Study of Revelation: The 7 Spirits of God

After John writes the letters to the 7 churches, he suddenly finds himself in the throne room of heaven in the spirit. Chapter 4 is largely him describing what he sees. We first get a description of God’s throne and the appearance of God himself, “…and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald” (Revelation 4:3).

From the throne was lightning, thundering, and voices while before the throne he sees a sea of glass resembling crystal (Revelation 4:5-6). We have to keep in mind that John is using limited human language and understanding to describe things that are beyond human comprehension. Next are the 24 elders, “Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads” (Revelation 4:4).

He sees seven lamps around God’s throne which represent the 7 Spirits of God (Revelation 4:5). Lastly, he describes 4 “beasts”, “And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back” (Revelation 4:6). Although chapter 4 is relatively short and straightforward, it comes with a lot of questions; who are the 24 elders?

What are the 7 Spirits of God? What are the 4 beasts? I have examined the identity of the 24 elders who I believe to be a picture of the newly raptured church and the 4 beasts who are Seraphim. In this article I’ll be taking a look at what the 7 Spirits of God are.

The 7 Spirits of God

In the book of Revelation, we’re first introduced to the mention of the 7 Spirits of God in Revelation 1:4, “John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,” (Revelation 1:4).

We also see this mentioned in Revelation 3:1, and then Revelation 4:5, and Revelation 5:6. If you’ve read some of my previous articles such as the 7 churches of Revelation, you’ve probably come to the understanding that many of what’s in Revelation is a reference to the Old Testament. Likewise, we can look to the Old Testament to gain further insight into the 7 Spirits of God. Isaiah 11:2 lists this out for us:

1. The Spirit of the Lord
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

God uses numbers to signify many things and the number 7 is one of them. It signifies perfection or completion and is something we can see illustrated throughout the bible. We see the same number pattern in Revelation 1 with the 7 lampstands and 7 stars, followed by the 7 churches in Revelation 3-4 and with the 7 seal, 7 trumpet, and 7 bowl judgments.

7 Horns

By looking into Isaiah 11:2, we’ve been able to identify each of the 7 Spirits of God. I do believe though that the 7 Spirits may be a symbolic picture of the holy spirit as well, but this isn’t where it ends! In Revelation 5:6 we get a strange symbolic picture of the lamb that was slain – Jesus,

He causes all, both small and great, richAnd I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. (Revelation 5:6) and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)

John describes an image of Jesus as a slain lamb with 7 horns and 7 eyes. What does this mean? This will not be the first mention of “horns” in Revelation or the bible to denote a certain idea. We see the image of horns being used with the red dragon of Revelation 12:3, “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads”. Similarly we also see this with the beast of the sea in Revelation 13:1, the beast of the earth in Revelation 13:11, and the harlot – Mystery Babylon – which rides the scarlet beast in Revelation 17:3 and Revelation 17:7.

Again, when we are uncertain with these kind of ideas, we only need to look to the Old Testament. The book of Daniel also contains similar prophecies concerning future kingdoms and kings (Daniel 7:7-8, 20-21, 24, Daniel 8:3, 5-9, 12, 20-22). I won’t be delving into the meaning of all of this in this article but I encourage you to dig through these passages in your free time.

So what does all of this talk of horns mean? As confusing as this all may seem on the first read, the bible just gives us the answer which is refreshing. Daniel 8:20-22 tells us the horns which Daniel has been getting visions of represent a type of authority, in this case, kings or kingdoms.

The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power. (Daniel 8:20-22)

Likewise we get a similar answer in Revelation with what John was shown, “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (Revelation 17:12-13). So from this we can see that horns is used to symbolize authority and in those cases are used specifically for kings and kingdoms.

When we go back to Revelation 5:6 and apply this same symbolism here we can see that the representation of Jesus as the slain lamb with 7 horns denotes his authority. We can go even deeper to analyze the significance of the number of horns – being 7 (a symbol with God representing perfection or completion) – to signify Jesus complete and perfect authority over the earth.

The “Eyes of the Lord”

We now have a better understanding of how the symbol of horns is used for authority, but what about the 7 eyes? I believe less digging into scripture is required for this one. Eyes are used to see and perceive our surroundings. From Revelation 5:6 we’re shown 7 eyes just like the 7 horns. Again, by following the same frame work we previously learned we know that 7 symbolizes perfection so a picture of the 7 eyes would be showing Jesus’ omniscience – that he sees all and understandably so as he is fully God.

We can see this same mention of “7 eyes” not only Revelation 5:6, but in Zechariah 3:8-9 as well, “…For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH. For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua: Upon the stone are seven eyes…”, (Zechariah 3:8-9). This would be a reference to the coming messiah – Jesus. Jesus is called many names, one of them being the “root of Jesse” or the “branch” in places such as Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 33:15, Isaiah 4:2, Isaiah 11:10, Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 53:2, Zechariah 6:12.

• “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” (Isaiah 11:1)
• “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Isaiah 53:2)
• “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth,” (Jeremiah 23:5).

Another name Jesus is called is “the stone” or the “rock” as reference to him as a solid foundation on which our beliefs and – in essence – our salvation is built on. We can see the common themes in both Old and New Testaments referencing Jesus with these 2 names (Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16, Ephesians 2:20, Acts 4:11).

• “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily. (Isaiah 28:16)
• “…let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’” (Acts 4:11)

Revelation is heavy with symbolism and can be difficult to get passed sometimes but if we’re dedicated in searching out deeper truths, God will reveal his message to us. We’ve covered a lot of material but there’s still more to what we’re told in Revelation 5:6, that the 7 horns and 7 eyes (denoting Christ’s perfect and complete authority and omniscience as the lamb that was slain) are the “seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth”.

I previously stumbled upon this type of language when I was looking into the 4 horseman and it’s found in numerous places in the Old Testament. In Revelation 4:5, we’re shown the 7 Spirits of God as “Seven lamps of fire” that “were burning before the throne” which is very similar to the a lampstand with 7 pipes and lamps in Zechariah 4, “Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, ‘What do you see?’ So I said, ‘I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.’ So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, ‘What are these, my lord?’…They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth,” (Zechariah 4:1-4, 10).

I believe this is another picture of the 7 Spirits of God due to the connection with the lampstand and language of “scan to and fro throughout the whole earth “. Similarly, the 7 Spirits of God are “sent out into all the earth”. We can see this same connection in Proverbs 5:21, Proverbs 15:3, Psalms 11:4, and 2 Chronicles 16.

• “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)
• “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

In essence, when we piece this all together, we see that the 7 horns represents Christ’s complete and perfect authority (or omnipotence). The 7 eyes represents Christ’s complete and perfect omniscience. Lastly, the 7 horns and 7 eyes are the 7 Spirits of God sent throughout the whole earth which I believe is a representation of Christ’s omnipresence! Not only Christ’s but the 7 Spirits of God as well, which from this study leads me to believe is a symbolic picture of the holy spirit.

Revelation 5:6 paints an amazing picture of Jesus’ characteristics as both our fully human savior who was slain but conquered death and the grave, rising to the right hand of the father in victory, being fully God and showing us another aspect of the trinity as we know God the father (despite him not explicitly being in the picture) has these attributes (omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence).

If you enjoyed this study, you can find similar studies on the book of Revelation here including the 7 Churches of Revelation, the 24 Elders, the 4 living creatures, 4 Horseman, etc.