Fiery Torches Are Connected To The Seven Spirits Of God
The spirits are torches. Thunderclaps, rumblings, and lightning all came from the throne. Seven blazing torches, which represent the seven spirits of God, were burning before the throne (Revelation 4:5). The seven spirits in this instance are described as seven torches.
The Slaughtered Lamb Contains These Spirits
We learn that these spirits are present in the slain lamb, Jesus Christ. Then I noticed someone who resembled a butchered lamb standing amid the elders and between the throne and the four living things. The seven spirits of God sent throughout the entire earth are represented by his seven horns and seven eyes (Revelation 5:6).
There Is No Other Holy Spirit
But the same Spirit operates all these things, giving to each person individually according to His will (1 Corinthians 12:11), Paul wrote this to the Corinthians. Additionally, many more verses could be added to this one. Scripture as a whole bears witness that there is only one Holy Spirit, one Spirit of God.
They Are Several Ministries Under The Same Spirit
As a result, when the Holy Spirit is referred to as one of the “seven spirits,” it does not imply that there are seven distinct spirits or that the Holy Spirit is split into seven distinct expressions. It might indicate the various ways the Spirit of God expresses Himself. Some believe that the Book of Isaiah has an explanation of the seven spirits of God.
And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2).
The Spirit Of Wisdom
“And I did not come to you, proclaiming the word of God with high words or knowledge. I made the decision to just know about Jesus Christ and him crucified among you. In order for your trust to not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God, I was with you in weakness, fear, and great shaking, and my speech and my message were not in convincing words of wisdom but in demonstrations of the Spirit and of power.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
The Spirit Of The Lord
“The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the distressed; He has sent me to comfort the grieving, to proclaim release to captives, and freedom to prisoners. Therefore, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me.” Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit Of Understanding
“Blessed are they who find wisdom and understanding, for their gain is better than their gain from silver, and their profit is better than their profit from gold. Nothing you desire even comes close to comparing to her since she is more valuable than jewels. She holds a long life in her right hand while holding wealth and honor in her left. All of her roads are peaceful, and she follows pleasant paths.” Proverbs 3:13-18
The Spirit Of Counsel
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17
The Spirit Of Power
“God is our fortress and stronghold; he is a constant source of assistance. Therefore, even if the earth gives way, the mountains tumble into the sea, the waters will roar, and foam and the mountains tremble from the surge, we will not be afraid.” Psalm 46:1-3
The Spirit Of Knowledge
“I spoke these things to you when I was in the room with you. However, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will instruct you in all things and remind you of everything I said to you.” John 14:25-26.
The Spirit Of The Fear Of The Lord
“But do not be alarmed, O Jacob, my servant, nor be discouraged, O Israel; for I will bring you from a great distance, and I will save your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return in peace and comfort, and no one will frighten him.” Jeremiah 46:27
Additional Scriptures On the 7 Spirits Of God
The One who possesses the seven God spirits and the seven stars spoke these words. “Lightning and thunderclaps were heard coming from the throne. Seven lamps were lit in front of the throne.” (Revelation 3:1) After that, I saw a Lamb that appeared to be dead standing in the middle of the throne, surrounded by the four living animals and the elders.
John’s Vision Of The Seven Spirits Of God
John frequently refers to seven throughout the book of Revelation—seven churches, seven stars, seven lamps, seven angels, and seven cycles of judgment.
John addresses the seven churches in the province of Asia in it, writing, “John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne.” (Revelation 1:4 )
John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne (Revelation 1:4 TNIV).
Here the greeting comes from the “seven spirits.”
Jesus Has the Seven Spirits
In chapter three we again read of the “seven spirits of God.” In this instance we are told that Jesus has the seven spirits as well as the seven stars.
And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1 NRSV).
Thus, in some sense, Jesus has these spirits.
The Seven Spirits Are Linked with Fiery Torches
Later it says the spirits are torches. We read the following.
From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and thunder. Burning before the throne were seven fiery torches, which are the seven spirits of God (Revelation 4:5 HCSB). In this case, the seven spirits are said to be seven torches.
The Slaughtered Lamb Has These Spirits
Finally, we read of the slaughtered lamb, Jesus Christ, having these spirits.
Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth (Revelation 5:6 HCSB).
These are the various passages in the Book of Revelation which mention the seven spirits of God. Who are these “spirits?”
In attempting to answer this question it is important that we make a number of observations. We will begin with what we know for certain.
1. THERE IS ONLY ONE HOLY SPIRIT
First, we emphasize that the Bible teaches there is only one Holy Spirit. Paul wrote the following to the Corinthians.
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:11 NASB).
To this verse many others could be added. The united testimony of Scripture is that there is only one Spirit of God, one Holy Spirit.
2. THEY ARE DIFFERENT MINISTRIES OF THE ONE SPIRIT
Consequently, if the expression “seven spirits” refers to the Holy Spirit, it does not mean that there are seven different spirits or that the Holy Spirit is somehow divided into seven different parts.
What then do these seven spirits refer to? It could refer to the different ways the Spirit of God expresses Himself. Some see an explanation of the seven spirits in the Book of Isaiah. At the beginning of chapter eleven we read the following.
And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD (Isaiah 11:2 NLT).
In this passage Isaiah speaks of the Spirit of the Lord and different aspects of His ministry. The Spirit is mentioned in seven different ways in this verse. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Lord. He is also the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.
Therefore, if this interpretation is correct, the “seven spirits” are not different spirits but may refer to the complex ministry of the one Holy Spirit.
3. THE NUMBER SEVEN REFERS TO COMPLETENESS
There is another point that needs to be considered. The number seven in Scripture often refers to completeness. For example, the creation of the world occurred in six days with God resting upon the seventh. Consequently, Israel was told to work for six days and to rest on the seventh because this was the pattern set by creation. Moses wrote.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (Exodus 20:9-11 NIV).
Seven days completes the creation and work week. In the same manner the reference to the seven Spirit refers to the completeness of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit – not the fact that there are seven distinct spirits.
In sum, whatever we conclude about the exact identity of the seven spirits mentioned in the Book of Revelation we do know that there is only one Holy Spirit.
Summary – Question 20
Who Are the Seven Spirits?
In the Book of Revelation, we find a few occasions where the “seven spirits” are mentioned. The identity of these spirits is not explained. Whatever the correct answer may be we know that there is only one Holy Spirit. Thus, we cannot divide Him into seven parts.
There have a number of suggestions as to the identity of these seven spirits. They include the following.
The seven Spirits referred to in the Book of Revelation may refer to the various ministries of the one Holy Spirit. We find that seven specific features of the Holy Spirit are mentioned in the Book of Isaiah. Therefore, this could be a reference to varied ministry of the Holy Spirit.
