The Seven Spirits of God

Understanding the Seven Spirits of Yahweh

Have you ever taken the time to understand what it means when you read the scriptures and their reference to the seven Spirits of God (Yahweh) in the Bible?

In this blog post, I will explain them in the manner in which I have come to understand. The first time I understood this revelation (about 20 years ago), it was an amazing piece of a puzzle I had been looking for to add to a teaching that I had been working on for over a year. I was so excited and it felt like a light switch was turned on. I’d love to hear from you on how this teaching lands in your spirit.

To begin, let’s look at some verses as a framework, starting in Isaiah, Chapter 11, verse 2:

And 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.

1) the Lord; 2) wisdom; 3) understanding; 4) counsel; 5) might; 6) knowledge; 7) fear (reverence)

God was foretelling of the day our Messiah would come and this Messiah, Yeshua Ha Mashiach, would be sent by Yahweh for the salvation of mankind. He would be led in His life and ministry by the Spirit of Yahweh and these seven Spirits.

Revelation, Chapter 1, verse 4:

John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,”

Zechariah, Chapter 3, verse 9:

For behold,the stone that I have laid before Joshua; Upon the stone are seven eyes.

Revelation, Chapter 4, verse 5:

“And from the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”

Revelation, Chapter 5, verse 6:

And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

The seven Spirits were sent by God (Yahweh) and they rested upon Jesus (Yeshua) all his life. These seven Spirits gave Jesus an increase in wisdom, favor, and stature, and kept him set apart for God’s glory as a child, and throughout His entire ministry.

Although some doctrines of man will say that the above seven spirits are attributes versus spirits, the Word of God clearly states that they are spirits. Through these seven spirits came the attributes of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ).

In reading the above scriptures, we can agree that the Bible says the seven Spirits of God are “of” God…they are not God. They are before the throne of God. In our walk with Yeshua, we find that the more we seek His face, lay down our self-serving life and pick up our cross, we no longer choose to conform to the ways of this world. Yahweh has many blessings just waiting to be poured out upon His precious children. He wants to raise us up into sonship…after all, our inheritance is to be co-heirs to the throne and Yeshua is awaiting His beautiful bride.

Who Are The Seven Spirits Of God And What Is Their Purpose?

The seven Spirits of God protect and reveal the realm of God’s Kingdom. Again, they protect and reveal the realm of God’s Kingdom.

The Spirit of the Lord:

• The Spirit of the Lord mandates us for position.
• It teaches and reveals to us about the throne room, God’s divine order, His government, and His glory.
• It allows us to experience the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven.

When Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth and life and none can come to the Father but through Him, he is revealing that the Spirit of God is upon Him and He has been mandated for position. For you and I, what that looks like is when we have our first encounter with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. It is such an overwhelming experience to feel that Love that surpasses all understanding. We hear the call from Jesus to follow Him and when we are called, we have to say yes or we miss out on our birthright. Without hearing and heeding the call, we wonder around as infants, not understanding what our purpose is on this earth. It is only by the Spirit of the Lord that we can learn about and experience the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. Everyone has their own unique experience and calling but it is only by the one Spirit that will teach us and reveal to us what we need to know.

The Spirit of Wisdom:

• The Spirit of Wisdom equips us for position. It is known as the how-to spirit.
• Wisdom teaches us how to be skillful and wise in mind, word, and action so as to produce God’s delight.
• Wisdom teaches us revelation about God’s judgment and bringing and exercising His justice from the divine room authority.
• Wisdom will provide the necessary tools for our position.
• It teaches us about the realms of heavenly rulership and how to manifest God’s wisdom in each of us.

