Elemental

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

2 Peter 3:10

Here's what the elements look like all lined up in a row. Like the planets, these too could learn a thing or two from a different viewpoint and a bit more organization. When creating this chart of the elements, it was called a periodic table because items were arranged in terms of their mass or weight, from lightest to heaviest. That's all fine, well, and good of course except when there's actually people that expect others to know and make sense of this thing. To me, it's utterly incomprehensible. Then again, maybe that's a good thing, because all of our discoveries had to start somewhere. You've likely never heard of the guy who was bathing when an idea struck him. Suddenly, he jumped up out of the tub and ran down the hall shouting "Eureka!" That in itself is more famous than all the rest of his discoveries put together. What he found by the way, was forgotten in the larger discussion this incident sparked regarding public nudity and the use of communal bathhouses.

That was before the advent of modern-day science though with all of its technology and devices. Back in ancient times, say in the days of the Romans, there was just the public forum to which one went for judgment. Other than that, there were also the occasional church or synagogue gatherings. Then too, there was the little matter of the violent Roman games held in the Coliseum as parties vied for the dubious honoring of killing each other first. From there the Romans spread across the globe, taking down every nation and civilization in their path. Still, they didn't do much in the way of replacing the local culture with that of their own. This left places like the Greeks who loved gathering for its own effects. These often met in public places to argue and trade opinions on science, nature, and local happenings. These were so influential in shaping the culture, that Paul had this to say about them.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 1:22-24

A lot of the ideas for science and philosophy began at this time as locals would sit and trade ideas without a lot of training or practical knowledge behind them. Again, it almost sounds like a certain genius at work arranging things from the greatest to least again. If that is the case, gold really ought to be first, not by order of weight but by order of price. Consider gold for which some would give their own lives being more precious than it of themselves. Just to show you that Scripture isn't some quack book or stories that a bunch of men made up over the years, check this out. It speaks to the trial of the faith being more precious even than gold refined in the fire. Then, according to this the last thing needed for gold is the heat. In fact, it needs to be so hot that the elements all melt together to fuse gold from it. In Revelation, it talks of the holy city, new Jerusalem being let down by God out of Heaven as though a bride prepared for her husband. Tell me though what is the last thing a bride needs before being given away by her father? If you're from a society that does bridal price, the answer to that one is easy - a dowry. If you're not from there though, a dowry is material wealth to be given away in exchange for the start of a family.

That text also speaks of a number of other rather rare and semi-precious stones being used in the dowry. First off, I just want to focus on the importance of there being gold for now. Traditionally, gold has come from the mines at great depth being dug from the earth. It also can be carried from earth in the lakes and rivers and streams as part of the process known as washing out. Really, it's nature's way of purifying the metals, and had been there all along. The second thing this movement does is aid in discovery of where there would be pockets of gold. Men have travelled the world in search of it always in hopes of finding some just around the next corner. Some of the men were incredibly lucky and made vast fortunes. Others struck out seemingly wiped from the face of the map. Obviously, the gold industry as with some other precious stones and metals has been fraught with violence, some more than others. While it's not acceptable, it is understandable as gold is in theory and in reality in short supply. Nor is there any way of creating it known to the labs. Some of the other materials like diamonds could be grown in a tube but not so with gold.

Technically, the formula really is simple. All you need is you and me. Then instead of pressure, some heat is applied else we'd turn into coal. How's that for some really good discoveries? Is it the best news yet? Maybe, if you just stay tuned. Next, we'll look at why it happens this way. I want to look at the elements all over again and this time by structure. There's about fifty-six of them known to man and about another fifty-six known to the labs. I'll explain what each structure means more in a second. Now it's not that I want you all to know the structures by name. Just be familiar with it though in case you ever see it again, because if this goes according to plan, we'll get to work with more of the elements in just a few minutes. Now isn't that fun? It lends a whole new meaning to the term being elemental, doesn't it? The real mystery here isn't how to make gold. If that's all we were supposed to do is get rich, make a lot of money, and then pass on we'd have done it long before this. Rather, there's some other precious stones and stuff rattling around in here. I haven't even heard of this stuff much less have I seen. I mean, how do you even come up with some of this stuff.

And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

Revelation 21:19-21