Understanding the References of Peace and the Seven Spirits

You would hardly believe that peace could be found in the final book of the Bible as it deals with the culmination of Jesus and the wrath of God poured out on the earth as sin comes to an end, but that is just what you will find. Because peace can be offered and found by those who trust and believe in Jesus Christ before we get to this point.

Picking back up on our study in Revelation 1:4 with "John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne.

Peace here is referred to as Shalom. We have the peace of God to those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior. God never gives us grief, but we can cause Him grief or that we get from others. Let us be cautious not to blame God for that grief either. He will return one day to right all the wrongs and woe to them who continue to shake their fist at God. He will not be mocked. The things that happen in this life are natural to a fallen world, but one day God, our Redeemer will return to fix all that is broken. God is eternal as is referred to in verse 4, "from him who is, and who was, and who is to come." This verse speaks of an eternal God.

Isaiah 57:15, ~"For this is what the high and lofty One says - he who lives forever, whose name is holy; "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." (NIV). He inhabits eternity!

He is the Alpha and Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty, from verse 8, it tells us about his eternity. He will never have a birthday or a death because He doesn't live in a time line. He is beyond all that. He isn't subject to time. So when you find yourself dealing with a fiery trial you would love nothing more to have removed, remember these things, God dwells in eternity and we live in a time line. Time passes for us, as days progress, but not for God, time doesn't relate to God. It's a 7 day week, 24 hours in a day. God doesn't see things this way but we do. What is happening to us, is new to us, but it isn't new to God. He dwells in eternity. God has always known about this problem that is impacting us, He has always presided over it. It didn't catch Him unaware. He knew it was coming. As the trial arrives to us, He has already known about it. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He never changes.

The situation you are dealing with today, as well as the answer has always been in front of God, you just stumbled on this problem today, so give me the problem. Sometimes it's too simple for us to wrap our heads around that because we want to spend too much time arguing with God about it. So what is your problem today? Remember, we just happened upon it today, because we travel along a timeline, but God has known about it since the beginning of the creation of the world, and trust me, He isn't panicking. He's not wringing His hands in heaven, crying out, "Oh no! what are we going to do?"

It's always been before Him, the situation you are going through, but then again so has the remedy.

1 Peter 5:7 ~ "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." Cast means to push, heave, He has big shoulders. People will fear that God isn't there for them during their situations, that he must not care, and they'll tell you that God is no where. Yet often times within 24 hours, God will rearrange that word "no where" and move the space to between the "w" and "h" to now read "now here" instead and He will reveal Himself to them. The truth was that God never left that person in their fiery trial. He was simply waiting for them to call out to Him and turn that problem over to Him. The problem was that the person was swallowed up in self defeat and doubt instead of realizing that God has always been here with them.

But when God intervenes, it make that person shut their mouth when God intervenes because they can't argue and they realize what they were saying about God. Thankfully He is so gracious and doesn't hold that against us.

Matthew 6:8 ~ "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." (NIV). This is referencing those who worry and panic about things that are going on in our lives. God doesn't want us to worry because He already knows about it. It's not new knowledge to Him. He knows about this situation in advance so ask God in boldness. We approach Him like we don't believe like He will answer you. Ask boldly. Tell God what you need.

Revelation 4:8 " Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." (NIV). 

Unlike Revelation 1:8, where it reads "who is, and who was, and who is to come." the terms are interchangeable. Just like in Revelation 11:17, ~"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, and who is to come, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign." (NIV).

It is based on the application how the order of God's eternal persona is described. Revelation 16:5, ~ "Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say; You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the one who is to be, the Holy One, because you have so judged: (NIV). 

God's position, is addressed in verse, 4 continuing from Revelation 1, "from the seven spirits before his throne." (NIV). 

So what are the seven spirits referred to here? We have some options, it could be, in reference to Isaiah 11:1-2 ~ "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear the fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him ` the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD." (NIV). 

