Why Six Days?
Good Morning Friends,
Jesus’ first miracle of turning water into wine uses six stone water jars. A Hebrew slave was to serve six years and be released in the 7th year. Six years were appointed for the land to be sown and harvested. According to Scripture, God created the universe over six days and rested on the seventh day. So what is it with the number six… Why Six Days?
Scripture: 3You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days,
Joshua 6:3 (NRSV)
The glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.
Exodus 24:16 (NRSV)
2Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
Mark 9:2 (NRSV)
12Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them* with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii* and the money given to the poor?’
John 12:1-5 (NRSV)
3For six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.
Leviticus 23:3 (NRSV)
4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages* would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’
John 6:4-7 (NRSV)
15Then he said, ‘Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.’ So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley, and put it on her back; then he went into the city.
Ruth 3:15 (NRSV)
God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:31 (NRSV)
Message: A friend of mine gave a sermon on Sunday about Matthew 17 and in the sermon notes he shared, he suggested people meditate in their private devotions on the question I raise today. Ok, so here goes. Indeed in Matthew 17 there is a reference to the Transfiguration taking place six day after some amazing miracles Jesus does. Go back and read that whole chapter at your leisure but before you do that let’s meditate on today’s question and its meaning for us. The first thing that strikes me about this question is its relationship to very rhythm of six days of work in the creation story and the reference to six in other scripture. It is a little detail but perhaps more important than we might think for it has been embedded in our very existence of how we view time. Of course God did not need that much time to create, and certainly not because He needed to rest on the seventh. Rather, He was establishing a pattern for the cycle of work and rest—a pattern for the good of humanity. And that pattern is reflected in the calendar of the entire world. We depend on it to measure time. There is no cosmic reason, no philosophical reason, no mathematical reason, and no scientific reason for the seven-day week. There is only one reason: God established that order in Genesis for our benefit. Every week we go through a cycle that God established as a perpetual reminder that we only have so much time to accomplish the work we have to do. Not only is the seventh day a memorial to God’s completed creation, it is also a snapshot of how our very lives are lived. But the number six falls short and well that is a bit ominous is it not? The sixth commandment is thou shalt not kill. And the number 666 well that does not engender a great feeling at all. Something about it is related to our failures and temptations…failings to be salt and light…tempted to gain the world…to be the greatest… but losing our very life in the process…one week at a time…one weakness at a time.
Pray we realize we are incomplete without God. Pray that our attention is drawn to the value of human life and the work we do with God. Pray we learn the importance of taking a break from our work to focus on our calling. Pray we overcome the temptation to think we can be perfect on our own. Pray we overcome the temptation to give our best to our work and the crumbs to our family and faith. Pray we not be tempted to place material possessions above relationships that honor God. Pray that the days of our lives be filled to the brim like those six jars at the Wedding at Cana, like those six measures of barley Boaz gives to Ruth. Pray we realize that work is the price we pay to make a living but that only with God do we make a life. Pray we cultivate a desire in others for the completeness found in Christ. Pray we learn from our mistakes.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 