7.5.3.5. Six Man’s Incompleteness, Human Will

The number six appears in the book of Revelation in association with the six wings of the living creatures (Rev. Rev. 4:8+)¹ and the number of the Beast (666, Rev. Rev. 13:18+).

Since man was created on the sixth day (Gen. Gen. 1:26-27), six is considered to be the ‘number of man.’ The repetition of the number thrice in association with the number of the Beast is understood to denote the ‘trinity of man’ or ‘satanic trinity’ (Satan, the Beast, and the false prophet). “Six is the number of man, who was created on the sixth day. In Revelation Rev. 13:18+ it represents the number of the ultimate man, the Antichrist: 666.”²

The number six seems to denote specifically the will and independence of man (i.e., sin) as evidenced by the mention of the number of fingers and toes of men who were notably powerful in their defiance of God (2S. 2S. 21:20; 1Chr. 1Chr. 20:6).³

Six also denotes incompleteness, being one less than seven, the number of completeness or perfection. The Menorah has one central stem out of which six stems branch (Ex. Ex. 25:32-33). Some see this as an indication of man’s incompleteness (the six branches) made complete only with the addition of Messiah (the central branch). As Jesus said, John 15:5) In the same way that six days of work are incomplete without the seventh day of rest, man’s utmost effort when independent of God results in incompleteness and failure.

Six days were appointed to him for his labour; while one day is associated in sovereignty with the Lord God, as His rest. Six, therefore, is the number of labour also, of man’s labour as apart and distinct from God’s rest. . . . the number is significant of secular completeness.⁴

In the book of Revelation is presented the final great effort of the human secular system to achieve its ends apart from God. The cataclysmic events in response to the unbridled will of man are God’s ultimate reminder of man’s innate inability and deficiency apart from God, which the earth-dwellers refuse to acknowledge to the bitter end.

Among the enemies of God marked by the number six: we find Goliath, whose height was six cubits, having six pieces of armor and a spear’s head weighing six hundred shekels of iron (1S. 1S. 17:4-7); Nebuchadnezzar, whose “image” was sixty cubits high and six cubits wide (Dan. Dan. 3:1); and Antichrist, whose number is six hundred and sixty-six (Rev. Rev. 13:18+). Even Solomon at the height of his earthly glory received a mere six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold (1K. 1K. 10:14) each year and sat on a throne of only six steps (1K. 1K. 10:19). Solomon, in his advanced human wisdom, great power and influence, but eventual drift from God, illustrates characteristics shared by the Antichrist of the end.

Throughout history, the best that man can produce by every available means and effort of rebellious will is “666” which falls short of God’s triune completeness (“777”).

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Notes

¹ Each of Isaiah’s seraphim also had six wings (Isa. Isa. 6:2), two of which were used to cover the face, two to cover the feet, leaving two to fly.

² Edward Hindson, Revelation: Unlocking the Future (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2002), 6.

³ “The great giant had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, for he represented the perfect example of that race of giants.”—Walter L. Wilson, A Dictionary of Bible Types (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999), 374.

⁴ E. W. Bullinger, Number in Scripture: Its Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significance (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1967), 150.