Talk:Seven Spirits of God
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The seven Spirits are fully described in Exodus already.
Garry Denke 23:30, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
I am not sure what you are referring to in Exodus. As far as I can tell, the only spirits mentioned in Exodus are the Spirit of Wisdom, and the Spirit of the Lord - the Holy Spirit. If you consider the entire Pentatuch, you can add the Spirit of Life and the spirit of jealousy. The Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Adonai are all the same spirit, the Holy Spirit. Even if we assume these are all different spirits, there are only 6 disscussed at most.
Certainly the subject of the Seven Spirits of God needs to be discussed.
JonVS324.208.3.107 15:48, 9 October 2007 (UTC)
If you are considering adding information to your article, you may want to consider some or all of the following (I wrote it and give you permission to use it):
The Seven Spirits of God
The Seven Spirits of God are seemingly first mentioned by name in the Bible in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 3:1, 4:5, 5:6), however, they appear in symbolic form throughout the entire Bible. There are about thirty symbols of the Seven Spirits of God, including, among others:
the seven days of creation (Genesis 1:3-2:3), the rainbow (Genesis 9:13-16; Ezekiel 1:28; Revelation 4:3), the Menorah (a seven branched lamp that was kept in the Tabernacle, Exodus 25:31-40), the seven major feasts of Israel (Exodus 12:1-14, 23:16; Leviticus 16:1-34, 23:6-8, 23:23-25, 23:33-36; Deuteronomy 16:9-10), the seven eyes on the rock (Zechariah 3:9), the seven horns and seven eyes on the Lamb which represents Christ (Revelation 5:6), the seven lamps of fire (Revelation 4:5) the seven trumpets (Revelation 8:6) the seven thunders (Revelation 10:3) the seven bowls of wrath (Revelation 15:7)
There seems to be considerable disagreement on the identity of the Seven Spirits of God. Some conjecture that the Seven Spirits of God are actually seven angelic beings that are found in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 4:6-9; 5:6-14; 19:4-5; Anonymous). Many authors simply refer to Isaiah 11:2 (anonymous, Capoccia) which yields:
Isa 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD The Spirit of wisdom The Spirit of understanding, The Spirit of counsel The Spirit of might, The Spirit of knowledge The Spirit of the fear of the LORD.
There are several problems with this particular list. First, all seven spirits would be Spirits of the Lord. Second, understanding and knowledge are basically the same thing, as are wisdom and counsel. Third, these are very similar to names that are used of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2; Judges 3:10; John 14:16-17,26, 15:26-27, 16:7-14, etc.). This probably helps to explain why some authors believe that the Seven Spirits of God merely represent the Holy Spirit and His ministries (Anonymous, Brother Tommie, Darwin, Fish). Bill Burns, for example, has proposed that the Seven Spirits of God are merely "the seven facets or manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life," which yields:
The Spirit of Justification (1 Corinthians 12:3) The Spirit of Sanctification (2 Thessalonians 2:13) The Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2) The Spirit of Truth (John 14:17) The Spirit of Wisdom (Ephesians 1:17) The Spirit of Deliverance (Matthew 12:28) The Spirit of Prayer (Romans 8:26)
A fourth interpretation, which is based on a study of scriptures taken throughout the entire Bible, beginning with the very first chapter of Genesis, and concluding with the very last chapter of Revelation, list the names of the Seven Spirits of God as (Straumfjord) :
the Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2) the Spirit of Truth (John 15:26) the Spirit of Wisdom (Ephesians 1:17) the Spirit of Holiness (Romans 1:4) the Spirit of Love (1 John 4:8) the Spirit of Faith (2 Corinthians 4:13), and the Spirit of Prophecy (Revelations 19:10).
In his book, Straumfjord asserts that together, these Seven Spirits of God comprise the nature of God Himself. He also lists a series of attributes for the Seven Spirits of God, including:
Each of the Seven Spirits of God is female (Proverbs 9:1-6) Each Spirit is unique in Her Own way It is virtually impossible to tell where one Spirit ends and Another begins Each Spirit is infinite and eternal in Her scope The Seven Spirits of God act together to form God’s nature Collectively, the Seven Spirits comprise the Glory of God The Lord views all things through the eyes of each of the Seven Spirits of God simultaneously The Seven Spirits of God are the special inheritance of Christ and His Church The Seven Spirits can only be appropriated through the Holy Spirit God only works with complete regard to His Seven Spirits
Obviously, the there is a wide diversity of opinions about the subject of the Seven Spirits of God, probably because it hasn't been seriously investigated by the Church. Even though the Seven Spirits of God have largely been ignored by the Church, they could represent a source of great power. Since the Seven Spirits of God may form the nature of God Himself, they may also be able to empower the Church to complete the work of Christ in the world.
References:
Anonymous. What are the seven spirits of God? (retrieved September, 2007) http://www.gotquestions.org/seven-spirits-God.html
Burns, Bill . THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD. Faith Tabernacle, Kremmling, Colorado (retrieved September, 2007) http://ft111.com/sevenspirits.htm Brother Tommie. The Seven Spirits of God. The Christian Crusade for the Salvation of America and the nation of Israel. (retrieved September, 2007) http://www.geocities.com/christian_crusade/thesevenspiritsofgod.html
Capoccia, Tony. What are the seven-fold Spirits of God? Bible Bulletin Board, Columbus, New Jersey. (retrieved September, 2007) http://www.biblebb.com/files/macqa/1301-E-3.htm Fish, Darwin. The Seven Spirits of God Are God. (retrieved September, 2007) http://www.atruechurch.info/sevenspirits.html
Straumfjord, Jon (2007). The Seven Spirits of God. http://www.7-Spirits.com
JonVS324.208.3.107 15:51, 9 October 2007 (UTC)
