,27), that we come to the pouring out of the seven bowls of wrath. While the "bowls of wrath" are events that precede the final lake of fire in Revelation 20, they depict what the mineral world and humanity face when the time for surrendering the mineral-physical body has come. The four elements then come into focus as they are successively volatilized. We are told that the first angel poured out his bowl on the earth (vs 2), the third upon the rivers and waters (vs. 4), the fourth on the sun in order that it would scorch men with fire (vs 8), and finally the seventh into the air (vs 17) to complete the elimination of the four earthly elements. The order of the elimination of the elements corresponds with that in I-22 except for the reversal of fire and air. However, the Greek word used here for "air" is neither pneuma nor anemos, but aera, which means a condition of great thinness or height, as in "thin as air" or "high in the air." One seems justified in seeing here the stage between the lower etheric and higher spiritual realms. This seems to be particularly true when one observes that Paul uses exactly the same Greek word (aera) for "air" in 1 Th 4,17 where he speaks of "the voice of the archangel [Michael] and with the sound of the trumpet" and then says that whether alive or dead we will "meet the Lord in the air [aera]." Recall that the last trumpet is when the Earth and humanity pass into the More Perfect Astral Condition of Form of the Mineral Kingdom (see I-1 and "The Trumpets," p. 395 of The Burning Bush). In other words, it is when our Physical Condition of Form has come to an end. The Bowls of Wrath that are then to follow are for those who have not perfected, become the master (lord of), their astral bodies (i.e., have not come to the manna condition, what is called manas or Spirit Self in I-9). They will then suffer the conditions specified in Revelation 16.

A particularly intriguing biblical indication of the four elements can be found in Proverbs 30 and the first verse of Proverbs 31. In The Christ Impulse and the Development of Ego Consciousness (CIDE), Lect. 4, p. 74, Steiner spoke of the Individuality (Ego) of the ancient Zarathustra (see "The Nativity" essay in The Burning Bush, as well as The Incredible Births of Jesus [IBJ], showing this Individuality as the Ego of the Solomon Jesus child in Matthew's Gospel): "The ancient Hebrews called the ego of this ancestor Itiel." He went on to say that they called his other bodies as follows:

Typically, Steiner did not say these names were in the Bible. But they are. And where might we find them? In the very chapter of Proverbs that names (Prov 30,4 and 30,19) the four elements. Proverbs 30,1 reads (my emphasis), "The words of Agur son of Jakeh of Massa [fn: Or the oracle]. The man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal." Proverbs 31,1 then reads (my emphasis), "The words of Lemuel, king of Massa [fn: Or King Lemuel, the oracle], which his mother taught him."

The obscurity of these names in theological sources fits well with Steiner's assertion that they came from "the secret doctrine of the ancient Hebrews." So also does the fact that the second century A.D. Septuagint (the LXX), the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek for Jews in the dispersion, does not use any proper names here (see 4 Interp 947). In fact the indications are that the names are of Arabic origin (4 Interp 947 and 5 NIB 251) rather than Hebrew, and this conclusion would lend itself well to the Persian background of Zarathustra. For the obscurity of the terms in general, see:

The association of these four names in juxtaposition with mention of the four elements seems too much for coincidence. The appearance here of the esoteric indication of the fourfold being of the ancestral Zarathustra strongly suggests that the four elements are indeed being identified in this passage.

Before our last peek into the New Testament, let us look at certain provocatively obscure passages that seem to be related, but in a way that has thus far apparently escaped scholarly detection. The Chapter End Note to this essay concludes with a discussion centering on the peerless Egyptologist René Schwaller de Lubicz. It is he above all who is cited as a reference by Peter Tompkins in his more recent Secrets of the Great Pyramid (SGP). Schwaller's culminating work, the massive The Temple Of Man (TOMN), expounds on the profound insights of the Egyptian mind, and its understanding of human evolution, in the Temple of Luxor. At p. 901 he writes about the "waters above" (cf. Gen 1,7). The paragraph preceding the one in point commences, "It is said that men are born from the tears of the eye of Ra, that is, from the salty waters of Nun [cf. Ex 33,11], the primordial chaos." To give adequate context, the full paragraph in point is quoted below (with the focal sentences italicized and certain words in bold):

As for specificity, that is, the coloring or animating particularity, when it is carried in the waters above, it is called Hat-hor, the house of Hor or Her (Horus), and its appearance is that of the eye of Ra (the visible sun). It is an unguent, triple in nature, issued from the fourth that remains below. This aspect is represented by the "boxes for cloths" and the "four calves," those who suckle milk, the first of which is black, the second white, the third red, and the fourth spotted. These are the four "elements" as well as the four phases, because the elements of this philosophy are in reality phases of the becoming.

The first thing to keep in mind is that Moses was initiated into these ancient Egyptian Mysteries and thus would have their content in his consciousness. Previously (in fn 11), attention was called to the relationship between the four horses in Zech 6,1-5 and in Rev 6,1-8. The colors of the four animals in both passages are essentially identical with those in the quoted paragraph above. Schwaller tells us these animals represent the four elements in the Egyptian mind. Note that in Zechariah the fourth color is called "speckled gray" (RSV, but a footnote indicates the Hebrew word is uncertain) while in Revelation it is called "pale." But this whole thing throws considerable potential light upon a passage that has befuddled Bible scholars (and me too) from the first, namely, the uniquely-bred sheep and goats that Jacob "earned" as pay from his father-in-law Laban. Aside from the "black lambs," the Moses myth indicates that Jacob was to get those animals that were "spotted and speckled" (including also those later called "striped" or "mottled"); see Gen 30,32-39 and 31,8-12. It is these "spotted, etc.," that are the fourth and final category in all these listings. In the fourfold human being (I-9), the Ego is the one that came last (Ex 3,14, "I Am the I Am"). Jacob is the one through whom Abraham is to establish his twelvefold dynasty in the pattern of the twelvefold heaven above (Gen 15,5 and 17,18-21). It is he, rather than Ishmael (who also fathers a great twelvefold lineage) through whom the higher "I AM" is to come in fulfillment of the covenant. The four elements and the four earthly kingdoms and the fourfold human being must be seen in a basic and fundamental relationship; and the Ego that dwells in the human being, Jacob's "spotted" animals in the myth, must be seen as the strongest of the lot (Gen 30,41-42). This strength (stronger animals) reflects the Ego, the "I AM"—"the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"; see "I AM" as well as #26 in "Three Bodies," both in The Burning Bush.

Finally, perhaps nowhere does the Bible present the four elements more forcefully than in the Prologue of John's Gospel. The three higher ethers, life, sound (word) and light are all present in verses 1-4 ("In the beginning was the Word, . . . In him was life, and the life was the light of men"). In Jn 14,6, Jesus calls these "the way [light], the truth [word] and the life." The relationship of these to the more solid three elements (earth, water and air) is shown in I-22. The element of fire is reflected in the fact that he was before John (Jn 1,15), just as he was before Abraham ("Before Abraham was, [was the] I am"; Jn 8,58). The "I AM" is the Ego that came only with the element of fire (see "Fire" and "Blood").

In the light of all the above, one can see the four elements profusely demonstrated in the Bible.