What are the seven spirits of God?
The phrase "the seven Spirits of God" appears only in Revelation — in the greeting of chapter 1, in the message to Sardis, before the throne in chapter 4, and as the eyes of the Lamb in chapter 5 — and it puzzles readers who know the New Testament insists there is one Spirit. Is John describing seven separate beings, or one Person seen in a way the rest of Scripture does not show?
One Spirit, Sevenfold in Activity
Commentators are agreed that the number is a description, not a headcount. The picture is drawn from the lampstand of the tabernacle, which had many lamps but was a single object:
A J PollockSeven is clearly a symbol of perfection, and nothing is perfect outside of what is divine. We read of the "seven Spirits which are before His throne" (Rev. 1:4). This does not mean there are seven Holy Spirits, but rather a sevenfold perfect activity of the one Holy Spirit. In the same way there were seven lamps, but only one lampstand, that is, viewing it as a whole.
Why the Wording Changes in Revelation
The letters of Paul stress that the Spirit is one, because they are dealing with the church as one body. Revelation has a different subject in view, and the phrasing follows it:
T. B. BainesThe number seven, so often used in this book, is a well-known Scripture symbol of heavenly perfection. The Spirit therefore is here looked at in reference rather to the complete circle of His activities than to the oneness of His person, which is so strongly insisted upon in connection with the Church considered as the body of Christ. The place of the seven Spirits, moreover, "before the throne," shows them to be connected with God's ways in the government of the world, not in the formation of the Church.
The Sevenfold Spirit of Isaiah 11
The picture is not new to Revelation. Isaiah described the Spirit resting on the coming King in six named qualities joined to the Spirit Himself — the same shape as the lampstand's central shaft with three pairs of branches:
F. B. HoleAs the supreme Judge, He is to be invested with the Spirit in His sevenfold character and might. The golden lampstand in the Tabernacle pictured the Spirit from this point of view. There was the main shaft of the lampstand — the Spirit of the Lord. There were the three pairs of arms — (1) "the spirit of wisdom and understanding," (2) "the spirit of counsel and might," (3) "the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." It fits with this that when we open the book of Revelation, which is the book of judgment, we at once meet a similar presentation of the Spirit of God.
Lamps of Fire Before the Throne
In Revelation 4 the seven Spirits appear as burning lamps, and the setting colours the meaning. Fire is not simply light here:
A. J. PollockThe seven Spirits of God portray the one Holy Spirit of God in sevenfold activity — seven speaking of divine perfection in discernment and activity, while the seven burning lamps of fire speak of that discernment and activity being seen in judgment.
The Eyes of the Lamb
In Revelation 5 the same seven Spirits are the eyes of the slain Lamb, paired with seven horns, and they are said to be sent out into all the earth:
Walter ScottHere the mystic number "seven," meaning perfection, is repeated three times. Strength and intelligence are shown by the "horns" and "eyes," and the fulness of the Holy Spirit's administration in government in the "seven Spirits of God." All are perfect, and all connected with the government of the earth which is about to be taken up by the Lamb in His redemption character "as slain."
Nothing escapes those eyes. As one writer puts it, since the seven Spirits are sent out into all the earth, "no part of the earth is beyond the penetrating power of Him who stands beside the throne."
Christ Holds Them — and Sardis Needed to Know It
To the church at Sardis the Lord introduces Himself as the One who has the seven Spirits. The claim was pointed, because that church had a reputation it could not support:
F. B. HoleIn Revelation 1:4 they were said to be "before His throne," but now we learn they are in the possession of Christ. The fulness of spiritual power for the government of the earth, according to Isaiah 11:2, is His. And not only power but vitality also; which was very much to the point in dealing with this church which was dead, in spite of having a name to live.
Summary
- One. The seven Spirits are not seven persons but the one Holy Spirit, just as the tabernacle lampstand held seven lamps yet was a single stand.
- Complete. Seven marks divine perfection, so the phrase covers the whole circle of the Spirit's activity rather than the oneness of His person.
- Governing. Their place "before the throne" ties them to God's rule over the world, not to the forming of the church, where Scripture insists on one Spirit.
- Qualified. The sevenfold Spirit of Isaiah 11 rests on the coming Judge, giving wisdom, counsel and knowledge for righteous rule.
- Sent. As lamps of fire they burn in judgment; as the Lamb's eyes they go out into all the earth — and that same fulness is in Christ's hand for a church with no life of its own.