God created man in his image and gave him dominion over the creatures (Gen 1:26–28). Although God made man on the same day as the other creatures, man is clearly higher than the animals. Part of man’s call is to set aside the seventh day. To worship and have an intimate relationship with God is all part of his being in God’s image. He is a sixth-day creature to whom God gives a seventh day gift. As such, man is both privileged and princely; he has a connection to God, which he should have maintained by obedience. Yet, in sin he forfeits his privilege.

Introduction

A study of the number six, or any number, seems a little like Sesame Street at first. Yet it is the Biblical significance of the number six that makes it important. While “every word of God proves true” (Prov 30:5), not every biblical number has the same importance or weight. We believe the numbers in the Bible are significant because God’s Word is perfect. It contains no more or less than what the Most Perfect Communicator intended. Therefore, as Jesus stated, there is eternal importance to each jot and tittle (Matt 5:18). So, every number in the Bible is important too, but some have greater significance. The number six is one of those numbers in Scripture that has meaning. It is, in a word, “man’s” number.

The Number Six is Man’s Number

In the Word of God, we find the meaning of the number six, both in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament. From Genesis to Revelation, we see the number six has both positive and negative connotations, mostly negative. The number six is man’s number because God created man on the sixth day of the creation week. There are three important things to notice about man’s creation on the 6th day.

The Number Six in Man’s Creation, as Well as the Land Animals

God made man on the same day as land animals (beasts), on the sixth day of creation. Man’s creation on the same day as other creatures is meaningless by itself. Yet, as we work through Scripture, after man has sinned, we see him falling short of God’s glory. More and more, Scripture compares him to beasts. As originally created, there is nothing wrong with man or beast; God pronounces all good (Gen 1:31). However, God created man to be more than the animals. Therefore “six” eventually becomes symbolic of man’s failures and limitations, his sinful beastliness.

Man in God’s Image Is a Creature of Both 6 and 7

God created man in his image and gave him dominion over the creatures (Gen 1:26–28). Although God made man on the same day as the other creatures, man is clearly higher than the animals. Part of man’s call is to set aside the seventh day. To worship and have an intimate relationship with God is all part of his being in God’s image. He is a sixth-day creature to whom God gives a seventh day gift. As such, man is both privileged and princely; he has a connection to God, which he should have maintained by obedience. Yet, in sin he forfeits his privilege.

Created in God’s Image above the Animals in Knowledge, Righteousness and Holiness

In what ways is man above the animals? As created in God’s image, man is superior to animals in knowledge. This is easy to see, as even apes (considered by evolutionists close to man) do not write or even read books. The greatest of these books is the Bible, by which we learn about God, from God.

Regarding righteousness, animals do not have a complex understanding of right and wrong.

As to holiness, are animals close to God? They can be holy, but only if we make them so. In the Old Testament God’s people set them aside to make sacrifices. But they were not conscious of being holy, whereas we can and should be (1 Pet 1:14-16).

Man Created in God’s Image Was Part of our Popular Culture

The teaching that God created man in his own image was, a short time ago, not only common among Christians, but also more broadly in popular culture.

Stephen King, the horror writer, is an example of this. In his book The Eye of the Dragon, we find Peter, the king’s five-year-old son, eating a meal with his father and the nobles. The book gives a brief history of the sloppy eating practices of kings, which included food fights and worse. Peter’s mother Sasha, desiring Peter to be the exception and exceptional as a king when he grows up, takes him aside after one such meal.

Even though he was young, he was better mannered than most of the adults. His mother praises him for this, but she scolds him for his failure to use his napkin and, instead, choosing to wipe himself on his shirt.

She tells him to get his slate. On the slate, Sasha spells out two words: “God” and “dog” (“God” backwards). Sasha teaches Peter that these are the two natures of man: God and dog.

King speaks of God as part of the nature of man because Christianity pervaded culture in his youth. He grew up in the 1950’s and went to school when the Bible and prayer still played a role in schools. The salt and light of Christianity, mentioned in Matthew 5, influenced his life and at least some of his writing.

I still remember when most of our nation’s businesses were closed on Sunday, the Christian sabbath. God’s number – seven – still had relevance to our culture. Now, I have a standing offer from Amazon to have packages delivered on Sunday. Restaurants, with the exception of Chick-fil-A, and maybe a few others, are nearly always open on Sundays.

