Are the seven spirits of God the Holy Spirit?

[sea5763]

I was reading through Isaiah a little while ago, and noticed a passage that I'm pretty sure was a prophecy about Jesus Christ. In Isaiah it says that a shoot from the stump of Jesse, which I'm pretty sure is a reference to Jesus, will bear fruit and that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. I think the Spirit of the Lord referenced in Isaiah's prophecy is the Holy Spirit, which appeared as a dove when Jesus was baptized. Isaiah's description of the Spirit are that it is of the Lord, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge of the Lord, and of the fear of the Lord. When I read that I thought that it was a description of what exactly the Holy Spirit is and represents. I then remembered Revelation that talks about the seven spirits of God, and thought that maybe the seven spirits of God are a way of describing the Holy Spirit? It was a connection that went off in my mind, and I thought maybe it is not, but it would be interesting if it was. I thought it would be interesting if Isaiah is referencing and describing the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. What do you guys think?

Revelation 5:6

6And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.


Isaiah 11:1-5
The Righteous Reign of the Branch

1There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

 

[ewq1938]

Isaiah 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;


Here we see not 7 spirits listed but one Spirit and 3 descriptions or attributes of that one spirit. One is the spirit of the Lord, and we are given three examples or properties of that one spirit.


The spirit of the Lord is:


1: the spirit of wisdom and understanding
2: the spirit of counsel and might
3: the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD


Even if one was to awkwardly cut these in half and make 6 spirits out of the three, that still leaves only 6. I think context is clear that the spirits listed are attributes of the ONE SPIRIT of the Lord.

Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

 

[HTacianas]

I was reading through Isaiah a little while ago, and noticed a passage that I'm pretty sure was a prophecy about Jesus Christ. In Isaiah it says that a shoot from the stump of Jesse, which I'm pretty sure is a reference to Jesus, will bear fruit and that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. I think the Spirit of the Lord referenced in Isaiah's prophecy is the Holy Spirit, which appeared as a dove when Jesus was baptized. Isaiah's description of the Spirit are that it is of the Lord, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge of the Lord, and of the fear of the Lord. When I read that I thought that it was a description of what exactly the Holy Spirit is and represents. I then remembered Revelation that talks about the seven spirits of God, and thought that maybe the seven spirits of God are a way of describing the Holy Spirit? It was a connection that went off in my mind, and I thought maybe it is not, but it would be interesting if it was. I thought it would be interesting if Isaiah is referencing and describing the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. What do you guys think?

Revelation 5:6

6And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.


Isaiah 11:1-5
The Righteous Reign of the Branch

1There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

The difficulty is that the "seven spirits" of the Revelation is only one spirit, but is the "sevenfold spirit" of God. It doesn't translate well.

The story of Joseph and his "coat of many colors" is similar. Joseph was clothed in what was likely seven colors. His brothers left him for dead in a pit but he survived and went to live among the gentiles where he became famous. Sound familiar?

 

[ewq1938]

The story of Joseph and his "coat of many colors" is similar. Joseph was clothed in what was likely seven colors.

Likely? What scripture suggests that?

 

[HTacianas]

Likely? What scripture suggests that?

The one that tells the story of Joseph.

 

[ewq1938]

The one that tells the story of Joseph.

I don't see a scripture to support this belief.

 

[LastSeven]

Here we see not 7 spirits listed but one Spirit and 3 descriptions or attributes of that one spirit. One is the spirit of the Lord, and we are given three examples or properties of that one spirit.

The spirit of the Lord is:

1: the spirit of wisdom and understanding
2: the spirit of counsel and might
3: the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD

Whether three or six, I'm not sure, but I disagree with your assertion that these are merely attributes of a single spirit.

I think we need to re-think the definition of the word "spirit". Surely we all agree that there are different definitions of spirit, and most often when speaking of a spirit in scripture people tend to define it as a conscious living spiritual entity. That's where I think many of us go wrong.

What if the spirit is not a living entity, but rather is defined as according to the following Oxford definition.

Those qualities regarded as forming the definitive or typical elements in the character of a person, nation or group.

• "I hope the team will build on this spirit of confidence"
• a specified emotion or mood, especially one prevailing at a particular time.
• a person's mood.
  "the warm weather lifted everyone's spirits after the winter"
• the attitude or intentions with which someone undertakes or regards something.

"he confessed in a spirit of self-respect, not defiance"​

• the quality of courage, energy, and determination or assertiveness.

"his visitors admired his spirit and good temper"​

• the real meaning or the intention behind something as opposed to its strict verbal interpretation.

The passage in Isaiah pointed out by the OP supports that position. The spirit of God is not an entity. God himself is the entity, but the spirit of God is one of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might and fear of the Lord.

 

[Revealing Times]

I was reading through Isaiah a little while ago, and noticed a passage that I'm pretty sure was a prophecy about Jesus Christ. In Isaiah it says that a shoot from the stump of Jesse, which I'm pretty sure is a reference to Jesus, will bear fruit and that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. I think the Spirit of the Lord referenced in Isaiah's prophecy is the Holy Spirit, which appeared as a dove when Jesus was baptized. Isaiah's description of the Spirit are that it is of the Lord, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge of the Lord, and of the fear of the Lord. When I read that I thought that it was a description of what exactly the Holy Spirit is and represents. I then remembered Revelation that talks about the seven spirits of God, and thought that maybe the seven spirits of God are a way of describing the Holy Spirit? It was a connection that went off in my mind, and I thought maybe it is not, but it would be interesting if it was. I thought it would be interesting if Isaiah is referencing and describing the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. What do you guys think?

Revelation 5:6

6And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.


Isaiah 11:1-5
The Righteous Reign of the Branch

1There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

The number 7 represents God and thus the fullness of Gods Ability. He is ALL SEEING and He is ALL KNOWING and He is OMNIPRESENT. Thus 7 Eyes refer to God seeing all things at all times, and the 7 Spirits represent God being in all places at all times.

 

[Erik Nelson]

https://weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/seven-spirits-gods-throne/