It is also possible that the number seven is used symbolically for the completeness of the Holy Spirit. The number seven is used with reference to completeness in both the creation account as well as the work week for humans. God worked six days and then ceased working on the seventh. Humans work six days and rest on the seventh. It is possible the number seven with respect to the spirits has this same idea of completeness.
n the book of Revelation John speaks of the “seven spirits of God” (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). While enigmatic, the symbolic use of the number seven in Revelation gives credible explanation: The seven spirits are God is a reference to the Holy Spirit, who is the perfect and complete Spirit of God. In no way does the number represent something contradictory to the triune nature of God (three-in-one), nor does it crassly suggest there are seven spirits who represent God. Rather, as with so many images in Revelation, the numeral seven represents the fullness of the Spirit abiding in God’s throne room and dwelling with the churches. Wonderfully, the same Holy Spirit who dwells in God’s heavenly temple (1:4) has been sent to dwell in local churches (5:6).
At the same time, the sevenfold spirit of God may also refer to Isaiah 11, where the Spirit of the LORD is said to “rest upon” the shoot of Jesse (i.e., the forthcoming king from David’s tribe). Greg Beale affirms the plausibility of Isaiah 11 (and Zechariah) being in the “background of the ‘seven spirits.’”[1] In that passage, which “shows that God’s sevenfold Spirit is what equips the Messiah to establish his end-time reign,” the prophet writes,
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (11:1 –5)
Verse 2 is where the seven descriptors of the Spirit are found, in that the Spirit is
- Of the Lord
- Of wisdom
- . . . and understanding
- Of counsel
- . . . and might
- Of knowledge
- . . . and the fear of the Lord.
This sevenfold description locates the work of the Spirit in the realm of wisdom and knowledge. While Lordship and might (גְּבוּרָה) are mentioned, the primary emphasis is cognitive. Significantly, this stands behind much of what Jesus says in John’s Gospel (see 14:26; 15:26; 16:13–14). As mentioned in a previous essay, the working of the Spirit is not seen primarily in visible acts of supernatural power, but in granting spiritual life and mental receptivity of God’s work of salvation. While the Spirit has power to restore creation (Isaiah 32:15) and raise the dead (Romans 8:11), the primary way he works today is in the granting spiritual understanding, what Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 2:10–16.
The Sevenfold Spirit of God
With passing reference to the Isaiah and Revelation, I want to suggest seven truths about the Spirit of God in 1 Corinthians. The seven truths are not meant to suggest Paul aligns his teaching with the seven spirits of God. Rather, the pneumonic device serves to help us get a handle on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians, especially as it relates to the Spirit’s ministry of illumination.
1. The Spirit is the one who knows God.
The first thing Paul says about the Spirit is that he searches. Verse 10 reads, “For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” The word speaks of rigorous research or exhaustive examination. And what he searches is everything in creation. To put it colloquially, Google has nothing on the Holy Spirit.
Man can build the largest computer system, but he can’t mine data like God. The Holy Spirit searches everything, meaning he knows everything, even the mind of God. Now, this doesn’t mean the Spirit has to run an algorithm to determine what God is thinking.
Men run algorithms because they don’t know, the Spirit knows because his knowledge is perfect, exhaustive, absolute. This is what theologians call the doctrine of simplicity.[2]
The Spirit does not learn by taking courses or adding layers of knowledge like we do. He doesn’t learn things after the fact; his knowledge is eternal and unchanging! God’s knowledge is qualitatively different than our knowledge. And so Paul’s point is not to explain the method of how the Spirit knows all things, it’s more simple: The Holy Spirit knows everything—even the depths of God—because he is God. Which leads to the second truth.
2. The Holy Spirit is God.
Don’t miss this simple but profound truth! The Spirit who knows God is God. He is not a thing, an ‘it,’ or anything created by God. The Holy Spirit isn’t a force that comes from God, nor is he a power less than God. He is God. And the argument Paul makes in verse 11 is this: Just as the spirit (lower case ‘s’) of man knows the thoughts of that man, so the Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God.
Don’t misunderstand. He’s not making a statement about the makeup of the Holy Spirit or of mankind; he’s not saying, “Just as man is made up of a body and spirit, so God is comprised of God and his Spirit,” or “the Holy Spirit is part of God.” That’s not his point. God can’t be divided.
Paul is not making a statement about ontology, but epistemology. The Spirit of God knows all things because he is God. This leads to the third truth.
3. For man to know God, the Spirit must make it known.
This is the main point of the whole passage: If we have any spiritual knowledge of God, it is because the Spirit who is God has made him known. Verse 11: “No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
By nature, you can know yourself and you can even know many things about God. But you can’t know God, the one you were created to know! Only by his Holy Spirit, can you come to a true (read: saving) knowledge of God.
Such an affront to human wisdom and rational knowledge reminds us that natural theology is a failed project from the start. Natural theology is “the attempt to attain an understanding of God and his relationship with the universe by means of rational reflection, without appealing to special revelation such as the self revelation of God in Christ and in scripture.”[3] Due to the noetic effect of sin (i.e., the blinding effect of Adam’s fall), mankind is not able to ascertain an understanding of God apart from his self-revelation and the gracious, illuminating work of the Holy Spirit.
For man to know God, the Spirit must open his eyes. In 1 Corinthians 2:10–16, this main point is developed under four subheadings, or what follows as truths 4–7.
4. The Spirit grants understanding of gospel grace (v. 12)
After categorically denying man’s ability to comprehend the thoughts of God, Paul continues in verse 12, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”
Born in Adam every man is devoid of Holy Spirit. While mankind was made to be “the temple of the Holy Ghost” and to live in union with the Holy Spirit, Adam’s primeval sin brought spiritual blindness to all of his children.[4]
In one sense mankind retains its original design; the Spirit gives physical life. Job 33:4 reads, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (cf. Job 27:3). But in another more crucial sense, there is no life or light without the gift of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, man has no ability to perceive spiritual realities. And so, without the Spirit, man is entirely defenseless against the spirit of the world.
This is the terrible plight of the non-Christian: They have no true knowledge of God; therefore, they are liable to fall for any lie.
Imagine a blind man, sleeping in the dark room, of a sinking ship. He has no idea of his peril. And worse, he has no faculties to see his danger. Such is the case of the natural man. The sinking ship of his life might wake him from sleep, but without eyes to see, he cannot find his way to safety. And worse, the spirit of the world is any number of creaking voices inviting him to find safety by plunging deeper into the belly of the ship.
To such a blind man, Paul says: “we have received the Spirit of God, that we might understand.” And what does the Spiritual man understand? He continues, “the things freely given us by God”—the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. What the Spirit grants is understanding into the gospel of grace.
The Corinthians, in their penchant for knowledge, have forgotten this gospel of grace! In our fast-moving, complex, information age, we too are inclined to forget it. We can mistake true knowledge of God for information about God. We can mistake spiritual communion with God for theological facts. We believe we can improvement in religious works counts as spiritual grace, when all the while we are learning to trust in ourselves and polish our flesh.
These are not the marks of life. True life comes through clinging to God’s grace, and it is the Spirit of God who grants such understanding of grace.
5. The Spirit equips and sends gospel messengers.
Verse 13 continues, “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” The “this” refers to the “things freely given.” “Impart” would be better rendered “speak” (cf. 2:6). So together Paul says: “We speak about the gospel of free grace not with the wisdom given to us by human reason or man’s systems, but through the wisdom that comes from the Spirit.”
