What are the seven spirits of God? Are these seven spirits distinct or are they characteristics? Why are there so many sevens? Is this different than the Holy Spirit?
These are a few of the questions others and myself have had when we first heard of this topic. Maybe you currently have similar questions that you desire the answer to.
In this blog post we will go through what these seven spirits of God are and what they mean to us!
Are the Seven Spirits of God distinct from the Holy Spirit?
The seven spirits of God are NOT distinct from the Holy Spirit. They are not seven distinct spirits. There is only one Holy Spirit. The seven spirits are what is used to describe who the Holy Spirit is and His character.
The Holy Spirit manifests each of these seven spirits and they all work together. They are a representation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit and the seven spirits of God are one spirit. These seven spirits, or attributes, work together to form a cohesive representation of who the Holy Spirit is and what His character looks like. They are not separate entities but rather complementary aspects that make up our understanding of the Holy Spirit.
By studying these seven individual characteristics we can gain insight into how the seven spirits collectively manifest themselves in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ.
The Seven Spirits of God
In a few scriptures in Revelation, we see the seven spirits of God as multiple different things. We see them from John's vision as the seven eyes and seven horns on the slaughtered lamb that is Jesus, the seven burning lamps before God's throne, and the seven stars. These can be found in Revelation 5:6 and Revelation 4:5.
These verses do not tell us what the seven spirits are but it does tell us that there are seven of them.
If we go back into the Old Testament and go to the book of Isaiah, in chapter eleven verse two we will find what those seven spirits of God are. The seven spirits mentioned:
- The Spirit of the Lord
- The Spirit of Wisdom
- The Spirit of Understanding
- The Spirit of Counsel
- The Spirit of Strength
- The Spirit of Knowledge
- The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord
So what are the functions of each of these seven spirits?
The Spirit of the Lord
The spirit of the Lord is the spirit of power. It is through this spirit that we receive power from God.
In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus opens the scroll of Isaiah the prophet and spoke out what was written in Isaiah 61, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to bring the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."
It is because of the Spirit of the Lord that was upon Jesus Christ, that he is able to do all of these things. This is the same spirit of God that came upon the old testament prophets like Isaiah that allowed them to prophecy and see the miracles they saw.
The Spirit of Wisdom
This spirit helps us to make wise choices. It enables us to understand difficult concepts and interpret them in ways that are beneficial for ourselves and those around us. The Spirit of Wisdom also gives us insight into how we can use knowledge from various sources, including Scripture, to make decisions that align with God’s plan.
There are four different types of wisdom that we find in James 3:15-17 those are earthly wisdom, intellectual wisdom, demonic wisdom, and wisdom from above.
The spirit of wisdom is what is found from above and is more than just God's street smarts and is better than what all the earth could offer. It manifests as pure, peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and free of hypocrisy according to James 3:17.
The Spirit of Understanding
The spirit of understanding is an important part of the seven spirits of God. It allows us to understand difficult concepts, revelations, spiritual truth and interpret them in ways that are beneficial for ourselves and those around us.
The spirit of understanding will also work in practical ways for us. It helps us in our relationship with others, because we understand why people do what they do. We then choose to walk in compassion rather than anger and bring peace to a situation. Discerning what is going on around us is also apart of understanding, we get to see the behind-the-scenes of situations and even people.
The Spirit of Counsel
The spirit of counsel acts as our helper and our personal advisor who helps guide us in the will of God for our lives. The Holy Spirit when being our counselor tells us what is right and what is wrong, what to do and what not to do.
We have trusted ourselves to make decisions for ourselves before and the outcome varies and sometimes they are great and other times not so great. The Holy Spirit being perfect and all-knowing knows what is best for us and if our ears hear what the Holy Spirit is saying then He will guide us and make our paths straight so we can bear fruit.
The Spirit of Strength
The spirit of strength is what helps spirit-filled believers to persevere through life and to conquer the next challenge that comes.
It is the spirit of strength that we use to carry out the will of God for our lives. By our strength on earth we can only carry out earthly tasks, but if we are to carry out the assignments of heaven we need the spirits of God to rest upon us and help us.
It is the spirit of strength that helps us overcome the attacks of the enemy standing firm in our faith in Christ Jesus.
The Spirit of Knowledge
The spirit of knowledge is something that goes beyond just facts and knowledge. It's an intimate, life-changing experience that can come from revelation or understanding of a deep principle.
It is what we gain when we truly understand something on a deeper level, not just in our heads but in our hearts as well. This is what changes and betters our lives in our work week and day-to-day life.
Adam had his life changed in Genesis 4:1 and it says, "Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, 'I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.'" This is the intimate knowledge that the spirit of knowledge reveals to us.
The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord
The spirit of the fear of the Lord is not what most people would associate with fear. The fear of the Lord is not a demonic or unholy. God is perfect love and fear cannot exist there.
The fear of the Lord is a reverence, respect, and acknowledgement of who God is. In holy fear we recognize who God is, as the angels do, in his power, holiness, righteousness, glory, etc. and we are in awe of Him. It brings us closer to God because of His beauty we want to seek him, because of His wisdom we come to learn from him, and because of His radiating presence and the peace He has we want to rest in Him.
Conclusion
The seven spirits of God, the Holy Spirit, are crucial for us as believers to have in our lives. The seven spirits of God that we can get from the only one Holy Spirit is what will help us as a body conquer all the earth for the kingdom of God. This is more than the seven lamps, seven stars, or seven eyes in Revelation but a life-changing addition to our lives.
Bible Verses
Isaiah 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 the fear of the Lord.
Revelation 5:6
And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Revelation 4:5
Out from the throne came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
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