The Numbers Six and Seven Have Significance for Man’s Work and Rest

In addition to creating man on the sixth day, God also commanded him to work only six days. Adam’s original work was to keep the garden. The seventh-day rest is God’s gift to men, following the six-day work week.

After man sins, Adam thought he could clothe himself and Eve with his works as they put some fig leaves together. Because he was as a gardener, his first thought about clothing was to use a plant. Most of our thoughts about clothing ourselves morally or spiritually concern our doing “good works.”

The seventh day rest reminds us that we are God’s creation. He created us for himself, to glorify him, and to worship him consciously. Genesis 1 records man’s creation in the final verses of Genesis 1, on the sixth day. The importance of the Sabbath, the seventh day, appears immediately after that in Genesis 2:2-3. It’s importance is carved in stone, as this seventh day is also part of God’s Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:6-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15.

Our nation once considered a seventh day rest “holy” and “sacred,” even when it did not fully understand it or universally practice it. Man’s life numbers were six and seven. Before sin, man was perfect, in relation to God and the beasts.

What man is, before sin came into the world, before human imperfection, was part of what God pronounced “good” and even “very good.” At the end of the account of God’s creative work, we read, “ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Gen 1:31a).

Man’s Uprightness

Ecclesiastes 7 tells us that God made man upright. “Upright” as a word, describes man’s moral condition as created by God, but in relation to the beasts it also pertains to man’s physical stance. We stand on two legs – “upright” – while most “beasts” creep or crawl on four. Genesis 1:25 speaks of “everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind.” But of man, it says that he is “upright.” “Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Eccl 7:29). The seeking out of many schemes, a negative statement about man in contrast to being “upright,” seems to indicate a moral crawling, a moral beastliness.

From New Testament teachings about our re-creation in Jesus Christ, we can deduce that God originally created us in his image in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism explains (see Eph 4:24 and Col 3:10). In these three things we are superior to animals.

Considering our creation in God’s image we might see six as the closest number to seven, the number of God and the number of God’s perfection. We are, as Psalm 8 says, a little lower than the angels and given dominion over earthly creatures (Ps 8:5–6). Our creation being last on the sixth day, and after the previous days, even after glorious stars, seems to be an argument for our being the pinnacle of God’s creation, his masterpiece. But sin makes six a symbol of beastliness.

The Number Seven Is Significant as God’s Number

In the Book of Revelation, the number seven points to the perfection and completion of God’s Kingdom. Teaching in the Book of Revelation about seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls, proclaims God’s eternal kingdom.

In the Book of Revelation, the number seven appears repeatedly. It is the number of God’s coming kingdom. First, on the seventh day, God rested from his work of creation. In Revelation 4, we see that all creation is to be for God’s glory. Similarly, Deuteronomy’s version of the Ten Commandments connects the hallowing of the sabbath to redemption, escape from bondage in Egypt (Exod 1-15) and redemption from sin. This corresponds to Revelation 5, where Christ the little Lamb is slain, that we might be redeemed and made kings and priests to our God.

Psalm 1 tells us, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful” (Ps 1:1). But he delights in God’s law (Ps 1:2). This meditating on and delighting in God’s law improves the mind (Rom 12:2).

Man as created in God’s image is a six and seven being. Redeemed man is such also because Christ remakes him in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.

The Number Six without the Number Seven Becomes the Symbol of Man’s Rebellion

When Adam and Eve sin, the number six becomes symbolic of man’s separation from and rebellion against God. After man sins, God kicks man out of the Garden of Eden. We see this downfall in the symbolism of 666 in the Book of Revelation, which contrasts with God’s number seven, which is the number of divine perfection.

The number 666 symbolizes God’s judgment of, and the corresponding height of, man’s kingdom (apart from God). Thus, 666 is the number of man. 666 = “man,” repeated three times for emphasis, falling short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23). The repetition of the number six in “666” carries with it an emphasis on man’s rebellion and godlessness. 666 is the mark of the beast, because of the distortion of the image of God in man. Knowledge becomes ignorance. Righteousness gives way to lawlessness. And holiness becomes spiritual adultery and idolatry. “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: his number is 666” (Rev 13:18).

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