The same spirit who grants gospel understanding also empowers gospel ministers to speak of God’s free grace to those whom the Spirit is teaching through their message. Three times in this verse “Spirit/ual” is referenced.
- In the apostle, the Spirit informs the words that he speaks.
- In the teaching, the apostle “interprets” the Spiritual truth, so that . . .
- In the audience, the Spiritual (= those w/ the Spirit) might understand.
As he will explain in verses 14–16, there are two kinds of people in every audience. Those who are devoid of the Spirit and cannot accept the things of God, and those who are enlivened by the Spirit and who walk in the truth. The latter do not come into existence ex nihilo. They are created by the Spirit when the Spirit brings them to life by means of the Word of God.
In other words, as gospel truths are communicated, God brings men and women to life. This truth stresses the importance of the Spirit working in the preaching. As Paul laid out before, the Holy Spirit demonstrates his power in raising the dead through the preached word (1 Corinthians 2:5; cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:4–5).
At the same time, this truth stresses the importance of the Spirit working in the preacher, whether that gospel witness is a traveling evangelist, a stay-at-home mom, or a high school sophomore.
When Paul says, “And we speak this [free gift of grace] in words,” he stresses that only as you share the Spirit’s inspired Word does God work. God has bound himself to his Word, and Spiritual people will only come to life by means of spiritual truth—i.e., the Word-centered Gospel of Jesus Christ!
To be sure, there have been rare occasions when a personal witness is not involved in a person’s salvation. But by and large, the way in which the way sheep are saved is through a person—a mother, friend, pastor, or Christian stranger—sharing the gospel. The pattern is for Spirit-filled believers to proclaim a Spirit-inspired message, so that the Holy Spirit can grant life as the Father ordained and the Son appoints. This is the fifth truth about the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 2.
6. The Spirit hides himself from (the pride of) the natural man.
In verse 14, the action is in the natural man, not the Spirit: “The natural person [who is without the Spirit] does not accept the things of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
In his graceless state, the natural man disapproves of the message of free grace. This is the case for every person without the Spirit. No one moves from darkness to light apart from God’s illuminating Spirit. You are more likely to fly to the moon on the back of an imaginary ostrich than to lift yourself out of spiritual darkness.
In other words, the woman without the Spirit looks at the wisdom of God and gags—or yawns. To her, there is nothing beautiful, winsome, attractive about Christ’s death. She is repulsed by a crucified Savior and the thought of dying to self. It’s not that such a woman can’t understand the logic of the cross; it’s that she can’t love it! She cannot divest herself from the love of herself. And hence she remains spiritually blind.
Only the Spirit can open blind eyes and creates spiritual taste buds, which humbles the proud and gives grace to the humble(d).
7. The Spirit reveals the grace of God to God’s elect.
In his final push for trusting in the work of the Spirit, Paul makes a strong contrast between verses 14 and 15. In both verses he uses the word ἀνακρίνω, a word translated “discerned” in verse 14 and “judges” in verse 15. The word is a legal term, often found in court room scenes.
So the meaning may be expressed: In the court of his opinion, the natural man can’t cross-examine God (v. 14). He may judge God to be foolish, but it is he who is foolish and under threat of judgment. Whereas, the spiritual man is able to judge all things, even while no accusation can stick to him (v. 15; cf. Romans 8:33).
This is what it means to have the mind of Christ. As Paul quotes the rhetorical question of Isaiah 40:13 (“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”), the reader is expected to hear a negative answer. That is how it is used by Isaiah. But rather, with the Spirit, the spiritual man has been given spiritual ability to understand the mind of God revealed in Scripture. Succinctly, the Spirit gives grace to God’s elect to understand the grace of God.
Such a reading protects us from the many speculative and misguided approaches to having the “mind of Christ.” To have the mind of Christ
- Does not mean we know everything Christ knows.
- Does not mean Christians are always right about the affairs of this world.
- Does not mean Christians have some mystical knowledge about or access to God. You cannot say to another, “Well, you have the Bible, but I have the mind of Christ.” It doesn’t work that way.
Rather, the mind of Christ is the Spirit-given ability to understand the free grace of the gospel. The mind of Christ
- Judges the cross of Christ as my greatest good / God’s best wisdom!
- Judges itself rightly, as a sinner desperately in need of forgiveness.
- Judges the world as paltry and puny, compared the surpassing knowledge of God
In short, the mind of Christ is the spiritual perception to understand and love the God of the gospel. And it comes not by human invention, human research, or human intuition’ the mind of Christ comes by the Holy Spirit.
We Need the Sevenfold Spirit of God
In sum, Paul points to Spirit of truth as the only means by which wisdom and understanding may be found. All other sources of wisdom are folly. In addressing divisions in the church, it is the Spirit who frees the church from carnal attachment to teachers, leads the the church to know and love God, and conforms the church to be like Christ. And therefore, it is this Spirit of God who unifies a diverse people to the unity and diversity of the triune God.
The number seven in a wide variety of Jewish scriptural traditions is the number of fullness, totality and completeness. Revelation is full of sets of the number seven, but just as in the case of the churches, this fact calls attention not to the number itself, but instead to the totality of that which is discussed – in this case the Spirit (seven spirits) who is/are before the throne of God. There are at least two interpretive options here. One has to do with the Holy Spirit and the other has to do with key angelic beings.
The passage is an allusion to Ex. 3:14 according to the Greek language Septuagint version where God refers to himself as “he who is” (ὁ ὤν). The Greek is translated from the divine self-description in Hebrew אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה (I am who I am). John uses the same wording only in this place in Greek.[1] God’s unpronounceable name YHWH is believed to be connected to the verb “to be” in Hebrew. It is a composite of past, present and future aspects all present in one word, “who is and the one who was, and who will be.” The hint is deliberate.
This passage is one of many places where it could be said that the Greek used by John is poor. Note the comment above about the authorship of Revelation and possible absence of an assisting scribe on Patmos). Since not all portions of Revelation could be characterized this way, it is not possible to explain the Greek grammatical irregularities only by the Hebraic background of John’s original thought language. Whatever the explanation may be behind the awkward grammatical irregularities, they are probably intentional in nature. For the reader familiar with the nuances of both Hebrew and Greek grammar, they act as clues that something else is going on.
…and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
The number seven in a wide variety of Jewish scriptural traditions is the number of fullness, totality and completeness. As was already mentioned, Revelation is full of sets of the number seven, but just as in the case of the churches, this fact calls attention not to the number itself, but instead to the totality of that which is discussed – in this case the Spirit (seven spirits) who is/are before the throne of God. There are at least two interpretive options here. One has to do with the Holy Spirit and the other has to do with key angelic beings.
First, conventional interpretation connects the seven spirits in Revelation with the seven “aspects” of the Spirit in Isaiah 11:2:
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord (NASB).
In reality there are six aspects, not seven, because the Spirit of the Lord is not one of the aspects. A better translation (NetBible), however, is provided by the Net Bible translators, rightly showing that each pair is really one concept, reducing 6 to 3:
The Lord’s spirit will rest on him – a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord.
No matter which translation we use for Isaiah 11:2, the connection between those verses and the seven spirits in Revelation does not seem likely to us.
