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Seven Spirits; originally posted by yinonyavo
Topic Started: April 30, 2012, 4:46 pm (807 Views)
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yinonyavo May 17th, 2004 05:24 AM


The following are the FOUR direct mentions of the phrase "SEVEN SPIRITS"....

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

Rev 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and [there were] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

The following verse from Isaiah LISTS those seven SPIRITS:

Isa 11:2 And the
1.spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
2. the spirit of wisdom and
3. understanding,
4. the spirit of counsel and
5. might,
6. the spirit of knowledge and of
7. the fear of the LORD;

The basis of my quest into this study, was to see if all of the sevens in scripture had a direct releationship and foundation in the Seven Spirits.

I found several verses(I'll list later) that seem to indicate that what we can know about God, and our worship and praise of YHVH falls into two main catagories:

1. The very essence and qualities of God's CHARACTER

and

2. The WORKS of God


This is, I suppose, could be said to be true of what we could know of any person............who they are (their character) and what they DO (their works)....and of course the two are integrally related, for what they DO reflects who they are, and who they ARE determines what they DO. ....."by their works you shall know them".

God's CHARACTER would include things such as His HOLINESS(i.e. glory/honor,etc), ETERNAL and OMNIPRESENT NATURE(all-knowing, wise) and the WITNESS(truth, light) , however one defines that.....all things which can be known outside of anykind of relationship or works.

This "TRIUNITY" or "THREENESS" is alluded to in all of the above:

His Holiness (glory, honor)
Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

His Eternal nature:
Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come...
Hbr 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Rev 1:18 I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore.....


and His Witness (truth, wisdom)
1Jo 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1Jo 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

So we see a definate "threeness" or "triunity" in God's character, however one defines that........
There are mathematical and physical properties to the number three that reflect well the character of God. I don't believe that the laws of physices or mathematics dictate the nature of God, since he created them.........I do believe that he created the laws of physics and mathematics in a way that would reflect His character.

Three in Hebrew is "SHALOSH". One of it's possible derivitive meanings is a triangle (the instrument)(Strong's 7991).
The ONLY stable(firm) shape is a triangle. This is easily demonstratable for yourself using toothpicks or straws and joining them in various shapes.
2Cr 13:1 This [is] the third [time] I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established (made firm).

Mathematically, three is a "triangular" number. It is also a "prime" number (not divisible). There a many numbers that are triangular and many numbers that are prime, but ONLY the number 3 is BOTH triangular AND prime.

Ecc 4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken(divided).

These two qualities of three (stability and indivisibility) are cirtainly reflective of the character of God, for we know that he is both unchanging (i.e. stable, established) and the God is ONE (indivisible).

Another derivitive of shalosh is shalash (str #8027)which is a treble or chord and has the basic idea of intensifying.....just as a C chord is still a C but an "intensified" C sound, or "FULLER" C sound.

In Nathan Woods book called the "Trinity and the Universe", he recounts many things about the nature of the Universe that reflect the kind of "threeness" that reflects the triunity of God. One example is that of TIME. It is past, present and future. Any given day will at one time be all three. He compares future time to God the Father, for all time comes "from" the future, or the future is the "source" of all our tomarrows. We cannot know the future until it becomes "today", which he compares to Christ, who came into the "present" of time. However, we can only understand "today" in the context of the past, for if there was no past or past experience to refer back to, the present would be meaningless. Therefore, he compares the Holy Spirit to the past, for the HS interprets the experience of today(i.e. Christ).

To the Hebrew mind then, threeness is not so much about a number as it is about certain qualities of soundness, fullness, intensity, and unity or oneness.....hence a WITNESS to the character of God.


*************

Now on to the other half..........the WORKS of God.

Anything outside of the realm of God's character, must then be his WORKS, for all things were created by Him. ALL of God's works are brought forth through His WORD. In fact, the two are almost synonomous sometimes:

Jhn 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Psa 33:4 For the word of the LORD [is] right; and all his works [are done] in truth.

