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In this article, we’ll dig into two key texts identified by scholars as the basis for John’s portrayal of the Seven Spirits of God. Zechariah 4:2-10 is generally seen as the primary source of the “seven eyes” and “seven torches of fire” metaphors that describe the seven spirits, while Isaiah 11:1-3 (LXX) is thought to shed additional light on the discussion. We’ll examine each of these passages in turn.

May 29, 2022

Tagged Holy Spirit, Isaiah 11, Revelation 1:4, Revelation 3:1, Revelation 4:5

The Seven Spirits of God: Holy Spirit, Angels, or Both? (Pt 2)

In our previous article, we discovered what the chain of custody in the book of Revelation reveals about the Seven Spirits of God. In this article, we will dig into two key texts identified by most scholars as the basis for John’s portrayal of these mysterious figures. Zechariah 4:2-10 is generally seen as the primary source of the “seven eyes” and “seven torches of fire” metaphors that John used, while Isaiah 11:1-3 (LXX) is thought to shed additional light on how the Holy Spirit relates to the discussion. We’ll examine each of these passages in turn.

Zechariah

Interpreters naturally turn to Zechariah 4 when assessing John’s imagery, since this mentions seven “eyes of YHWH” (Zech. 4:10) and seven “lamps” (Zech. 4:2). But this is not the only time the prophet mentions YHWH’s “eyes.” We will briefly examine each occurrence to gain a complete picture of what these “eyes” are and how they function. In particular, we’ll look at passages in Zechariah 3, 4, and 12.

Zechariah 3

Zechariah 3:8-9 — Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.

Zechariah first mentions the notion of “seven eyes” in his vision about the high priest Joshua ben Jehozadak. In this vision, Joshua has been admitted into the heavenly temple to participate in a divine council meeting of angels regarding the fate of Jerusalem now that the Babylonian Exile has ended.¹ The setting is especially significant because Psalm 11:4 states that the heavenly temple is the location of YHWH’s “eyes.”

Joshua is purified of his sin and recommissioned to serve in the earthly temple about to be rebuilt (3:4-7). But the vision also looks beyond Joshua’s era to a future day. We are told that he represents the “Branch,” a title for the Messianic Davidic ruler to come. He is given a stone with “seven eyes” and YHWH promises to remove the iniquity of the land (3:8-9).

We gain further insight into the meaning of this scene by considering a related scenario in Isaiah.² In Isa. 1:15-16, God’s “eyes” observe the sin taking place in Jerusalem. In Isaiah 4:2-5, Jerusalem is purified of that sin so that the “Branch” may dwell there:

Isa 1:15-16 — 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil.

Isaiah 4:2, 4-5 — 2 In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy…4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. 5 Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy.

The sequence here is striking: 1) YHWH’s “eyes” observe the iniquity of his people, 2) he judges the rebels, and 3) his presence returns via cloud and flame. This recalls the activity of the angels who functioned as YHWH’s “eyes” during Israel’s wilderness wanderings and throughout her history (see our previous article for more on this). We may therefore summarize the parallels between Zechariah 3 and Isaiah 1-4 as follows:

Zechariah 3

Isaiah 1-4

Joshua is identified as a brand “plucked from the fire” and his iniquity is removed by a group of angels in same the heavenly temple where YHWH’s “eyes” are located. (3:2-5).

A stone with seven “eyes” is presented to Joshua, who symbolizes the Messianic Branch. Iniquity is removed from the land and peace ensues (3:8-10)

YHWH’s “eyes” observe iniquity in Jerusalem (1:15-16) and we are told iniquity will be removed from Jerusalem by a “spirit of burning” (3:16-4:4)

The Messianic Branch dwells in the land, which is protected by pillar of cloud by day and flame by night, recalling the activity of the angels who oversaw the exodus (4:2,5)

These connections suggest the possibility that the stone in Zechariah 3 represents Jerusalem, which is cleansed of sin by YHWH’s seven “eyes” and presented to the Messiah. We might reasonably conclude that the “seven eyes” in Zech. 3:9 represent the group of angels who removed Joshua’s sin in Zech. 3:4-5, since the vision occurred in the heavenly temple where YHWH’s “eyes” are located.

The sequence in Isaiah appears to support this identification, since it recalls the activity of the seven angels who protected Israel but also judged her sin during the exodus in their capacity as YHWH’s “eyes.” These exodus angels functioned similarly to the purifying “spirit of judgment” and “spirit of burning” in Isaiah 4:4 that many interpreters take to be the Holy Spirit.³

Zechariah 4

Zechariah 4:2, 10 — 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it. . .” 10 “. . .These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth.”

In this vision, Zechariah sees a menorah with seven lamps flanked on either side by an olive tree. The fact that there are seven lamps implies a connection with the seven eyes of YHWH mentioned a few verses later. Revelation 4-5 similarly connects the seven torches of fire (Rev. 4:5) with the seven eyes (Rev. 5:6). Many scholars therefore think John’s vision alludes to the “eyes” and “fire” images from this passage in Zechariah.

Lamps and Eyes: The Precedent

The Zechariah 4 connection between “lamps” and “eyes” may actually have an earlier OT precedent. A generation before Zechariah, the prophet Zephaniah delivered a warning about the imminent destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. His prophecy specifically features “lamps”:

Zephaniah 1:12, 3:11-12 — At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’. . .3:11 “On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD. . .

