Revelation 4:5 "Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals..."

"Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal" (Revelation 4:5).

Question:

What are the seven spirits of God?

Comment:

It is impossible to state with any kind of authority just what the hundreds of symbols in the Revelation to John are meant to convey. It was written at a time of great danger and turmoil, in a sort of symbolic code that would allow its meaning to be clear to those who understood, and confusing to others. In this passage, describing the throne room of God, many of the symbols come from similar visions in the prophetic books of Hebrew scripture—especially Isaiah, Daniel and Ezekiel.   Throughout Scripture—and especially in the Revelation—the number seven has great spiritual power and significance. The Revelation begins with letters to seven churches in Asia Minor, for example, and there will be seven seals on the great scroll in Chapter 5. It metaphysically defines the process of creation—the seven stages through which we must move in order to continue the creative process begun by the divine in the 'seven days' of creation in Genesis 1. The first step is the divine Light of spiritual awareness—we become aware that our apparent human limits are only a mask over our infinite spiritual dimension. The second step is faith—a firmament, a defining clarity that represents our choice to allow the spiritual to express through our mortal selves. The third step is imagination—as we begin to create, out of infinite possibilities, a unique expression of the divine to bring forth. The fourth step—the two great lights described in Genesis—describes will and understanding; this represents the work that is ours to do to make the possible real. The fifth step is more tangible; it represents the judgment and choice with which we define and shape the creation that is our purpose. The sixth step calls upon the energy of the divine as the 'breath of life' that makes ideas manifest, and the seventh step is the rest—the surrender to the divine that allows the Power of God to complete and fulfill the creation begun through our own divine spark.   In this Revelation image, then, the author is presented, not just with the Absolute God of infinite Presence and Power, but with the seven aspects—“spirits”—of God according to which the divine eternally creates us in its image and likeness, and empowers us to create the new kingdom that is the objective—and outcome—of the process described throughout the Revelation.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed