The "seven spirits of God"

The issue:
The Book of Revelation refers 4 times to the "seven spirits of God". Confusion has resulted from this phrase, leading some to conclude that God must not be a Trinity, because the Bible refers to God as having seven spirits. Others have simply thought that the "seven spirits of God" are seven angels, perhaps the seven angels to the seven churches outlined in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

The verses:
Revelation 1:4-5
"Grace and Peace to you from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness..."

Revelation 3:1
" To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead."

Revelation 4:5
"From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God."

Revelation 5:6
"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth."

The words:
Hepta = sevenfold
The greek word translated as "seven" is 'hepta'. While this word does most commonly mean "seven", it many other times means "sevenfold". In order to determine which translation is best, the context of the verse is essential.
One example of 'hepta' meaning 'sevenfold' in the Bible is found in Genesis 4:15; "'So the LORD said to him, 'Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." [NASB]--the Septuagint Greek translation uses the word 'hepta' to translate the Hebrew for 'sevenfold' thus showing that 'hepta' can mean 'sevenfold'
The point here is not that the murderer of Cain would suffer seven and only seven penalties, but rather that his penalty would be complete and thorough. The Bible often uses the number seven as a number to represent completeness and fullness.
To determine whether the four verses in Revelation intend 'hepta' to be 'seven' or 'sevenfold' we must examine its context both locally, as well as in the context of all Scripture.

Pneumata:
The greek word translated as 'spirits' is indeed a plural word in structure. This, however, does not mean that a plural word cannot be used to describe a singular object or person. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word 'Elohim' is a plural word, yet its context repeatedly refers to the One and Only true God. This is one way that we know that God is One, and yet is Three Persons. In Revelation, 'pneumata' is a plural word that could either refer to plurality of persons, or plurality of aspect. The context of local Scripture, as well as all of Scripture will again help us determine the right translation here.

The Imagery:
A thorough study of the Book of Revelation shows that much, if not all, of the imagery in Revelation can be defined and understood through corollary Old Testament passages [especially Genesis, Daniel, Isaiah and Ezekiel]. This present case is no exception.

Isaiah 11:2 and the Sevenfold Spirit:
"And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD."
Here the seven aspects of the Holy Spirit are defined: The first is who He is [The Spirit of the LORD], while aspects 2 - 7 are what He is.

Ezekiel 1; the four creatures, and the Spirit:
Ezekiel chapter 1 describes four creatures who go wherever the Spirit tells them to go [Ezekiel 1:12]. This begs comparison to Revelation 5:6 with the Spirit and the four living creatures.

The Context:
Locally we can see that the 'seven spirits of God' cannot be mere angels because of Revelation 1:4-5; "Grace and Peace to you from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness..."
Here we see that Grace and Peace are ours from three persons:
1) Him who is... 2) seven spirits 3) Jesus Christ
I would argue that angels are not a source of Grace and Peace to us, and thus 'seven spirits' would be improperly translated or thought of as angels since we know that Grace and Peace only comes from God. Also, the context begs for the middle person being the Holy Spirit, the first being the Father, and the last being the Son, Jesus

Entire Scripture Context:
When examining the entirety of Scripture, it is impossible to insinuate that the Holy Spirit is seven persons, or that the God Head is made up of nine persons. If we were to develop a theology of the God Head as being anything other than three persons from the Book of Revelation, we would be in violation of the clear Scriptural command, "A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." [Deut 19:15; Matt 18:16; 2 Corinth 13:1]

What does it mean?
The "Sevenfold Spirit of God" is wonderful terminology used by the Bible to describe the Holy Spirit, who is Deity, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient. He is full, complete, and lacks nothing. His sevenfold aspects show the fullness of His perfection, character, and might!

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
2 Corinthians 3:17

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