Commenters generally regard the “lamps” as a reference to the Babylonians who would soon invade Jerusalem. Yet, the prophecy stipulates that the prideful would be punished while the humble would be protected. This was well outside the capability and agenda of Nebuchadnezzar’s army. Therefore these “lamps” are most likely symbolic of the spiritual realm, which could discern who deserved punishment and influence the Babylonians to act accordingly.⁴

The prophet Ezekiel, a contemporary of Zephaniah, gives us further insight into the spiritual realm at the time of the Babylonian invasion. He similarly prophesied the imminent fall of Jerusalem, but instead of lamps, Ezekiel listed seven angels who would search Jerusalem in their capacity as YHWH’s “eyes”:

Ezekiel 7:9 — And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD, who strikes.

Ezekiel 9:4-6 — 4 And the LORD said to [the man clothed in linen], “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. . .

By comparing Ezekiel 7:9 with Ezekiel 9:4-6, we see that the seven angels in Ezekiel 9 function as YHWH’s eyes. The latter scene clearly describes events that would occur in the spiritual realm at the time of the Babylonian invasion. Taken together with Zephaniah’s prophecy, we are given a picture of YHWH’s “lamps” or “eyes” – depicted by Ezekiel as angelic beings – judging the city of Jerusalem by the hand of the Babylonians.

YHWH’s Eyes and the Holy Spirit

Zechariah 4 also connects the menorah vision with a figure named Zerubabbel, who was Judah’s governor at that time. After a mountain is leveled before him, he brings forward a stone to complete the temple building project. This sequence is depicted as an act of grace accomplished by the Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:5-6). Scholars widely recognize the implication that the seven lamps or eyes are a symbol for the Holy Spirit:

Zechariah 4:5-6 — 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

We find precedent for this as well in earlier Biblical texts. Jewish tradition identifies the unnamed figure in Ezekiel 9 who marked the righteous for protection as the angel Gabriel.⁵ Perhaps this tradition arose due to the biblical account of Gabriel’s interaction with Daniel in Babylon, since Daniel was a righteous inhabitant of Jerusalem who was protected from harm throughout the Babylonian captivity.

Gabriel was sent in response to Daniel’s prayer of repentance at the end of the exile. In this prayer, Daniel asked YHWH to favorably direct his “eyes” toward Jerusalem:

Daniel 9:17 — Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face [Heb=paniym] to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

Daniel connects YHWH’s “eyes” and “ears” with YHWH’s paniym, which is rendered “face” or “presence” in English translations of the OT. We find the very same parallelism in Psalm 34:15-17:

Psalm 34:15-17 — The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face [Heb=paniym] of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

Here again we see that the “eyes” and “ears” of the Lord are equivalent to his paniym. This passage is focused upon YHWH’s deliverance of the righteous, and it builds upon vss. 6-8, where we are given another crucial piece of information:

Psalm 34:6-8 — This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

The deliverance achieved by YHWH’s “eyes” and “ears” – his paniym – in vss. 15-17 is accomplished by the angel of the Lord in vss. 6-8. This indicates that in Psalm 34, YHWH’s “eyes” and “ears” are figuratively describing an “angel of his paniym” (cp. Is. 63:9), who was sent in response to David’s cry for deliverance. In similar fashion, Daniel cried out for deliverance by seeking favor from YHWH’s “eyes” and “ears,” and Gabriel was sent in response.

But this is not the only way YHWH’s paniym is used. It also refers to his Holy Spirit:

Psalm 51:11 — Cast me not away from your presence [Heb=paniym], and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Psalm 139:7, 16 — 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence [Heb=paniym]? . . . 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Synthesizing all of this data, it appears that YHWH’s “eyes” – also called “lamps” in Zeph. 1:12 and Zech 4:2 – are a group of angels who represent his presence and therefore in some sense constitute the Holy Spirit.

Zechariah 12

Zechariah 12 describes the final eschatological battle involving the city of Jerusalem. Here we discover that the city will be made a “stone” that is protected by YHWH’s “eyes” (12:2-4), recalling the vision in Zech. 3:8-9. This is our first signal that the “seven eyes” of YHWH are participants in the scene.

Zechariah tells us that the remnant of Judah and Jerusalem will face an invading army of Gentile nations, but YHWH will come to their rescue by fighting against their enemies and granting them supernatural strength:

Zechariah 12:4-5 — 4 On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God.’

Later in the chapter we are given two vivid comparisons that describe the nature of this strength:

Zechariah 12:6, 8 — 6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch [LXX=lampas pur] among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem. . . 8 On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them.

In these two passages, we learn that YHWH’s “eyes” are involved in supplying his people with a strength that is compared to a “flaming torch” (12:6) and “the angel of the LORD” (12:8).⁶ In the Greek LXX, “flaming torch” is lampas pur. This same Greek phrase is used to describe the eyes of the angel who visited Daniel in Dan. 10:6 LXX.

It appears, then, that Zechariah 12 presents “flaming torch” and “angel of the LORD” as synonymous terms that are both related to YHWH’s “eyes.” This is further confirmed by the fact that YHWH’s “eyes” are represented by angels in Ezekiel 7-9 and by seven “lamps” (implicitly lit with flames of fire) in Zech. 4.

It is surely no coincidence that Zechariah 12 mentions both “eyes” and “flaming torch” in the same context – the two metaphors John used to describe the seven spirits in Rev. 5:6 and Rev. 4:5. This indicates that Zechariah is depicting an eschatological scene in which the people of God are supernaturally empowered to defeat their enemies by a particular group of angels that John later identified as the seven spirits of God.

But such supernatural strength has also been given to humans by the Holy Spirit. For example, David performed mighty exploits after his anointing because the Holy Spirit “rushed upon David from that day forward.” (1 Sa. 16:13). David’s supernatural empowerment likely stands in the background when Zechariah compares the strength of the people to that of David in Zech. 12:8.