Second, in the non-canonical Jewish books such as 1 Enoch that has many references to the Jewish Son of Man traditions, we repeatedly encounter an unfamiliar phrase “the Lord of the Spirits”. For example, we read in 1 Enoch 46:1-2:
There I beheld the Ancient of Days, whose head was like white wool, and with him another, whose countenance resembled that of man… Then I inquired of one of the angels, who went with me, and who showed me every secret thing, concerning this Son of man; who he was; whence he was and why he accompanied the Ancient of days. He answered and said to me, This is the Son of man, to whom righteousness belongs; with whom righteousness has dwelt; and who will reveal all the treasures of that which is concealed: for the Lord of Spirits has chosen him; and his portion has surpassed all before the Lord of spirits in everlasting uprightness.
We have here a wonderful passage establishing Jewish traditions (contemporary to the book of Revelation) about the Daniel 7 Son of Man figure. We must note that this common Enochean phrase – “the Lord of the Spirits” may be connected with the “…the seven spirits who are before his throne” in Revelation. (Rev. 1:4b)
While the parallel between “Lord of Spirits” and “seven spirits that are before his (God’s) throne” is intriguing, we may be dealing here with an early Jewish equivalent of pre-systematized, later Christian Trinity (albeit in different order) – Father, Holy Spirit and the Son.
Another interpretive possibility, however, that presents itself to us when we compare the book of the Revelation to 1 Enoch. The seven spirits before the throne of God may be seen as seven key angelic figures who (are imagined in some Jewish apocalyptic traditions) to serve before the throne of God. Angels are after all spirits that serve God and these seven angelic spirits, according to this Jewish apocalyptic tradition, serve before God. It is significant that the seven do not only appear in Enoch, but also in other Jewish books both Biblical and para-biblical.
While believers can be tempted to make too much out of this connection, we must keep things in perspective. Whether or not the names of the seven key angels are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Raquel, Remiel and Saraquel as is stated in the book of Enoch, we may never know, but it is at least conceivable that other contemporary Jews (including the Jew who authored the book of Revelation) had a similar concept in mind to that of the author of the Book of Enoch (1 Enoch 20:1-8).
So, other than the Holy Spirit, another potential explanation for seven spirits could in fact be the seven angelic figures.
In this case, God, the seven key angels, and as we will shortly see, Jesus Christ, are the ultimate authors on behalf of whom John is writing/delivering this letter to be sent to the Christ-following congregations of Asia Minor.
1:5 and from Jesus Christ—the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free[2] from our sins at the cost of his own blood 1:6 and has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! Amen.
Jesus Christ’s five-fold title is clear – 1) faithful witness, 2) first[3] born from the dead, 3) ruler of the earthly kings (1:5a), 4) the one who loves us and 5) the one who set us free (1:5b).
Such a full (especially in comparison to the other authors or those who commissioned the letter) title description deserves a doxological exclamation – “to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever!” (1:6b). This is especially so because Jesus Christ appointed “us” (presumably John, his community and the believers to whom he addressed his letter) to be the priestly kingdom, serving Jesus’ God (“his God”) and Father (1:6a).
The idea presented in Rev. 1:6-7 is that the multifaceted greatness of Jesus Christ eventually results in the glory and power of his God and Father. Interestingly enough, this too may have a conceptual parallel in 1 Enoch 48. We read in 1 Enoch 48:2-6:
And at that hour that Son of Man was named In the presence of the Lord of Spirits, And his name before the Head of Days…
He shall be a staff to the righteous whereon to stay themselves and not fall,
And he shall be the light of the Gentiles,
And the hope of those who are troubled of heart.
All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before him,
And will praise and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Spirits.
And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before Him,
Before the creation of the world and for evermore.
What we see in the 1 Enoch text is that the praise and worship the Son of Man receives from all those who dwell in the earth results ultimately in praise and worship of the Lord of Spirits (God Himself).
This is indeed a very similar concept to the one described in Revelation 1:5-6
…Jesus Christ – the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free from our sins at the cost of his own blood and has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! Amen.[4]
1:7 Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him. This will certainly come to pass! Amen.
What is very important to keep in mind as we slowly read the Book/Letter of Revelation is that we have a variety of voices being heard in this letter (God, John, Spirit, Jesus Christ, Bride, etc). As in any complex composition, such a rich polyphony of heavenly sound will demand careful and attentive listening in order clearly distinguish between the varieties of these voices, appreciate both their choir-like message and the voice of the individual performer.
It is not clear whose voice we are hearing in Rev. 1:7, but whoever this voice belongs to would like us to be aware that the crucified Christ will return in power (with clouds) and no one (including his killers) will be able to deny his resurrection (every eye will see him, even those who pierced him).
This will bring fulfillment to the visions of Daniel 7:14:
All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away. His kingdom will not be destroyed” as well as Zachariah 12:10: “I will pour out on the kingship/house of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn.
[1] Notes to Rev. 1:4 in the NetBible (NetBible.org). Available at www.NetBible.org. (Last accessed 13.6.14).
[2] Most Bibles have “washed” (λούσαντι, lousanti) instead of freed (λύσαντι, lusanti), but most reliable manuscripts have set free. There is a one-letter difference between the two, but the “set free” is likely to be the original variant.
[3] Firstborn (bikkurim) from the dead is a uniquely Jewish title, tied to the concepts of the first fruits of the barley harvest offered on the third day of Passover. The motif of resurrection is implicit in this feast and this title is used by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:20 and Col. 1:18.
[4] John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne. (Revelation 1:4)
And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.’” (Revelation 3:1)
And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Revelation 4:5
And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. (Revelation 5:6). And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. (Revelation 8:2)
Seven Spirits of God
The "seven Spirits of God" are also the seven lamps and the seven eyes of the Lamb. They are represented in other ways as well. Below are the equivalents which I have seen so far, with the chapter and verse reference from the book of Revelation in parenthesis:
7 Spirits Before His Throne (1:4) = 7 Lamps (4:5) = 7 Spirits of God (4:5) = 7 Spirits of God sent into all the earth (5:6) = 7 Eyes of the Lamb (Christ) (5:6) = 7 Angels who stand before God and blow the 7 trumpets (8:2) = 7 Angels of the 7 Churches who received the 7 letters from Christ (2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14) = 7 Spirits before the throne who sent the 7 Letters to the 7 Churches (1:4).
All but the last two equivalents will be clear if you will prayerfully read the scripture references in the order presented. With the exception of the last two equivalents, each scripture contains an EXPRESS STATEMENT which establishes equivalence of one participant with another.
For example:
"There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God" (Revelation 4:5).
This is an express statement of scripture saying that:
seven lamps of fire = the seven Spirits of God.
As I said, with the exception of the last two equivalents, each scripture contains an EXPRESS STATEMENT which establishes equivalence of one participant with another. You must read them to see. I suggest that you take time to read them now... but please read prayerfully.
