337. The Seven Spirits of God and the Seven Lamps of Fire

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse and a shoot from his roots shall bear fruit.” [Norw.]

The whole tree was cut down because it did not bear fruit, and only a shoot from the root was chosen.

“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.”

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him

The Spirit of the Lord contains all the seven Spirits of God and the seven lamps of fire. Rev. 4:5. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne; these are the seven Spirits of God. If we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit as Jesus did, we will develop a relationship with these seven lamps of fire and the seven Spirits of God. These Spirits are:

Every one of these spirits also has a lamp of fire.

When we completely and unreservedly surrender ourselves to God, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. But that does not mean that we immediately get to know these seven Spirits of God and the seven lamps of fire. We would never be able to bear that. We have to go one step at a time. The Spirit of the Lord hides all of these other Spirits of God from us until we gradually become mature enough to receive them. The same goes for the fire.

The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding

Who has the Spirit of wisdom and understanding the minute he or she receives the Spirit of the Lord, or, as we call Him, the Spirit of God? The Ephesians had received the Holy Spirit of promise as a guarantee. Yet they had not received the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. That is exactly what the apostle prayed they might receive. Eph. 1:13-17.

It is chastisement that leads us to wisdom and understanding. It is the number one lamp of fire which consumes our foolishness. The Spirit leads us to this fire. That is why there is so much exhortation and correction. If we reject the chastisement, we will not receive wisdom or understanding. The Spirit will be quenched, and our old nature will again take control. But some people make the right choice and go on to receive:

The Spirit of Counsel and Might

If we obey God’s counsel and live according to it, we will receive the Spirit of counsel. At the same time, we will also receive the Spirit of might so that we can carry out His counsel. Not everyone who has the Spirit of the Lord has the Spirit of counsel and might. It is only given to those who listen well and are obedient. That’s why you cannot get good counsel from people who are not personally following the counsel of the Lord, and who therefore have not received the Spirit of counsel. The counsel that your heart gives you by the light of the Holy Spirit is the best counsel. Follow it and you will receive:

The Spirit Which Gives Knowledge of the Lord

The knowledge of the Lord is incredibly deep; all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him. They dwell in Him bodily. Col. 2:9. By this knowledge the Spirit will reveal to us “Christ manifested in flesh, justified in the Spirit . . . .” The Lord becomes very real to us as our high priest and mediator. The Lord becomes exceedingly great, and that evokes within us:

The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord

When the Lord draws near to us, we become meek. But when He is far away, we tend to be high-minded and overconfident. Pathetically little of the Spirit of the fear of the Lord is present among Christian people. The Lord is so far away, and therefore people allow themselves liberty for many things. Moses walked with the Lord, and he was the meekest man on earth. “Learn of Me,” Jesus said, “for I am meek and lowly of heart.” He walked before the face of His Father. We, too, are to behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirror and be transformed into the same image from glory to glory. If we do that, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord will rest upon us.

All these seven Spirits rested upon Jesus, as did the seven lamps of fire. That is why He had the necessary weight in His spirit to bear the fire and the manifold trials.

“He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” Jesus learned all these things from these seven Spirits of God and the seven lamps of fire.

It is a fire to be corrected when you are foolish. It is a fire to follow the counsel of the Lord when you would rather go your own way. It is a fire to allow the Spirit of the fear of the Lord to be your master and to chasten you. You must have faith and fire in order to forsake your own imagined knowledge and commit yourself to the Spirit who gives knowledge of the Lord.

Think about this, all of you who have begun in the Spirit and now are trying to be made perfect in the flesh.

When these seven Spirits of God and these lamps of fire make their dwelling in us, then the wolf can dwell with the lamb, and the leopard can lie down with the young goat. The calf and the young lion and the fatling can live together. The cow and the bear can graze together, and the lion can eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child can play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child can put his hand in the viper’s den.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all His holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.