Proverbs is a wisdom book. Proverbs, chapter 8 can help bring this one home for us. Proverbs 8:4-7 says:

“To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart. Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things; for my mouth will speak truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips”. Proverbs 8:22 says: “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth…

We are all called to be ambassadors to Christ in our daily walk. We need the wisdom of Yahweh and we must cry out for the spirit of wisdom to teach us. When we follow Yeshua, just as He needed wisdom to fulfill His purpose here on earth, we too need the spirit of wisdom to equip us to fulfill our purpose here on earth. In spite of what you may have been taught in church, Yahweh will not send anyone out on the mission field that He has not placed the Spirit of Wisdom on. Many will go out in their own carnal wisdom and generally come back feeling beaten, battered, and discouraged. We must cry out for wisdom and she will come. Think of Paul when he had his encounter with Yeshua on his way to Damascus. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him and the first thing Jesus did was blind Paul so that he would have to be completely dependent upon Him. Paul was then called to the gentile nations and before he could even think about beginning his ministry (aka Mandate), he had to learn to trust Jesus, learn who Jesus is, and be supernaturally equipped for his position in the body of Christ. It is no different with us.

The Spirit of Understanding:

• The Spirit of Understanding authorizes us for position, by teaching us where and how to access the heavenly realms of God. This Spirit informs us about the different realms.
• Understanding teaches us how to use what we have and how to decipher revelation and vision.
• It instructs us how to proceed and teach others.
• The Spirit of Understanding teaches us how to rule and the process of rulership.

Remember the Spirit of Wisdom teaches us about rulership and Understanding teaches us how to rule and the process of rulership. This is the Kingdom of God rulership, not by our might, not by our power, but by His Spirit.

Ephesians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (realms) in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,”.

Ephesians 2:4-7 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together (when we die to self), and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

How this plays out in our walk is when we are called by Yeshua into ministry, we cry out for the Spirit of Wisdom to equip us for what we have been called to do and for the Spirit of Understanding to decipher the revelation we receive and visions of our call. It’s important to note that no call is too big or too small, really significant or of little significance because in the Kingdom of God, it all fits within the body to fulfill the master vision of Yeshua. Our job is to hear, seek, and obey the call.

The Spirit of Counsel:

• The Spirit of Counsel prepares us for position by teaching us how to access counsel and resolve issues.
• Counsel teaches us how to commune with God and attain His advice.
• It’s the Spirit of Counsel that teaches us about the role of advisers in the council chambers of heaven.
• It teaches us about the fullness of the Godhead and it’s role in our life.

The New Testament is full of the Spirit of Counsel. The absolute best council given by Jesus (because the Spirit of Counsel rested upon Him) was to beware of unsound doctrines that toss to and fro God’s people. The only way we can be tossed to and fro is due to a lack of knowledge. We must seek the Spirit of Counsel to prepare us for our position. Paul instructs Timothy in 1Timothy 4 to instruct the brethren in these things and he will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine, which he followed.

Matthew 6:33 warns us to not worry about material/temporal things, “but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.”

Psalms 16:7-8 says, “I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”

We can find much sound counsel in the Bible through the Word. However, Yeshua says that His sheep hear His voice. He is our Shepherd and He will direct our paths! When we call unto Him for the Spirit of Counsel, we can rest assured that it will come. Without it, how can we be prepared for that which we are called? Pray, seek, ask, and you shall receive.

The Spirit of Knowledge:

• The Spirit of Knowledge empowers us for position.
• It teaches and shows us how to access God’s knowledge.
• It gives us access to God’s library and shows us how to apply God’s knowledge to our walk, to those around us, and to the spirit realms.
• The Spirit of Knowledge teaches us how to process and store divine knowledge while living in a secular world.
• It teaches us how to mediate with God’s ways instead of man’s way.

As we seek the scriptures, search and cry out for the Spirit of Knowledge, we will acquire divine truths about God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit and absorb those truths in our spirit so as to execute them in our calling as ambassadors of Christ. We live in a secular world and secular knowledge has infiltrated the way we think, feel, and behave. As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we are required to put off the old man and walk as a new creation in Christ. The amount or lack thereof of the divine knowledge of God’s ways directly affect our willpower, which in turn affects our senses (thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions, words)

Psalm 119:66 says, “Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.”

Proverbs 15:14 says, “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.”

