If God is a trinity, why does Revelations keep talking about the "seven spirits of God?

Question

The following verses of Revelations refer to God as having seven spirits: 3:1, 4:5, 5:6. Why does God have seven spirits? Isn't God a trinity?

If you don't believe me, here are the aforementioned verses.

3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

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.

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.

Answer 1

Seven Spirits may be Holy Spirit. The seven stars are "the angels of the seven churches" (1:20 )

Lightning and thundering reflect the awesome majesty of God and recall the devine authority to judge. (6:1, 8:5, 11:19 ). Seven Spirits of God as represented by seven lambs presents the fullness of the character of the Holy Spirit ( seven is the perfect number and so is 10, both are referring to God in Revelation )See Is 11:2,3

The Lamb that had been slain is Christ, whom John the baptist called "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world " ( John 1:29.

The book of Revelation contains a good bit of symbolism, and this explains how can the Holy Spirit be seven spirits if He is one person.

Other symbols are used of the Holy Spirit in Scripture. For instance, in Mark 1:10 He is spoken of as an dove., and in John 3:8 He is likened to the "wind" and in John 4:14 as water. He is also portrayed as "tongues as of fire" in Acts 2:3. Ephesians 1:13 says we are "sealed" by Holy Spirit, signifying God's ownership of us and the security of our salvation.

Many Bible students believe the sevenfold nature of Holy Spirit may derive from the reference Is 11:2 where He is called the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of the wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, and of fear of the Lord - sefen different characteristics of one and the same Spirit. ( 7 fruits of the Spirit)

I hope this helped.

Answer 2

Seven is the number for completeness or perfection. So I believe that to mean the perfect and powerful Holy Spirit of God.

Answer 3

Easy. The seven spirits is just a way to refer to the Holy Spirit. Seven is the perfect number, so you could paraphrase this as "the perfect Holy Spirit".

Answer 4

"Spirits" doesn't have to refer to "THE Holy Spirit".
There is a lot of symbolism in Revelation. Most experts think the seven spirits are seven angels who watch over those churches, or seven pastors who guide them.

Answer 5

There are seven main perspectives of God. The Trinity and seven spirits are different perspectives.

Answer 6

The Bible says we will all stand before God on judgment day. I think that you will have an opportune time to ask him yourself. It may be possible that man and all his infinite wisdom may not be on the same level of understanding as God the creator of the universe.

Answer 7

Because seven is the number of perfection in the Bible.

Answer 8

The seven spirits referred to in Revelations, also known as the Apocolypse, are Gin, Vodka, Vermouth, Tequila, Bourbon, Rum and Brandy.

Answer 9

Interesting...

Answer 10

Because it was written by a confused man.