Hexagons, Snowflakes, and God's Creative Word

Magnified Snowflake
http://emu.arsusda.gov/snowsite/, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
He (God) reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him...there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets - Daniel 2:22,28

Science, Math, and Geometry Confirm God's Word

God's Word is more extraordinary than one could ever imagine. His will and ways are, remarkably, not only conveyed in written form but are also communicated and confirmed in scientific, mathematical, and geometric terms. Patterns and mathematical conclusions in nature and science follow similar arrangements and structures in Biblical text, which can often illustrate spiritual truths to us.

 . . . since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. 

— Romans 1:20

The Genesis creation account is not a mystical or magical event but a scientific and even mathematical one. We will examine how God's Word creates and how the snowflake illustrates and confirms this process.

Earth
NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

God's Word Patterns the Created World

The patterns of nature and its mathematical and geometrical expressions are well noted in math and science. This phenomenon is most commonly attributed to evolutionary processes in the secular world. God's conversation with Job offers us a much more significant consideration.

“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this, In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

— " Job 12:7-10

The realities of geometry and mathematics confirm what we read in God's Word and reinforce the faith we proclaim.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
— Isaiah 6:3

God has designed His Word and world so that no matter how we measure and compare the two, the same truth is consistently revealed and confirmed.

There are infinite treasures to be discovered and mined in these spectacular and privileged God-given resources of His written Word and the created world.

"There is a language in nature that speaks of the existence of God. It is the language of order, beauty, perfection, and intelligence. Some time ago, a scientist told me that when he gave serious thought to the majestic order of the universe and its obedience to unchanging law, he could not help but believe in God. He had become aware that God was speaking through nature."
— Billy Graham

Sonoluminescence—Let There Be Light

Before we discuss snowflakes, we will study the two most fundamental elements of the created world: water and light. Both play an integral role in snowflake development.

The first chapter of Genesis describes the Earth as a dark, formless, dysfunctional mass of water.

And the earth was without order, and empty; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 

— Genesis 1:2

The first act of creation involved God's voice and light. A scientific discovery known as sonoluminescence animates God's speaking over the dark and watery chaos and His bringing forth light in the beginning.

. . . the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,”and there was light.
— Genesis 1:2-3

Sono, meaning "sound," and luminescence, "light," illustrate how the frequency and vibration of sound, delivered with sufficient intensity, move through the water and produce light.

In praise of God's holiness and majesty, King David makes a double mention of God's voice moving over the waters.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
— Psalm 29:1-4

Cavitation

The video above explains part of the process of producing light from sound and involves a phenomenon known as acoustic cavitation. Cavities form when an intense sound wave travels through water and then collapses. According to a Nature.com article, this type of collapse produces internal temperatures up to thousands of degrees Kelvin. 

Acoustic cavitation—the formation and implosive collapse of bubbles—occurs when a liquid is exposed to intense sound. Cavitation can produce white noise, sonochemical reactions, erosion of hard materials, rupture of living cells, and the emission of light, or sonoluminescence. The energy concentration during collapse is enormous: the energy of an emitted photon can exceed the energy density of the sound field by about 12 orders of magnitude, and it has long been predicted that the interior bubble temperature reaches thousands of degrees Kelvin during collapse.

The process of cavity formation from sound involves splitting water molecules apart. The creation narrative that exhibits God's spoken word describes something that sounds very similar.

Then God said, “Let there be a firmament (space) in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
— Genesis 1:6

James Tissot
Wikimedia Commons

Separation of Waters: A Horizontal and Vertical View

In the book of Exodus, we see a type of creative cavitation that includes the splitting and collapse of waters; God created a nation by causing His people to pass through a parted sea.

. . . the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 

— Exodus 14:15-16

The above case was a horizontal event. There was a vertical splitting of waters defined as above and below at creation.

God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 

— Genesis 1:7

Combining these two images, horizontal and vertical, allows us to see a cross in the created spaces. Each symbolizes a physical (horizontal) and spiritual (vertical) transaction that joined what had once become separated. These combined scenes are reiterated at the cross with the tearing of the temple veil and the splitting of rocks.

Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two . . . and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split . . . Jesus had cried out with a loud voice. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

— Luke 23:44, Matthew 27:51

At the moment of this chaotic darkness, following the creation pattern, a loud voice issues forth, and then comes the light.

. . . Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen (light), and they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen!
— Mark 16: 3-6

Light Resurrects Water

Light and resurrection are connected. Sunlight calls up the water droplets from below into the skies above. (separating waters above and waters below in Genesis chapter one). After the division of the waters on the second day of creation, productive, inhabitable land appears on the third day as a type of resurrection from the dark, chaotic waters.

Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so . . . Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.

— Genesis 1:9,11

Much like the third day of creation's resurrection of land and vegetation following a dark and dysfunctional mass, Jesus is resurrected from the dead on the third day after the darkness of the cross.

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”
— Luke 24:1-7

In this case, the masses of people depict the chaotic waters.

Woe to the multitude of many people 
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations

That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

— Isaiah 17:12

John's Gospel declares Jesus as the light just before Christ's water baptism.

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light so that all might believe through him.
— John 1:6

In the baptism scene, there is also a parting of the heavens. The Hebrew word "heaven (שָׁמַיִם)" includes the word "water (מַיִם)." This again links us to the beginning of creation.

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened (Mark says parting), a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Recall the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters in the beginning).
— Matthew 3:16-18

In connection with baptism, Moses led God's newly created people through a type of baptism by passing them through the sea. Paul picks up on this link in his letter to the Corinthian church.

. . . our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
— I Corinthians 10:1-2

Moses prophetically declares a future Messiah who transforms us into new creations by His spoken words and our faith in what He has done.

The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.
— Acts 3:22

Stephen, also in the book of Acts, reiterates the same message.

This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.
— Acts 7:37

Creation Through Vibration Frequencies

The following Psalm testifies to God's creation of the heavens and the Earth through the vibrational frequencies of His voice. The first section concerns the heavens, and the last discusses the Earth. Sandwiched between heaven and Earth's praises is the reason for such glorious praise. He commanded, and they were created—all of the creation dances to the tune of His commands and decrees.

Praise the Lord from the heavens; 

Praise Him in the heights! 

Praise Him, all His angels;

Praise Him, all His hosts! 

Praise Him, sun and moon; 

Praise Him, all you stars of light! 

Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, 

And you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord, 

For He commanded, and they were created. 

He also established them forever and ever. 

He made a decree which shall not pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth, 

You great sea creatures and all the depths; 

Fire and hail, snow and clouds; 

Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; 

Mountains and all hills; 

Fruitful trees and all cedars; 

Beasts and all cattle; 

Creeping things and flying fowl; 

Kings of the earth and all peoples; 

Princes and all judges of the earth; 

Both young men and maidens; 

Old men and children.

— Psalm 148:1-12

The videos in this section and the next are excellent visualizations of how sound can construct order and pattern from randomness by transferring sound wave energy into matter. This process is called resonance.

The whole creation is nothing but the visible curtain behind which radiates the exalted working of God’s thinking.
— Abraham Kuyper

From Death to Life

God called and summoned everything into being out of a deep, dark, and dead chaos, then transformed it into a constructive living organism by His command.

. . . God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. 

— Romans 4:17

Death is exhibited in the process of decomposition, disorganization, disintegration, and dissolution. It is a turning of something into nothing. Alternatively, a highly organized composition occurs when human life is formed within the womb. This process involves constructing, arranging, and developing what seems like nothing into a valuable, meaningful, and productive someone. 

The Bible speaks of a necessary new birth of a vertical or spiritual nature. We have all been born a living physical being on a horizontal level tainted by the darkness and deadness of sin, but God has granted, through His Son, the opportunity to be made new.