I will repeat them for your convenience:
7 Spirits Before His Throne (1:4) = 7 Lamps (4:5) = 7 Spirits of God (4:5) = 7 Spirits of God sent into all the earth (5:6) = 7 Eyes of the Lamb (Christ) (5:6) = 7 Angels who stand before God and blow the 7 trumpets (8:2) = 7 Angels of the 7 Churches who received the 7 letters from Christ (2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14) = 7 Spirits before the throne who sent the 7 Letters to the 7 Churches (1:4).
(Pause, so you may prayerfully read the above scriptures)
To completely establish the equivalence of the participants in the first six verses above, the equivalence of the first verse, the seven spirits before His throne (1:4) and the sixth verse, the seven angels who stand before God (8:2), is shown in sections below titled, "THE Seven" and "The Throne Room".
It will take some explanation to show that:
- The seven Spirits of God are the seven angels who stand before God and who blow the seven trumpets.
- The seven Spirits of God are the seven angels of the seven churches who received the seven letters from Christ.
This page is organized as follows:
1) Scriptures Describing the Seven Spirits of God
2) The Seven Spirits of God are the Seven Angels Who Blow the Seven Trumpets
3) The Seven Spirits of God are the Seven Angels of the Seven Churches
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture reverences in this page are from the book of Revelation. For example, (1:4) means (Revelation 1:4), (5:6) means (Revelation 5:6), etc.
1) Scriptures Describing the Seven Spirts of God
Please prayerfully consider the following scriptures, which reveal who the seven spirits are and the many names and titles assigned to them.
1) The seven spirits are before God's throne.
- "John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ" (Revelation 1:4-5).
Notice that the the seven Spirits join with the Father and Son in sending grace and peace to the seven churches.
2) Seven spirits are sent into all the earth.
- "I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth" (Revelation 5:6).
3) The seven spirits of God are the seven lamps of fire before his throne.
- "Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God" (Revelation 4:5).
4) The seven spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb (Jesus).
- "I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth" (Revelation 5:6).
5) The seven spirits who are the eyes of the Lamb are before the throne.
- "I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth" (Revelation 5:6).
These seven Spirits are before the throne, since they are the eyes of the Lamb and the Lamb is "in the middle of the throne" and "in the middle of the elders". To be in the middle of the throne and elders is certainly the equivalent of being "before his throne" as in 1:4.
6) The Seven Angels who stand before God are the seven angels who blow the seven trumpets of the seven trumpet judgements.
- "I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them" (Revelation 8:2).
Prayerful Observation:
There are seven angels who stand before God. And each was given a trumpet. Each of these angels blows one of the seven trumpets (Revelation 8:6,7,8,10,12; 9:1,13;11:7).
2) The Seven Spirits of God are the Seven Angels Who Stand Before God
Are "the seven angels who stand before God" in 8:2 the same as "the seven Spirits who are before his throne" in 1:4? And are "the seven Spirits who are before his throne" the same as the seven angels who blow the seven trumpets? If you will prayerfully consider the following, I believe you will answer "yes" to both questions.
The phrases "who stand before God" and "who are before his throne" appear to be equivalent to each other.
So, the only difference is that 8:2 calls them angels while 1:4 calls them Spirits. Well, an angel is a spirit (Hebrews 1:13-14). So, they really could be the same seven.
THE Seven
In Revelation 8:2, John wrote that he saw "the seven angels who stand before God". And, the definite article "the" is in the Greek text (tous hepta angelous) . The word "the" was not merely supplied by the translator to convey what the translator believed to be the correct meaning of the Greek text. So, 8:2 is referring to "the" seven angels "who stand before God". The same is true of the phrase "the seven Spirits" in 1:4. The definite article, "the" is in the Greek text.
So, John is writing about "the" seven Spirits and "the" seven angels. So, a random group of seven is not what John is writing about. When he writes "the seven", John is referring to a special group of seven. The only question is... are two special groups of seven intended or is there only one special group of seven who sometimes are described as Spirits and sometimes described as angels?
The Throne Room
To help provide more insight into this question, we will observe just exactly who is in the throne room as described in Revelation, chapters four and five. We will see if there are two groups of seven in the throne room or just one.
John was called up into the throne room (4:1-2). John sees God the Father sitting on His throne (4:2). We know that this is God the Father instead of Christ because Christ is takes the scroll out of the hand of the one on the throne in 5:6-7. John saw 24 elders on 24 thrones "around the throne" (4:4). Think of "around the throne" as a circle around the throne. John also sees the seven spirits of God "before the throne" (4:5), the four living creatures "around the throne" (4:6-7), a strong angel whose location is not described (5:2). He also saw the Lamb between the throne and the elders (5:6). John heard the voice of myriads and myriads of angels "around the throne" (5:11).
The seven Spirits are said to be "before the throne" in 1:4 and John sees them there in 4:5. But John does not see seven angels in the throne room in addition to the seven Spirits. He only sees the seven Spirits in the throne room. Since the seven angels are described as "who stand before God" in 8:2, I would expect them to be in the throne room. But, as I said, there is only one group of seven in the throne room.
So, most likely the seven Spirits and the seven angels are the same seven. In chapters 4 and 5, God is specifically identifying those who are before the throne and around the throne... those with the highest rank in heavenly authority. It would be incomplete, if they were two separate groups of seven, who were before the throne, for only one group of seven to be mentioned as being before the throne. So, even without an express statement to this effect, it seems clear that there is only one group of seven, before the throne.
So, it seems clear that the seven Spirits before the throne and the seven angels who stand before God are the same. Since the seven angels who stand before God in 8:2 are the seven angels who blow the seven trumpets (8:2), the Seven Spirits of God are also the Seven Angels Who Blow the Seven Trumpets.
This may be easier to see if I use symbolic logic:
7BT = 7BG
7BG = 7Tr
Therefore, 7BT = 7Tr
7BT = 7 Spirits Before the Throne
7BG = 7 Angels Who Stand Before God
7Tr = 7 Angels Who Blow the 7 Trumpets
3) The "Seven Spirits Before His Throne" are the Same as the Seven Angels of the Seven Churches?
The first chapter of the book of Revelation reveals that the book was passed from God through numerous spiritual authorities, one by one, from one to another, until it ultimately reached seven churches. It is described almost like runners passing a baton in a relay race. As we read the book of Revelation we see that seven angels received the book (2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14) and seven Spirits sent the book (1:4).
If seven angels received the book and seven Spirits sent the book, with an angel clearly being a spirit, one would conclude that, since no intermediate spiritual authority between the two are mentioned and since numerous characters in the book go by numerous names, the seven Spirits are identical to the seven angels.
As you read, I will present additional reasons why I believe that the two are equivalents. By the way, the capitalization of the "s" in Spirit, reflects the interpretation of some translators and is not present in the original Greek text.
Seven angels received the book of Revelation from Christ, through John. Scripture doesn't say that the seven angels passed the book on to anyone. But the Seven Spirits sent the book to the seven churches. An angel is a spirit. If the seven angels are the same as the seven Spirits, then the complete transmission process is revealed. If they are the same, then the book passed from Christ to the seven angels (who are Spirits), to the seven churches. In other words, the seven Spirits of 1:4 appear to be the same as the seven angels of 2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14.
If this is confusing to you, please continue reading.