Not only the WORK of the physical creation was wrought by His WORD, but also the WORK of SALVATION was wrought by His WORD:

1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Other synonomous or related terms used for the WORKS or WORD of God are His "WONDERS", his "POWER", His "HAND", etc.

Beginning with the 7 days of creation, the WORKS of God seem to be found in SEVENS. The physical creation is made in seven days through his word. Spiritual salvation is revealed through the various covenants and WORDS given in stages to

ADAM
NOAH
ABRAHAM (Isaac & Jacob)
MOSES
DAVID
JESUS
HOLY SPIRIT (church)

With each of these revelations, a sign or token was given. Each of these tokens in the Hebrew ends with the letter TAV, which in its ancient form was a cross. It means a "mark" and thus it represents the mark of the covenant. In the book of Revelation we see the scroll or book of hte covenant sealed with SEVEN seals.

In between we have all the other sevens of the feasts, the furniture in the tabernacle, the 7 churches, etc. ALL seem to have in common the same images and ideas that can be shown to directly reflect the SEVEN SPIRITS as listed in Isaiah 11:2.

A quick search on the net under the topic "close packing" will reveal the physics of the number 7, and even the centrality of the 7th to the other six, just as the sabbath is to the rest of the week, or the ark is to the rest of the furniture, etc. The application of the physics is to the very structure of molecules and atoms.

The number 7 in the Hebrew also has the idea of completeness or fullness.

Christ was both a WITNESS to the CHARACTER of God, and the fullness of the sevenfold Spirit to carry out the WORK or WORD of God. Christ was called both a WITNESS and the WORD of God.

Hbr 1:3 Who being the brightness of [his] glory(CHARACTER), and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.

Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Isa 11:2 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 of the fear of the LORD;

We know both the Father and the Spirit were one with Christ.

The "Spirit of the Lord" would seem like a sum of the 6 following, but would also fit like the Sabbath does as the center to the other six.

The "seven Spirits of God" do not represent seven different Spirits (there is only one Spirit [Ephesians 4:4]), but the completeness of the Spirit of God, perhaps seen as seven aspects of His Spirit.

Many biblical scholars see the concept of the seven Spirits of God explained in Isaiah 11:2-3. This prophecy explains that the Spirit of God will rest upon the Messiah. The Holy Spirit is characterized as (1) the Spirit of the Lord (the Spirit of God Himself); (2) the Spirit of wisdom; (3) the Spirit of understanding; (4) the Spirit of counsel; (5) the Spirit
of might; (6) the Spirit of knowledge; (7) the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.

This is sometimes illustrated as a seven branched candle stick, with the Spirit of the Lord being the central candle and the other six aspects branching off from it, three on each side.

The seven Spirits of God is a reference to the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son to the believer (John 7:37-39; 15:16, 26). He is the Son's gift to enable believers to experience genuine spirituality through the multiple ministries and work of the Spirit symbolized here in the number seven which is a clear allusion to the seven-fold ministries of the Spirit mentioned in Isaiah 11:2-5.

Verse 5: Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. In the Old Testament, a lampstand with seven lamps was used to illuminate the table in the holy place with the bread of the Presence on it (Exodus 26:33-35, 25:37, 40:22-25; Numbers 4:7, 8:2; 2 Chronicles 13:11; Hebrews 9:2).

The lamps use oil which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (Numbers 4:9; 1 Samuel 16:13). There is a similar picture in Zechariah 4:2, which has a lampstand with seven lights on it, and there are seven channels which feed the lights. On either side are two olive trees that supply the oil for the lights.

In response to the question what are these, the Lord answers: "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit." In verse 10, the seven lamps are said to be "...the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth." The seven spirits are also mentioned in Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 5:6.

Seven is the term for completeness. There is a seven-fold description of the Spirit of Christ in Isaiah 11:1-4 and Prov. 8:12:
Proverbs 8:12 I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.




(Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, volume 7, Isaiah)
Seven Spirits

"And the [1] spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of [2] wisdom and [3] understanding, the spirit of [4] counsel and [5] might, the spirit of [6] knowledge and of the [7] fear of the LORD"--Isaiah 11:2

"'The Spirit of Jehovah' is the Divine Spirit, as the communicative vehicle of the whole creative fulness of divine powers. Then follow the six spirits, comprehended by the Spirit of Jehovah in three pairs, of which the first relates to the intellectual life, the second to the practical life, and the third to the direct relation to God. For wisdom is the power of discerning the nature of things through the appearance, and understanding the power of discerning the differences of things in their appearance...'Counsel' is the gift of forming right conclusions, and 'might' the ability to carry them out with energy. 'The knowledge of Jehovah' is knowledge founded upon the fellowship of love; and 'the fear of Jehoavh,' fear absorbed in reverence. There are seven spirits, which are enumerated in order from the highest downwards; since the spirit of the fear of Jehovah is the basis of the whole (Pro 1:7; Job 28:28; Psa 111:10), and the Spirit of Jehovah is the heart of all. It corresponds to the shaft of the seven-lighted candlestick, and the three pair of arms that proceeded from it. In these seven forms the Holy Spirit descended upon the second David for a permanent possession...The seven torches before the throne of God (Rev 4:5) burn and give light in His soul. The seven spirits are His seven eyes (Rev 5:6)."




The following “Question“ was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and “Answered“ by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Nelly Kaye of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, from the tape, GC 1301-E, titled “Bible Questions and Answers Part 7.“ A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©1976. All Rights Reserved.
Question

What are the seven-fold Spirits of God?

Answer

If you’ll look at Isaiah 11:2, you’ll find that. Now you’ll have to go to Revelation, of course, for the initial indication relative to the seven-fold Spirit. That’s probably where the confusion comes from. It talks about the seven-fold Holy Spirit, the seven-fold Spirit in the Book of Revelation. As you go into Isaiah eleven you find it clearly defined there. “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest on Him..” And here are seven different ways to describe the Holy Spirit, that’s all.
1. The spirit of wisdom.
2. The spirit of understanding.
3. The spirit of counsel.
4. The spirit of might.
5. The spirit of knowledge.
6. The spirit of awe, or the spirit of reverence or the spirit of worship.
The seven-fold Spirit doesn’t mean there are seven different Spirits. And when in Revelation 1:4 it says “…the seven Spirits…” it doesn’t mean there are seven different Holy Spirits, it means there is one Holy Spirit with a seven-fold manifested ministry. And that is what it is saying. You don’t need to believe that there are seven different Holy Spirits. There is one, but there is a seven-fold manifestation of His ministry according to all of these things, wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge and reverence or worship.


Re 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

(1.) According to the view which represents this expression as referring to angels, they are placed on the same level, so far as the matter before us is concerned with "him who was, and is, and is to come," and with the Lord Jesus Christ—a doctrine which does not elsewhere occur in the Scriptures, and which we cannot suppose the writer designed to teach.

(2.) It is not probable that blessings should be invoked from angels—as if they could impart "grace and peace." It is evident that, whoever is referred to here by the phrase "the seven spirits," he is placed on the same level with the others mentioned as the source of "grace and peace." But it cannot be supposed that an inspired writer would invoke that grace and peace from any but a Divine being.

(3.) That as two persons of the Trinity are here mentioned, it is to be presumed that the third would not be omitted; or to put this argument in a stronger form. it cannot be supposed that an inspired writer would mention two of the persons of the Trinity in this connexion, and then not only not mention the third, but refer to angels— to creatures—as bestowing that which would be appropriately sought from the Holy Spirit. The incongruity would be not merely in omitting all reference to tile Spirit—which might indeed occur, as it often does in the Scriptures—but in putting in the place which that Spirit would naturally occupy an allusion to angels as conferring blessings.

It is probably then that the SEVEN SPIRITS refer to the Holy Spirit, and it is most natural to suppose that the Holy Spirit would be invoked on such an occasion, in connection with him "who was, and is, and is to come," and with "Jesus Christ." If two of the persons of the Trinity were addressed on such an occasion, it would be properly supposed that the Holy Spirit would not be omitted, as one of the persons from whom the blessing was to descend. Compare #2Co 13:14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." As to the reason why the number seven should be applied to the Holy Spirit,

(1) the number seven may have been given to the Holy Spirit with reference to the diversity or the fulness of his operations on the souls of men, and to his manifold agency on the affairs of the world, as further developed in this book.