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
— II Corinthians 4:6

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
— II Corinthians 5:17

When Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about being born again, He says that one must first be born of water and then of the Spirit. All of this, without fail, follows the pattern set for us in Genesis, beginning the narrative with sound, water, and light.

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God . . . the light has come into the world . . . the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice . . . . (final sentence spoken by John the Baptist, witness of the Light)
— John 3:5,19,28

The Snowflake

The snowflake, primarily made of water, offers us a vivid and detailed exhibit and illustration of the creative force of God's spoken Word.

The uniquely intricate snowflake patterns have long been marveled at, especially since the invention of the microscope. Johannes Kepler, an astronomer and mathematician from the late 1500s to the 1600s, was the first to analyze these sophisticated natural wonders of crystallized water. As we shall see, the snowflake illustrates the intricate beauty of God's Word, inviting us to be like Johannes Kepler and take the time to examine His truth microscopically.

O magnify the Lord with me . . . 

— Psalm 34:3

Another consideration is taken from the Book of Job, as it concerns entering the treasury of snow.

Have you entered the treasury of snow?
— Job 38:22

The word treasury above refers to a storehouse of precious things. Undoubtedly, there is a storehouse of valuable treasures to be discovered by thoughtfully examining snow's development and properties.

There is nothing insignificant in God's universe. Everything that He has made has a meaning and a purpose. There is not a curl in a cloud, or a curve in a leaf, or a tint on a blossom, but has a reason for it, and speaks of its origin.
—H. Macmillan
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Snowflake Development—Order Out of Chaos

Snowflakes result from water molecules developing into a unique hexagonal (six-sided) shape. This process testifies to the biblical account of the heavens and the Earth being created in six days and represents the handiwork of God's Word, as reflected in the ten times "God said, and it was."

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 

— Genesis 1:31

 When water is in its liquid state, its molecules are arranged chaotically. They tumble around randomly, much like the watery dark void "at the beginning." This scene also depicts our lives without Christ. When water vapor condenses into a cooled atmosphere above, its molecules' organization is transformed into hexagonal patterns as it freezes. This part of the development illustrates how the Word of God can change our lives through the resurrected Word of God, who is Jesus.

Elihu, Job's friend, describes this scientific process in nature quite accurately in the following statement.

From the breath of God is frost given, And the breadth (widely spaced) of waters is straitened (constrained and narrowed).
— Job 37:10

God's breath animates the crystal-forming process of water vapor condensing as it cools. "The breadth of waters" describes the once-warm water molecules, spaced widely and randomly, then "straitened," which in Hebrew translates more accurately as "constrained and narrowed." This type of organization accurately describes how the molecules pack tightly together as water droplets cool. The water molecules are no longer random but form and grow into highly ordered, intricate designs.

Snowflake development offers a fascinating visual perspective on the creative attribute of God's speech, bringing order out of chaos.

 Anne Marie Helmenstine, a chemistry expert, also describes the purposeful design from chaos, referring to the formation of snowflakes.

... water molecules arrange themselves in predetermined spaces and in a specific arrangement to fit the spaces and maintain symmetry

From this description of the process, we understand that the created world animated by the snowflake was specifically arranged and pre-determined by God Himself and maintained by Him.

. . . by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible . . . and by him all things consist (are held together).
— Colossians 1:16-17

. . . upholding all things by the word of his power.
— Hebrews 1:3

He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
— Jeremiah 51:15

The prophet Jeremiah tells us that God established (ordered and prepared) the world by His wisdom. We see this accomplished in Genesis chapter one via His spoken Word. According to the above verse, His Words have substance and power.

The one who was before all things (Col 1:17), and by whom all things were made (John 1:3), developed the created world by the following.

His word was with power.
— Luke 4:32

God's invitation to an ordered, productive life with Him is found in the book of Isaiah. In the fifty-fifth chapter, otherwise known as the Gospel of Isaiah, God uses the metaphor of snow coming down from heaven to animate for us His Word that comes down from above and makes things useful and productive.