We remember from earlier in our studies that the number 7, is a reference to completion. Some will say this is a reference to the Holy Spirit from Isaiah 11:1-2, and counting all the references to the Spirit, from the Spirit of the Lord (1), the Spirit of wisdom (2), of understanding (3), the Spirit of counsel, (4), of power (5), the Spirit of knowledge (6) and of the fear of the LORD (7). Could this reference from Revelation 1:4 referencing Isaiah 11:1-2 is the seven Spirits in the totality of the ministry of the Holy Spirit? It could mean that but, the problem is in the original Hebrew, what is put forward is only six of them. in the way it is put together is the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. And it then reads, "the Spirit of the wisdom, (1), of understanding (2), the Spirit of counsel (3), of power (4), the Spirit of knowledge, (5) and of the fear of the LORD (6).

So which one is it? Is it a reference to the Holy Spirit? It could be the Holy Spirit.

In Zechariah 4:1-7 ~ Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep. He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" He answered, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied. So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the LORD Almighty. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of "God bless it! God bless it!" (NIV). 

It could be a reference to the Holy Spirit.

The other view is this, because according to scripture that the Holy Spirit is singular, that would go against what we see in verse 4, the Holy Spirit, by the way does not dwell in front of the throne room of God. He's not localized. What we know from the Bible is that the Holy Spirit dwells everywhere, all at once. So one of the arguments is that this is not the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit can not be localized.

So then what is or what can be the seven spirits?

Revelation 5:6 ~ " Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns (speaks of His absolute kingship)  and seven eyes (speaks of His complete knowledge), which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth." (NIV). 

Revelation 3:1 ~ "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God"

Revelation 4:5 ~ "From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God." (NIV). 

Let's look again at Revelation 5:6 ~ " Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns (speaks of His absolute kingship)  and seven eyes (speaks of His complete knowledge), which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth." (NIV). 

Notice that the spirits are sent out into all the earth. These could be special assigned or ordained angels found in Revelation 8:6 ~"Then the seven angels who have seven trumpets prepared to sound them." (NIV). 

Remember that the seven spirits are sent out into all the earth, so the seven angels, with the first being found Revelation 8:7 "The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood and it was hurled down upon the earth..." and it goes on and on until Revelation 10:7 ~ "But in the days when the seventh angel is to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."(NIV). 

Revelation 8:2 ~ "And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets." (NIV). 

The seven spirits before the throne of God. We find the references to the seven angels because they are before the throne of God. Where are they sent, to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit presides over all. Everywhere. Isn't that consistent with scripture?

Hebrews 1:14 ~ "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who inherit salvation?" (NIV).

This is the same scripture reference to those looking for biblical scripture for guardian angels. Remember that God has foreknowledge of those He knows will come to salvation at some point in their lives and when we do, he has angels dispensed to help us get there and to guide and protect us as He calls them to do in our lives as heirs of salvation found in Jesus.

The Bible reminds us that we will be greater than angels in eternity, so while it's nice to dream that when we die, we become angels, that is not biblical. Angels are God's creation designed to serve His purpose only. In the Book of Corinthians we will be judging angels for all eternity. We will be given so much knowledge when we get to heaven, that God is going to give us that job.

I know that today's study didn't accomplish much in the way of getting through the first chapter of Revelation, and God willing He will give me more time to go through this study with you before He returns for His church or this will remain for someone else to pick up after we are gone. I only hope it has blessed you in some way to grow in your spiritual walk that much more.

Time for a bit of a Geography Lesson First

We have all seen the many depictions of what some might imagine Jesus to look like, but isn't it interesting that out of the writers in the New Testament, not one of them happened to mention what Jesus looked like? NOT ONE! Except in the Book of Revelation in Chapter 1.

It is here we get the only description written as to what Jesus looks like. The Bible tells us more than 500 times in the Bible that Jesus is coming back again and that in 1 out of every 25 verses in the New Testament refer to the Second Coming of Jesus. This gives us hope in a hopeless world, that Jesus is who He said He is, and He will be coming back to us in his glorious Second Coming.

