There was an open question in our first study of the Book of Revelation in Adult Sunday School today. I will try to provide some insight below.

This was a great question and is illustrative of the difficultly but not impossibly of understanding the Book of Revelation. Btw, comparatively this one was fairly easy to come to a logical conclusion.

We are not the first to deal with this. I urge you to be as diligent as you can muster.

And remember the primary blessing comes from actually reading it….even if not everything is easily understood.

Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Revelation 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

The question is about Seven Spirits mentioned in v4, and implied in the word Spirit used seven times in Chapters 2&3.

Revelation 1:4 John to the seven churches 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 before his throne;

John Gill, discusses in his commentary various interpretations of these being seven actual angels, etc., but gives his final interpretation…

I, use John Gill often when I want a historical Protestant perspective (An Exposition of the New Testament (3 vols., 1746–48), which with his Exposition of the Old Testament (6 vols., 1748–63) forms his magnum opus)

…but by these seven spirits are intended the Holy Spirit of God, who is one in his person, but his gifts and graces are various; and therefore he is signified by this number, because of the fulness and perfection of them, and with respect to the seven churches, over whom he presided, whom he influenced, and sanctified, and filled, and enriched with his gifts and graces, 

Note the wording… from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne

Jesus and the Holy Spirit together at the throne, seems to make sense, it’s a consistent message from our triune God when observed with..

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

I think is also confirmed by the seven repetitions from the Holy Spirit found in the next two chapters.

(If you wish more on the seven spirits read the paragraph at the bottom of this note.)

Revelation 2:7 Gill

He that hath an ear,…. Such who have new ears given them, as all have who are made new creatures; such who have their ears circumcised, and opened by the Spirit of God; who hear with understanding, affection, and faith; who try what they hear, and approve, embrace, and retain that which is good,

Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; let such hearken, and listen with attention to what is said by the Spirit, in what goes before, and follows after, in this epistle, designed for the use of all the churches; from whence it appears, that this epistle was endited by the Spirit of God, and is of divine inspiration; that it was not intended for the single use of the church at Ephesus, but of all the churches; and not of the seven churches only, though the Alexandrian copy reads, “to the seven churches”: but of all the churches in that period of time, which the Ephesine church represents; 

and which may also be useful to the churches of Christ in all other ages and periods of time. And moreover, it may be concluded from hence, that there are in this epistle, and so in all the rest, for the same words are subjoined to them all, some things which are parabolical and prophetic, and not obvious to everyone’s understanding and view; for a like expression is used by our Lord, when he had delivered anything in a parabolical way, or was obscure; see Mat 11:15.

I hope that is clear.

And the other symbols are a bit easier….stars, angels and candlesticks.

Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Angels are the pastors, elders or leaders, read much more about that these in next two chapters. Candlesticks are the churches, also an OT reference/analogy. Again seven specific in v11 and next chapters.

Stars, You can read what old John Gill wrote about this in the 18th century.

Revelation 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars,…. The angels or pastors of the seven churches, Rev 1:20. The ministers of the Gospel are compared to stars, because of their efficient cause, God, who has made them, and fixed them in their proper place, and for his glory; and because of the matter of them, being the same with the heavens, so ministers are of the same nature with the churches;

and because of their form, light, which they receive from the sun, so preachers of the Gospel receive their light from Christ; and because of their multitude and variety, so the ministers of the Gospel are many, and their gifts different; and chiefly for their usefulness, to give light to others, to direct to Christ, and point out the way of salvation, and to rule over the churches: nor was it unusual with the Jews to compare good men to stars, and to the seven stars. 

The Targumist says, the seven lamps in the candlestick answer to the seven stars to which the righteous are like. These are led and held in Christ’s right hand; which shows that they are dear unto him, and highly valued by him; that they are his, in his possession, at his dispose, whom he uses as his instruments to do his work; and whom he upholds and sustains, that they shall not sink under their burdens; and whom he preserves from failing, and so holds them that they shall stand fast in the faith, and not be carried away with the error of the wicked:

And note Christ told us….

Matthew 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Ok, enough or too much already, but:

If you want to go further here is more detail.

