| What are “The Seven Spirits of God” |
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| By: Rev. Sam Harris; ©2001 |
| Revelation 5:6 speaks of a Lamb standing…with seven horns and seven eyes which are “the seven Spirits of God.” What, exactly, is that talking about? |
What are “The Seven Spirits of God”
Question:
In Revelation 5:6 are these words: “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.” What are “the seven Spirits of God?”
Answer:
The important thrust of this passage is the first appearance of the Lamb in John’s vision of heaven. In Revelation, Jesus is called the Lamb approximately 29 times. This Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes. As you may recall, the number “seven” is the number of completeness used in the Bible.
The seven horns stand for omnipotence, which means having absolute power. In the Old Testament, a horn had two meanings. First, it stood for power. In 1 Kings 22:7, we read that Zedekiah, the prophet, made iron horns as a sign of promised victory over the Syrians. In the blessing of Moses, Deuteronomy 33:17, the horns of Joseph are like the horns of the wild ox which will push the people, all at once, to the end of the earth.
The horn, secondly, also stands for honor. With the birth of Samuel to Hannah, she sings a song of Thanksgiving (1 Sam. 2:1): “My heart exalts in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord....” The Psalmist writes (89:17): “For thou art the glory of their strength, and by Thy favor our horn is exalted.” Psalm 112:9—”He has given freely to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor.” God lifts up the horn of His people in Psalm 148:14.
The Lamb also has seven eyes representing the Seven Spirits of God which aresent out all over the earth. A good cross-reference on this is found in Zechariah 4:10.
These seven eyes stands for the “all knowing and all seeing presence of God everywhere.” There is no place on earth that is not under the all seeing eye of God. His power, His perfect knowledge and His presence is everywhere on earth among us.
I heard Dr. Joseph Stowell speaking recently on Matthew 1:23, which reads, in part, “They shall call His name Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’.” “God with us” means literally that! He is with our men and women currently in Afghanistan, patients in ICU units in hospitals and their families in the waiting room, children in schools, those in prison, and everywhere else.
This passage is a tremendous picture of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. His is the fulfillment of all of the promises made to Israel; He is the Lion of Judah and the Root of David. He is the one whose sacrifice redeemed us from sin, and he still bears the marks of His sacrifice in heaven. As Paul said, death is swallowed up in victory! Jesus is the one with all power and all knowledge who will conquer all and whose all seeing eye no one can escape.