The Significance of Six

The Significance of Six

The number SIX in the Bible is often seen in connection with Man. More specifically, SIX shows man s fallibility, his incompleteness, his imperfection, and Satan in his relation to man. In our next lesson we will notice that SEVEN stands for perfection or completeness. Therefore, it is natural to view SIX to as an incomplete or imperfect number, a number of Man since Man alone is imperfect. Man is only made perfect through Christ. Man without God, is incomplete.

Genesis 1: 26;31 26 Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning the sixth day. We notice in Genesis that Man was created on the sixth day.

Exodus 34:21 21 Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest. Six days are decreed for Man to labor, but the seventh is a day of rest, for the Israelite s labors were incomplete without the Sabbath. Exodus 23: 10-11 10 For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove The Israelites were instructed to harvest their crops for six years. Following six years, the land was to be unused and allowed to rest from plowing.

Exodus 16: 21-26 21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much two omers [b] for each person and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, This is what the LORD commanded: Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning. 24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 Eat it today, Moses said, because today is a sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any. The Israelites gathered manna for six days, but the seventh was a Sabbath to the Lord. A trend is apparent that God ordained Man to work for Six units of time (days or years) but the Seventh was a period of rest. This was to serve as a reminder to the Israelites that God worked and created for six days, and on the seventh day He rested from His work.

Numbers 11:4-6 4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna! In the wilderness, the Israelites lusted after SIX things (fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic) that they had in Egypt, which we know is symbolic of their life in sin and slavery. Deuteronomy 8:7-8 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey. Notice that in the Promised Land the Israelites are promised not SIX, but SEVEN foods, symbolic of the perfection of the Promised Land. Wheat, Barley, Vines(Grapes), Figs, Pomegranates, Olive Oil, and Honey (Dates). Furthermore, these SEVEN foods played an important role in many of the Jewish customs and traditions.

In Joshua 20 the Lord outlined Six cities of refuge to provide a safe haven for a man who killed another man by accident (for man is imperfect and is prone to accidents). Those six cities were Hebron, Shechem, Kedesh, Golan, Ramoth, and Bezer A man could claim refuge in this city and escape the avenger of blood. God provided these Six cities, but the SEVENTH and perfect security was to be Jesus Christ Himself.

2 Samuel 21:20 20 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. 21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David s brother, killed him. A huge Philistine warrior with SIX fingers on each hand and SIX toes on each foot was killed by Jonathan son of Shimeah.

In Proverbs we read six things the Lord hates which is evil incomplete for the author then states no seven things he detests. Proverbs 6:16-18 16 There are six things the LORD hates no, seven things he detests: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, 18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, 19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

1 Kings 10: 18-20 18 Then the king (Solomon) made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. Solomon s great throne consisted of SIX steps, with TWELVE (the number of Israel) lions on the steps, one on each side. While Solomon s glory was spectacular, it fell short of perfection as evidenced by the division of the nation of Israel when his son takes the throne.

The hatred of Man towards God s Son Jesus can be seen in that SIX times Jesus was accused of being possessed by a demon. Mark 3:22 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons. Luke 11:15 15 But some of them said, By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons. John 7:20 20 You are demon-possessed, the crowd answered. Who is trying to kill you? John 8:48 48 The Jews answered him, Aren t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed? John 8:52 52 At this they exclaimed, Now we know that you are demon-possessed! John 10:20 20 Many of them said, He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?

Three individuals in the Bible stand out in particular as the avowed enemy of God, each of which we will see is branded with the number SIX, the number of Man. I. Goliath of Gath II. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon III. The 2 nd Beast (false prophet) in Revelation

1 Samuel 17: 4-7 4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. 5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. Notice Goliath wore SIX pieces of armor 1. brass helmet 2. coat of mail 3. brass greaves 4. target of brass between his shoulders 5. spear 6. shield Goliath Furthermore notice that Goliath s height was SIX cubits and a span and the weight of his spearhead was SIX hundred shekels of iron. Goliath, though marked with the number six, is not a perfect warrior and succumbs to defeat at the hands of a boy by the power of God.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon Daniel 3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, [a] and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. God told the Israelites it was an abomination to worship idols or make an image of gold. Notice that the image of gold constructed by king Nebuchadnezzar was sixty cubits high and six cubits wide. However, this man made image was incomplete and imperfect, as evidenced by the fact that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego where saved by God from the furnace when they refused to bow down to this image.

The Second Beast or False Prophet Revelation 13: 11-18 11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. [e] That number is 666.

Notice the striking similarities between the image of gold made by Nebuchadnezzar, and the image constructed by the second beast in Revelation. All who refused to worship the image were to be killed. Also both refer to the number six. The beast is known by his number, 666, for it is humanity s number. Men could not buy or sell or trade if they were not marked with this number. However 666 is incomplete and is clearly a trinity of sixes. He (the beast) is the trinity of human perfection, the perfection of imperfection. He is the culmination of human pride in independence of God and opposition to Christ. If SIX is indeed symbolic of Man and his imperfection and incompleteness, then this false prophet is fallen Man at his best.

However, in the same way that the power of God triumphed over Goliath and Nebuchadnezzar, it will also triumph over the false prophet in Revelation. Revelation 19: 11-13;19-20 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The Word of God (Jesus) triumphs over the beast and the false prophet, both of which will be cast into the lake of burning sulfur.