We read about them on four occasions in the Bible, and only in the Book of the Revelation: Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of Godġ See,e.g., Constantinou, 'Andrew of Caesarea and the Apocalypse in the Ancient Church of the East: Studies and Translation' (Ph.D.WHO OR WHAT ARE THE “SEVEN SPIRITS” FOUND IN REVELATION? Now if any man have not the Spirit ofįor what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but theĪnd grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:īut ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. For example:Īnd Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the I think that in all of the other verses one would understand the Spirit of God to mean the Holy Spirit itself. Where the phrase appears in Revelation, it is in the context of the seven Spirits of God, but it seems from the Septuagint version of Isaiah that this is just an adjectival expression: Isaiah reads (see above) the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom. The phrase Spirit of God (Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ) occurs in 12 verses in the New Testament, aside from Revelation: twice in Matthew (3:16 12:28) thrice in Romans (8:9,14 15:19) 5 times in 1 Corinthians (2:11,14 3:16 7:40 12:3) once in Ephesians (4:30) and in 1 John 4:2. Shall have his loins girt with righteousness, and his sides clothed With the breath of his lips shall he destroy the ungodly one. Judge the cause of the lowly, and shall reprove the lowly of theĮarth: and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and He shall not judgeĪccording to appearance, nor reprove according to report: but he shall Shall fill him the spirit of the fear of God. Upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit ofĬounsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness Oikomenos, Andrew of Caesarea) relate the seven spirits of God here to the seven spiritual gifts prophesied by Isaiah: 1Īnd there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall come up from his root: and the Spirit of God shall rest In considering this, is the phrase 'Spirit of God' ever used in the New Testament instead of 'Holy Spirit' (excluding the above mentioned verses)?Īncient commentaries (e.g. However, in the New Testament this is usually phrased as the 'Holy Spirit' not 'Spirit of God'.Ĭan we establish (from both linguistic, historical and theological views) that in the New Testament 'Holy Spirit' and 'Spirit of God' are (or are not) synonyms?

I interpret this as 'seven angels (or other spiritual entities) belonging to God, who serve as Christ's eyes to look after the Earth',īut this conflicts with understanding 'the spirit of God' to denote the Holy Spirit (understood by Christians as the third person of God). I seek alternate interpretations of this. This is commonly interpreted as 'seven' to mean numerological completeness or perfectness rather than literal seven, because (accordingly this interpretation) 'spirit of God' refers to an entity which exists singularly. This verse as well as 3:1 and 4:5 speaks about 'seven spirits of God'. a Lamb standing, 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'

Seven spirits of god revelation 5