In 1 Spirit 7 Unite in Waiting for 1 Husband

The Seven Golden Lampstands Scripture wraps itself in the metaphors of human relationship - all with expressing Love at the core - with the primary biological/familial relationship being Husband and Wife In this, the New Testament is heavily written to individuals with language about their invitation to belong to Christ - Marriage to Yeshua - Betrothal to 1 Husband Revelation 1-5 Rev 1:1 - This letter is written to show the 'servants' which in greek is 'apostello'. It's written to the apostles. Rev 1:4 - This letter is written to the seven churches. Rev 1:4 - The phrase 'To the 7 churches' does not exclude the Spirits from also being the very eternal life of those churches. The throne has an implicit and explicit heavenly view of reality. It is timeless, and so seeing the letter is written too the churches, and that they are also burning before his throne outside of time at present, is not a contradiction. Elsewhere He says "I am the God of the Living". Of course verifying that in him, death and time are of no consequence. Eph 1:4,Eph 2:10,Col 1:17 - The throne is outside of time and the churches are indwelled by the Spirit. Rev 1:4 - The Spirits are before his throne and extend grace and peace to the reader with Yeshua Rev 1:12,1:13,2:1 - He walks among the lampstands - he communes with them. Rev 1:13 - Does this not sound like a wedding outfit for a priest/king? Rev 1:20 - The 7 golden lampstands ARE the 7 churches - this is a direct connection. Rev 2 and 3 - In overview observe the Spirit gives each church unique introductions, encouragements, admonishments, and promises - further pointing to individuality. Also notice that admonishments are specific, but rewards seem to be communal and available to anyone. Rev 2:7 - We see the Spirit(Singular) in 1:Ephesus communicating to his churches(plural). Rev 2:11 - We see the Spirit(Singular) in 2:Smyrna communicating to his churches(plural). Rev 2:17 - We see the Spirit(Singular) in 3:Pergamum communicating to his churches(plural). Rev 2:29 - We see the Spirit(Singular) in 4:Thyatira communicating to his churches(plural). Rev 3:1 - The 7 Spirits belong to Him, similarly to the 7 Stars (Angels). We also can eliminate the 7 spirits being angels, because here are the angels identified as the stars. Rev 3:5,3:6 - We see the Spirit(Singular) in 5:Sardis communicating to his churches(plural). Rev 3:8- - We see the Spirit(Singular) in 6:Philadelphia communicating to his churches(plural). Rev 3:22 - We see the Spirit(Singular) in 7:Laodicea communicating to his churches(plural) to listen and pay attention - for He is at the door. Rev 4:5 - Before the throne again are burning 7 torches of fire, which are the spirits. While the words 'lampstand' and 'torches' are not exact equivilents in the greek language, they are very similar pictures existing in the same context. Rev 5:6 - The lamb had 7 eyes which are the 7 spirits 'sent out into all the earth' which in greek is 'Apostello ice pas ho ghay'. It's the sent out to the earth which make up the churches - anyone that fulfills the great commission - the churches. If you study the use of the word in the new testament you will notice that it is expansively used and can easily mean any person sent. Who is sent but him who is called? Rev 5:6 - So, it appears with a plenty of reason and a little bit of faith we can begin to see that: 7 eyes = 7 lampstands = 7 churches = 7 Spirits If the spirits are the churches living in eternity (the indwelling of God's Spirit in each of them Eternally through Yeshua) , then in Spirit we are One however: 'Monogyny Only' on a bodily/earthly level forces the image of marriage to require that the seven spirits be present in 1 body which is promoted all over the internet...strangely. I cannot seem to find a clear place in scripture where embodying multiple spirits is considered good (Matthew 12, Mark 5:9, Mark 1, Matthew 8:29, Luke 8:2, Revelation 18:2) I see double portions as good, but not multiple in one. 'Polygyny Allowed' allows for The Spirit of God to be shared 1:1 to 7 Different Churches - hopefully working well together and loving one another despite differences. This is Good. His 1 eternal Spirit eternally manifesting in 7 different eternally saved and individually set apart Lampstands. They burn bright no doubt because they have their oil (the Word) in the One Spirit living inside them. Therefore: in us the ONE SPIRIT lives and we belong to SEVEN BURNING LAMPS before his throne. This is consistent with scriptural themeology of oil representing the Holy Spirit. I suppose it could be simply said there are 7 different types of churches that all find their unity and individuality in the SPIRIT. To bring the metaphor down all the way to modern language: Christ seems to be defining the 7 bodies of belivers that his Holy Spirit indwells in this age of Grace. He returns to bring every body his Spirit indwells unto himself. Matthew 25 : Adding Oil to our Lamps I love how this mixes with Matthew 25:1-10 so well - we see lampstands, and obviously their stand is lit because they have the oil which is symbolic of the Spirit. You can also see Paul's focus in 2 Corinthians 11:1–4, on bringing us to One Husband, and his issue with the fact that there were accepting different spirits than the 1 received. He wrote: 'Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since nI betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.' Bringing in Zachariah 4:10 Coming soon Other Interpretations By far Isaiah 11:2 is the most popular way to interpret these 7 Spirits in the book of Revelation. I hope that when you really get down and read this verse you will see it's a stretch to apply it to what we are seeing in Revelation. On its face, the direct numerical connection of the number 7 doesn't really appear here. Also, we are dealing with 1 Spirit here - and these are attributes of the Spirit. To limit 'Spirits' in revelation which are very much spiritual beings to attributes is not something that intutively makes sense to me, after many years of reading scripture. Others have suggested that the 7 Spirits are angels. This is also stretching scripture too far in my opinion. In Revelation's context, the angels have been clearly articulated as the 7 stars and they are talked about more through all revelation. Still others seek to derive them from various new testament passages that mention the work of the Spirit, and then throw them under an english word like: santification, justification, etc. While I do think the Spirit can manifest as an attribute or ability in some ways, especially in describing things with linear language, I think limiting these concepts in Revelation to a single attribute is to greatly hinder their interpretation. Again, I'm driving the point home that these are 'Spiritual' beings in nature and seem very much deeper than attributes in the way they are referenced.