So what does it mean that Jesus is coming in the clouds from verse 7, in Revelation 1? "Behold, He is coming with clouds and every eye will see Him." It means He is coming again in the sky and the air. Jesus also said in Matthew 24:27, ~ "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man." (NIV).

The description we see of Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation is s culmination of  all the rest of the books of the Bible in their unveiling of who Jesus Christ is. It is at this stage we see Jesus in His glory, in His resurrected state and strength, as the Son of God, in his righteousness. That when we see Him, his face is like the sun, in full strength.

Now that it is summer it is easy to understand the strength and power of the sun. How it can get extremely hot. The interesting thing to note is that for Christians, this is as hot as it will ever get for us. Heaven will be perfect. It's hot because the sun is shining in its full strength. The Scriptures state that when we attempt to look upon the face of Jesus, it will be in its full strength, brighter, and stronger than if we were to attempt to look at our own sun.

The scriptures tell us that looking into His eyes, they are like flames of fire, speaking of his righteousness. He has a brilliant white beard, shining, draped in white linen with bands of gold across his chest and His feet are polished like brass. He is awesome!!! This is the Jesus Christ in His resurrected glory.

In Revelation 1:4, "John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne." (NIV).

This is taking place from God's view. We have John, Christ, God and angels referenced in this verse alone. We must first consider God's accounting. When it states, "John, to the seven churches" we know that there were more than 7 churches during 70 A.D. So why is the letter written to only 7 churches. When you look at those 7 churches geographically, it is encompassing the region of Christianity at that time. These are the 7 in an oval, the bulk of the churches that existed at that time remained in that circle. The number 7 appears in the Bible more than any other number. In the Book of Revelation, the number 7 appears 54 times. The number 7 in both Greek and Hebrew has a numerical value. It has spoken of God's completion or totality. The number 8 according to God is the number of new beginnings and there is a long list of those numbers and what they mean according to those who study those things in relation to the Bible.

We are confronted with the number 7 in relationship to the churches and it grabs our attention because there were more than seven churches at that time. Not only does the number 7 represent the number of real churches at that time, because each of the churches mentioned were real in that time, but there are a reference to the types of heart of those that are religious who have a relationship with God. These churches relate to the churches of the church age. We can see some of these qualities in the lives of believers, but we will save that for when we get into the letters to the seven churches later in our study.

So back to the number 7, and this is referring to the completion or totality of the churches from God's accounting. It is interesting that it is addressed to the churches seven times beginning in Revelation 2:7, ~"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the seven churches."  You can find all seven references in Revelation 2:11, 17, 29, 3:6, 3:13, and 3:22. The Spirit here is the Holy Spirit, don't approach the Bible with a gunshot mentality, like Russian roulette, we can't get anything out of the Bible like that. We need to pray that when we open for example John 1, we ask God to speak to us while we read. Write down in your Bible or notebook what He has revealed to You in your daily reading. You know what the Spirit is saying to you, because You are the Church. If you have never heard God speak, you aren't waiting on Him with your Bible open. Ask God, "Lord, speak to me." The Holy Spirit, speaks to those who have ears, so ask for God to give you ears to hear.

God's geography, Asia isn't the continent of Asia but Asia Minor. The churches are found in what is today, as Turkey in modern times. It once had a strong Christian base before the spread of Islam but it does still retain Christian foundations and it will be prominent in the end times as Turkey has a role to play.

In John 10:16 ~ "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." (NIV).

We know that the one shepherd referred to here is Jesus Christ. He was speaking to the Jewish nation first, to the nation of Israel first, but they rejected it. It wasn't until Acts that we learn that they turned to the Gentiles to preach the Word of Christ. We were grafted in. Gentiles simply mean non Jewish. If you are not Jewish, you are Gentiles. But because the Jewish people rejected the gospel, in Romans, it was offered to the Gentiles. We were grafted in like wild olive branches, we were aliens in this world, grafted into the root of Christ. But let us not get cocky like Gentiles trying to rub it in the Jew's faces that they rejected it. See Romans 9-11. Israel is the tree, and we humbly accept Jesus' sacrifice to us, otherwise we would be left out. Be thankful for that.

