Scripture: Job 5:19
From six calamities he will rescue you;
in seven no harm will touch you.
 
Thought for the Day: I recently wrote about the importance of the number seven in the ancient world. It symbolized perfection or completion. The Hebrew word for seven, shevah, is from the root savah, which means “full” or “satisfied.” Six is associated with humans—created on the sixth day. Six is also the number of labor, and when considered as 4 + 2 or 5+1, six is symbolic of the human world either versus God’s world, or the corruption of God’s world by humans.
 
When six and seven are paired together though, as they are in this passage from Job, the author intends to contrast what is human from what is spiritual. Eliphaz’s lesson seems to be that when we attempt to do things from a purely human perspective, we’ll mess them up—no matter how altruistic our intentions. The only way to truly be an effective change agent in the world is to let God do the work through us. Six plus one is symbolic of human nature plus the work of God within us, which brings us to perfection.
 
Throughout Scripture, and indeed in every great spiritual revelation throughout history, we are reminded that we are more than we currently perceive. We are on a journey to Oneness with God. It is a spiritual evolution, a constant pull toward love. And no matter how terrible the world looks, we must always find hope in the fact that God is constantly pulling us closer to God’s own being, turning our imperfect six into a perfect seven.
 
Prayer: God of all being, make me realize You make me everything I am, and that everything I am is part of everything that is. Amen.