God wants us to know the path of transmission for the book of Revelation. That is why God revealed that path in the first chapter of Revelation. God communicated the book of Revelation through authorities that He had ordained. The revelation of Jesus originated in God (1:1). God "gave" the revelation to Jesus (1:1). Jesus gave the revelation to an angel (1:1). The angel communicated the revelation to John (1:1). John communicated the revelation to the seven angels of the seven churches (2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14). Seven Spirits communicated the revelation to each church body (1:4). 1:4 says "to the seven assemblies... from the seven Spirits".
Please recognize that it was the seven Spirits who transmitted the revelation to the seven assemblies.
I wondered if God would communicate to His children through angels in the Post-Pentecost Age of the Indwelling Holy Spirit. He does. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost in Acts 2:1-8. Then in Acts, 8:26 an angel communicated with Philip the apostle: "But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert" (Acts 8:26).
Assuming that the seven Spirits before God's throne ARE the seven angels of the seven churches... the steps of divine communication were: God - Jesus - Angel - Apostle - Angels of the Seven Churches - Seven Congregations.
So, we have six levels of authority in the transmission. Since seven is God's number of completion, I would expect to see seven levels, instead of six. The Holy Spirit is a likely choice for the seventh, since the Holy Spirit indwells all believers and teaches us all things (John 14:26, 1 John 2:27) . In fact, those two scriptures argue that the Holy Spirit must be involved. But, the Holy Spirit is not mentioned anywhere in the book of Revelation. Possibly we are to see Him as the seventh of an incomplete six authorities in the transmission.
But, if the seven Spirits before God's throne are NOT the seven angels of the seven churches, we end up with two incomplete series of steps, neither of which trace the message from God to the seven congregations. The two incomplete communication series resulting from this assumption are:
1) God - Jesus - Angel - Apostle - Angels of the Seven Churches
2) Seven Spirits before God's throne - Seven Congregations
One could propose that the book is conveyed in this way:
angels of the seven churches - Holy Spirit - Seven Spirits before God's throne
This would make a total of seven authorities and complete the transition from God to the congregations. But the Holy Spirit, as the third person of the Trinity, is God. So, it seems strange to limit the role of the Holy Spirit to being in between the seven Spirits and the angels of the seven churches.
It seems more scriptural to see the Holy Spirit as being involved in all four steps from Jesus to the congregation. This is consistent with Jesus being in authority over the Holy Spirit at the present time (Ephesians 1:20-21). This requires the seven Spirits before God's throne to be the same as the seven angels of the seven churches, or we would have eight authorities instead of seven.
For the above reasons, it seems most scriptural for the seven Spirits before God's throne to be the same as the seven angels of the seven churches.
Once the written text of the book of Revelation was received by the congregation, the Holy Spirit who teaches all things (John 14:26, 1 John 2:27), taught the congregation its meaning, apparently through angels. Angels are involved in delivering messages from God. The Greek word for angel is angelos, meaning messenger. It is translated as either messenger or angel depending on context. Some examples of angels communicating messages in the current age are 14:6-10, Hebrews 1:13-14 and Hebrews 13:2. Demons communicate as well (1 Timothy 4:1-3).
One may wonder how John communicated the revelation to angels. This happened as John wrote the book. Angels can read. God does transmit His plans to angels through humans (Ephesians 3:10).
So, the seven letters are sent from Christ to the seven angels of the seven churches (2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14). The seven angels send the seven letters to the seven churches (1:4).
Summary and Comment
The "seven Spirits who are before his throne" (1:4) are "the seven Spirits of God" who are "in the middle of the throne" (5:6), who are "sent out into all the earth" (5:6), who are fellow senders the seven letters to the seven churches (1:4), who received the seven letters from Christ (2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14).They are the "seven lamps" (4:5), are the "seven eyes" of the Lamb (5:6) and are the seven angels who blow the seven trumpets (8:2).
Based on the detail of spiritual authority revealed in the book of Revelation, I suspect that the seven Spirits are angels who report directly to Christ, through whom He works His will, making disciples and, in the book of Revelation, bringing about the end time judgements on Satan and his followers.
The seven Spirits are revealed as eyes to Christ. They appear to be the seven most highly ranked angels, with myriads of angels answering to each, all with the charge of God to do His will, all seeing and executing God's will as instructed. Some may say that Christ doesn't need others to work His will. He doesn't need them. But scripture is clear that God uses men and angels to execute His will, at His command.
On a different note, possibly, the seven angels who received the seven letters to their respective churches (2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14) are responsible for thousands of churches. Or, possibly the seven churches are figures for the seven spiritual domains of the seven angels before the throne.
Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; (Rev 4:5)
Does God have more than one Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit singular or plural? What does this reveal about the Holy Spirit?
In researching the question of whether God has more than one spirit, there is an Old Testament reference to the seven lamps found in Zechariah's fifth prophecy (Zech 4:1-14). During this period, Cyrus the Great encouraged the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:1-4), and Zerubbabel, appointed as governor of Judah returns with the high priest Joshua to lead the construction (Hag 1:1). In response to local hostility and construction delays (Ezra 4:1-4), the prophet Zechariah's message was intended to encourage Zerubbabel and Joshua in their rebuilding of the Temple by affirming that the Spirit of God was with them.
Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep. He said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side." Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, "What are these, my lord?" So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." Then he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts. What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'"
Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—these are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth." (Zech 4:1-10)
Note that Zechariah is told that the seven lamps on one lampstand (Zech 4:2) is God's Spirit in the singular sense (Zech 4:6). However, Zechariah later refer to these seven as separate entities and describes them as the "eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth" (Zech 4:10).
The understanding that the seven lamps represent the Holy Spirit is corroborated in the apostle John's account of the heavenly Temple in which God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are in each other's holy presence.
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. (Rev 1:4-5)
Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; (Rev 4:5)
Not only is the Spirit of God an individual Being, but the apostle John indicates that Jesus Christ can possess the Holy Spirit of God.
To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: "I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead." (Rev 3:1)
And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. (Rev 5:6)
In this passage, the apostle John indicates that the seven eyes of the Lamb represent the seven Spirits of God; thus, the lampstand containing the seven lamps is a figure of speech for the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, this passage supports the view of the Holy Spirit having the attribute of omnipresence as It is "sent out into all the earth" (Rev 5:6) and ranges "to and fro throughout the earth" (Zech 4:10).
A number of scholars understand Isaiah 11:1-2 as a description of each of the seven Spirits of God.
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. (Isa 11:1-2)
The seven Spirits are understood to be: 1) the Spirit of the Lord, 2) the Spirit of wisdom, 3) the Spirit of understanding, 4) the Spirit of counsel, 5) the Spirit of strength, 6) the Spirit of knowledge, and 7) the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.
While this is possible, it still open to debate if Isaiah was speaking in the context of the seven Spirits of God.
The Holy Spirit, as a personal Being, does appear to be comprised of seven individual entities described as the seven Spirits of God. What these seven Spirits are and their significance is unknown. However, the biblical passages support the understanding that the Holy Spirit is an individual Being, a part of God and omnipresent, and possessed by Jesus Christ.