The Holy Spirit anointing of David is also echoed by the “spirit of grace” that anoints the house of David in Zech. 12:10. Mark Boda identifies this “spirit of grace” as the Holy Spirit:

The pouring out (sapak) of a spirit (ruah) is an expression that appears in two other contexts of the Old Testament, both in prophetic literature (Ezek. 39:29; Joel 2:28–29). In these other instances this spirit is referred to as “my Spirit,” thus indicating more than just “a persuasion or conviction from YHWH that prompts a course of action.”13 God’s pouring out his Spirit is a declaration of his placing his unique and manifest presence upon his people.⁷

Thus the eschatological scene in Zechariah 12 describes the house of David being anointed with the same Holy Spirit power and grace that was given to their ancestor David in his day. Strikingly, a passage in Revelation 1 may also associate the grace bestowed in Zechariah 12 with the grace bestowed by the seven spirits of God:

Revelation 1:4-5, 7 — 4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth… 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Zechariah 12:10 — 10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Zechariah 12 therefore provides further evidence suggesting that YHWH’s seven “eyes,” also known as seven “torches of fire” or seven “spirits,” describe a group of angels who collectively constitute the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah

Isaiah 11:1-3 LXX is a second passage often cited by scholars as a possible backdrop for the seven spirits of God. Beale notes that Rev. 5:5 refers to Jesus as the “root of David” just prior to mentioning the seven spirits of God. This could be an allusion to Isaiah 11:1 LXX, where we find seven characteristics of the Holy Spirit listed:⁸

Revelation 5:5-6 — 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” 6 And 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 11:1-3 (LXX) — 1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall come up from his root: 2 and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom (1) and understanding (2), the spirit of counsel (3) and strength (4), the spirit of knowledge (5) and godliness (6) shall fill him; 3 the spirit of the fear of God (7). . .

Beale concludes that the seven spirits of God in Revelation correspond to the seven characteristics of the Holy Spirit listed in Is. 11:1-3 LXX. But the idea that we should infer a parallel between the seven spirits and these seven traits is tenuous, since the Masoretic Text (used by most English translations) only lists six traits.

The LXX also doesn’t organize the seven traits such that each trait corresponds to one spirit. Instead, they are laid out as three pairs of traits with one spirit assigned to each pair, followed by one spirit assigned to the final trait. That’s a total of only four spirits.

But we will assume for the moment that the parallel is legitimate and John did have this passage in mind. It turns out that most of the Holy Spirit characteristics listed in Is. 11:1-3 are explicitly attributed to angels elsewhere in scripture:

Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2-3 LXX)	Angels
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom *[LXX=sophia]* and understanding. . . (Isa 11:2)	…But my lord has wisdom like *the wisdom [LXX=sophia] of the angel of God to know all things* that are on the earth.” (2 Sa. 14:20)
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and *understanding [LXX=sunesis]*. . . (Isa 11:2)	And I heard the voice of a man in the midst of the Ulai. And he called, and said, *Gabriel, bring understanding [LXX=sunesis]* for that one [of] the vision! (Dan. 8:16)
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel [*LXX=boule]* and strength. . . (Isa 11:2)	God is being glorified in *the counsel [LXX=boule] of holy ones*; great and fearful he is over all the ones surrounding him. (Ps. 89:7)
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and *strength [LXX=ischus]*. . . (Isa 11:2)	Bless the LORD all you his angels, *mighty in strength [LXX=ischus]*, executing his word, to hearken to the sound of his words! (Ps. 103:20)

Since angels possess and impart the characteristics mentioned in this passage, there is no reason Isaiah 11:1-3 would prevent the seven spirits of God from being seven angels who collectively constitute the Holy Spirit.

The event anticipated by Isaiah 11:1-3 is, of course, the baptism of Jesus. At that event, the Spirit rested upon Jesus in the form of a dove and indwelled him for the duration of his ministry. It is noteworthy that the Spirit is signified by a bird, for angelic spirits are also compared to birds in the Old Testament:

Exodus 19:4 — ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore [Heb=nasa] you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

Isaiah 63:9-10 — 9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried [Heb=nasa] them all the days of old. 10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.

Taken together, these two passages compare the angel who delivered Israel at the exodus to eagles transporting their young. The latter passage also sets this angel in parallel to the Holy Spirit. We find another comparison between angels and birds when God later delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians by the hand of an angel:

Isaiah 31:5 — Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it.”

Isaiah 37:33, 35-36 — 33 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. … 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” 36 And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

It is interesting to note that in both examples above, a single angel is mentioned, but the comparison is made to multiple birds. This suggests that the angel mentioned may represent a group of angels who were active in the situation, as we would expect if these seven spirits of God indeed watched over Israel throughout her history.

A striking parallel in John’s gospel underscores this connection between angels and birds:

John 1:32 — And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend [Grk=katabaino] from heaven [Grk=ouranos] like a dove, and it remained on him.

John 1:51 — And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven [Grk=ouranos] opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending [Grk=katabaino] on the Son of Man.”

The only other instance when the Holy Spirit rested upon someone in visible form occurred at Pentecost. At that time it rested upon a group of people in the form of tongues of fire. There is a striking parallel between the account of this event and an OT description of angels:

Ps. 104:4 (LXX) — the one who makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.

Acts 2:2-3 — 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

In sum, both Isaiah 11:1-3 LXX and the historical event that it predicted find strong parallels in the angelic realm. This adds support to the mounting Biblical evidence that the seven spirits of God are not only angelic in nature but may also constitute the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

This two-part study sought to identify the seven spirits of God, based upon the context of Revelation and the Bible as a whole. In part one, we examined the chain of custody for the visions in Revelation, and found that the seven spirits are seven angels who actively functioned as YHWH’s “eyes” throughout Israel’s history. We further discovered that these seven angels occupied the same slot in the chain of custody as the Holy Spirit.

