Seven Spirits of GOD

[Avodah]

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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;

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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.

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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.

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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.

Can someone please explain to me the "seven Spirits of GOD"? I have encountered these scriptures often and always wonder.

Please use scripture if it is available, to back up what is explained.

Thank you

Edited March 26, 2005 by kraz4gsus

[Yahsway]

Thats a good question. Im wondering myself if the Menorrah(the 7 branched candelstick) might be os some symbolic importance to the 7 spirits trferred to in those verses.

I know that Yeshua is symbolic of the middle candel which is the Servent candle and candels show forth light and there was oil used (symbolic) of holy Spirit. Maybe someone could help us out here. Good question though.

[irishcowboy]

if a person was to look around today, at each of the fellowships, including their own, and their own lives,

they would find that almost every fellowship would line up with one or more of the 7 churches in Revelation.

some are just luke warm, some have forgotten their first love, and so forth.

anyways, we are too close to the time to allow a chair to become warm

mike

[Yahsway]

Amen Dime, the entire messages to those 7 churches (and our today) is REPENT and ENDURE.

[Trinity]

Revelation 1:4 mentions that the seven spirits are before God's throne.

Revelation 1:4

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 3:1 indicates that Jesus Christ "holds" the seven spirits of God.

Revelation 3:1

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spiritsof God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Revelation 4:5 links the seven spirits of God with seven burning lamps that are before God's throne.

Revelation 4:5

From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.

Revelation 5:6 identifies the seven spirits with the "seven eyes" of the Lamb and states that they are "sent out into all the earth."

[Guest NewPilgrim]

I had a brief skim of the interweb for this topic and the most interesting (thats not to say most likely) idea was this:

"Seven spirits sent out into the world" is symbolic of the continents of the world, the earth divided as seven "spirits" (continenets)

"Seven lampstands" lamps burn with fire and this represents the fire of the Holy Spirit (presumably synonymous with Acts 2 "tongues of fire - for preaching the gospel") and so there is one flame for each of the continenets, which is to say that the Holy Spirit is preaching the gospel over all 7 continenets in the end days.

"Seven Horns" Biblically, Horns represent Kings or great leaders in symbolism, and Jesus has all sovereignty, so again each horn represents Jesus on each continenet, ruling over his followers and commanding them to do his work.

The seven eyes, weren't mentioned so I have no idea what it might pertain to.

So I guess that in brief summary the "seven spirits of God" in their various guises represent Jesus ruling his people throughout the 7 continents of the world and working through them using the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel.

And I would suppose that the idea would fit in with the premise that the end days are close when the gospel has reached every corner of the earth.

Personally, I dont feel entirely convinced by it, but equally it dosn't seem entirely unfeasable either.

[Avodah]

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate it.