Dr. Dilday who translated the commentary below and posted a sermon on this topic “spirits” said…

…And from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; it is very difficult to determine what is meant by the seven Spirits here before the throne: we read of them also, Revelation 3:1; 4:5; 5:6. Christ is described, Revelation 3:1, as having the seven Spirits of God. It is said, Revelation 4:5, that the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, are the seven Spirits of God; and Revelation 5:6, that the Lamb’s seven eyes were the seven Spirits of God. This is all the light we have from Scripture. Some think they are seven angels that are here meant. We read, Revelation 8:2, of seven angels that stood before God; and in Revelation 15:6-8, there is a like mention of seven angels; and Zechariah 4:2, 10, Zechariah had a vision of seven lamps, and seven pipes, which, Zechariah 4:10, are said to be the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. But John saluting the churches with grace and peace from these seven Spirits, and joining them with Christ, they do not seem to be creatures, angels, that are here meant, but such a Being from whom grace and peace cometh. Others therefore understand by them, the seven workings of Divine Providence in his management of the affairs of the world, with relation to the church, of which we shall read after; but this also seems hard. The sense seems to be, and from the Holy Ghost, who, though but one spiritual Being, yet exerteth his influence many ways, and by various manifestations, called here seven Spirits, because all flow from the same Spirit. They are therefore called, Revelation 4:5, burning lamps; the Holy Ghost descending in the appearance of fire, Acts 2:3, 4, and being compared to fire, Matthew 3:11. They are called the Lamb’s seven eyes and seven horns, Revelation 5:6. Christ had the Spirit without measure;[47] and the Holy Spirit is oft called the Spirit of Christ.[48] This seemeth the best sense; the reader may find the objections to it answered in Mr. Pool’s Synopsis Criticorum upon this verse.

For the more detail discussion below you can find Dr. Dilday’s translation of Matthew Poole’s work published in Latin almost 100 years before John Gill’s commentary.

Each of the volumes in this series, Synopsis of Biblical Interpreters, is actually composed of two distinct works by Matthew Poole: A Synopsis of Interpreters, Both Critical and Otherwise, of the Sacred Scriptures (known by its Latin title, Synopsis Criticorum, the translated text of which is printed in this regular type) and Annotations upon the Holy Bible (the text of which is printed in bold type). In the Synopsis Criticorum Aliorumque Sacræ Scripturæ Interpretum, written primarily for students, ministers, and scholars, Poole presents something of a verse-by-verse history of interpretation, setting forth the most important interpreters and interpretative positions. The Annotations, on the other hand, are written for the use of the common man, giving a summary of the most important interpretive issues and Poole’s own, most mature (being written in the years immediately prior to his death), judgment. In these volumes, the Annotations have been interspliced into the translation of the Synopsis, creating an omnibus of Poole’s exegetical efforts.

Revelation 1:4: The Benediction

Updated: Apr 15, 2019

Particularly consistent is the comment section quoting.. 

William Tong (for Matthew Henry, as Henry passed before finishing Revelation)

Whence this blessing is to come. In whose name does the apostle bless the churches? In the name of God, of the whole Trinity; for this is an act of adoration, and God only is the proper object of it; his ministers must bless the people in no name but his alone. And here, 

(1.) The Father is first named: God the Father, which may be taken either essentially, for God as God, or personally, for the first person in the ever-blessed Trinity, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and he is described as the Jehovah who is, and who was, and who is to come, eternal, unchangeable, the same to the Old Testament church which was, and to the New Testament church which is, and who will be the same to the church triumphant which is to come. 

(2.) The Holy Spirit, called the seven spirits, not seven in number, nor in nature, but the infinite perfect Spirit of God, in whom there is a diversity of gifts and operations. He is before the throne; for, as God made, so he governs, all things by his Spirit. 

(3.) The Lord Jesus Christ. He mentions him after the Spirit, because he intended to enlarge more upon the person of Christ, as God manifested in the flesh, whom he had seen dwelling on earth before, and now saw again in a glorious form.’

Or watch or listen to this lesson.

One of the original sermons I heard 15 years ago. Click link

Dr. Dilday’s Lecture: “The Seven Spirits”

1) Introduction

2) Analysis

a) Context

b) “The seven Spirits which are before His throne”

1) Identity of the “seven Spirits”

(a) Created spirits?

(b) The Divine Spirit

2) Significance of the description

(a) Fullness/perfection

(b) Relationship to the churches

(c) Present with God, active in the earth

3) Doctrine: Christ knows the condition of His Church perfectly.

4) Doctrine: The power of Christ is active in the churches through the Spirit.

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