In 2011, I lost my mother to this world. Seven years earlier, I lost my father. Since this time, I have been interested in the significance of the number seven. Perhaps, it is just a number, but this number has many things that make it unique. The seven Spirits of God are mentioned four times in the Book of Revelation. Chapter 1 verse 4, John addresses the seven churches in the province of Asia then again refers to the seven spirits before Jesus’ throne. Revelation Chapter 3:1 refers to the seven spirits and seven stars. Chapter 4:5 relates seven lamps to the seven spirits. Finally, in chapter 5:6 the slain lamb with seven horns and seven eyes meaning the seven spirits of God. In the Book of Isaiah each Spirit is named. There is also reference to the seven graces in Romans 12:6-8. My question is what is the significance of the number seven and why so many times it gets referenced?
There is seven days in a week. Seven represents unity between the Holy Trinity and four areas of the world. There are seven wonders of the world. Even the Koran mentions seven heavens. Muslims walk around the Kaaba in Mecca seven times. Hinduism believe in seven higher worlds and seven underworlds. Buddhism’s Buddha as a newborn rises and takes seven steps. It is associated with luck and magical properties. It matches our memory capacity and attention spans. It is considered a unique prime number. It is the most popular number. It is considered significant in the cycle of life. Finally, it represents a sense of fullness or completeness and perfection. This hit my emotional button at the time of my mom’s passing as it seemed to me closure or sense of completion. Regarding memory capacity and attention span, have you ever noticed phone numbers are made up of seven numbers, not counting the area code, as we have difficulty retaining much more in one memory experience? What does all this mean? I believe that we should look closely at these seven spirits and strive to be Christlike. How do we do that? Read on.
Isaiah 11:1 prophesied that the Lord would come from the stump of Jesse and bear fruit. Verses 2-3 listed the seven spirits as spirit of the Lord, spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of power, of knowledge, and of fear of the Lord. And he would take delight in knowing this fear. These seven spirits defined the human presence of the divinity namely Jesus Christ. Can we match the spirits of the Lord? No, but in Romans 12:6-8, we learn we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. These graces are prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ministry, in service to others; instruction, in teaching others; encouragement, in exhortation to others; generosity, in giving to others; leadership, in guidance to others; compassion, in mercy to others. All these gifts of grace are important and some of us possess many of these gifts while some of us fall short. Maybe we have given up in this polarized world? Maybe, we do not realize we have these gifts. It appears to me that Isaiah reference to the Spirit of the Lord is specific to the One to come where in Romans it is for you and me. We can be Christlike and strive for all seven as we attempt to be perfect like Christ. If we do not try, we may not know our full potential. Jesus is the perfect score card that we should all attempt to reach. Let’s take each of the seven attributes one at a time.
Isaiah’s number one being Spirit of the Lord remains number one and defines our Savior. Number two is wisdom where Romans offer the grace of insight. Have you ever had a premonition? I believe a wise person listens first, discerns what they hear, then speaks with a prophetic understanding. Spirit number three is understanding matches up with the grace of helpfulness. Because a wise person speaks with a prophetic understanding the ability to have a servant’s heart to help not hinder growth in others. Number four counsel and the grace of a teacher’s heart continues the growth of others beyond your instruction. Number five power and the grace of encouragement turns those who were once weak into a stronger being. The sixth Spirit of knowledge makes the grace of generosity multiply ten, hundred and thousand-fold. The seventh spirit of Fear of the Lord makes our grace gift of leadership so much more credible. Who wants to follow someone that pretends to be fearless? Finally, the delight in knowing this fear of the Lord match perfectly with the gift of compassion. How can we be compassionate or have mercy on another, if we do not believe a higher power than us shows compassion and mercy for us? If we fear the Lord but rejoice in knowing this fear makes us submit, we can live in peace that ultimately, we are not in charge. What a blessing and mighty Lord we serve!
Footnotes: You might recognize that the spirits listed in Isaiah do not match exactly with Romans’ gifts. Theologians over centuries have added Piety as attribute number six. The set of seven now are commonly known as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. While some Christians accept these as a definitive list of specific attributes, others understand them merely as examples of the Holy Spirit’s work through the faithful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_gifts_of_the_Holy_Spirit
An alternative view is that the seven graces (“charisma”) of Romans 12:6–8 reflect the seven spirits of God. The Holy Spirit manifests in humankind through these graces, reflecting the seven spirits of God. The seven graces are: 1. insight (prophecy); 2. helpfulness (service or ministry); 3. instruction (teaching); 4. encouragement; 5. generosity (giving); 6. guidance (leadership); and 7. compassion. This agrees with Isaiah 11:2–3 if “the Spirit of the Lord” is recognized as categorical and “the delight in the fear of the Lord” is added. (Isaiah 11:3, Berean Study Bible) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Spirits_of_God
Think of yourself as a sculpture in progress towards perfection where our Creator chips away our hard spots to form a beautiful work of art as we strive to achieve a perfect seven.
T