NATURE OF THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD

Part 3

 

 

November 18, 2022

 

For the third time, we take a look at the Seven Spirits of God, and the foundation for understanding them as inherent in the character and nature of God as revealed in the Word. Let me take a few minutes to break out each of the scriptures that express the Seven Spirits of God.  This may be a little repetitious, but you all know the principle of 6 in the human frame.

 

Revelation 1:4: "John to the seven Ekklesias which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are (enopion) in the place of and occupy (before, KJV) His throne."

 

Revelation 3:1: And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

 

Now there’s a revelation for you!  The Seven Spirits are revelatory and expose hidden ways and agendas in people.

 

Revelation 4:5:  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.

 

Revelation 5:6:  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.

 

The essence and totality of the character and makeup of the Seven Spirits of God are revealed in the following:

 

I John 4:8:  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

 

I John 4:16:  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

 

The totality, therefore, of these Seven Spirits of God is summed up in agape.  It takes a revelation of the Lord for us to see agape in these Seven Spirits.

 

The Spirit of Judgment & Burning (Isaiah 4:4)

 

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the Spirit of Judgment, and by the Spirit of Burning.

 

The Spirit of Wisdom & Understanding (Isaiah 11:1-5)

 

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding,

 

The Spirit of Counsel and Might  (Isaiah 11:1-5)

 

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, …….the Spirit of Counsel and Might

 

The Spirit of Knowledge and the Fear of the Lord  (Isaiah 11:1-5)

 

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, …….the Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord

 

The Spirit of Grace & Supplications  (Zechariah 12:10)

 

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of Grace and of Supplications:

 

The Spirit of Truth (John 15:26)

 

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me

 

The Spirit of Glory  (I Peter 4:14)

 

If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

 

 The Spirit of Counsel and Might is one of the Seven Spirits of God with and to which we easily relate as part of theonoma of God.

 

The word “Counsel” is taken from the Hebrew €eòtsaòh and we quickly identify this as a parallel to the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding.

 

€eòtsaòh means: to provide wise and prudent advice; to demonstrate or show plan and purpose.  This word comes from its Hebrew root yaò€ats: to resolve [issues or problems]; to consult and devise [a way out of the problem]; to guide.

 

The companion to “Counsel” is the Hebrew word gebuòraòh, which we have translated “Might.”

 

This Hebrew word in many ways directly parallels the Greek dunamis, and means:force (both literal and figurative), mastery, might, power and strength.  Its root is the Hebrew gibbor, and literally provides us with a picture of “the ability to back up and enforce” [the aforementioned wise and prudent advice, once the ‘advisee’ takes the counsel].

 

In Proverbs 4, Solomon paints a pretty graphic picture of how the Spirit of Counsel and Might works.

 

Proverbs 4:5-9:  Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

 

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

 

Then he goes on to say,

 

Proverbs 4:10-13:  Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

 

When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

 

Solomon then caps off this picture of counsel with the following:

 

Proverbs 4:20-23:  My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

 

When Solomon opens up his counsel with the Proverbs (which by the way is sometimes referred to as The Book of Wisdom), he begins like this:

 

Proverbs 1:1-5:  The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

 

To give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear [counsel], and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

 

The connection between the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, and the Spirit of Counsel and Might – and the revelation of how they function in cooperation with each other is demonstrated in the last portion of Proverbs 1.

 

Proverbs 1:20-32:  Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

 

Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.  Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

 

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

 

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

 

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from [the] fear of evil.

 

The Spirit of Counsel and Might reproves, rebukes, admonishes and corrects us – in love!  His purpose in so doing (see Verse 23) is so that He can “pour out My Spirit unto you,” and so that He can “make known [and bring revelation of] My Words unto you.”

 

Just as there are consequences for rejecting the Spirit of Judgment and Burning, so likewise are there consequences that come from rejecting the Spirit of Counsel and Might.

 

“Might” establishes the baseline from which “Counsel” is provided.  “Might” knows the safety that is provided with “Counsel” and establishes protective barriers for those who receive and walk according to “Counsel’s” word – and those protective barriers are designed to guard (with force and might) those who do.

 

Outside those protective barriers along the path which “Counsel” advises and admonishes is a realm of terror and destruction, distress and anguish (see Verse 27).

 

“Might” is designed to protect those who walk according to “Counsel,” but “Might” will not stretch forth a finger to help those who choose their own paths contrary to the Word.

 

Solomon wraps up this first chapter of Proverbs with the prophetic promise and statement that “Whoever listens and obeys me shall dwell safely and be quiet from the Fear of Evil.”

 

The “Fear of Evil” is the granddaddy of all evil spirits.  It is the driving spirit of fear; and the father of the Fear of Man and the Fear of Death.

 

The Fear of Evil is the controlling force behind all religion and the deception in religion.  The root of this fear is that it perceives God as hanging a “Sword of Damocles” overhead just waiting for your mistake so He can bring it down and destroy you.  Thus God is perceived as “evil.”

 

The corollary is that one must keep certain laws or perform certain acts in order to please God.  Distortion of God’s commands follows, deception sets in, and God’s Word is automatically disobeyed by the keeping of certain lesser commands to the setting aside or ignoring more important commands which are rooted in the principle of loving and honoring God.