. . . as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there . . . So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; ( . . . and God said) It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please ( . . . and God saw . . . that it was good).
— Isaiah 55:11 / Genesis 1

A snowflake's intricate, organized development from disorganized water molecules demonstrates how God's spoken Word from heaven can bring order and function out of chaos. In the above verse, I have interwoven, in parentheses, the Genesis creation account that parallels this passage.

Moreover, the snowflake development metaphorically illustrates the concept of resurrection, connecting us to the "beginning" narrative.

"Grant me intention, purpose, and design—That's near enough for me to the divine."
— Robert Frost

Wikimedia Commons

The Math and Geometry of Wisdom

The numeric part of this story is equally fascinating. The ancient Hebrews did not have a separate numbering system; therefore, letters represented numbers. The first letter of their alphabet would have been "one," the second "two," etc. By adding or multiplying the number/letters of Words or phrases in the Scriptures, common themes were discovered to be associated with specific numbers and could form geometric patterns. By understanding that words represented by numbers can create geometric shapes, we might see how God's Word framed the worlds. God's speech was not a magical abracadabra event but a scientific occurrence.

This reasoning makes God's intelligence particularly stunning, in that the master mathematician could design a written text that could contain and express multidimensionally His Word-world and its functions.

Hexagonal Numbers 
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

A Sphere of Hexagons

The Hebrew word for wisdom in Jeremiah 51:15, noted in the "Snowflake development" section, is chokmah. Its letters added together ordinally (1 + 2 + 3,...) equal 37, which is a hexagonal number, meaning 37 dots arranged together to form a hexagon. It is the foundation from which snowflakes build and illustrates the wisdom with which God created all things.

The numeric presentation for the Hebrew word for wisdom, "chokmah," added together, according to standard Hebrew Gematria (letters 1-10 count ordinally after ten letters represent in units of 10 such as 10,20,30 until 100, then letters count in 100s), is 73 and is considered a star number (number of dots in a star pattern as displayed in the image heading this section). We could view the ordinal formula and its hexagonal form as a representation of the Earth. In this case, a sphere consists of hexagons. The Gematria value that forms a star, then, represents the heavens, confirming and testifying that He created it all, the heavens and the Earth, not just verbally but mathematically and geometrically. There is nothing mystic about God. He makes perfect sense out of what is seemingly random.

37/73

The snowflake pattern includes both numbers. If we were to line up all the digits of these two numbers, we would see 3773. If we overlay the sevens by joining earth—37, a hexagonal number, and heavens—73, a star number, overlaying the 7s—the number of God's fulfillment, upon the other, we see the number 373. The number 373 is a fractal expression of a snowflake. A snowflake is a seemingly useless speck of dust joined with the purified resurrected water in the heaven/sky above.

A couple of significant Biblical phrases with a Gematria of 373 substantiate this entire topic.

 "of snow" 

— Proverbs 31:21 (373) 

 

"The voice of the Lord is full of majesty." 

— Proverbs 29:4 (373)

The Greek word Logos, when expressed numerically, is also valued at 373.

In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
— John 1:1

The first sentence in the Bible that sums up creation adds up to 2701 in Hebrew Gematria, which is equivalent to 37x73. 

The number three in Scripture is consistent with solid, real, and substantial things and is exhibited in three-dimensional objects. It also illustrates the realities and credibility of the spirit realm.

. . . faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (spirit) . . . By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God . . . he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
— Hebrews 11:1,3,6

Faith is full of substance. God, His Spirit, and His Word are real and solid as a rock. They are undeniable realities. 

He only is my rock and my salvation.
— Psalm 62:2

The number seven in Scripture speaks of fulfillment, satisfaction, and completion. This interpretation is evidenced and imaged by the seventh day of the created universe, when God saw all He had made and called it good. The very first sentence in the Bible consists of seven Hebrew words expressing and summarizing the fulfillment of the creative events that follow. 