The 7 Spirits Of God
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:2)
1) The Spirit of the LORD
2) The Spirit of wisdom
3) The Spirit of understanding
4) The Spirit of counsel
5) The Spirit of power
6) The Spirit of knowledge
7) The Spirit of the fear of the Lord
From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. (Revelation 1:4-5)
There are 7 Spirits before God’s throne, 7 angels, 7 Churches, 7 bowls of judgment, etc…
The Holy Spirit is One and the Church is One
Although the Church is one and the Holy Spirit is one, why then is there this distinction of separation? Surprisingly God has allowed science to peer into the mysteries of light in order to help illustrate.
There are also 7 evil spirits that are antagonistic to the 7 spirits of God. The details about this are found in the stories of the Israelites entering the promised land where there were the 7 tribes of Canaan.
When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you. (Deuteronomy 7:1)
The 7 Evil Spirits Of Canaan (The Promise Land)
- Hittites- Hittite means “son of Terror” as they were descendants from “Heth” which means terror. Terror is an extreme manifestation of fear. This evil spirit works on the emotional and mental state of a human being. (Source: https://shamah-elim.info/hittite.htm)
- Girgashites- Grigashite means “clay dweller”. This spirit influences people to focus on the material world and have a disdain for the spiritual world. Earthly, or Carnal mind that cannot see the behind the scene workings of the good and evil spiritual activities that influence our world. (Source: https://shamah-elim.info/hittite.htm)
- Amorites-Amorite means “mountain dweller”. Just like mountains dominate and create low valleys, people under this spirit dominate others in order to practice self-exaltation and dominance. Another Hebrew word that makes up the word “Amorite” is “Amar” which means to utter or say, meaning they want others to utter their name, (fame/popularity seekers). (Source: https://shamah-elim.info/amorite.htm)
- Canaanites- Canaanite means “low lands people”. This evil spirit encourages addictions and sexual perversions. This is one of the reasons Sodom and Gomorrah are referred to as some of the cities of Canaan in Genesis 10:19. (Source: https://shamah-elim.info/cananite.htm)
- Perizzites- Perizzite means “belonging to the villiage”. Villages connotate “smallness”. People that grow up in a village are exposed to limited opportunities and arrested development. This spirit produces a limited vision causing a person to see themselves as insignificant leading to laziness and poverty. (Source: https://shamah-elim.info/perizite.htm)
- Hivites- Hivite means “villiager”. This is very similar to the Perizzite in the sense of “smallness”. But the Hebrew word Hivite is derived from the word “chavvah” (the original version of the name “Eve”) meaning “life” or “living”. The Hivite spirit encourages people to “live it up!” Unlike the Perizzite with a limited vision leading to poverty the Hivite is instead “lives it up” (Hedonism). (Source: https://shamah-elim.info/hivite.htm)
- Jebusites- Jebusite means “thresher”. This spirit encourages others to tread or stop on other people. They cause others humiliation or to feel small in order to enforce certain social casts in order to elevate themselves in social circles. (Source: https://shamah-elim.info/jebusite.htm)
Hopefully, this gives a good explanation of the Spiritual battle we find ourselves in as followers of Jesus.
Verses 4-8 comprise an extended greeting to the seven churches in Asia (later specifically named in verse 11, as well as in chapters 2 and 3). As the human author of the book, John includes himself as a sender of the greeting, but the bulk of it reemphasizes the real authors: God the Father, shown as eternal and sovereign, and Jesus Christ, extolled as "the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth" (verse 5). John ensures that we understand that Jesus is the same One who exhibited His love for us by sacrificing Himself for the forgiveness of our sins and made possible our future glorification (verses 5-6). In verse 8, he carries the identification even farther by quoting Jesus' own words: "'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,' says the Lord, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'" Lest we misunderstand, John makes certain that there is no doubt that Jesus is the Lord of the Old Testament, the first and the last (Isaiah 44:6; 41:4), the Almighty God, who "declar[es] the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure'" (Isaiah 46:10). This extensive greeting certifies, not only that the prophecy has its source in God, but also that it will come to pass. The greeting also includes "from the seven Spirits who [or which] are before [the Father's] throne" (verse 4), a quite controversial phrase. Commentators are divided among four interpretations, which can be summarized as angelic, symbolic, mystical, and Trinitarian. Understandably, the Trinitarian view—that "the seven Spirits" identifies a so-called Third Person of the Trinity—has the support of most Catholics and Protestants. Their primary reason centers on the fact that this phrase appears between greetings from God the Father and the Son of God. They contend that this phrase refers to the sevenfold description of the Spirit of the Lord in Isaiah 11:2. The book of Revelation itself identifies the seven Spirits as equivalent to the Lamb's "seven eyes, which are . . . sent out into all the earth" (Revelation 5:6). These "seven eyes" probably allude to Zechariah 3:9 and 4:10, where they are shown to be "upon the stone," a symbol of the Branch or Messiah, and directly described as "the eyes of the LORD which scan [or rove] to and fro throughout the whole earth." In addition, Revelation 3:1 states Christ "has [or possesses] the seven Spirits of God," and Revelation 4:5 calls them "seven lamps of fire . . . burning before the throne." This may indeed be a description of the Holy Spirit, not as a "Person" somehow divided into seven parts, but as a seven-branched conduit of God's communication to the seven churches mentioned earlier in the verse. Thus, John includes "the seven Spirits" as a source of the prophecy to specify how it was imparted to the seven churches. The apostle Paul pens a similar greeting in II Corinthians 13:14, in which he writes of "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit," meaning that God's Spirit is the means by which Christians can have a relationship with God.
Revelation 1:4-5a KJV
Revelation 3:1 KJV
Revelation 4:5-6a KJV
Revelation 5:6 KJV
Zechariah 3:9 KJV
2 Chronicles 16:9a KJV
Proverbs 15:3 KJV
Isaiah 11:1-5 KJV
Isaiah 11:1-5 are the verses that are commonly used to define the seven Spirits of God in Revelation. In my searches I have found no other passages that allow scripture to interpret scripture. What I have found, however, are variations of defining the Isaiah account in commentaries. It is easy to see seven titles.
Six of the seven spirits are grouped into pairs; all but the spirit of the Lord.
So, does this really tally only four spirits? I tend to agree with those who say there are seven spirits, but they are paired up for very good reason.
Proverbs 1:11 KJV
So we see in this example, that knowledge and the fear of the Lord are connected. However, the fear of the Lord is also connected to wisdom in other passages.
Psalm 111:10 KJV
Proverbs 9:10 KJV
Here we also see knowledge connected to understanding. The message I see here is that the seven Spirits of God do work together in there intended purpose. One without the others will not give the fullness of maturity that the heavenly Father intends for us. As we develop an understanding of each of these spirits, we see the interplay between them. The deeper our experience in each will reveal the greater need for the others.
Paul Keith Davis has a webinar, “The Seven Spirits of God”, in which he lays out the idea of the connectedness of the pairs through the use of the menorah. The spirit of the Lord is the center pipe, which is sometimes taller than the others. Each of the pairs are on corresponding pairs with the same pipe feeding each pair.
Here we have pairs that are connected and that work together. The pairs are connected on the same line from left to right.