 God has done this all around the world. Where the gospel is preached, people accept it and a church is formed and it flourishes. It began in Asia Minor however. Now we look at God's nature, who he is at all times. " who is, and who was, and who is to come." God never changes. He is the same forever. "Grace to you", is the good news for us.

God's grace in the Greek means charis or khar'ece, which means the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life, making one acceptable, bestowing benefits, applying favor, the giving of gifts, having pleasure in, favoring someone = to the divine degree.

God does all of this for us that believe in Him. Being the object of God's affection, like you are the only one! He loves us all the same, despite what we might think. It's because of His grace upon us, He has targeted us with His favor. But he speaks to us, like we are the only one. He has put His favor and divine grace upon you. Don't you want to be the object of God's affection? If we do that, it will be white knuckle ride until God calls us home. When God is allowed to do His work in our life, things work perfectly but too often WE get in the way. We are a lot like Pepe LePew affection for the cat, we are the cat with the strip down our back. God is like that love, and we keep pushing him away.

Tomorrow we will continue our study into the Book of Revelation a bit more in-depth with more of Revelation 1:4. I hope this study is blessing you and you have a desire to know more. Remember, ask God to speak to You as you read through this with me and hope that you can a much deeper understanding of who Jesus Christ truly is.  I am taking this book slow because there is so much more than simply reading through 22 chapters in this book. I hope you'll stay with me and it blesses your life immensely!

Who are The Seven Churches in the Province of Asia?

We have all seen the many depictions of what some might imagine Jesus to look like, but isn't it interesting that out of the writers in the New Testament, not one of them happened to mention what Jesus looked like? NOT ONE! Except in the Book of Revelation in Chapter 1.

It is here we get the only description written as to what Jesus looks like. The Bible tells us more than 500 times in the Bible that Jesus is coming back again and that in 1 out of every 25 verses in the New Testament refer to the Second Coming of Jesus. This gives us hope in a hopeless world, that Jesus is who He said He is, and He will be coming back to us in his glorious Second Coming.

So what does it mean that Jesus is coming in the clouds from verse 7, in Revelation 1? "Behold, He is coming with clouds and every eye will see Him." It means He is coming again in the sky and the air. Jesus also said in Matthew 24:27, ~ "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man." (NIV).

The description we see of Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation is s culmination of  all the rest of the books of the Bible in their unveiling of who Jesus Christ is. It is at this stage we see Jesus in His glory, in His resurrected state and strength, as the Son of God, in his righteousness. That when we see Him, his face is like the sun, in full strength.

Now that it is summer it is easy to understand the strength and power of the sun. How it can get extremely hot. The interesting thing to note is that for Christians, this is as hot as it will ever get for us. Heaven will be perfect. It's hot because the sun is shining in its full strength. The Scriptures state that when we attempt to look upon the face of Jesus, it will be in its full strength, brighter, and stronger than if we were to attempt to look at our own sun.

The scriptures tell us that looking into His eyes, they are like flames of fire, speaking of his righteousness. He has a brilliant white beard, shining, draped in white linen with bands of gold across his chest and His feet are polished like brass. He is awesome!!! This is the Jesus Christ in His resurrected glory.

In Revelation 1:4, "John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne." (NIV).

This is taking place from God's view. We have John, Christ, God and angels referenced in this verse alone. We must first consider God's accounting. When it states, "John, to the seven churches" we know that there were more than 7 churches during 70 A.D. So why is the letter written to only 7 churches. When you look at those 7 churches geographically, it is encompassing the region of Christianity at that time. These are the 7 in an oval, the bulk of the churches that existed at that time remained in that circle. The number 7 appears in the Bible more than any other number. In the Book of Revelation, the number 7 appears 54 times. The number 7 in both Greek and Hebrew has a numerical value. It has spoken of God's completion or totality. The number 8 according to God is the number of new beginnings and there is a long list of those numbers and what they mean according to those who study those things in relation to the Bible.

