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echo: bible-study
to: All
from: Lsenders{at}hotmail.Com
date: 2005-01-13 08:00:00
subject: Re: What are the Seven Sp

Serge wrote:
> The Seven Sprits of God

A lot of scripture quotation and yet you didn't answer the original
posters question.  Perfection is the implication of the title, Seven
Spirits (Rev 1:4; 3:1).

The number seven is prominent in both the OT and the NT, occurring not
less than three hundred and eighty-three times.  From Gen to Rev the
number is often in the forefront.  In Genesis there are the seven days
of creation; the seven-fold vengeance called down upon the slayer of
Cain; the sevens of clean beasts and fowls received into the ark; the
dove sent from the ark at intervals of seven days; Jacob serving seven
years for Leah and then a similar period for Rachel, his first choice;
the seven fat kine and seven lean, and the seven good ears and seven
thin of Pharaoh's dream; in Leviticus the sacrifices of seven victims
often required by the Mosaic ritual; the sprinkling of the blood seven
times; the sanctity of the seventh day, the seventh month, the seventh
year, the seven weeks of years.

The historical books and prophetical books alike lay stress on the
numeral.

When we come to the Rev the recurrence is still more prominent. There
are seven churches, seven spirits, seven candlesticks, seven stars,
seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven  trumpets, seven  thunders,
seven angels, seven heads, seven crowns, seven plagues, seven bowls,
seven mountains, seven kings, and seven beatitudes.

And so the question, "Why is this number so important?"  Five theories
(why not 7?) have been suggested.

quote:

"One is the Arithmetical, used by Philo the Jew, and based upon the
peculiar property of seven as compared with any other of the digits.

A second, the Chronological, is founded upon the early division of time
into weeks.

A third, the Symbolic, conceives seven to be the union of two numbers,
namely, three, which symbolizes the divine, since the Godhead is a
trinity, and four, which symbolizes the cosmical, the created universe
of space, this being determined by the four cardinal points of the
compass. The seven then represents that reunion of the world with God,
which is the great aim and crowning consummation of all true religion.
[In our opinion this theory has much to commend itself. For instance,
note how the seven churches of the Revelation are divided into three
and four with reference to the call to heed and the promise to the
overcomer.]

A fourth is the Physiological theory, tracing the preeminence of the
seven to the fact that there are seven parts of the body, namely, the
head, chest, and loins, with the four limbs; and seven openings of the
head, namely, the three pairs of eyes, ears, and nostrils, with the
mouth; and further, that the seventh, fourteenth, and twenty-first days
are critical periods in diseases.

The fifth hypothesis is based on Astronomical reasons. The nocturnal
heaven offered to the men of primitive times [?] a constant and
impressive spectacle. Here they could not but be struck by the seven
members of the planetary system, as well as by the fact that the fixed
stars exhibited the same number in several of the most brilliant
constellations.... Upon the whole, in view of the antiquity of the
usage and the character of the early Hebrews, it seems most natural to
trace their sense of its sacredness and completeness to its original
associations with the times and means of religious worship."1

[Lange's Commentary, Minor Prophets, Book of Zechariah, note on p.
38]

The number speaks of the completeness or perfection in Rev 3 as related
to the Seven Spirits.

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