Where does the Bible mention the 7 Spirits of God?
Revelation 4:5 Out from the throne come 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.
(Art found online on a Pinterest Page)
Revelation 5:6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
This last scripture is so important because the Apostle John is describing to us the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, standing there as if slain and yet this Lamb has 7 horns and 7 eyes which ARE the 7 SPIRITS OF GOD sent out into all the earth.
Yes, it’s hard to picture this. One artist tried and I think she did a good job.
Caption: Art is by Pat Marvenko Smith Copyright 1992. To order prints visit her “Revelation Illustrated” site, http://www.revelationillustrated.com
As an overview, let’s look at the 7 Spirits of God as revealed in scriptures. Notice that some of these names are coupled together:
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding
The Spirit of counsel and might
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
The Spirit of grace and of supplication
The Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning
The Spirit of justice
The Spirit of wisdom and of revelation
You’ll notice that the Spirit of Wisdom is coupled together with both understanding and revelation. Wisdom is highly valued by God! God inspired Solomon to write an entire book of Proverbs after He filled Solomon with His Holy Spirit of Wisdom. This young king requested wisdom so that he could rule the people of Israel with an understanding mind and a hearing heart.
God came to Solomon and said, “Ask me, tell me what you want and I will give it to you.” Let’s see how Solomon replies:
So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart [with which] to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?” Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing (I Kings 3:9 AMP).
I was so blessed to read the first few verses in Solomon’s book of Proverbs because I saw there the 7 Spirits of God! Look at this!
Proverbs 1
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, 3 To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity; 4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion, 5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, 6 To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
If you compare those scriptures to the list of the names of the 7 Spirits of God above, you will find six names included in these scriptures! I think that this is God’s “big hint” that the Spirit of Wisdom is the name that is foundational to all 7 Spirits of God.
The Spirit of Wisdom Has a Voice
Wisdom speaks.
Solomon gives us a picture of wisdom in his writings in Proverbs. Solomon refers to wisdom as a person, a woman, indeed a woman who lifts her voice and shouts, calls out to passersby. No, Solomon is not calling God a woman, but he gives us this picture to help us “see” wisdom and hopefully “hear” her voice:
Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square
At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings (Proverbs 1:20, 21).
What is Wisdom saying? Check it out:
“Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you (Proverbs 1:23).”
I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON YOU.
What Spirit? The Spirit of WISDOM. And Wisdom has a voice.
So now we can see why Solomon’s answer pleased God. Solomon said to God, “Give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart.”
So what happens if we DO LISTEN to Wisdom?
- The Spirit of Wisdom will be poured out on us
- The Words of Wisdom will be made known and understood by us
- We will live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil (Prov. 1:33)
And all of this just from chapter ONE in the book of Proverbs! There are 30 more chapters in Proverbs to study–what a study that would be!
Would you like to dig deeper? If you’d like to hear what Wisdom will bring to your table, to your life, start at Proverbs chapter two and highlight all of her blessings.
If you’d like, look up Proverbs 2 online by clicking here: Proverbs 2
I’d love to hear what “the Spirit of Wisdom” has said to you. Have you heard her voice? Has God’s Holy Spirit of Wisdom given you direction at some point in your life?
Great word of truth! Keep sharing the message of the cross. Shalom, Cheryl
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So glad you joined us, Cheryl! I am in awe of our God and how the cross, the blood of Jesus, are critical to the glory of God.
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“Has God’s Holy Spirit of Wisdom given you direction at some point in your life?”
I was so upset with God that I told Him, “If you’re so big and so strong, why haven’t you done this in my life as yet?” I went back to reading a biography about John Lake in my one bedroom apartment.
All of a sudden, the Holy Spirit filled the apartment with His holiness. My knees hit the floor and I wept, thinking God was going to kill me right then and there. I kept saying over and over, “Forgive me, Lord, and please don’t kill me!”
The Holy Spirit whispered to my heart, “Don’t do that again.”
This five-minute experience sounds funny right now, but it wasn’t at the time. And no, I have never done that again.
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Larry, two things come to mind immediately after reading this story:
1. HOLY–Our God is HOLY!
2. “Behold the kindness and the severity of God”
Bless you for sharing this. Sometimes I wonder how He feels when I blog and talk ABOUT Him? He’s right there listening to every word. It’s not like he left the room while we try to figure Him out. I think He really loved you to show up like that in your room. Hopefully all who read your post will learn from you and not try it themselves!!
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I enjoyed this so much, I had to get my Bible and check it out. Then I had to make myself a copy
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Phyllis, I’m so glad you chimed in here! I remember my high school Bible teacher, Mr. Norris, had us study the book of Proverbs for a whole year. I just couldn’t picture Wisdom as a person, a woman, calling out. It was neat to find this pic of a young woman standing in the street, looking left and right. Next week I’ll share on the Spirit of Judgment and Burning from Isaiah 4–and it’s some of the revelation that the Lord gave us in prayer meeting last Thursday. Yay!
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