Hiding in plain sight. Yep, again.
Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire. How hard can it be? Search those words on the internet and there are a gadzillion hits. Perhaps more importantly, search the scriptures and these symbols are everywhere. Lets look at just a few examples of each.
Earth
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
And God said, Let us make man in our image….
Genesis 1:26, 2:7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground….
You know that “man” here is translated from “אָדָם” (a.k.a., Adam). Generally, אָדָם is understood to mean “ruddy” [think red, blood, blushing and/or like red earth?]. It might mean the person Adam, the persons Adam and Eve, or human/humanity.
Then there is land given as an inheritance, parables of the seeds and types of ground, planting, kissing the ground, making bricks, earthen vessels, rocks/stones/sand, foundations, keystones, mountains, valleys, etc.
Water
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:10
I haven’t chased this down, but at least in (some) modern Jewish tradition, God did not “create” the water (מָּיִם). Note the similarity to מִרְיָם (Miriam or Mary). After all מָּ (the Hebrew character Mem) does mean “water.”
Where do we even start with water: birth, baptism, ceremonial washing, the flood, drought/rain, clouds (pillar), walking on water, Jonah, Paul, Lehi, parting the Red Sea, thirst, living water, healing Naaman, healing the Dead Sea, cast your net, Elijah/Elisha crossing, turned to wine, turned to blood.
Fire
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Genesis 1:3
Again, so many to choose from: Burning bush, burning/flashing mountain, burnt offerings, incense, furnaces, Abinadi/Ammonihah, Sodom, refiner’s/purification, Menorah, lamps (oil), pillars, Sun (moon, stars), Celestial/everlasting burnings, Seraphim, burning coals, and as indicated above all the references to light.
Wind
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 1:2; 2:7
“Spirit” in included above because the Hebrew, רוּח, from which it originates (also in the Greek, πνεῦμα) means “wind, breath, life,” and sometimes translated (mistranslated?) as “soul.” So, we can presume to include all references to God’s Spirit, Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost.
With this, we see an interesting juxtaposition of wind and voice in Elijah’s story. ( 1 Kings 19). After all, voice is just a small wind, and might be very much related to God “[breathing] into his nostrils the breath of life.”
We see the wind blowing the ships (Noah, Jared, Lehi), the “east wind” and “west wind” destroying and saving, Jesus commanding, day of Pentecost [interesting word plays there: Acts 2:1–6], winds of doctrine, chaff.
The Fifth Element?
Okay, this might be precariously close to blasphemy. So perhaps just a hint. We already saw how these four elements were utilized within the creation story. Let’s take a look at another interesting composite (highlights added).
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
Moroni 4:3
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
Moroni 5:2
Very interesting!