The Seven Spirits of God
As we have been reading through the book of Zechariah the past couple of days, I felt drawn to these passages:
Zech 3: 8 “‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes[b] on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
In this passage, I see a clear allegorical reference prophetically declaring Jesus, for He is the one who died upon the cross, to remove the sin of the world!
Yet in this passage, Zechariah looks upon Him who has yet to walk the earth. He is the Branch, or as He Himself states in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Yet, there is a stone set before Joshua, who is clearly a type of Christ, a stone with seven eyes.
Many years ago, I studied materials produced by John and Paula Sandford, as a pastoral counselor. I remember him commenting on Isaiah 11:2
New International Version (NIV)
2 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—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
That the Holy Spirit was indeed seven spirits, and that as we walked with Him, speaking His voice into human hearts, that Jesus speaking through us, would literally slay wicked thoughts and motives of people’s hearts!
So we see seven spirits described here:
1. The Spirit of the LORD
2. Spirit of wisdom
3. Spirit of understanding
4. Spirit of counsel
5. Spirit of might,
6. Spirit of the knowledge
7. Spirit of the fear of the LORD
Reminds me of
Proverbs 9:1
[ Invitations of Wisdom and Folly ] Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars.
Again, I see Jesus here, for it is written:
1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
The seven Spirits of God are mentioned four times in the Book of Revelation:[1][2]
Revelation 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;
Revelation 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.
Revelation 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.
Revelation 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.
And as I continue our Bible reading, I see another allegorical reference to these seven spirits of the living God.
Zech 4: 4 Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps.
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
Zechariah 4:10
“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”
Wikipedia makes the following comment:
Interpretations[edit]
The “Sevenfold Ministry of the Spirit” interpretation holds that the seven Spirits refer to Book of Isaiah 11:2. In this interpretation, “The “seven Spirits” represent the sevenfold ministry of the Spirit as depicted in Isaiah 11:2.” [2] As it is written in the Holy Bible in the Book of Isaiah, 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; Isaiah 11:2 (KJV). Including the Spirit of the Lord, and the spirits of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, here are represented the seven spirits, which are before the throne of God.[4] The reference to the lamb in Revelation 5:6 relates it to the Seven Spirits which first appear in Revelation 1:4 and are associated with Jesus who holds them along with seven stars.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Spirits_of_God
As I skimmed through the 519 verses with the number seven in them, I came across this passage, that I thought was pretty neat:
Ex 25: The Lampstand
31 “Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 34 And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 35 One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 36 The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.
37 “Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it.
Again, we see a shadow and type, of the seven spirits of God.
Well, I am maybe childlike stupid when it comes to the Bible, I simply believe it, and if I read it, I ask God for it in my life.
Luke 11:13
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
I see seven spirits of God, or seven attributes of the Holy Spirit, before Jesus on the throne.
So, I decided to ask God for each of these, why don’t you join me in it, and let’s see what He will do!
Let’s Pray:
“Father God, I come to You in the name of Jesus, and ask you to grant to me, the seven spirits of God. The Spirit of the LORD, THE Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of might, the Spirit of the knowledge, and the Spirit of the fear of the LORD. AMEN!”