22-degree Halo Around the Moon
Source: Indivox, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

22 Degree Halo and Hexagonal Ice Crystals

On the 10th of April, 2014, our church hosted a "Jews for Jesus" presentation on Christ in the Passover, with the actual Passover being the 15th of April—the young lady who hosted the presentation lodged at my home that night. We arrived at my house after dark. When I stepped outside the car and looked up at the sky, the moon was encircled with a beautiful halo.

A moon halo, otherwise known as a 22-degree halo, occurs when light from the sun or the moon is refracted through "hexagonal" ice crystals in the atmosphere at 22-degree angles. As I looked this up, I couldn't help but recall the 22 letters of the Hebrew Aleph-bet and the Bible Wheel discovery.

The 22 Spokes of the Bible Wheel

The Hebrew alphabet, with which the Old Testament is written, consists of twenty-two letters. The entire written Word of God itself contains sixty-six books. Sixty-six is the equivalent of 22 x 3. If you laid out these books linearly and rolled them up three times like a scroll, you would have a circle of twenty-two spokes, each containing three books of the Bible, as shown in the diagram above.

Notice that each spoke is headed with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew language is pictographic, meaning that the letters, in their most ancient form, were represented by an illustrative image that aided understanding of the concept of the word in which it was used. Each spoke in the Bible wheel is spectacularly and consistently themed, with aspects of the pictographs representing it in each book included in a particular spoke.

Three Divisions Perfectly Organized

The divisions of the Bible can also be neatly organized in this format. Looking closely, you can see the top of a cross behind the most central circle, representing the New Testament in the image above.

22-degree Halo, Otherwise Known as Sun Dogs
I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald
~ Revelation 4

Let There Be Light

The 22-degree Halo gives us the visual of God's light refracting through the wheel of His Word, illuminating the darkness as we saw in Genesis 1:3 earlier in this article.

How can a book spanning so much time with so many authors make this happen? It's because there is only one author, God Himself, who orchestrated it all.

Saturn
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Saturn

It has recently been discovered that Saturn has a hexagonal (six-sided) storm on its North Pole. It is the sixth planet from the sun and is known as "Shabbatai" among the Jewish people. This name refers to the Sabbath day of rest that honors God's six days of creative work. What an image that the six planets revolve around the sun, representing that all our days and work should revolve around the Son Jesus, the light of the world, whose work on the cross made us new creations.

. . . if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 

— II Corinthians in Christ

The storm is theorized to be bordered by some jet stream. Once again, we see the stamp of God illustrating in space His creative patterns and power, and containing and ordering chaos. He is in control of all things and sovereign.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

God Calculates With Precision

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their measuring line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. 

— Psalm 19:1-4

Did you catch the measuring line part? Everything He does is precisely calculated, evidenced, and displayed in all He has made.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a span
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance?
— Isaiah 40:12

The writer of Hebrews explains.

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
— Hebrews 11:3

These hexagonal formations further reveal the creative integrity of God's Word.

Concluding Thoughts

This section concludes the Snowflake exhibit of the Word of God.

We began this article with our foundation in Isaiah 55, which connects the imagery of snow and God's Word. This chapter is also known as the Gospel of Isaiah. I will wrap up this part with its simple yet profound invitation.

Seek the Lord while He may be found, 

Call upon Him while He is near 

Let the wicked forsake his way, 

And the unrighteous man his thoughts; 

Let him return to the Lord, 

And He will have mercy on him; 

And to our God, 

For He will abundantly pardon. 

— Isaiah 55:6-7

The next time you see snow, I hope you will consider the intricacy, power, and accomplishment of God's Word.

To read Part 2 of this series, click on the link below.

Hexagons, Bees, and God's Creative Word

 Sources

1https://www.codecogs.com/library/engineering/fluid_mechanics/fundamentals/cavitation.php

2http://brennen.caltech.edu/fluidbook/multiphase/Cavitation/cavitationnoise.pdf 

3McNamara, W., Didenko, Y. & Suslick, K. Sonoluminescence temperatures during multi-bubble cavitation. Nature 401, 772–775 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/44536 

© 2014 Tamarajo