In part two, we studied the two primary OT texts standing behind the “seven spirits” references in Revelation. Investigating Zechariah 3-12, we discovered that YHWH’s “eyes” are indeed best understood as angels, yet are also associated with the Holy Spirit. And looking carefully at Isaiah 11, we found numerous parallels between the Holy Spirit and angels, adding further support for our conclusions.

This investigation is not intended to definitively prove that the Holy Spirit is angelic in nature, but it does seek to present compelling evidence that has long been overlooked. This evidence contradicts the Trinitarian assertion that the Holy Spirit is the second member of a Triune God; instead it indicates that the Holy Spirit is associated with a body of YHWH’s angelic agents who interact with humans on his behalf.

While the heavenly temple is not explicitly mentioned, this scene bears the hallmarks of a “divine council” setting. A similar scene in Isaiah 6 features the commissioning of Isaiah in YHWH’s temple (see especially Is. 6:6-7, cp. Zech 3:3-4). For more on this “divine council” aspect of the scene, see Haggai, Zechariah (The Anchor Bible), Carol and Eric Myers, pp. 190-197. See also Haggai, Zechariah (NIVAC), Mark Boda, p. 251 ↵
Mark Boda points out that the vision in Zech. 3 almost certainly has Isa. 3:16-4:6 in view, since the latter passage similarly mentions the Messianic Branch, the fate of Jerusalem, and the removal of iniquity from the land. See Boda, p. 253-254. ↵
For example, Hebrew scholars Keil & Delitzsch write of Is. 4:4: “The ‘spirit’ is in both instances the Spirit of God which pervades the world, not only generating and sustaining life, but also at times destroying and sifting (Isa_30:27-28), as it does in the case before us, in which the imperishable glory described in Isa 3:5 is so prepared.” See https://biblehub.com/commentaries/kad/isaiah/4.htm. The Benson Commentary states: “The Holy Spirit may well be called a spirit of judgment, because he executes judgment in the church, and in the consciences of men, convincing sinners of sin, leading them to judge and condemn themselves, and humbling them before God. And the same Spirit may be properly called a spirit of burning, because he burns up and consumes the dross which is in the church, and in the hearts of sinners, operates like refiners’ fire, purges believers as gold and silver are purged, (Malachi 3:3,) inflames their souls with love to God and zeal for his glory, and transforms them into his holy nature and image. This was effectually done with respect to those Jews that embraced the gospel in the early days of Christianity.” See https://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/isaiah/4.htm. ↵
The specific function of these lamps is to “search” (Heb=hapas) Jerusalem by identifying who is to be punished and who is to be protected. It is therefore instructive that YHWH’s “eyes” are similarly said to “search” out (Heb=hapas) and the wicked among his people for punishment in Amos 9:3-4: “3 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search (Heb=hapas) them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. 4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.” ↵
This is stated in the Babylonian Talmud (b. Sabb. 55a). See https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.55a?lang=bi. ↵
While the passages assign one metaphor to the people of Judah and the other to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, it is clear that the same supernatural strength is being described; the timing and location are different, but salvation through supernatural strength is the end result in both cases. ↵
Boda, p. 485. ↵
The Book of Revelation (TNIGC), Greg Beale, p. 355. ↵

The Seven Spirits of God: Angels, Holy Spirit, or both? (Part 1)

Holy Spirit

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The enigmatic “seven spirits of God” mentioned in Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, and 5:6 have long been a mystery to theologians. Are they angels? The Holy Spirit? Could they even be both? We aren’t told explicitly, but a careful investigation into the full canon of scripture can guide us toward a solid conclusion.

May 28, 2022

Tagged Angels, Holy Spirit, Revelation 1:4, Revelation 3:1, Revelation 4:5

The Seven Spirits of God: Angels, Holy Spirit, or Both? (Pt 1)

The enigmatic “seven spirits of God” mentioned in Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, and 5:6 have long been a mystery to theologians. Are they angels? The Holy Spirit? Could they even be both? We aren’t told explicitly, but a careful investigation into the full canon of scripture can guide us toward a solid conclusion.

Our study will seek to avoid any preconceived ideas about the seven spirits as we evaluate the scriptural evidence on its own merit. In this article, we’ll begin by summarizing the competing scholarly arguments for the identity of the seven spirits of God. Then we’ll dig into the chain of custody given for the book of Revelation and discover valuable yet rarely considered evidence pointing toward a surprising conclusion.

What the Scholars Say

There is no scholarly consensus on the identity of the seven spirits of God. Nevertheless, Bible scholars generally land in one of two main camps: they identify the seven spirits as angels, or as the Holy Spirit. The table below briefly summarizes the best arguments for each position:

Seven Spirits = Angels

Seven Spirits = Holy Spirit

1. The fact that they are called “spirits” implies they are created spiritual beings. Angels & demons are both called “spirits” in scripture (Heb. 1:14, Rev. 16:14), and the Dead Sea Scrolls also use “angels” and “spirits” as parallel terms (4Q405 23 I, 8-10).

2. The fact that they are “before the throne of God” (Rev. 4:6) implies they are in service to God and have special access to him. Similar statements appear in the NT and LXX, suggesting that a select group of angels is in view:

Luke 1:19 — I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God…¹
Tobit 13:15 (LXX) — I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.

3. The seven spirits (Rev. 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, 5:6) and the seven angels (8:2) are both said to be before God’s throne and thus appear to be the same group.²

4. Some scholars think Rev. 3:1 implies that the seven spirits are the seven angelic stars.³ It all depends on how one interprets the Greek word kai, which most commonly means “and” but occasionally means “even” or “indeed”:

Rev. 3:1 — And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and (Grk=kai) the seven stars…’

5. Just as the seven “spirits” are torches of “fire” in Rev. 4:5, so angels are both “spirits” and “fire” in Ps. 104:4 [103:4 LXX]:

Psalm 104:4 — [God] makes his angels spirits [LXX=pneuma] and his servants flames of fire.

