 |  |
first and last members help one another in the matter of interpretation. We put them
together:--
A | 1: 4. The seven assemblies and seven spirits.
A | 1: 20. The seven assemblies and seven angels.
This is at least a suggestive variation, and puts forward the third interpretation to view,
that these seven spirits are the presence angels. First notice where they are. "The seven
spirits which are before His throne." These are mentioned again in Rev. 4: 5, "There
were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God."
In Rev. 8: 2 we read, "And I saw the seven angels which stood before God." The use
of the article, "THE SEVEN angels," implies that they are either well known or have
been mentioned before.
Heb. 1: 14 is a clear indication that angels are called "spirits," and the "seven lamps" of
Rev. 4: 5 seem to have some connection with the description given of the living
creatures of Ezek. 1: 13, "their appearance was like the appearance of lamps." In Rev. 1:
the structure brings together the seven spirits, the seven stars, and the seven angels. In
Rev. 3: 1 without any structural arrangement we read:--
"These things saith He that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars."
Further, in Rev. 5: 6 we read:--
"And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, 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."
The reader will remember that we urged a careful reading of the Minor Prophets as a
preparation for the imagery of the Revelation. This verse is a case in point. To those
who have a good knowledge of the prophecy of Zechariah this passage will speak very
plainly:--
"For behold the stone which I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone (i.e. fixed upon,
see Deut. 11: 12, 'the Land,' I Kings 9: 3, 'the House') shall be seven eyes" (Zech. 3: 9).
In Zech. 4: 2 we read of "the seven lamps," and in 4: 10:--
"They shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, these seven
(lamps which thou sawest, 4: 2), these are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro
through the whole earth."
While the seven eyes which are the seven spirits of the Lord run to and fro in the
earth, other messengers which figure in the Revelation occur in Zechariah, and are said to
"walk to and fro in the earth." There are the chariots and horsemen of 1: 8-11 and 6: 1-7.
These charioteers are said to be "the four spirits of the heavens." Thus we have seven
spirits and four spirits. In Rev. 6: we read of these chariots, and in 7: 1 we read of the
four angels standing on the four corners of the earth. The seven are said to run, and the
four are said to walk to and fro in the earth. Ezekiel 1: describes the wonderful living