Studies in Revelation: The Holy Spirit

Revelation is thoroughly Trinitarian, and the Holy Spirit is seen playing a key role in the Church and in the world.

The Holy Spirit Is the Trinitarian Counterpart to the Father and the Son

John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: 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 (Revelation 1:4, NIV)

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 3:1, NIV)

From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5, NIV)

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

It is certainly strange that John, in the visions given to him, sees the Holy Spirit as “seven spirits.” Seven is symbolic of perfection and may also speak of the Spirit’s omnipresence (“sent into all the earth”). Because He is associated with the seven lamps blazing in the heavenly temple, these seven lights might be reason to speak of the Spirit as seven in number. But as we saw with the visions of Jesus, this is not the literal way we should conceive of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of God and in the vision is the seven eyes on the Lamb that had been slain. As equal to the Father and Son, He, along with them, sends grace and peace to the churches.

The Holy Spirit Is the Vehicle for John’s Revelatory Experience

On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet (Revelation 1:10, NIV)

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. (Revelation 4:2, NIV)

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. (Revelation 17:3, NIV)

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. (Revelation 21:10, NIV)

At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” (Revelation 19:10, NIV)

To be “in the Spirit” is equivalent to being in prophetic ecstasy (1 Samuel 1:10). It is the Spirit of prophecy who helps John experience the revelation Jesus has for him.

The Holy Spirit Is the Voice Speaking to the Churches

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22)

The Holy Spirit Is the Voice of the Church Calling Out to the Father and the Son

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” (Revelation 14:13, NIV)

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17, NIV)

The Holy Spirit, who dwells in the temple of the believer, both individually (1 Corinthians 6:19,20) and corporately (3:16,17), forms the heart cry of the church in her desire to see her martyrs recompensed, and all the church in her desire for her Lord to return and give her rest from her labors.