1. When pneuma is used “as part of an apparent formula with God and Christ” as seen in Rev. 1:4, it characteristically refers to the Holy Spirit.⁴

2. The Rev. 1:4 greeting of grace and peace is fitting for the Holy Spirit, which is called “the spirit of grace” in Heb. 10:29 and which produces the fruit of “peace” in Gal. 5:22. A similar formulaic greeting of grace and peace appears in 1 Peter:

Rev. 1:4 — John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness. . .
1 Pe. 1:1-2 — Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles. . . according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

3. In Rev. 4:5 and 5:6, the seven spirits are identified as seven “torches of fire” and seven “eyes.” Most scholars think John draws this imagery from Zech. 4, where it is directly connected to the Holy Spirit.⁵

4. There is a possible parallel between the seven spirits mentioned in Rev 5:5-6 and the seven attributes of the Holy Spirit listed in Is. 11:1-3 LXX:

Isaiah 11:1-3 LXX – And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse and a blossom shall come up from his root: and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom (1) and understanding (2), the spirit of counsel (3) and strength (4), the spirit of knowledge (5) and godliness (6) shall fill him; the spirit of the fear of God (7).

Investigating the Chain of Custody

Chain of Custody

Both sets of arguments are compelling. But are they mutually exclusive? The chain of custody gives us some insight into this question. John opens Revelation by explaining the precise chain of custody for the visions contained in the book:

God Jesus Angel John “Servants” = the Seven Churches (1:1-2)

This list contains a total of five entities. The message originates with God and is channeled through Jesus, an angel, and John before it is finally made known to God’s “servants,” which clearly refers to the seven churches. Strikingly, just a few verses later we encounter another list of five entities in John’s greeting to the churches:

{God, Jesus, the Seven Spirits} John The Seven Churches (1:4-5)

Four of the five entities in each list (God, Jesus, John and the seven churches) are unquestionably the same. This suggests that the angel and the seven spirits are somehow related. Yet it also leaves us wondering where the Holy Spirit figures into the picture. What can we learn from John’s initial revelatory encounter that might tell us more?

John is met by a dramatic figure who tells him to write down his visions and send them to the seven churches. This figure has a voice like a trumpet (Rev. 1:10), the instrument blown by angels in Rev. 8-9. He also wears a golden sash (Rev. 1:13), the garb worn by angels in Rev. 15. Moreover, many of his features are identical to those of the angel who visited the prophet Daniel. The golden sash, eyes like fire, feet like burnished bronze, and roaring voice in Rev. 1:13-15 are all directly parallel to Dan. 10:5-6.⁶

The eyes “like a flame of fire” (Rev. 1:14) are especially noteworthy. This imagery is drawn from Dan. 10:6, where Daniel saw an angel with “eyes” (LXX=ophthalmos) like “flaming torches” (LXX= lampas pur). The seven spirits of God are likewise described as “eyes” (ophthalmos) in Rev. 5:6 and “torches of fire” (lampas pur) in Rev. 4:5.

However, the figure who appears to John speaks the words of Jesus in the first person. Many interpreters therefore assume this is a direct appearance by the glorified Christ. The problem with this assumption is the chain of custody. The same figure tells John, “I will show you what must take place after this” (Rev. 4:1), recalling the custodial statement in Rev. 1:1:

Revelation 1:1 — The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.

Indeed, why would John report that Jesus communicated with him through an angel, but then go on to describe an encounter with Jesus himself, rather than the angel that Jesus sent? And why attribute to Jesus the physical characteristics we’d expect to see in the angel we were just told about?

The chain of custody and the angelic features confirm that this figure is indeed an angel. He speaks the words of Jesus in real time, placing John in the presence of Jesus right there on the island of Patmos. This sort of representation by an intermediary figure was common in the ancient world, as John Walton and Craig Keener observe:

In the ancient world direct communication between important parties was a rarity. Diplomatic and political exchange normally required the use of an intermediary, whose function was similar to that of ambassadors today. The messenger who served as the intermediary was a fully vested representative of the party he represented. He spoke for that party and with the authority of that party. He was accorded the same treatment as that party would enjoy were he there in person. While this was standard protocol, there was no confusion about the person’s identity. This explains how the angel in [Genesis 16] can comfortably use the first person to convey what God will do.⁷

The fact that an angel speaks on behalf of Jesus in such a way effectively illustrates the authority given to Jesus over heaven’s angels, who can now be sent to earth as his representatives while he remains seated at God’s right hand.

In Rev. 2-3, this angel – speaking the words of Jesus – goes on to give John a set of instructions for the seven churches. Each letter opens by telling us that the words originate from Jesus, yet each letter closes by revealing that “the Spirit” actually says these words: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

The Holy Spirit is thus speaking on behalf of Jesus and channeling the message through John to the churches. This means the Spirit occupies the same slot in the chain of custody as the angel. We may therefore modify our diagram as follows:

God Jesus Angel (1:1) / Holy Spirit (2:7, etc) John The Seven Churches

Before we draw any conclusions about what this might mean, we will examine the chain of custody as given in the closing chapters of Revelation.

The Chain of Custody in Rev. 21-22

At the end of the book, John records his exchange with a revelatory angel who repeats the chain of custody stated in Rev. 1:1. Here it is spread across two verses, with the angel presumably speaking the words of Jesus on his behalf in the latter verse:

Revelation 22:6 — And [the angel] said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

Revelation 22:16 — “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. . .”

