The \u201cseven spirits of God\u201d are mentioned several times in the book of Revelation:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Revelation 1:4\u20135, \u201cJohn, 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, and from Jesus Christ . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Revelation 3:1, \u201cTo the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Revelation 4:5, \u201cFrom 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Revelation 5:6, \u201cThen I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The identity of \u201cthe seven spirits\u201d is not explicit in the passage, but arriving at the proper interpretation is fairly straightforward. The \u201cseven spirits\u201d cannot be seven angelic beings such as seraphim or cherubim because of the context of Revelation 1:4.<\/p>\n
John says that \u201cgrace and peace\u201d are coming to the churches from three sources: \u201chim who is, and who was, and who is to come\u201d (verse 4), \u201cthe seven spirits before the throne\u201d (verse 4), and \u201cJesus Christ\u201d (verse 5). This is a depiction of the Trinity: grace and peace are given by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the three co-equal Persons of the Godhead.<\/p>\n
In Revelation 3:1 Jesus \u201cholds\u201d the seven spirits of God. In John 15:26, Jesus \u201csends\u201d the Holy Spirit from the Father. Both passages suggest the superordinate role of the Son and the subordinate role of the Spirit. In Revelation 4:5 the seven spirits of God are symbolized as seven burning lamps that are before God\u2019s throne.<\/p>\n
This picture agrees with Zechariah\u2019s vision in which he sees the Holy Spirit symbolized as \u201ca solid gold lampstand . . . with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it\u201d (Zechariah 4:2). In Revelation 5:6 the seven spirits are the \u201cseven eyes\u201d of the Lamb, and they are \u201csent out into all the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The seven eyes speak of the Spirit\u2019s (and the Lamb\u2019s) omniscience, and the fact that He is sent into all the earth speaks of His omnipresence. Once we identify the \u201cseven spirits\u201d as the Holy Spirit, the question remains, why are there \u201cseven\u201d of Him?<\/p>\n
The Bible, and especially the book of Revelation, uses the number seven to refer to perfection and completion. John\u2019s vision includes a picture of the perfect and complete Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
Isaiah 11:2 also references the Holy Spirit using a seven-fold description: \u201cThe Spirit of the LORD will rest on him\u2014the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.\u201d The prophecy is that the Messiah would be empowered not by seven individual spirits but by the One Spirit, described seven ways:<\/p>\n
1) The Spirit of the LORD<\/p>\n
2) The Spirit of wisdom<\/p>\n
3) The Spirit of understanding<\/p>\n
4) The Spirit of counsel<\/p>\n
5) The Spirit of power<\/p>\n
6) The Spirit of knowledge<\/p>\n
7) The Spirit of the fear of the Lord<\/p>\n
The \u201cseven spirits of God\u201d in the book of Revelation are thus a reference to the Holy Spirit in the perfection of His manifold ministry.<\/p>\n
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