Who are the seven spirits in the front of the throne of God?
Revelation 1:4
NKJV - 4 John, to the seven churches which 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.
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Revelation 1:4-5 states that John's Revelation message is from him; and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ. These spirits may very well be the seven stars in Christ's right hand mentioned in Rev 1:16, also referenced in Amos 5:8, Matthew 24:29, and Mark 13:25 to fall from Heaven for judgement of the seven Hebrew churches in Asia. Revelation 1:20 states that the stars are the angels of the seven churches. I believe this will occur during the second part of the seven year tribulation (final 3.5 years), prior to Christ's millennial reign of Israel's promised earthly kingdom. Regardless, this happens after the fullness of the Gentiles comes in to the church the body of Christ (Rom 11:25), at which point all believers during the Ephesians 3:2 dispensation of the grace of God will be "caught up" in the clouds to forever be with the Lord (1 Thes 4:17).
The Bible does not directly tell us who or what these seven spirits are, but we are given clues. “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.” (Rev 5:6) These spirits are here described as the eyes of the lamb (an image of Jesus) that go throughout the earth. The implication seems to be that these spirits keep an eye on the earth and report to Jesus what is going on. “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.” (Rev 4:5) Here we see the seven spirits described as burning lamps before the throne of God. Lamps are usually symbolic of the light they provide. The question here is who the light for. Is it for God, connecting to the image of Rev. 5:6 as them being the eyes of the lamb, or are they providing the light of God to those around them? “He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the LORD continually.” (Lev 24:4) It should be noted that the old testament was translated into Greek before the time of Jesus, and Jesus often quotes from this Greek version. In this version, when describing the seven lamps that stood before the holy of holies in the tabernacle and later the temple, it uses the Greek word for lamp that is here in Revelation used to describe the seven spirits; and when describing the stands on which these lamps stood, it uses the Greek word translated as “candlestick” in revelation (used to describe the seven churches that John was writing to). The kjv keeps this connection in the English. This would seem to indicate a connection between the imagery in revelation and the imagery of the earthly temple as well as a connection between the seven churches and the seven spirits. Perhaps these are seven angels assigned to the seven churches that John was writing to. This, however, is just speculation.
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