Avatar and the Blue Na'vi

We will continue our processing of the movie Avatar in the light of Christian symbolism and today we will study out the issue of why blue people? In the movie the Na’vi men are about ten feet tall. This would be very tall to humanoids on earth for we average between six feet and seven feet tall. In addition the Na’vi were slender and perfectly proportioned. Apparently, according to the movie, the Na’vi had carbon reinforced bone structure, and they were fast strong, and apparently very intelligent. The Na’vi also had cat like eyes, a tail, and had bioluminescent qualities. They also had a Queue, like a ponytail, through which they could bond and communicate with the various animals that the Na’vi used in order to function on the planet Pandora. All of these things are worthy of discussion but in this presentation we are going to stay focused on the issue of Blue.

Now obviously James Cameron could have selected any color from ruddy pink, to black, to white, to various shades of color as in humanity. Yet Mr. Cameron chose to use the color blue and interestingly enough the Bible speaks quite eloquently, and quite simply, to the issue of Blue. In Exodus 24:10 and Ezekiel 1:26 the throne of God appeared to be like a Sapphire and under God’s feet was the appearance of Sapphire. And of course Sapphire is a blue stone. So the foundational color for God’s throne is blue.

In Numbers 15:37-40 we have the following testimony:
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the border of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after our own heart and our own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: that ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.”

This text clearly states that in order to help Israel to remember to keep all of God’s commandments that they are to put a ribbon of blue on the hem of all their garments. So when someone looked at an Israelite they would notice the blue on the fringe of their garments and then hopefully ask them about the blue ribbon. And if anyone asked an Israelite about the blue ribbon then they would have an opportunity to tell of how Jesus was so kind to them and how that He had these wonderful commandments to share with humanity, via the Israelites. It also indicates that anything to do with the law of God was connected to Israel through His commandments the connection in blue.

A third major blue connection is that that Ark of the Covenant, containing the Law of God, was to be covered in blue. Any of the articles of furniture that were within the Holy Place – seven branched candlestick, the tables of shewbread, the altar of incense would need a covering of blue when the tabernacle was to be moved. The Ark of the Covenant was to be covered as well with a covering of blue. This is discussed in detail in Numbers 4:1-15

The fourth issue with blue was that of the High Priest’s garments. The High Priest was to wear a garment called an Ephod. This garment was to be made totally of blue and was to cover the undergarments of white. Then there were various other things like the Breastplate with the 12 precious stones symbolizing the 12 tribes of Israel was to be made of a background of blue. The Miter of linen was to have a plate of gold attached to the front of it with a lace of blue to show the law of God written in the forehead saying “Holiness to the Lord”. In addition the pomegranates at the bottom of the Ephod were to be made of gold, scarlet, and blue. All of these articles of clothing were to be attached to the Ephod by ribbons of blue. All of these things are described in Exodus 28.

The final blue connection is that the entrance way into the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the doorway into the Holy Place and the curtain into the Most Holy Place were made of white linen, red, and purple and blue. This indicates that blue was always attached to the law and any thing connecting us to the law was to be symbolized by the color blue.

With the above in mind, it would appear that James Cameron took the symbolism very seriously and made the Na’vi literally blue. This would convey that they were a law-abiding people in a serious relationship with their God Eywa – an alteration of the Hebrew name Yhwh – or Yahweh. The Hebrew God Yahweh was a God that had a deep appreciation of the need for His law. This same God Yahweh was claimed by Jesus to be Himself. He claimed to be the I Am of Exodus 3:1-14 by using the name “I Am” in John 8:58. So as the Israelites would have been the people of the I Am, or the Blue People – the people of the law of God, so the Na’vi were the people of Eywa – the people of the law of God.