In Rev. 22:6, God sent the angel to John. But in Rev. 22:16, Jesus did. Some interpreters think this implies that Jesus is God. But we already know God and Jesus occupy distinct slots in the Rev. 1:1 chain of custody. God, as the original source of the revelation, is the primary sender of the angel. Jesus, having received right-hand authority from God, is the secondary sender of the angel. The end result is that Rev. 22:6-16 repeats the original chain of custody:

God (22:6) Jesus (22:16) Angel (22:6, 16) John (22:16) The Seven Churches (22:16)

What can we learn about this angel who occupies a slot in the chain of custody and addresses John at the close of the book? The previous chapter gives us an important clue:

Revelation 21:9 — Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me. . .

In Rev. 21, we find that this angel is a member of a group of seven particular angels. We are not told, however, if he is the same angel as the one John encountered at the beginning of the book. It’s true that Jesus sent “his angel” in Rev. 1:1 and similarly sent “my angel” in Rev. 22:16. But Grant Osbourne notes that “angel” may be a collective singular term representing a group of angels who interacted with John.⁸

What we know for sure is that the angel in Rev. 1:13 and the seven plague angels in Rev. 15:6 all wear golden sashes across their chests – and they are the only angels in Revelation who do. Perhaps the angel in 1:13 is the captain of the seven plague angels, or perhaps he is simply one of the seven. But it seems clear that he and the seven plague angels are associated with each other in a distinct way.

Indeed, these golden-sashed angels are the only ones who specifically tell John “I will show you” (4:1, 17:1, 21:9), conforming to the custodial formula of Rev. 1:1. Therefore, whether the “angel” mentioned in the chain of custody is a single angel or a group of angels, it almost certainly refers to one or more of these particular angels who poured out God’s wrath.

The OT Background of the Seven Plague Angels

The seven plague angels first appear to John as a sign in heaven in 15:1. They are implicitly located in the throne room, which is described as “a sea of glass mingled with fire” in 15:2. Upon exiting the heavenly temple that encloses the throne room, they are given seven bowls of God’s wrath.

Grant Osbourne notes that the plagues poured out by these angels “are linked closely with the Egyptian plagues of the exodus.”⁹ He also points out that these angels emerge from the “tent of testimony” (15:5), which “links the heavenly temple with the tabernacle or ‘tent’ in the wilderness.” ¹⁰

In other words, Revelation’s seven plague angels are linked with the entire exodus story, from Israel’s flight out of Egypt to her wilderness wanderings. This gives us an OT background that can be mined for additional clues about their identity.

The Destroyer

Death of Firstborn

In the last horrific plague upon Egypt, we are told of a “destroyer” who would liberate Israel by passing through Egypt to kill all the first-born:

Exodus 12:23 — For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you .

Notably, the destroyer is not YHWH himself but rather an agent who acts on YHWH’s behalf. The apostle Paul later tells us that this mysterious figure continued with Israel into the wilderness:

1 Cor. 10:1-10 (NASB) — . . .[our fathers were all] baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. . .[Let us not] try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

Numbers 14 records one instance of the grumbling described by Paul. When the Israelites threaten to stone Joshua and Caleb, we are told that “the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people” (Num. 14:10). Then God threatens to “strike” (Heb=nakah) them with pestilence. The same word appears in Ex. 12:12, where God said he would “strike” (nakah) the first-born of Egypt by means of the destroyer.

A similar incident occurs in Num. 16:41-48. The people grumble against Moses, and in response, the presence of the LORD appears in the tent of meeting. Then a plague strikes the people and we are told that “wrath has gone out from the LORD” (vs. 46).

These incidents reveal that the destroyer who liberated Israel from Egypt also traveled into the wilderness and evidently came out of the “tent of meeting” to execute God’s wrath – the same tent whose heavenly counterpart housed the seven plague angels in Rev. 15.¹¹

Yet there is more to the story. The Psalmist gives us another key insight into the destroyer:

Psalm 78:49-51 — [God] let loose on [the Egyptians] his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.

Here we find the activity of the destroyer associated with a group of angels. Geoffrey Grogan writes that “Egypt. . .felt the force of God’s anger, executed by ‘a band of destroying angels’ (v. 49), suggesting that the ‘destroyer’ of Exod 12:23 was an angel and that all the plagues were executed through angels.” ¹² Hebrew scholars Keil and Deiltzsch similarly point out that the Psalmist evidently understood the “destroyer” as a collective singular term that envisions a company of angels.¹³

These angels simultaneously accomplished destruction for Egypt and salvation for Israel. But later in the wilderness, they also unleashed destruction upon Israel’s rebels. The prophet Isaiah summarized it this way:

Isaiah 63:9-10 — In all [Israel’s] affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.

Does Isaiah set this angel in parallel to the Holy Spirit? It would seem so, for the angel is said to function as God’s presence, which is precisely the role of the Holy Spirit (cp. Ps. 51:11, 139:7).¹⁴

Though we are only told here of a single angel, he may be a chief angel whose mention implicitly includes the group of angels he oversees (cp. Jos. 5:14). Alternatively, since the definite article (“the”) in the phrase “the angel of his presence” is the translator’s choice and does not appear in the original Hebrew, it may be that this actually refers to “an angel of his presence.”¹⁵

Indeed, Jewish tradition refers to multiple “angels of the presence.” The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs – an ancient Jewish work that scholars believe influenced several New Testament authors¹⁶ – provides one example in which these angels are said to minister in the same heavenly temple that is mentioned in Rev. 15-16:

Testament of Levi (sec. III) — . . .In the heaven next to [the holy of holies] are the angels of the presence of the Lord, who minister and make propitiation to the Lord for all the ignorances of the righteous; and they offer to the Lord a reasonable sweet-smelling savour, and a bloodless offering. . .¹⁷

Synthesizing all of this data, it appears that a select company of angels associated with YHWH’s presence liberated Israel from Egypt and guided her to Canaan. One or more of these angels executed YHWH’s wrath when necessary, and in this role were occasionally called “the destroyer.”