Hosea 6:6 says, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Isaiah 11:9 says,“They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The Spirit of Might:

• The Spirit of Might reveals us for position (makes known, exposes).
• It reveals the power and dominion of God.
• It teaches us strength and dominion to exercise the power of God.
• It teaches us the secrets of how to war in the Heavenlies.
• It teaches us about being seated with Christ in Heavenly Places.
• It teaches us how to do the works of Jesus and about evangelism.

It is the Spirit of Might that allows us accomplish great and mighty things for the Kingdom of God. We know we will not be defeated in that which He has called us to do because we are not doing it in our own might, but through His Spirit! As mentioned above, God will never send out His people into the mission/battlefield without training and equipping them first through the power of His Holy Spirit. When we are given an assignment for God, it is His agenda, His purpose, His timing, and His resources. Whether we are called to ministry, business, the workplace, sports, etc., we will not be able to do great exploits for the Kingdom of God without the Spirit of Might. The devil will know who we are because the power and dominion of God will flow through us because we will allow Him to do a great work through us.

The Spirit of Fear:

• The Spirit of Fear brings us into accountability for position. (Makes us walk in responsibility, integrity, humility, and holiness)
• Teaches us about and how to understand the awe and wonder of God.
• Teaches us the holiness and purity of God.
• Gives us understanding about the actual person of God, intimacy with God, and true worship.
• Teaches us how to access and bring God’s divine order to the world around us.

When we become filled with the Holy Spirit of Yahweh, there is such an event that occurs in our very being. There is a love and reverence that floods our spirit, soul, and body that can not be denied. It is this very same feeling that brings us to complete conviction and surrender to want to do God’s will. We understand the hope of Glory in Christ Jesus and our desire is to give Him all praise, glory, and thanksgiving because we know He is real. He is not hearsay, He is the living God within our heart. It is the Spirit of Fear that makes us a new creation in Christ Jesus forever.

What is Our Position?

Sonship or Slavery?

Our position is co-heir to the throne of God. To come out of slavery and into sonship.

When we are “born-again,” we enter into the covenant of adoption. We are to come into the fullness of what God intends us to be in Him. The seven Spirits of God are the 7 horns (authority, power, dominion) and the 7 eyes (seeing) sent by Father God to bring his children back into the throne room to receive training about the realms of heaven; to have an intimate relationship with the Father through the Son; and, to possess our birthright as a son of God and receive our inheritance because of the covenant of adoption.

When we receive Jesus as our Lord (not just claiming Him as Lord, but our Lord), we are born again. The process is to birth into this world, to die to self, to resurrect, and re-birth. Through this new birth, we become babes desiring to suck on pure milk. We are then to be nurtured in the principles and gifts of God and be raised up in Christ. Until we can put off the old man (our works of flesh) and walk in the new man (fruits of the Spirit) we remain in slavery.

Gal 3:29-4:7

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Gal 4:21-31

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: “Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

When we are baptized not only in water, but also by the Holy Spirit, Jesus will reveal Himself in a way we have never known. We begin to understand what Jesus said in John 14:12 -14:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

The seven Spirits of God enforce this ‘covenant of adoption’ and prepare us to be presented to the court of the King of Kings as mature sons. Then, our King Jesus releases us to experience the Father Yahweh so that we can become the expression of Him to others.

They teach and train us for the day when we will stand before the Father and He will say “well done” (Parable of Matthew 25)

How do we access the seven Spirits of God?

When our human spirit engages with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will teach us all things. We just need to ask the Holy Spirit to release the seven Spirits of God. Not only should we be praying and asking the Father for these Spirits for our walk but for others.

Colossians 1:9-14  For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,  and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The above prayer is for us to continue praying. When we pray for others, our authority increases and creates more authority here on earth for the purpose of destroying the darkness.

John 14:20-26

^{Jn 14:20} On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Then Judas(not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.“

I pray this blog has brought you understanding that you will begin to apply to your life and walk with Jesus. His word is truth, life, and He really is the way. I’d love to hear from you with what landed in your spirit.

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Blessings to you, in Jesus’ name.

Norma Umphress