Heaven and earth, father and son, spirit and flesh

Heaven and earth as the totality of existence

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth”. These are the iconic opening words of the Bible. I have previously written several posts on the “heaven and earth” dualism (here, here and here), but as I study further, new layers are added to my understanding. My previous post shows how the whole creation account is centered on this theme, with pairs of days focusing on either heaven or earth, or both together.

In Hebrew, heaven and earth are “shamayim” and “erets”. These could also have been translated into sky and land, respectively. In that sense you could perhaps say that the Hebrew reflects a more narrow concept than the English words in the typical translation of Genesis 1:1. But it is actually the opposite. That may sound paradoxical and confusing but it has to do with the symbolic worldview that characterizes the ancient culture of the Old Testament.

On the surface, both then and now, shamayim/sky was merely perceived as the literal sky above our heads. But as modern Westerners, we can go deeper than that. Through enlightenment and centuries of scientific inquiry, we have gained extensive knowledge about the true nature of the sky. We understand that the earth is enveloped by an atmosphere divided into distinct layers such as the troposphere and stratosphere, comprising gaseous particles like nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor. Our advancements even afford us knowledge of the relative composition of these molecular components.

Unfortunately, this position fosters an arroganse that easily leads us to dismiss the ancient Hebrew understanding as primitive through a scientific lens. The ancients also had a much deeper understanding of shamayim beyond the literal sky above their heads, but they approached this from a completely different perspective. Through their lens of meaning, our understading today is frankly very primitive. To truly grasp the creation account, it is essential to set aside contemporary Western paradigms and appreciate the deeper significance of ‘shamayim’ as understood by the ancients.

For the ancient Israelites, heaven symbolized the eternal and unseen. In contrast, earth represented the mundane and tangible. Heaven also served as the source of meaning, directing earthly existence from what might otherwise seem purposeless matter.

for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

Together, heaven and earth constituted the entirety of existence. What else could there possibly be than both the seen and the unseen? The story of God creating heaven and earth is the story about the creation of everything.

for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are

2 Nephi 2:14

“All things” encapsulates the heavens and the earth and all things that in them are. We also saw in the previous blog post, how creation is structured as the heaven and earth in days 1-3 and “all things that in them are” in days 4-6.

The deeper understanding of ‘shamayim’ transcended mere sky to encompass a heavenly realm rich with concepts such as light, air/wind, spirit, ideas, and the divine. Conversely, ‘erets’ was associated with soil, dust, and all tangible, physical manifestations. The creation narrative vividly portrays this duality, with certain days devoted to the heavens and others to the earth in Genesis 1. Here, Elohim assumes the role of the Creator. However, Genesis 2 shifts the spotlight to Yahweh.

In Latter-Day Saint theology, Elohim is often equated with God the Father, and Genesis 1 is seen as portraying the spiritual creation. Despite the ‘filling’ of potential in days 4-6, attributed to the work of days 1-3, creation remains within the design phase according to the Father’s plan. Subsequently, the Son executes the physical creation under the Father’s guidance. This relationship is reflected in the Hebrew language, where the word for ‘son,’ ‘ben,’ derives from ‘beneh,’ meaning to build. The idea is that the son is the builder of the family. In the case of the Son of God, he is the builder of the earth on which the human family can dwell.

The spiritual creation by the Father and the physical creation by the Son is made even clearer in the Book of Moses, but it is indicated in Genesis too:

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7 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 2

Note the reversal of the order of heaven and earth in verse 4, which seems to mark the transition from a spiritual creation to a physical creation. The plants had been created in Genesis 1 “before it was in the earth”. There was an idea first (heaven) followed by a physical manifestation (earth). The creation account itselt is therefore a representation of the heaven/earth pattern.

Heaven and earth as fractal pattern

Verse 7 quoted above is another example of the heaven/earth pattern. Man is formed from the dust of the ground (earth) and the breath of life (heaven). Man, who is the pinnacle of creation, is in itself a microcosm of the whole creation. Just as there is a union and balance between heaven and earth, there must be a union and balance between spirit and body. This principle is true on different fractal levels. For an individual, the idea (spiritual creation) can be thought of as the father of the action (physical creation). Ideas and actions in perfect order and harmony enable us to be able creators in our personal lives based on the pattern in Genesis. If we have ideas without any actions to implement them, we will not accomplish anything. On the other hand, if our actions are random without any plan, we don’t have any direction and purpose. Not only do we need the two in harmony, but we need to align them with God’s will. In a sense, we need to pattern our personal creation account after the cosmic one.