The Eyes of YHWH

Eyes of Yahweh

Moses alluded to the activity of these exodus angels in a speech given shortly before Israel entered Canaan. He warned the people to heed what God did to Egypt and to Israel’s rebels in the wilderness (Deut. 11:2-5). Then he told them that the “eyes of the LORD” were upon the land of Canaan (vs. 12).

Many other Biblical authors confirm that the “eyes of the LORD” were involved in the exodus. The Psalmist recalls the Red Sea crossing this way:

Psalm 66:6 — He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

In Habakkuk’s prayer, the judgments upon Israel’s enemies during the exodus are associated with YHWH “looking” upon the nations:

Habbakuk 3:5-6 — Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels. He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations. . .

Ezekiel is even more specific in his reference to God’s “eyes” during Israel’s wilderness wanderings:

Ezekiel 20:17 — Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness.

Here God specifically associates his “eye” with the activity of the destroyer, which in turn identifies his “eye” with the band of angels we’ve been investigating.

In Ezekiel’s own day, God tells the prophet that his “eye” will destroy rebellious Jerusalem. This “eye” is then associated with a group of figures widely recognized by interpreters as angels:

Ezekiel 7:9 — And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD, who strikes (Heb=nakah).

Ezekiel 9:4-5 — . . .And the LORD said to [the man clothed in linen], “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”. . .And to the [six] others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike (Heb=nakah). Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.

God says that his eye will not spare or have pity (Eze. 7:9), but he accomplishes this by sending out six angels whose eyes will not spare or have pity (Eze. 9:4-5). In other words, these angels function as God’s eyes. They “strike” (nakah) on God’s behalf, just as the destroyer did in Egypt (Ex. 12:12) and in the wilderness (Num. 14:12).

Furthermore, each of the six angels has an “instrument of destruction” (9:1). Daniel Block writes that the Hebrew word rendered “destruction” in this verse invites comparison with Exodus 12, where “the noun mashit is used of the destruction that Yahweh inflicted on Egypt (v. 13), and the participle hammashit of the Destroyer himself.”¹⁸

However, there is also a seventh figure present who is dressed in linen and has a writing kit instead of a weapon. He is not identified, but Jewish tradition holds that it was the angel Gabriel.¹⁹ This figure is ordered to mark all of the repentant for protection before the six destroyers do their job.

God’s “eye” is thus explicitly associated with the six destroying angels and implicitly associated with the seventh angel, who functions as his “eye” by seeking out those who are to be marked for salvation. 2 Chronicles 16:9 attests to this latter function of God’s “eyes”:

2 Chron. 16:9 — For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. . .

Ezekiel is therefore the first prophet to hint at the idea that YHWH has seven eyes. He also connects the activity of YHWH’s eyes with the exodus destroyer, and indicates that these “eyes” are angels.

Zechariah later confirms that there are indeed seven eyes of YHWH (4:2-10). In part two of this series we’ll look more closely at his account. For now, we will return to the seven plague angels of Rev. 15-16 and draw some conclusions based on what we’ve found.

The Seven Eyes, the Seven Plague Angels, and the Holy Spirit

Our investigation has revealed that the Exodus plagues were in all likelihood carried out by a group of seven angels who functioned as the “eyes of YHWH” across Israel’s history. John’s vision in Rev. 15-16 is carefully constructed to recall these particular angels. Furthermore, the seven plague angels of Rev. 15-16 are placed in the heavenly temple, which is precisely where the seven eyes are located in Rev. 5:6.

We may therefore conclude with reasonable confidence that the seven plague angels of Rev. 15-16 are the seven eyes of YHWH depicted in the Old Testament. In Rev. 5:6, these eyes are identified as the seven spirits of God. Consequently, the seven spirits of God are angels, and one or more of them was sent to John to deliver the contents of Revelation. We can now modify the chain of custody given in Revelation 21-22 as follows:

God Jesus Angel (one or more of the seven spirits) John The Seven Churches

This harmonizes nicely with the Rev. 1:4 greeting that is sent by God, Jesus, and the seven spirits. But it turns out that the angel(s) who interact with John at the close of the book also carry him away “in the Spirit,” as Grant Osbourne observes:

Twice John is ἀπήνεγκεν…ἐν πνεύματι (carried away…in the Spirit; 17:3; 21:10), and twice he is “in the Spirit” (1:10; 4:2). The first is the means, the second the result, and all refer to the visionary experience by which God has revealed these things to John (building on the empowering by the Spirit of Yahweh in Ezek. 2:2; 3:12; 8:3; 11:1; 37:1; 43:5).²⁰

Notably, in both cases the angel involved is one of the seven plague angels we have identified as the seven spirits of God:

Revelation 17:1 — Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters. . .And he carried me away (Grk=apophero) in the Spirit into a wilderness. . .

Revelation 21:9-10 — Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away (Grk=apophero) in the Spirit to a great, high mountain. . .

This recalls Peter’s remark about how prophecy is conveyed to man:

2 Peter 1:21 — For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along (Grk=phero) by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is thus equally involved in delivering these prophecies to John for the churches, occupying the same slot as the revelatory angel. Consequently, we arrive at a final chain of custody as revealed in Revelation 21-22 that looks like this:

God Jesus Angel (one or more of the seven spirits) / Holy Spirit John The Seven Churches

Our investigation has therefore found that the chain of custody given at the beginning and end of the book Revelation is consistent. This final chain of custody raises some important questions.

