Why does the bible say that God has seven Holy Spirits if he is ONLY three gods in one?

Question

And if God has seven spirits, does that mean that we do too?

Revelations 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Revelations 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Revelations 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Answer 1

Sakka asked the Buddha: "Do different religious teachers head for the same goal or practice the same disciplines or aspire to the same thing?"

"No, Sakka, they do not. And why? This world is made up of myriad different states of being, and people adhere to one or another of these states and become tenaciously possessive of them, saying, 'This alone is true, everything else is false.' It is like a territory that they believe is theirs. So all religious teachers do not teach the same goal or the same discipline, nor do they aspire to the same thing.

"But if you find truth in any religion or philosophy, then accept that truth without prejudice."

-Digha Nikaya
From "The Pocket Buddha Reader,"

Answer 2

"From the seven Spirits who are before His throne: John brings a greeting from God the Holy Spirit, who is described with this title. The seven Spirits who are before His throne speaks to the perfection and completion of the Holy Spirit. John uses an Old Testament description of the Holy Spirit.

i. The idea of the seven Spirits quotes from the Old Testament. Isaiah 11:2 describes seven aspects of the Holy Spirit: 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 fear of the Lord. It isn’t that there are seven different spirits of God, rather the Spirit of the Lord has these characteristics, and He has them all in fullness and perfection."

Answer 3

Reread these scriptures. They say seven Spirits not seven Holy Spirits. The Holy Spirit is one of the trinity. The seven Spirits are the tribulations to be sent to earth in the end times.

Answer 4

Seven spirits, not seven holy spirits. The number symbolizes the completeness of God. Not anyone knows everything there is to know about God. We are given what we are needed to know here and now. Why don't you ask Him what it means when you meet Him?

Answer 5

An excellent question and a perfect example of why one should not try to self interpret the Bible, particularly the Book of Revelation.

First of all, in each example you quoted you have specified that it comes from: "Revelations."

Wrong, it is not the Book of RevelationS; it is the Book of Revelation. It was a singular revelation made to the Apostle St. John, not an outline of the future.

The Book of Revelation is apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic writing is a form that uses much exotic imagery and symbolism to arrive at a revelation. In other words, although what it says is completely true, it cannot be taken literally. To help you understand how this is not a contradiction, here is an example of a non-Biblical Apocolyptic tale:

There once was a man who lived in a town, not unlike this town. He would wait each night for his wife and children to go to sleep so that he could slip quietly out of bed to rendezvous with his mistress. The man would take a shortcut through an abandoned graveyard to meet his paramour.

Tonight at the ancient graveyard, the man spied several strange lights. The lights resembled fireflies, which converged around a major light that seemed to rest atop an old tombstone.

The smaller lights would approach this light, then fly away. When the man found the courage to venture closer, he discerned voices:

“In this town,” said one of the fireflies to the major light, “is a man guilty of taking the Lord’s name in vain. He makes sport of sin and never keeps holy the Lord’s Day.”

The major light decreed, “Muerte repentina—sudden death.”

Another firefly approached, “In this town there is a man who neglects his family. He spends all of their money on drink while his children starve.”

“Sudden death,” the major light declared.

“In this very graveyard,” a third firefly announced, “there is a man who makes a mockery of the Sacrament of Matrimony. He is guilty of the crime of adultery...”

When seen from the point of view of the faithful, this story ceases to be a fable. For is it not a basic tenet of Judeo-Christian principle that the Lord judges the living and the dead?

Atlthough the story is completely true, the Lord judges the living and the dead, one cannot seriously expect to go out to some graveyard late at night to witness Judgment Day.

The style in which the story is revealed is apocalyptic, the same genre as the Book of Revelation. Both Revelation and this story, make bold use of exotic symbolism to convey a text that is completely and totally true. In order to decipher the meaning one must understand the symbolism.

The symbolism of this story can be interpreted in this manner:

The man who finds himself in an abandoned graveyard during the dead of night is spiritually dead. The only light in that place of darkness and death is the Light of the World who sits atop a tombstone, for he truly is master of life and of death. The minor lights, or fireflies, are spirits whose duty is to report the ills of the world to the Lord.

The three men of the story are spiritually dead (although the third one is to be redeemed). However, it is important to understand that the Light does not execute them. He merely confirms their condition.

In Revelation it is important to know that the number '7' has a special significance other than a numeric value. It means "fullness and completeness." The 'Seven Spirits of God' refers to the fullness and completeness of God, not to seven 'gods,' as you stated.

I apologize for the long explanation, but I sincerely hope it has helped.

H

Answer 6

first of all there aren't 3 gods. There is ONE God in three forms, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As for the seven spirits ,seven lamps, seven horns . . .eh I dunno. The number seven has a lot of significance throughout the entire Bible. That's all I could tell ya without opening my Bible and looking at the entire text, not just your excerpts .. .

Answer 7

they are not 7 Holy Spirits....
the 7spirits of God:are the seven "angels of the presence" as in Rev 8:2

Answer 8

You do realize, do you not, that the bible (as well as every other holy text) is made up of metaphors and symbolism which are not to be taken literally? I think that's where most of the confusion comes in. Literalists and fundamentalists have no idea how to search for the deeper, hidden meaning in the literary imagery of any holy text.

Answer 9

that's 7 different heavens or places he's talking about, I did a study long time ago but i don't remember. I can tell you which I do though, maybe that will get you somewhere. Hell, Earth, Heaven, Sky, the Pit and space. But remember, I can't remember what they were and I also could be wrong about some of the ones I do remember

Answer 10

They are the angels of the Lord who are the angels of the 7 churchs.
An angel has a spirit, it is eather a spirit of the lords or a spirit of Satan.

There spirit is with the churches and are the eyes of Christ (or for Christ)