Here is one way to put it: The first 2-3 chapters of Genesis is the creation account of God. The rest of the scriptures after that is the creation account of man, where he tries to re-create himself back into the image of God and as steward of the rest of creation, bring all creation back into a covenant unity between heaven and earth. These creation accounts are hugely disproportionate. This is because God can complete his works on first try and see that it is good, while man keeps trying and failing over and over. But as usual, Christ has given us an example. He came to earth as the express image of God to do the will of the Father. He followed this pattern of the ideal physical creation that is always preceded by a spiritual creation and completely aligned with it. I think Mosiah 15:3-5 expresses this beautifully. It is perhaps one of the most misunderstood and confusing scriptures in the Book of Mormon but it makes perfect sense in this context. To make it even clearer I will mark all the “heaven” expressions with blue and the “earth” expressions with green and bold all the text that brings both of these concepts together.

2 And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—
3 The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—
4 And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.
5 And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.
6 And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
7 Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.

Mosiah 15

Christ is the perfext example of this harmonious unity where the flesh subjects to the spirit.

In his book, “The Language of Creation”, Matthieu Pageau talks about this pattern on another fractal level; the communal level, as he refers to the story of Israel in Exodus when they enter into a covenant with God. But he also relates this to the personal level:

In this story, the materialization of God’s identity required the following agreement between spiritual and corporeal realities: All that the Lord has spoken [in breath] we will do [in body]. At the communal level, an agreement or “covenant” between heaven and earth implies proper exchanges of laws and deeds. God provides a spiritual identity or “soul” from heaven, and the population provides physical expression or “body” from the earth. This exchange is no different than how a head and a body cooperate at the individual level. In this case, an agreement must be reached between the spirit and the flesh by which the body correctly expresses the ideas of the mind in exchange for the leadership and direction of the head. Similarly, at the communal level, the population of Israel becomes a great physical body for God’s spirit when it agrees to follow divine law.

Pageau, Matthieu. The Language of Creation: Cosmic Symbolism in Genesis (p. 70-71). Kindle Edition.

Even though he presumably has not read the Book of Mormon, we see how his thoughts very clearly align with Abinadi’s statements in Mosiah 15. When individuals manage to subject their flesh to the spirit, they are ready for a community that can become “a great physical body for God’s spirit” that follows divine law. Paul talks about this physical body for God’s spirit and compares it to a temple. The temple stands between heaven and earth and represents a unification of the two.

People as vessels to be filled

As a sidenote, I am amazed by some of the images that AI can create. This one was generated at first attempt just by using the subsection heading as prompt. It says more than I can express in words but I will try nonetheless. I mentioned in my previous post on the creation that the creation account is meant to teach us deep spritual truths rather than historical and scientific facts. The harmony of father/spirit/heaven and son/flesh/earth as laid out in this post is one of those truths. I will briefly discuss one more. As mentioned, the days of creation can be grouped together as the first three days creating certain spaces that are to be filled in the last three days of creation. This is also a lesson that we can apply on a personal level and the scriptures are full (pun intended) of examples. I will make this part short because I have written a few posts about the word, ‘filled’, before. At the time I did not consider this context, but viewing man as a microcosm of creation – a heaven and earth duality – we each can create certain spaces within ourselves, to be filled.

“The Hebrew word ‘male,’ which translates to ‘fill’ or ‘to be full,’ can also be translated into ‘complete,’ ‘consecrate,’ ‘endow,’ or ‘ordain.’ These temple-related nuances underscore the significance of this filling process within the context of a covenant empowered by the priesthood. As mentioned, a body filled with God’s spirit is a temple. Similar to the Genesis narrative, our personal creation journey entails cultivating space within ourselves to be imbued with the Spirit and the word of God. Alma emphasizes the importance of making room for the word of God

28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts;

Alma 32:28

He then describes the further process in Alma 32 that culminates in the seed having grown into the tree of life.

42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

Alma 32:43

This follows the pattern of the creation narrative. In fact, Alma 32 contains enough references to the creation account to interpret as Alma’s deliberate effort to parallel creation at the cosmic and personal level. In our personal creation account, we need to make space in ourselves and fill it with love (Moroni 7:48), the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 30:2) and joy (Mosiah 4:3). Then we can, like Elohim in Genesis, see that it is good.