If the angel(s) who delivered the contents of Revelation are not the Holy Spirit, why do they share the same slot in the chain of custody with the Holy Spirit? Could it be that Revelation treats “the Spirit” as a collective singular term for these seven angelic spirits? Is it coincidence that the seven spirits are sent out in connection with the same right-hand authority that sent the Holy Spirit (Rev. 5:6-7, cp. Acts 2:33)?

Moreover, these golden-sashed angels function no differently from the Holy Spirit in the Johannine corpus: both are sent by the Father in the name of Jesus (Rev. 1:1, cp. Jn. 14:16, 16:7); both show God’s servants what is to come (Rev. 1:1, cp. Jn. 16:13); both speak truth to believers (Rev. 19:9, cp. Jn. 16:13); both glorify Jesus (Rev. 19:10, cp. Jn. 16:14); and both execute God’s judgment for sin (Rev. 16:5-6, cp. Jn. 16:8).

Conclusion

By investigating the chain of custody, we have found that the seven spirits of God are angels, and that one or more of them delivered the contents of Revelation to John. But these seven angels also share their slot in the chain of custody with the Holy Spirit.

The angel who speaks the words of Jesus in Rev. 2-3 tells us that the Spirit speaks the words of Jesus, and the angel who carries John away in Rev. 17-21 does so in the Spirit. This strongly implies a synonymous relationship between the Holy Spirit and these seven angelic spirits. It also gives us reason to think that the scholarly arguments we reviewed earlier may not be mutually exclusive but rather equally true.

Moreover, the seven angelic spirits of God are by definition both holy and spirit. It is not surprising, then, that Revelation’s chain of custody treats the Holy Spirit as synonymous with this council of priestly angels who keep watch over God’s people.

But what about Zechariah 4 and Isaiah 11:1-2, the two passages identified by scholars as the primary Old Testament background for the seven spirits of God? In the second part of our series, we will dive into these passages and discover more evidence in support of this intriguing portrait painted by Revelation’s chain of custody.

All scripture quotations taken from the ESV translation unless otherwise noted. ↵
Craig Koester, Revelation (The Anchor Yale Bible), p. 216. ↵
E.g. Michael Heiser, see https://nakedbiblepodcast.com/podcast/naked-bible-354-revelation-14-6/ ↵
G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (The New International Greek Testament Commentary), p. 189. ↵
E.g. Beale, p. 355. ↵
The angel in Dan. 10 seems most likely to be Gabriel – cp. Dan 8:15, 9:21. The hair that is white like wool is taken from the description of the Ancient of Days in Dan. 7:9, but it should be noted that angels are also described with white hair in Jewish tradition (Apocalypse of Abraham vs. 8. See http://web.archive.org/web/20110721203147/http://www.oxleigh.freeserve.co.uk/pt01c.htm) ↵
Craig Keener and John Walton, NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, ebook. ↵
Grant Osbourne, Revelation (ECNT), under “Jesus Sends Revelation to Churches (22:16a).” ↵
Osbourne, under “Seven Angels Emerge from Heavenly Temple, 15:5-8.” ↵
Ibid. ↵
The Septuagint adds further confirmation that the activity of the destroyer began in Egypt and continued into the wilderness. The book of Wisdom reports that in Egypt, Israel simultaneously experienced “the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of the enemies” through this figure (18:7). But later we are told that “the tasting of death touched the righteous also, and there was a destruction of the multitude in the wilderness” (18:20). The destroyer is mentioned by name in 18:22 and 18:25. ↵
Geoffrey Grogan, Psalms (Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary), p. 141. ↵
See https://biblehub.com/commentaries/kad/psalms/78.htm. A more literal translation of Ps. 78:49 is given by the ASV: “He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, a band of angels of evil.” Scholars note that these are not fallen angels, but rather holy angels who bring calamity at the behest of God. A minority view suggests that these “angels” (also legitimately rendered “messengers”) refer to Moses and Aaron, who announced the plagues to Pharaoh. But this is very unlikely, since the context includes the death of the firstborn (vs. 51), and the Exodus account clearly implies that this plague was inflicted by an angelic being. Further, the word “destroy” (Heb=sahat) appears in Ps. 78:45, which describes the plague of the frogs. The same word appears in Ex. 12:23 in reference to “the destroyer” of the firstborn. This confirms that the Psalmist understood the activity of the destroyer to span all ten plagues and to involve multiple angels. The destruction simply began small and increased in magnitude until it culminated with the death of the firstborn. ↵
Old Testament scholar John Levison argues that “the author shifts imperceptibly from the angel of God’s presence to the holy spirit, suggesting that the angel and the spirit are one and the same.” See https://www.duq.edu/assets/Documents/spiritans/Holy%20Spirit%20Resources/Lectures/2017%20Levison%20lecture.pdf ↵
See https://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/OTpdf/isa63.pdf ↵
See https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/hdn/t/testaments-of-the-twelve-patriarchs.html. ↵
See http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/patriarchs.html. Jubliees 2:2 is another example. See http://wesley.nnu.edu/sermons-essays-books/noncanonical-literature/noncanonical-literature-ot-pseudepigrapha/the-book-of-jubilees/ ↵
Ezekiel 1-24 (NICOT), Daniel Block, p. 304. ↵
This is stated in the Babylonian Talmud (b. Sabb. 55a). See https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.55a?lang=bi. ↵
Osbourne, under “The Great Prostitute and the Scarlet Beast (17:1-18)” ↵

Tag: Revelation 4:5

The Seven Spirits of God: Holy Spirit, Angels, or Both? (Part 2)

The Seven Spirits of God: Angels, Holy Spirit, or both? (Part 1)