This is a good visual representation of the seven and the pairs, but I have yet to find that it is accurate to the menorah. As this was something described to Moses to produce for the temple, it may well be the seven lamps before the throne described in Revelation 4:5.
Ian Clayton has a teaching, “Seven Spirits of God”, in which he uses the rainbow to assign a color to each of the spirits. I have yet to discern if the color even matters or to see if the meanings of the colors correspond to the spirit. Colors would be another study, but here is what he has presented.
I have seen commentaries that seem to suggest that these seven spirits are in fact the Holy Spirit, and thus represent the fullness of the Spirit of God. Benson Commentary on Isaiah 11:2 states:
Acts 10:38 KJV
Luke 1:35 KJV
This indeed refers to the baptism and conception of Jesus in which the Holy Spirit is expressly present. But is that the same as the spirit of the LORD in Isaiah?
Here is the conclusion of the article on BeginningAndEnd.com, “The Seven Spirits of God – A Biblical Study”:
I can agree with this conclusion if by representing the Holy Spirit is to mean the Holy Spirit has the fullness of these spirits just as Jesus Christ does, as well as the Father. If the case is that this is the Holy Spirit, then I must take issue.
It would be a separate study to delve deeply into Holy Spirit. Suffice it to say that I do believe Holy Spirit is a member, a person, in the Trinity, the Triune God; Father, Son, Holy Spirit. As such, God is on the throne. How that looks, I am not sure. The father is on the throne and Jesus is seated at His right hand. I always picture Holy Spirit as being right there with them. He is co-equal in every way.
The seven spirits are before the throne. They are not on the throne. This suggests a subservient spot to Almighty God, who is high and lifted up, and seated upon the throne. In the Isaiah passage, the word spirit for each of the seven spirits is in lower case “s” suggesting it is not Holy Spirit.
I am operating under the assumption that the seven spirits are not Holy Spirit. I do believe they do represent the fullness of God in respect to the operation of God with man. I believe Jesus operated in full cooperation with the seven spirits of God and was, as we have seen, anointed by Holy Spirit. Likewise, we receive the baptism of Holy Spirit and we are expected to grow and mature in the ways of God. I believe this growth is, in part, due to instruction of the seven spirits and gaining all that they have to offer us.
KHouse.org has an article, “Sevenfold Spirit of God”, that suggests Holy Spirit:
The word to The Ministry included the phrase, “how they interplay between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” “They” with “Holy Spirit implies the two are different. Or is this not a word from the Lord? The word to The Ministry at City 4 spoke of one of each of the seven spirits in one of each of the seven counties and them swapping back and forth between counties from time to time. If they are each individual spirits, are they together as one, as Holy Spirit? Or is this not a word from the Lord?
The phrasing of these words from the Lord, though not scripture, lead me to believe that the seven spirits are other than Holy Spirit. The instruction of learning the interaction between one another (The Ministry at City 4) and between them and the members of the Trinity (The Ministry) lead me to believe that they are seven individual spirits. I believe the seven spirits of God are separate and individual though they work in unison with one another, at the direction of Holy Spirit, in communion with the will of Father, and directing all to Jesus. I further believe that each member of the Godhead fully envelopes and displays in fullness these seven spirits of God. In addition, I am of the belief that believers ought to be striving to display and walk in the fullness of these seven spirits as led by Holy Spirit. I believe it is Holy Spirit that directs the seven spirits of God as he sees fit in our development as sons of God. Holy Spirit instructs us and leads us into all truth, and I believe that He uses the seven spirits to hone in on what we need at specific times. As such, that the seven spirits are not Holy Spirit Himself, they are not omnipresent. But as God is not limited by time and space, the classroom is always open to us as we seek God and maturity in Christ. Just another mystery to wrap our heads around. They are before the throne of God and sent out as God sees fit. They have a specific purpose and the intention is to mature us into sons of God. Christ is in us. Holy Spirit indwells us. The seven spirits are external to us, just as they are before the throne, not on it. All seven spirits are expressed in the life of Christ and I believe it is the intention of God that they are to express themselves in our lives as we grow in Christ’s likeness and as we do what He did in His life.
Ian Clayton puts it like this:
Revelation 1:4-5a KJV
This greeting implies multiple levels of relationship. The letter to the seven churches in Asia shows greetings from:
This leads me to think that there was an understanding of the seven spirits at that time. They are also before “his” throne. A greeting would imply some sort of relationship, or at the very least a call to remembrance.
Spirit of the Lord(My opinion in red.) BeginningAndEnd.com/spirits-God/
KHouse.org/articles/1996/121
Ellicott’s Commentary
Benson Commentary
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ian Clayton
My TakeThe spirit of the Lord brings the authority of God, as administered by Holy Spirit, to carry out the anointing, assignment, or mandate that has been appointed for me by God. The spirit of the Lord:
Spirit of Wisdom(My opinion in red.) BeginningAndEnd.com/spirits-God/
KHouse.org/articles/1996/121
Ellicott’s Commentary
Benson Commentary
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ian Clayton
My TakeThe spirit of Wisdom brings the equipping through the mind of God, as administered by Holy Spirit, to carry out the anointing, assignment, or mandate that has been appointed for me by God. The spirit of Wisdom:
Spirit of Understanding(My opinion in red.) BeginningAndEnd.com/spirits-God/
KHouse.org/articles/1996/121
Ellicott’s Commentary
Benson Commentary
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ian Clayton
My TakeThe spirit of Understanding brings the authorization, as administered by Holy Spirit, to carry out the anointing, assignment, or mandate that has been appointed for me by God. The spirit of Understanding:
Spirit of Counsel(My opinion in red.) BeginningAndEnd.com/spirits-God/
KHouse.org/articles/1996/121
Ellicott’s Commentary
Benson Commentary
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ian Clayton
My TakeThe spirit of Counsel prepares me, as administered by Holy Spirit, to carry out the anointing, assignment, or mandate that has been appointed for me by God. The spirit of Counsel:
Spirit of Might(My opinion in red.) BeginningAndEnd.com/spirits-God/
KHouse.org/articles/1996/121
Ellicott’s Commentary
Benson Commentary
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ian Clayton
My TakeThe spirit of Might reveals me, with proper strength, as administered by Holy Spirit, to carry out the anointing, assignment, or mandate that has been appointed for me by God. The spirit of Might:
Spirit of Knowledge(My opinion in red.) BeginningAndEnd.com/spirits-God/
KHouse.org/articles/1996/121
Ellicott’s Commentary
Benson Commentary
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ian Clayton
My TakeThe spirit of Knowledge empowers me, as administered by Holy Spirit, to carry out the anointing, assignment, or mandate that has been appointed for me by God. The spirit of Knowledge:
Spirit of the Fear of the LORD(My opinion in red.) BeginningAndEnd.com/spirits-God/
KHouse.org/articles/1996/121
Ellicott’s Commentary
Benson Commentary
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ian Clayton
My TakeThe spirit of the Fear of the LORD seals me, and brings accountability, as administered by Holy Spirit, to carry out the anointing, assignment, or mandate that has been appointed for me by God. The spirit of the Fear of the LORD:
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