We are confronted with the number 7 in relationship to the churches and it grabs our attention because there were more than seven churches at that time. Not only does the number 7 represent the number of real churches at that time, because each of the churches mentioned were real in that time, but there are a reference to the types of heart of those that are religious who have a relationship with God. These churches relate to the churches of the church age. We can see some of these qualities in the lives of believers, but we will save that for when we get into the letters to the seven churches later in our study.

So back to the number 7, and this is referring to the completion or totality of the churches from God's accounting. It is interesting that it is addressed to the churches seven times beginning in Revelation 2:7, ~"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the seven churches."  You can find all seven references in Revelation 2:11, 17, 29, 3:6, 3:13, and 3:22. The Spirit here is the Holy Spirit, don't approach the Bible with a gunshot mentality, like Russian roulette, we can't get anything out of the Bible like that. We need to pray that when we open for example John 1, we ask God to speak to us while we read. Write down in your Bible or notebook what He has revealed to You in your daily reading. You know what the Spirit is saying to you, because You are the Church. If you have never heard God speak, you aren't waiting on Him with your Bible open. Ask God, "Lord, speak to me." The Holy Spirit, speaks to those who have ears, so ask for God to give you ears to hear.

God's geography, Asia isn't the continent of Asia but Asia Minor. The churches are found in what is today, as Turkey in modern times. It once had a strong Christian base before the spread of Islam but it does still retain Christian foundations and it will be prominent in the end times as Turkey has a role to play.

In John 10:16 ~ "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." (NIV).

We know that the one shepherd referred to here is Jesus Christ. He was speaking to the Jewish nation first, to the nation of Israel first, but they rejected it. It wasn't until Acts that we learn that they turned to the Gentiles to preach the Word of Christ. We were grafted in. Gentiles simply mean non Jewish. If you are not Jewish, you are Gentiles. But because the Jewish people rejected the gospel, in Romans, it was offered to the Gentiles. We were grafted in like wild olive branches, we were aliens in this world, grafted into the root of Christ. But let us not get cocky like Gentiles trying to rub it in the Jew's faces that they rejected it. See Romans 9-11. Israel is the tree, and we humbly accept Jesus' sacrifice to us, otherwise we would be left out. Be thankful for that.

 God has done this all around the world. Where the gospel is preached, people accept it and a church is formed and it flourishes. It began in Asia Minor however. Now we look at God's nature, who he is at all times. " who is, and who was, and who is to come." God never changes. He is the same forever. "Grace to you", is the good news for us.

God's grace in the Greek means charis or khar'ece, which means the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life, making one acceptable, bestowing benefits, applying favor, the giving of gifts, having pleasure in, favoring someone = to the divine degree.

God does all of this for us that believe in Him. Being the object of God's affection, like you are the only one! He loves us all the same, despite what we might think. It's because of His grace upon us, He has targeted us with His favor. But he speaks to us, like we are the only one. He has put His favor and divine grace upon you. Don't you want to be the object of God's affection? If we do that, it will be white knuckle ride until God calls us home. When God is allowed to do His work in our life, things work perfectly but too often WE get in the way. We are a lot like Pepe LePew affection for the cat, we are the cat with the strip down our back. God is like that love, and we keep pushing him away.

Tomorrow we will continue our study into the Book of Revelation a bit more in-depth with more of Revelation 1:4. I hope this study is blessing you and you have a desire to know more. Remember, ask God to speak to You as you read through this with me and hope that you can a much deeper understanding of who Jesus Christ truly is.  I am taking this book slow because there is so much more than simply reading through 22 chapters in this book. I hope you'll stay with me and it blesses your life immensely!