(2.) As to his being represented as "before the throne," this may be intended to designate the fact that the Divine Spirit was, as it were, prepared to go forth, or to be sent forth, in accordance with a common representation in the Scriptures, to accomplish important purposes on human affairs.

Re 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Zec 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

2Ch 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.

yinonyavo May 17th, 2004 05:25 AM
(1) The spirit of the FEAR OF THE LORD

Adam was the first to whom God began to reveal the aspects of the Eternal Covenant. The emphasis with Adam is the subject of LIFE and DEATH, for death was the result of their disobedience. The tree of LIFE was given to them as long as they did not eat of the tree of knowledge.

After the fall the result was the FEAR OF THE LORD (Gen 3:10)
Other images we find in the account of Adam are:
EATING
TREE
LIFE
FEAR of the LORD

Passing from death to life is indeed the first step of our salvation.
Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

This is also stated often in terms of LIGHT and DARKNESS
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

We see in the 1st day of creation, the creation of LIGHT and the separation of the light and darkness.

We see in the 1st feast of passover, death was passed over those who put the blood on the door post (tree), and EAT the passover lamb. At the first passover, DARKNESS came over the land and Death, but those under protection of the blood, were saved unto LIFE. The other idea that is connected to all of this is that of REMEMBERING and that is what passover was...a feast of REMEMBRANCE. (Deut 16:1-3 ) In Deut 6:20-24, God says the purpose of remembering the deliverance from Egypt (and all that happened at that 1st passover) was TO FEAR THE LORD...that he might preserve us ALIVE.

The brazen altar was the 1st piece of furniture, at the door of the tabernacle. It was the place where they were to EAT before the Lord (Deut 12:5-7) AND it was so that they might FEAR the LORD. (Deut 14:23)

The instructions to the 1st of the seven churches (at Ephesus) was to REMEMBER. The Ephesians were noted by the FEAR that fell on them (Acts 19:17)...and their reward was that they would be permitted to EAT from the TREE OF LIFE! All the images remain consistant..........

There are seven "places" in prophecies about Christ. These also reveal the same symbols and images with the corresponding spirit. The 1st being GALILEE. If one looks to the scripture concerning Christ and Galilee (Mat 4:15-16) ..."the people which sat in darkness saw great LIGHT;and to them which sat in the region and shadow of DEATH LIGHT is sprung up........."

There are seven "stars" connected with prophecies concerning Christ. The first is given to Abraham, that his SEED shall be as the stars.........and later in Gal 3:16, we are told that seed is CHRIST. The seed of Abraham is his issue of LIFE, the life and generations that would eventually bring forth the Messiah.

There are seven accounts of angels in the book of Acts. The first being:

Acts 5:19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

Again we see the same imagery....that of LIFE.


So, what does this speak to me about my salvaton and my daily walk with God. The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom......when the HS first touches our hearts and we have that first ray of divine LIGHT, we suddenly realize God is real, we should be dead, but he gives us life.......

Mt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

When I go through any daily trial, and my spirituality begins to wane, I should first remember this verse....I have nothing or no one to fear except God. He has it all in His control, and if I follow him, I need not fear anything.

Of all the activities of our Christian life, communion alone is connected with life and death and fear of the Lord.........(many who ate and drank without discerning the Lord's body and blood were sick and some died). Communion is directly linked to Passover, and is also an excersize in REMEMBRANCE and EATING. .....remembering the Lord's death in exchange for our LIFE.

1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord‘s death till he come.

This is always the place to start to get back on the right track......

I thought about why the activity of EATING is associated with the FEAR of the Lord and Remembering his death.....then I "remembered" that science has shown that the area of the brain conected with taste and smell has the most potent memory inducers associated with it. ....interesting........


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