 

Let’s see if we can look at a couple of examples of this.

 

Which is more important before the Lord:

 

To feed and clothe the poor, or to spend time waiting on God?

 

To give gifts to the Lord (sow seed, bring offerings, give to missions, etc.) or to reconcile differences between you and another brother (or sister) in the Lord?

 

To keep and recognize feast days and/or honor the Sabbath, or to walk by faith?

 

To offer praise and worship to the Lord, or to forgive intentional offenses towards you by would-be brethren, or even those not of the household of faith?

 

Are you getting the picture?  Fear causes us to obey the right commands in the wrong order.  Feeding the hungry or clothing the poor is a command from the Lord, but it comes AFTER our time with the Lord – and as He directs.

 

Pardon me while I take a slight detour here to point out something that many Christians are missing.

 

All or most of us have heard the multitude of prophecies concerning President Trump and his being in office for another four years.

 

When Biden was inaugurated, Christians began to doubt and express their fears over what just took place.  They began to voice those fears and essentially agree with what the Enemy was trying to foist off on them.  They ceased to agree with the Word of the Lord.  All of a sudden the prophets were all wrong.

 

Really?  These are prophets whose previous prophetic words have hit the mark as accurately as you would expect.

 

If we are going to walk in the Spirit and live in the Spirit, our lives cannot be manipulated or steered by the events that we see or hear about.  I’ve made this statement a zillion times throughout the years.  Once again I quote something that Dwain McKenzie said spontaneously as he was preaching many years ago.

 

“Things are not what they seem to be!  They’re what God says they are!”

 

The counsel of the Lord in this midst of all that has happened has not varied or altered on iota.

 

Let’s not forget that when God puts something in place and clearly anoints a leader for that, He is going to fulfill His Word no matterwhat we see unfold circumstantially.  God is not subject to circumstances.

 

 

Now we can get back on track.

 

There is an order – a protocol – to our obedience to the Word and the Counsel of the Lord.

 

Jesus made it clear that He wasn’t interested – and neither was the Father – in receiving gifts, offerings, etc. from us UNTIL we resolved issues of unforgiveness or offenses between us and fellow-believers.

 

He wasn’t saying “Go spend your money or give your gifts somewhere else because I won’t receive them.”  He WAS saying, “Set those gifts aside UNTIL you have resolved the matter between you and your brother.  THEN come and bring them to me.”

 

The fear that drives deception is a religious fear, and it is a fear that comes upon us when we reject the Spirit of Counsel and Might.

 

The promise of the Lord to those who “hearken” unto Him is that

 

They will dwell safely.  They will live their lives in safety and protection (see also Psalm 91) from harm and danger, and from attacks of the Enemy – both verbal and weapons-based, and from disease, pestilence, plague, AND from accidents.

 

Their lives will be quiet.  (See Psalm 105 and Psalm 91:3)  The phrase, “noisome pestilence” in Hebrew is the phrase,havvaòhdeber, which literally translates to “noisy disorder” or “words, events or things thrown into confusion and disarray in the midst of a rushing wind.”

 

Isn’t that what we’ve been seeing and hearing of late?

 

The Fear of Evil will have no power over them.  Hence, there will be no confusion, no deception, no disarray or disorder in their walk along the path directed by the Spirit of Counsel and Might.

 

There is a whole different dimension of revelation to the way the Spirit of Counsel and Might operates.Wre’ve spent the majority of this discussion dealing with the Spirit of Counsel, and we could easily spend as much time on the Spirit of Might.

 

As we have earlier noted, the word “Might” as it occurs in Isaiah 11 in the Hebrew text is the word, gebuòraòh.As I looked at all of the Hebrew words translated “might,” I realized that this word represents the totality of the might of the Lord.  Consider the following:

 

Psalm 98:1-3:  O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

 

The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen.

 

He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

 

That is one very colorful expression of the might of the Lord on display.  Here’s another one.  We go to Isaiah 52.  This is the predicate for the Lord taking action and putting His might on display.

 

Isaiah 52:5-6:  Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.

 

Now we see His might in action!

 

Isaiah 52:9-10:  Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

 

We have the following picture from Exodus 15 where God delivers the children of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh and his armies as they cross the Red Sea and watch God wipe out the Egyptians.

 

Exodus 15:6-8; 11-12:  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

 

Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

 

Those are just a few of the examples of the Spirit of Might.  We probably could have spent a whole lot more time on this subject, but maybe you are seeing how Counsel and Might work together.  The Might of the Holy Spirit works in direct conjunction with the Counsel of the Holy Spirit.  You can’t separate them.  The Counsel of the Lord always provides the basis for the Might of the Lord to be activated.  The two of them are part and parcel of the operation of the Holy Spirit available to each of us.

 

In case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, ourSunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:30AM Pacific.  That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#.  We are now making these gatherings available on video usingZOOM.  If you wish to participate by video on ZOOM, our login ID is 835-926-513.  If you miss the live voice-onlycall, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later.  The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

 

Blessings on you!

 

 

Regner

 

     

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76502

Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com

 

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